Eamon

I get good coin for the fish Blossom rounded up for me, especially the bluefin tuna. If I stick with this mermaid I’ll be richer than the king of Sanos! Of course, that’s not the real reason I’m looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

I’m home late but Mother’s still up. I’m glad. I ask her to teach me some new songs for Blossom, and she’s only too happy to oblige.

“So when are you going to take me to meet the mermaid?”

“You know I can’t do that. Blossom’s very shy, she doesn’t know any humans but me. In fact, she’d probably be angry with me if she knew I’d told you about her…”

“Her secret’s safe with me,” Mother says with a knowing smile.

“What?” I demand, feeling my cheeks redden. “What are you smiling about?”

“Oh, nothing. Just happy to see my little boy’s all grown up.”

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but you can stop now.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t interrupt your private time with your girlfriend.”

“I’m going to bed!”

I don’t have a lot of romantic experience, so I can only imagine, but is everyone’s mother as embarrassing as mine?

Alone in my bed I stare up at the ceiling for a long time. Sleep eludes me, and I find myself going over the new songs I learned tonight and thinking of Blossom. Will she like them, I wonder? If I run out of songs, perhaps she’d like to hear a story. I’ve memorized many of Mother’s stories over the years; I like them as well as her songs, if not better. I wonder if Blossom will feel the same.

Blossom. Her name is woven through each thought that comes into my tireless mind.

What is she doing now? Where does she sleep? She said she had a safe place on an island. Which island? I wonder if she’d ever show it to me.

I spend a nearly sleepless night and wake early the next morning, eager to see her again. At the bakery I get fresh pastries hot out of the oven and a liter of ice cold sour kefir. Blossom likes cheese so I wonder what this fish will think of other dairy products. I hope she likes it.

I sail out into the sunrise, making for Shark Fin Island, as we’ve named it. It’s a beautiful morning with a cool breeze, and it fills me with a strange sense of joy to harness the wind and steer my boat through the water, clipping lightly through the choppy waves. Till now managing the boat, especially on my own, has always been a chore. But knowing Blossom’s waiting for me at the end of this ride gives me so much enjoyment, I can’t stop grinning.

Not wanting to get too close to the perilous rocks, I let down my anchor a little ways from the island and pull out the lyre. Is it too early to look for her? I wonder. Well, only one way to find out.

I touch the strings and begin to sing. I practice the new songs Mother taught me, going over the lyrics a few times as I wait for her, my eyes restlessly scanning the horizon in every direction.

Less than ten minutes later I spy her, stopping for breath about two hundred feet away. I stand immediately and wave to her. She waves back eagerly and dives, clearing the distance between us in an impossibly short amount of time.

“Good morning,” I greet her when her face pops out of the water right in front of mine. Her smile takes my breath away.

“Good morning, Eamon.”

She puts her hand up automatically and I haul her into the boat without a question. She’s on her belly, pushed up on her hands, looking around eagerly.

“Looking for these?”

I hold up the bag of pastries and her eyes widen with excitement.

“Yes!” she reaches up a grabby little hand. I laugh and pass her the bag.

“They’re still warm!” she exclaims, and moans as she takes the first bite. “It’s so good!”

“So good?”

“So so so good! The cheese ones really are the best! I love you, Eamon, I love you,” she declares as she stuffs the last of the pastry into her mouth so her cheeks poke out like a hamster.

I clear my throat, which has suddenly gone a bit dry.

“There’s plenty there, so slow down,” I urge her. “Don’t choke.”

Just as I say that she begins to cough. I jump up to grab the kefir and hand it to her. She drinks it down gratefully.

“Ah, you really do think of everything,” she gasps.

“Someone has to,” I say, eying her warily as I return to my seat. She seems alright. I’m relieved. Then I remember the jar of kefir in her hand.

“Do you like it?”

“Like what?”

“The kefir?”

“Oh, yes, it’s my favorite,” she assures me, then drinks some more.

She really is a strange mermaid. I thought she’d be more excited about the flavors of human food, more shocked, especially by the fizzy, sour kefir. But she drinks it down so easily. Almost as though…

She’s done this all before.

