They Say

“They say that the mermaids live in the river, luring fishermen the way they lure fish to their own violent deaths. They say that the mermaids left the men alone before. Before the machines colored the river a deep, inky new reality. Before the fish began to disappear, leaving the merfolk stranded with their thoughts. All. Alone,” Maddie blew out the candle which buried the girls encircled in inky darkness. 

Catherine skipped along the river bank. Her sandals crunched along the rough pebbles and slid along the smooth sand. Catherine smiled at the fluttering butterflies, enjoying a spring time breakfast bathed in the golden light of a new day. The river rushed along, steadily, as it had done a thousand years. Her father waved joyously from his boat. He stood, pushing along, as his father had before him and his father before him and as his son may do one day, if he’s lucky. A large net laid at his feet. It’s black webbing glistened in the open air. Catherine waved back. Her little hand reached out to her father. She watched him curve around a bend and slowly disappear. A trail of other fishermen followed Catherine’s father. A sparkle surprised Catherine. She rushed to kneel down. She saw the wall rock. It’s deep blue and white crystals almost blinded Catherine. Her fingers reached out to pick it up. She dipped her new treasure in the rushing water. The small remnants of mud and dirt from the river dissipated. With a loud splash, a young woman’s face appeared in front of Catherine. The set of deep, black eyes blinded Catherine the way the crystal had. She reached out her webbed fingers to Catherine, taking the pebble. In an instant, Catherine’s young heart was broken at the idea someone or something might take her treasure. Her green eyes filled with tears. Waterfalls poured out in one horrendous burst and the woman shrunk back into the water at the sound of Catherine’s wails.

Catherine fell back on her bottom and sat, sobbing. She banged her little fists on the bank, sending grains of sand like shrapnel into the sky. Her screams drowned out the calls of the song birds and deafened the insects. The woman watched. She swayed her long tail underwater, keeping her in place. She placed her right palm and left fist, closed around the pebble, on the bottom of the river and pushed up. A rush of water shifted around the woman and Catherine’s cries were silenced in amazement. The woman lifted her fist out of the green water. The water wicked away softly and Catherine inched along the bank, sniffling as she was drawn to the woman. Slowly, the woman unclenched her fist to reveal the small treasure. Catherine’s little fingers reached towards the woman’s palm. At first, they longed to touch the treasure again, but Catherine found herself tracing the webbing between the woman’s fingers instead. Her soft fingers followed the pathways of the veins that provided blood and nutrients to her hands. The webbing was clear in the water and Catherine was entranced by the little rainbows formed in the woman’s palm. The air grew still around their encounter. The chorus of nature remained silent, entranced in a rare sight.

For her part, Catherine was a mystery to the woman. Catherine’s eyes were glassy and red rimmed from her tantrum. She had on a vivid blush and tears slowly dried in the spring wind. Her little fingers didn’t hurt the way the woman had thought they would. She pulled her tail to the surface and found herself laughing at Catherine’s delight. Rainbows burst forth and water showered Cather as her long, green tale breached the surface. The woman found herself enamored with the laughter peeling from Catherine’s throat. It was innocent. It was joyful. It was the sound that her own little ones had once made. The woman studied Catherine’s face further. She saw Catherine laughing, playing jump rope out on the hot driveway in front of their home with her older sister, Maddie. A little boy walked up to them and took Catherine’s hand. They tried to skip rope together as Maddie called, “Oooh!” Catherine studied her sister, confused. In Catherine’s eye, the woman saw innocence. She saw Catherine tucked into bed, a lilac comforter cocooning her. Bright, sparkling Christmas lights decorated the home. A large, faux, pine stood tall by the little, red, couch in the living room. She heard Catherine whisper, “What do you think Santa will bring you?” She heard giggles escape the girls. In Catherine’s eye, the woman saw hope. Peels of laughter filled the next memory, as Catherine and Maddie chased a small puppy in the backyard. They ran through running sprinklers and played tag. The dog joyously yipped at the girls’ toes, buried in the warm, summer grass. In Catherine’s eye, the woman saw joy.

Catherine was locked in a deep trance. She swam in the woman’s ink well and found herself leaving her world behind. She found herself swimming in the river. Chasing huge, green fish before they slipped through her little hands. Delight filled her heart as she glanced down at the long, strong, matching tail. It gave her strength and power in the water. In a burst of speed, she swam for the little blue fish. They darted in and out of her hands while Catherine laughed. The woman watched, lingering a few feet behind her. Suddenly, a large black web engulfed the two of them. It began pulling Catherine and her friends closer to the bright sunlight. Catherine screamed in terror. The woman swam furiously, pulling the web down. But the monster on the other side was stronger, better. It pulled. And pulled. And pulled. Catherine screamed. And Screamed. And screamed. The woman swam. And swam. And swam. They broke the surface of the water in a loud whoosh as the water separated. The monster used metal to hold up the web and his treasure. Water crashed back into the lake. The sunlight burned Catherine’s eyes and skin. She found herself gasping for breath, blinking furiously through the bright light. She recognized the boat, in its powerful white, glory. Then, she saw her father. Grinning like a mad man. She called his name. She begged him to release her. Catherine squeezed her little eyes shut. 

“They say that the mermaids left the river. The battle was lost as man invented new torture devices. They say that some of them will swim back, tentatively, and only in the dead of the night to return to their old home. No human has laid eyes on them, though. They say that the magic left the world when they did. At least, that’s what they say,” Catherine blew out the candle which buried the girls encircled in inky darkness.