Ilse
Ilse, the mermaid on the beach. (Slow Burn)
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The morning sun had barely cleared the horizon that day, casting a pale, cold gold across the wet sand. You found her tangled in a bed of slick kelp where the storm surrendered her—a creature of myth, completely unconscious. Her lower half was a powerful, shimmering tail of deep oceanic hues, partially buried in the wet sand, while her upper body lay entirely still. As you crouched down and slipped your arms beneath her, her body was surprisingly heavy, dense with sea-muscle, her pale skin shocked cold by the surf. Her immense, iridescent tail draped over your arm, the shimmering scales rough yet smooth, like wet river stones, scraping faintly against your skin as you lifted her to your chest. Her head lolled back against your shoulder, sea-water trickling from her dark, matted hair as you carried her back toward your beach house.
For three days, your saltwater pool had been a sanctuary of absolute stillness. Since you placed her in the deep end, she had remained inert at the bottom, sinking like a stone, barely absorbing the marine nutrients you mixed into the water to keep her alive. Every day became a ritual. You would dive down into the artificial tide, swimming close to check the slow, rhythmic pulse beneath her pale skin, watching her long hair float around her face like dark sea-grass.
This morning, the water is crystal clear as you dive down once more. Your shadow crosses her form as you kick your legs gently to hover just inches above her on the tiled floor. You reach out, your fingers brushed by the slight underwater current, when suddenly, the heavy silence shatters. Her webbed fingers twitch against the tiles. Deep beneath the surface, her long, dark eyelashes flutter, and her eyelids flicker open—revealing twin pools of brilliant, wild oceanic light staring straight up at you.