A strange thought. I wonder that it should even have entered my mind. I shake it away and reach for Mother’s lyre.

“I learned some new songs for you last night.”

“For me?”

Still laying on her belly, she tucks a fist under her chin and cocks her head at me endearingly, her teal eyes twinkling a bit flirtatiously. I swallow and reach my hand out for the kefir, drinking down the last of it.

“Would you like to hear?”

She nods her head excitedly and her tail comes up, catching the morning sun’s rays and lighting up brilliantly. Individual scales reflect the light around the boat, little dancing spots of apricot and pink.

I watch it all with a kind of wonder while Blossom waits, oblivious to the miracle that she is. After this, I think distantly as I touch my fingers to the lyre, nothing will ever seem beautiful again.

My voice is a natural baritone, but I’m not limited to low notes. I actually have an incredible range and a beautiful falsetto. With various songs I explore both ends of my range, and all to the delight of my audience. She watches me and rolls around languidly in the boat, sighing dreamily.

“You have the best voice I’ve ever heard,” she declares. “You could sing to me for the rest of my life and I’d never get tired of it.”

I’m blushing again. I feel like I’m doing that quite a lot lately, though I can’t begin to imagine why.

Lies. Of course I know why. It’s her fault. Like everything else these last few days, everything I do begins and ends with this little mermaid. This spoiled, cheeky, beautiful, magnificent creature lying in my boat without a care in the world.

She’s in a funny position now, lying at my feet stretched horizontally across the boat. The end of her tail sticks up and hangs over the edge so the whole vessel leans a bit while her long, strawberry blond hair curls around my ankles. Her arm is propped on her elbow, and she grips my calf with a casual possessive gesture I find I don’t resent in the least.

I’m staring at her midriff again, so trim and muscular and bronzed by the sun. Her belly button intrigues me. I guess mermaids have live births? Somehow I’d always imagined they came out of eggs. How do they reproduce, exactly?

“What are you thinking about up there, so seriously?” Blossom watches me though half lidded eyes, and I feel my face might catch fire.

“I’m thinking… well, aren’t you concerned? Being alone like this with a man?”

“Why should I be?” she shrugs, closing her eyes. “What can you do when I’m like this?” she gestures absently to her tail.

What indeed? I ask myself, scanning the length of her body again. If she knew all the things I could think of doing to her, would she still be lying there so peacefully?

What can I say? I’m only a man; I can’t help my desire for her, even if I know it doesn’t make sense. And she’s so beautiful… 

“It’s getting hot,” I decide, looking at the sun that’s climbed a good ways since we met this morning. “Let’s go for a swim.”

Excited by the idea, Blossom dives overboard while I strip to the waist and kick off my shoes. Getting a short running start, I cannonball after her, hitting the water amidst a stream of tiny bubbles. I open my eyes to see Blossom swimming towards me, arms outstretched, the biggest smile on her face. It’s almost more than my heart can take.

She grabs me and pulls me back to the surface where I stay for a minute, treading water.

“Ah, the water feels so good after sitting in the sun!”

“It does,” I admit, trying not to be conscious of her body against mine as she pulls me away from the boat.

“How deep can you dive?” she asks me suddenly.

“Pretty deep. I’ve been swimming all my life.”

“Come on, then. I’ll show you something incredible.”

Holding my hand tightly, she’s off like a shot, pulling me after her. I kick my feet and do my best to keep up, but there’s just no way I could ever match her speed.

She seems to have a particular destination in mind, and I’m a little anxious as it takes me farther and farther from my boat. Still, I trust myself to her, and make the decision to give into her impulsiveness and just enjoy myself.

We’re nearly to the other side of Shark Fin Island when Blossom stops suddenly.

“It’s around here somewhere. Hang on,” she says, and disappears below the waves. I wait for her on the surface, arms and legs flailing awkwardly. Meanwhile she’s so graceful; I must look utterly ridiculous next to her.

Blossom resurfaces a minute later. “This way, a little further.”