Kai’s pov

I woke up one morning and groaned when I realised I had to get to work. I got out of bed reluctantly and walked to the bathroom. I never had my tail while I was at home, it’s too large and takes up a lot of space. I only use it when I go out. Plus Mer houses don’t contain water so we have to use our legs. I don’t mind using my legs instead of my tail so I have no complaints.

Once I was dressed for work, I made my way downstairs and had breakfast which was a prawn cereal. As Mer people, we love seafood and it’s readily available with us living in the sea.

After finishing my prawn cereal, I made my way to work. I work at a market, other Mer catch the sea creatures while myself and my colleagues sell them in the underground market.

I left the house after turning my legs into a tail and swam to the market. The swim there was exhilarating, swimming was the best thing about being a Merman, the worst thing was being a little restricted in the lower region.

As I swam to work, I couldn’t help but notice all the couples who were around. They were mates, soul mates. Everyone had a soul mate but that wasn’t always the case. It was believed that the great Mer King was the first Mer to have found love naturally and when he saw that other Mer were dying young, it broke his heart. To ensure Mer had a long life, he gave each Mer a soul mate with the magical abilities he supposedly had and gave Mer a reason for them to live. Apparently, no one died until old age because they had a mate to share their life with. Mer folk were told that the Mer King was buried with his mate and their graves became a shrine to remember what the Mer King did. To remind Mer what they symbolise, life. Yet no one has ever seen this shrine, it is said to be in shallow water where no Mer will set foot because of the dangers that live there such as sharks. I’ve never seen a shark but everyone has always been told by their parents that sharks are our enemies, if we ever see one we should run or hide if not possible. I wish I had a mate, I have never found her at 24.

Everyone I know my age has a mate, even my best friend Aden has one. He met her years ago. Yet here I am, mate less. I sometimes feel like there is no point to life, no reason to go on without having to share my life with someone special. I live alone but I have a family who loves me and Aden but it isn’t enough. I fear I will never find my mate and lose my life like the old times. It’s rare for that to happen in the present time, every one lives a really long life but there are a few Mer every couple of years who die young from never finding their mate.

Every young Mer female who is mate less has their eye on me, they want me to be their mate. I got blessed with good looks from my parents but it isn’t doing me any favours, I haven’t got a mate to please with my looks. I’m not interested in any of the female Mer unless one of them is my mate which they aren’t. They weren’t interested in me before. When Aden was single they all wanted him, I don’t blame them. He has that tall dark and handsome look going on. Once Aden found his mate, their attention went to me but I find it annoying. There’s only one person’s attention I want but I am yet to meet her.

It was a slow day at work, I couldn’t wait to get home once it was over. I rushed home and was about to sit down to put my feet up for a little while before getting dinner ready but I was interrupted by the irritating noise of my shell phone. A shell phone is what us Mer people use to communicate with each other and as the name suggests a shell phone is made from sea shells. It must be my Dad as usual, calling me to come and help him with something. He’s always doing that. He thinks I have nothing better to do than to help him. I don’t mind helping him out, he’s my Dad but not almost everyday. It’s beyond infuriating, he calls me for every little thing. Most things, he can take care of himself but he must need my assistance no matter what.

“What’s up Dad?” I asked in a bored tone of voice.

“I need your help Kai,” Dad replied.

“What is it this time?”

“The roof is leaking, I need your help to repair it,”

“I can’t right now Dad, I just got back from work,”

“That’s ok, come over when you can. See you later,” Dad said before ending the call.

I groaned. I wasn’t in the mood for repairing anything and most likely it would be me doing all the work while Dad bossed me about. I don’t understand why he can’t do it himself. He is fully capable.

After having a few minutes of rest, I had a crab and vegetable pie before reluctantly making my way to my parent’s house. Dad immediately made me swim up to the roof with tools and as I expected, Dad was right beside me the whole time telling me what to do while I did all the repairing.

This is how my life always had been, I had to do everything around the house because Dad was so lazy. I thought when I moved out, he’d man up and do it himself but I was so wrong and I have had enough. One day, I would snap and I had a feeling that day was coming sooner than I thought.

“You all right Kai?” Aden asked when I met up with him after I fixed the roof for a drink.

“Not really,” I replied.

“What’s up? You’re Dad still not giving you a break?” Aden shook his head. He knew all about the way my Dad treated me and didn’t approve.

“Exactly, I don’t think I can take it much longer. I thought things would change once I moved out but they clearly haven’t. In fact, they’ve become worse, much worse,”

“I don’t know what you can do mate. Maybe once you find your mate, he’ll stop,”

“Maybe but I doubt it. You’re so lucky you have a mate,”

“I know I am,” Aden smiled when his mate came into the room with drinks. She offered me a drink and I took one with a "Thanks," before she offered one to her mate. Aden blushed and kissed his mate on the cheek when he thought I wasn’t looking. I looked away with envy. Not in a bad way, I am happy for Aden. I just wish I could be as happy as him. I just want to find my mate and be happy. All I have to do is find her.