The Nature of Sunflowers

It was an early Summer morning when Maialen decided to visit her favorite spot by the beach to spy on the local boys playing soccer. She hoisted herself to a well positioned rock and brushed the algae accumulating around her gills. She noticed the laughter and chatters of the boys playing turned to cursing and shouting. Their game was interrupted by a single long board that had slid across their field, with a shaggy-haired boy chasing close behind. One boy playing soccer tossed the ball at the skateboarder's head before they all laughed wildly.

Maialen's face reddened, "Hijo de Puta! Cabrónes!" she shouted. "Oops!" she quickly uttered covering her mouth. She continued to watch the skateboarder and was unaware when he approached closer to toss seashells angrily into the ocean.

Maialen hid beneath the water and studied him. 

The clothing he chose fascinated her, but it was the way he rode his strange contraption that really peeked her interest. He positioned himself on the board and rode down a steep slope capturing high speeds while Maialen's mouth was left hanging open. "Wow. How is he even doing all of that?" 

He continued gliding on two wheels, and flipped his board in mid-air while Maialen watched as vigilantly as a curious bottlenose dolphin. Maialen smiled and clapped before suddenly becoming self-aware. She glanced down at her own joints and had found her long elongated caudal fin to be limiting and disgusting in comparison. Despite her mother who was affectionate and encouraging her to feel proud of her own skin and scales, Maialen found it difficult to cope. In her moments of self-loathing, Maialen watched as her mother's face would manifest in the reflections of Stillwater. 

"The Goddess made us this way for a reason!" her mother scolded in the wavy reflection. "The Lady of Anboto would not have molded us out from clay to rule the oceans if she didn't love us. Especially more than those cunning surface dwellers who are so limited in the way they live. That's why we are blessed to live in the largest mass on Earth. Seventy-one percent of living space! Now, tell me who was the favorite species there?"

Maialen saw her Mom in the water and rolled her eyes mimicking a parody of her. She still objectively would trade her ability to swim for a few days of running, kicking and dancing at her own whim. She continued to watch the young boy playing alone and even unknowingly twirled her thick brown hair in amusement. She thought it was so wonderful to have similarities between themselves. The way he moved on his skateboard so fluidly reminded her of how well she swam herself. Maialen was exceptionally gifted in her ability to keep balance riding the vortex of the Great North Atlantic Tidal Current, a method her and her family used when traveling to other oceans. Other mermaids and mermen struggled to keep up with her.

"Hey!" the boy waved his arms out. He must have heard the splashing in the water. "Why are you out there all alone? Are you stuck?" he shouted.

Maialen immediately tumbled backwards.

"No, no, no, no, no! My moms going to murder me! Now we're definitely going to move across seas! Kill me!"

"Hey! Wait a minute... I didn't mean to startle you?"

"Sorry!" Maialen closed her eyes tight and rubbed the side of her neck as she waited a few seconds hoping he'd take the hint. Her gills always ached when she panicked. She exhaled deep and then caressed the edges of her forehead to remain calm. 

"Helllloooo? I can still sort of see you!?"

Maialen peeked her head out for a moment and sighed. "Fine. I live in the other village! Sorry for creeping!"

"Oh no. It's okay. I wasn't upset or anything." the boy tilted his head sideways, but only saw the edges of her dripping brunette hair. "I could show you some tricks on my skateboard if you want?"

"Skateboard?" Maialen poked her head out and noticed the shade of his brown eyes. "What's that?" 

The boy held it up proudly to show his custom artwork underneath. It was of a grotesque creature. "It's a giant fire breathing serpent with red eyes! The colors in the back are for the Basque flag. Check out the lightning coming out of his butt." he looked proud while Maialen winced. "That was my idea." 

"Oh. Looks terrifying." 

"It's inspired by Sugaar, the serpent that brews the high storms when he's angry. You know that old Basque folklore, the old people teach us." The boy noticed Maialen had been shy and speechless. "So anyways. Do you want to learn how to ride it?"  

Maialen stuttered. "I uh... I can't. I mean... I shouldn't. My mom...she doesn't let me get on them. She's very strict... what can you do, you know? But, no, I don't think I can. Uh - I, I really should be going though."

The boy smiled. "It's not that hard." His eyes then wandered down at the strange garments Maialen had been wearing. She looked as if she had been an extra in an El Gato con Botas musical play. It was very fantasy-themed costume with lilies tied to seaweeds and other assortments of different seashells accessories.  

"That's really creative." he nodded.

Maialen blushed. Her hands waved to him before disappearing behind the rocks.

"Wait! Where are you going?" 

"I live in the next town over and very far. And my mom is expecting me for dinner. So, see-ya! Bye!"

"Will you be back tomorrow?! I'm here every Friday after school and Weekends." 

Maialen swam away but listened.

"My names Antonio!" the boy shouted from his chest. 

She made her way further down to her home within an intricate cave system. 

"Mailaen!" her mother called out. It was followed by quick stuttering clicking sounds. "I'll send the other Lamiak's to come find you!" she continued, her voice could be heard for half a mile under the Bay of Bisclay. 

