The Mermaid by John William Waterhouse (photo credit: Wikipedia)
I knew I was safe as long as I kept one foot in the water and the other on the shore.
My dreams had told me as much.
But should I stray, either way, destiny would claim me.
Two feet on the land and the sea would reject me for good.
Both feet in the water and the waves would pull me under, my legs transforming into shimmering scales.
There would be no undoing, no going back.
But my dreams had told me a lot more. Of how the world beneath the waves sparkled in the light of sun, moon and stars. Of how the folk of the sea possessed healing magic…but they were despised by all and thought omens of ill-luck…hated and hunted…
I had the blood of the merfolk in my veins. Was I gifted or cursed? It didn’t matter. All I knew was that I had reached the age when the magic had awoken within me. Now that it had stirred, it could not be silenced.
And soon I would have to decide…I couldn’t walk the shore forever, being of both but belonging to neither…
Sammi Cox 