It wasn’t like Akela was scared of the river behind his cousin’s house. It wasn’t like this same river gave him, as a little child, nightmares after nightmares each night spent in the guest room. It wasn’t like during those nights, Akela could hear strange noises and talking coming from that river, only to disappear in the early morning. More than once had he tried to inspect the river, a net in one hand, a watering can in the other. The only ‘weapon’ he had found in the garden. More than once had he tried to find the source of his nightmares full of monsters with teeth as sharp as razors. And more than once had he run back inside, seeking shelter in his mother’s arms, as if one of these monsters was chasing him.
Even today, many years after, many years into adulthood, Akela couldn’t help but feel a knot in his stomach each time he laid his eyes on that river. Some children never faced their fears growing up, and as laughable to some his fear was, Akela might never get over it.
Safe behind the patio door, Akela watched Avera gardening, his eyes never far away from the river. There was only one thing that would make him cross that door and put a foot on the grass; if something jumped out from that river and make its way to Avera, he would be the first one to run to her and drag her back inside. Not only because no one could know if the thing would be friendly or not, but also because Avera was the kind of person to make friends with anyone. Even monsters. “For the werewolves out there,” she would say, blowing a kiss to the full moon.
But maybe today, just once, he could try staying in the garden for more than two minutes.
Avera was outside, it was the middle of the afternoon, nothing would come out from the river. At least Akela hoped, a trembling hand on the handle.
“Well, well, well, look who decided to come help me!” She said, putting her straw hat back on her head. “So? What are you waiting for?”
“I never said I would help you.” A smile, a playful bump into her shoulder that led to a short tickle fight. “What can I do?”
“Plant the sunflowers sprouts there?” She pointed to a free spot near the river. “Please?”
His whole body froze. “I can’t.”
“Don’t worry, I checked it earlier.” Standing up, Avera took his hands in hers, squeezed. “Nothing’s there except fishes.”
“I know, what else could be in a river, uh?” His eyes still fixed on the river, Akela couldn’t help but let a nervous laugh cross his lips. With much hesitation in his gestures, Akela took the small rake she handed him, the sprouts, and walked to that spot free of plants.
The river was calm today, with nothing strange to see except, well, fishes. Just like Avera had told him. Nothing scary lurking in the water. No monster with sharp teeth and bloodshot eyes. No claws trying to tear his throat apart. Only water, fishes, and a dragonfly. So, with still a knot in his stomach, he did what Avera asked him, not without throwing a glance on the water every now and then. Sometimes, a loud ‘splash’ would make him raise his head rake in hand, ready to fight back, only to hear Avera say behind him it was only a fish. A big one. That it happened from time to time.
There was no monster.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he grabbed the last pair of sprouts to plant. At last, he was seeing the end of it, and could finally go back inside, grab something fresh to drink, and never put his feet near that river ever again. Or at least until next time, hoping it wouldn’t be before a couple of weeks. He loved spending time with his cousin, helping her, but being on edge at any suspicious sound? No, he was too tired for this.
“What are you doing?”
“Planting the sunflowers like you asked.”
“Oh! Are those the pretty flowers Avera gave me last year?”
“Yeah the yellow ones… Wait.” Akela raised his head, and felt his heart leave his ribcage. There, in the river, someone was watching him, chin in their hands. That’s not a person, he thought, a hand already looking for the rake.
Pointed ears. Patches of red scales on their shoulders, going down their arms. Webbed hands. Gills on each side of their throat. Akela didn’t know what surprised, scared him the most. The gills, the fact that they didn’t seem to care to be seen in plain daylight, or the fact that they had no legs, but a red and white tail.
“Hello!” The merman flashed him a broad smile, no sharp teeth in sight.
“Hel...lo?” Akela quickly looked behind him, ready to see Avera with her big grin telling him how good she tricked him. But there was no sign of her outside. Nor even inside from what he could see. Eyes back on the merman, Akela moved a little further away from them, not convinced this was a friendly one. But the most important question here would be ‘what was a merman doing here?’. As far as he knew, they weren’t supposed to exist.
“Do you need help?” The merman pointed to the sunflowers seeds that had fallen to the ground. “Avera showed me how to plant them, not that I can plant flowers back home.” They chuckled, and for a moment, Akela thought he heard something alike to sadness.
Well, maybe it was a trap to lure him closer until they would drag him in the river. What could happen next wasn’t something Akela wanted to know.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, putting more distance between them. But his eyes couldn’t leave the red patches of his tail, and how the scales glistened under the sunlight.
“Visiting a friend!” They offered him a toothy smile, chin resting in their palms. “I never saw you before, though. Are you a new friend?”
Akela didn’t know if he should continue this conversation, or pinch himself hard enough to wake up. This couldn’t be real. They couldn’t be real. If they were, Avera would have told him, because Avera always shared everything with him. But then, maybe this merman really existed, and was the reason for his fear of that river. Maybe the voices he had heard during these nights all those years ago had been real too, and not just the products of a scared child’s mind.
A part of him wanted to believe this wasn’t a dream, that maybe he would stop feeling so stupid to be scared of a river now that he was facing one of these creatures he feared so much in the past. And maybe this one wasn’t dangerous at all, heck, they didn’t even have sharp teeth, what could go wrong? But another part of him was screaming everything wrong with this situation. And Akela didn’t know which part to listen to.
“I love making new friends,” they said as they helped themself and sat on the wooden edge, their tail splashing water everywhere. “Especially if they’re Avera’s too! My name is Milo.” Again, they smiled at him, and again, the sight of their scales mesmerized him.
“A-Akela.” He cleared his throat. “I’m Avera’s cousin.”
“Nice to meet you!” They stretched their hand, waited. But seeing that Akela wasn’t taking it, they added, “You’re, supposed to shake it. That’s what you people do when meeting someone new, right?”
Akela couldn’t do anything else but laugh. If someone would have told him that one day he would be laughing with a merman, Akela wouldn’t have believed them. And yet, here he was.
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