When Maialen finally arrived, her mom had been sitting there on their dining table with their plates of food. Her red hair was thick like Maialen but, her garments were woven and less aquatic.

She turned to her daughter and raised an eyebrow. "Nice of you to finally join us. Your grandfather is starving and has been waiting too. Did you not hear me shouting for you? I've even asked the dolphins to send over sonar waves to call you." 

"Yeah I heard them too..."

"Yet it took you another 45 minutes to return?"

"I'm sorry?" 

"Yes, you are sorry. You haven't been out on the surface again, have you?" 

"What?! Of course not." Maialen snapped.

Her grandfather turned to her and shrugged. He had bright grey hair, almost the color of a seashell pearly white with a tint of a darker blue near his scalp. 

"Because I don't need to remind you how dangerous it is up there. Your grandpa can tell you stories about those fisherman who nearly gored him, right Dad? Your Uncle too couldn't swim the same after his encounter with surface dwellers." 

"Yeah, I know, Mom. Like I said, I'm not going up there."

"Okay, well don't wait too long to eat, your dinner will get too stale and briny" 

Mailaen quietly enjoyed her meal, ripping the crustaceans apart to suck out the meat and nibbled on her seaweed salad. "Mom, can I ask you something?" 

"Sure, honey. What is it?" 

"Do you ever think Dad lived up there for very long?"

"Who knows what that man did, He was a good for nothing loser who abandoned his family. And you know those stories, there is truth to them. Your father created a storm that took many innocent lives, as if hurting us wasn't bad enough."

"I found...something" Mailaen said. She pulled something out a rusted refrigerator magnet with a picture of an old Spanish cathedral. "You said Dad lived in a palace?" 

Maialen held out her magnet trinket to show her, but when her mother leaned in for a closer look she folded it in half. "Joder! Don't want you fantasizing about this again. Do I make myself clear? That stuff is like saxitoxin in the mind, and it grows and grows!" 

Maialen's face turned downwards. "I can't believe you just did that." 

She immediately left her plate uneaten and swam back to her room.  

*****

The next morning, Maialen revisited her favorite spot and noticed from down below someone throwing rocks, the rocks hovered diagonally to the ocean floor. 

Maialen noticed Antonio was the culprit. He had a new shirt with images of people who held long stringed instruments like legs of marine arthropods.

"Psssst!" she called out.  

"Huh?" Antonio turned around but couldn't find anyone. "Whose there?"

"It's me! Your consciousness!" Maialen changed positions giggling from beneath.  

"Are you underwater?" 

"No! Artaburu!" she laughed. "Antonio, it's me!" Maialen had prodded herself out from below. "You hearing things?"

"Real funny." he laughed. "You're a really good swimmer." 

Maialen smiled. "Can I tell you a secret? Promise not to be scared?" 

The boy nodded. "Cross my heart and hope to die!"

"Oh yeah?" Maialen laughed pretending to jab him with a golden brush she held. 

The boy laughed.

"I hope it doesn't scare you, but I'm nothing like you." 

"You mean, like you're Portuguese?"

"No! I mean. I'm definitely Basque." she sighed. "I'll just show you." Maialen swam closer and revealed her long tail from beneath the water. The colors of her scales changed in the reflection of the sunlight hitting them. They were bright with sparkling golden speckles that changed to cerulean blues, emerald greens and hints of violets. 

Antonio's mouth hung open. 

"There's another thing. You know that artwork on your skateboard?"

Antonio tried to compose himself, but it was a lot of information. "Y-Yeah?"

"He's my Dad."

Antonio blurted out an unintentional laugh. "Serious?" 

Maialen crossed her arms together. "Yes. I know it sounds crazy."

"It does sound crazy, but after seeing your...tail." 

"Look, there's a reason why I'm telling you this. I just hate being like this." 

"What do you mean, you're amazing!" 

Maialen's rubbed her eyelids. "I need this eguzkilore flower, the golden sunflower.... I figured it out last night speaking with my Grandpa. It's got special properties for us. I think it's how my Dad was able to transform into a human."

"So Sugaar is your old man, huh?"

"Yes, did you listen to anything I asked, Antonio?"  

"Yes! Of course, I'm listening." He paused. "You know I never got your name..."

"Maialen."

"Maialen, I'll ask Señora Isabela if she has any in her garden."

"You're the best, Antonio."

*****

The days had gone by and Maialen had been patient, returning every morning and waiting for the boy for an hour or two, but each passing day had felt like an eternity for her. 

He finally arrived by the end of the week.

"Where were you!?" 

Antonio sat on a large rock besides the ocean. "In school. You know? Having a normal life? Do you know how hard this flower was to find." The boy handed her the sunflower he had placed it in a porcelain cereal bowl. The flower he chose looked ancient, the center looked like yolk of an egg while the pedals patterns were very asymmetrical. "It might be our national flower, but it's just not in season right now."

 Maialen smiled and hugged him. "Thank you."

"You know my teacher always says, the nature of this flower is to protect us from evil spirits. It represents Mother Earth. D'you think a tattoo of it on my bicep would look badass when I'm older?" Antonio flexed to Maialen's amusement. 

