My love was my curse

Humans love swimming just because they don't live in the water like I do. It's not really that interesting when you've spent 300 years underwater. I'm a mermaid. We're immortal which means I have the whole eternity to explore everything that I've already explored hundreds of times again and again. I'm a princess and yes we have a kingdom underwater. To humans we appear as Gods but to ourselves we are nothing special at all.Our kingdom is not visible for humans so they could never find us. They do,however, come nearby sometimes but they can't see me. One day every year I get the chance to be able to walk on the earth and to do whatever I want. So for 200 years(because the first 100 years I wasn't allowed to go out) it seems that I have spent about half a year with humans but I should be careful. Mermaids only fall in love once and it's forever. You can't change that or forget your loved one. If I fell for someone that has legs I am doomed forever. From my experience always happens the one thing that is not supposed to happen. So here is what happened to me.

It was the 8th of August. The day that I chose to go out every year. There were many people as every summer. For the first few hours when I get out of the water I need some time to remember how to speak properly because underwater we speak through telepathy and not with words. I remember I was going somewhere, with no specific direction of course, as always, and then I wonder why I get

lost so often and why my father tells me I'm irresponsible, but anyways I saw an ad on in a restaurant that said that a man claims that mermaids exist and he wants to hunt them or at least see them. Well, you would think that I was shocked... I wasn't. There was always at least one of these guys around and so I was used to it. I was staying away from fish restaurants though because I

couldn't watch how people eat my brothers and sisters. Every fish in the sea has a soul, you know, and we are all connected. I cry every night because of everyone that are being killed just to be served as a meal ... this kills me. Since I am the princess, together with my two sisters, we can hear the last thoughts of every one of our own and we can feel their pain. I tried not to think about that in my only day free. Other thing about mermaids is that when they are outside of the ocean/sea they still need water. Every time I go outside I am constantly searching for water. Water, water, water everywhere. People would usually beg for money. I would stop people asking them:

''Do you have a bottle of water?''

So I was already extremely thirsty when I ran into a man

drinking water from him bottle so I interrupted him while he was drinking, and he gulped because of that. I took the bottle of his hands and started drinking myself. Then when he got back to being able to speak he said:

''Excuse me...''

I continued drinking

''Excuse me...''

I still kept going...

''Excuse me, God damn it...''

Then after I drank it all I said:

'' You are excused for not giving me the water yourself! And

yes, you got it right, I am a God!"

The man looked at me as confused as a human being could possibly

be. Then he said:

''You owe me a big bottle of water''

How could he dare speak to me like that:

''Go to the beach and tell my sister that I'm sending you! She

will give you all the water you need''

The man looked even more confused now. I wasn't used to hiding

my identity and I wasn't very good at it...obviously. He looked at the bottle as if he was wondering what the heck was wrong with the water inside, to make me act like that and then he said:

''To go to the beach? And ask your sister to give me water? On

the second thought I'm not so thirsty anymore... I have to go now because I need to prepare my house for the party tonight''

''Wait, wait. Can I come at your party?''

''If you come I don't know how I'll handle my water bills after

that. But if you promise not to behave as a crazy person, sure you can come. The address is (I have no idea what he said. I just kept following him the whole

day through)''

I spent most of the time that night with this guy. I didn't even

get his name. I should never do that. If you understand a human's name you two are forever bonded somehow and I would just cause myself to suffer even more. I never managed to explain to him why we can't exchange our names. We invented nicknames though. It was the first time that I spent so much time with a human.

When we all got tired of dancing and sat on the table to eat,

there was a lot of fish in the plates. I started crying and then a guy asked JJ ( that was the guy that I was with's nickname):

''Why is she crying"

And he said:

''I think those are tears of happiness because all of that fish

was drinking tons of water and water is very important to her!''

They all started laughing, including me... I know I deserve a

punishment for this but it was still funny though!

I didn't even touch the plates though.

At the end of the night he asked me:

''What are you doing tomorrow?''

''I will swim probably''

'The whole day?!?''

''Yes, why not?''- I asked not figuring out that for humans it

might be challenging

''How much time can you breath underwater?"- he asked with a

little joking tone

''My longest stay underwater was 100 years but I can do it

without any problems forever"

He put his hand on my forehead to check if I was having

temperature or sick or whatever sign that could relieve him that this was not my usual behavior and something was forcing me to act this way, but nope, this was me and me only. Then he said:

''100 years underwater? Well, that is about 99 years, 364

days,23 hours and 58 minutes more than I can!"

I wasn't worried about talking freely about myself because I

knew on the next day nobody would be able to find me, anyway. I spent a great night with him and fell in love no matter how hard I tried not to do so. On the next morning I went back home without telling him the truth.

The next year when I got out of the ocean again and I thought that he had forgotten me, I saw ads everywhere of a man that is looking for a girl that loves to drink tons of water and cries when she sees dead fish. I bursted out laughing. This was probably the worst description of a person ever, but it was actually suitable for my behavior outside the water. I managed to find him again and told him everything.

We kept on meeting once a year and every time he was telling me he would wait for the next year. I could see him standing on the beach everyday but he couldn’t see me. He was coming everyday bringing a bottle of water with himself because that became a symbol of our relationship. He was mortal so he eventually died and his bones rest on the bottom of the sea. Now once a year I have the right to give him the spark of my powers and bring him back to life and during that time I'm practically...well..dead.. until the end of the day when he dies again and his bones come back to the bottom of the sea.

He never remembers that he has died. When he comes back to life it’s always the 8^th of August- the day that I used to come out every year. So he thinks that I am out there somewhere and he looks for me but I’m not there. I don’t have the opportunity to tell him that. I love him so much that I want him to have hope that he will find me again even though he never will. Our love became our curse as well but love is to give hope to someone. He gave me hope in people and I gave him hope in mermaids! Maybe one day I will find a way for us to meet again!