"I can't wait for you to see me tomorrow! Bye! Thanks again!"

Later that day, Maialen had brewed the Basque Sunflowers inside of a clay pot of tea and consumed it before falling asleep. 

Later that night, after midnight two piercing balls of light had appeared from deep the ocean's abyss, they hovered close to their home caves. Maialen's mother Mari had first noticed them.

"Oh, no." she said as they appeared closer. Mari noticed they were two anglerfish swimming at an unusual elevation, where the pressure change would otherwise kill them. They had grotesque overbites and a bloated faces. They were guided by their protruded tentacle at the top of their bodies guiding them with their natural light bulbs. 

"I can smell you hags from a mile away. You're not welcome here!"

Mari's shouted angrily, but there was glimpse of fear in her tone. 

The two creatures looked at each other and back to Mari and spoke. 

"The young girl is tampering with a fine balance. We come as a show of faith to the Great Drakaina of the ocean. Even you, Mari with your powers cannot change those rules. Heed our warnings, before the Seas swallow your Basque Country whole."

"Get away from here, I will deal with my daughter!" Mari shouted.

The two anglerfish disappeared back deeper into the dark ocean floor. 

"Seven children for the Earth and none for Heaven." said the Grandpa who overheard the conversation. He looked worried, swimming over steadily by her.

"That girl had to be the only one that's given me Hell, Dad." 

"Where do you think she gets that from?"

"I need to see her." 

When Mari entered her daughter's section of the cave, Maialen had not been around. She had woken up ecstatic to test her new appendages on land. She kept her gills, but swimming to the surface had been more tiresome with two legs. 

When she arrived the clouds had been dark and heavy.

The calm waves from the day before had been transformed to harsh and dangerous flooding as a typhoon swept through the Franco-Spanish region. The bad weather created an uproar in the local community with wind speeds reaching higher than what was safe. Maialen waited for Antonio who had arrived wearing a heavy blue raincoat and holding an umbrella.

"It happened overnight. The news is freaking out" he said struggling to get it all out. "It's the worse storm since 16 years ago, they said." 

Maialen had felt a knot in her stomach. She remembered what had happened when her father went to live in the surface from the stories she thought her mother had exagerated. Antonio helped Maialen get use to walking and running for a short time before returning back to his home. He had convinced his parents to let Maialen stay int the guest room while the storm simmered down. 

Later that night in Antonio's parent's home they were visited by two old ladies that came from the storm's mist. They stood by the front of the house draped in all black robes, unfazed by the winds and water. The shadow of their hoods kept their faces in darkness. Maialen and Antonio peeked out of the window trembling from their sight.

"Who are they?" Maialen said.

"They're witches."

"What?"

"Look at the way they're dressed."

"If this has something to do with me, I'm so sorry, Antonio."

"They can't cross anyways." Antonio said gripping onto a large heavy-duty flash light for protection.

"How do you know?"

"The sunflower, remember? You have it on you, don't you?" 

"I drank it."

"Oh."

They both agreed to confront them, but hesitantly made their way to the door.

Maialen's legs almost buckled together while Antonio held her arm.

"Please, you have to leave us alone!" she said. 

"Yeah, her blood is filled with the golden sunflower, so if you kill us you'd probably evaporate. So you can't harm us." 

The old women kept her distance, but finally spoke in soft whispers. "Stupid boy. She's the one causing chaos into your world. We have warned the Lady of Anboto about her daughter. Her kind must stay where they belong or the creatures of the Basque will grow angrier. If she refuses, The One-eyed Tartaro will pay your family a visit tonight."

"We promise you, girl." said the other old woman looking at Maialen cowering.

"How would I even know the Lady of Anboto?"

The witches laughed. "She's your mother, foolish girl!" 

Maialen was frozen. Her stomach seemed to twist every direction.

She decided to run far away through the back door to her usual spot between the rocks. There she saw her mother's face forming in the ocean waves.

"We have a lot to talk about, Maialen. But you must return to me. Do as the witches ask, they only wish to keep peace. You should be with me and your Grandpa."

"What happened to Dad!" Maialen cried. 

"He made a deal with the devil, and returned back to the Anboto mountains tormented for the remainder of his years"

"Did he ever love me?"

"Of course, Maialen. But nothing could tether your father to one place. He was like you unhappy with himself and with his home. And he paid a price for it."

"Ok." Maialen agreed. "I'll do as the witches ask. I'll live the rest of my life disgusting and ugly."

Maialen confronted the two old witches and was transformed back to a mermaid. It took time, but spending time with her new friend Antonio every Fridays after school and weekends, had changed the way she felt about things. He would still buy her trinkets from a local tourism shop and anytime he went on vacations with his family. he made sure there was a large mass of ocean nearby so Maialen could tag along. 

It was easy for her to travel to meet him with her tail.

One day Antonio gifted Maialen something on her Birthday. 

It was a mirror engraved with golden sunflower decorations on the edges. 

Maialen smiled when she received it. She saw the reflection of herself, of her large tail and scales encompassing her waist and those images of her natural self finally made her feel special.