Lost and Found

Shaun stands by an old pine-tree concealed behind its thick branches. He watches the other children playing in the tide. They splash, drenching each other’s clothes, and cackle at jokes he can't hear. He catches one thing, though, whispered amongst the group - the girl with the hazelnut hair is a mermaid.

The other children play all afternoon, but only she stays after the sun has set. After all of the other children have gone home, coaxed into their cabins by a hearty meal or a family gathering, she stays behind, and watches the sea. Tonight, Shaun waits too, and wanders if this will be the night she wanders into the ocean and never returns.

Shaun hears heavy footsteps crunching the leaves behind him.

A thick hand lands gently on his shoulder, "come on buddy." It's his Dad, looking down at him with sparkling blue eyes. "It's time to come inside, he says." Shaun throws one last glance toward the mermaid, and keeps his eyes glued as his body turns away.

Shaun's room is lit with amber tealights. He watches the casted shadows making pictures on the walls. They are soon joined by a much larger shadow, with long unruly tangles of hair. He feels the end of his bed sink under a weight. "Mum," mumbles Shaun through heavy lips, "will you tell me about Ariel?"

Shaun's Mum ponders his question for a moment, before diving in to a bedtime story, "...there once was a girl who lived by the sea."

The next morning Shaun scoffs down his breakfast before his parents have even thought to blow the steam off their eggs. His Dad looks on in disbelief. "Can I go now?" He manages through his last bite. He'd overheard the other children talking about an abandoned building on the island the housed a loot of treasure. He'd be damned if he'd let them find it before he did. He swallows, and waits expectantly.

His Dad answered first, "return your plate first, buddy," he began to say, but was quickly interrupted by his Mother, who laughed to herself.

"Let him go."

He doesn't wait for them to argue.

The intel was fruitful, and by mid-afternoon Shaun has found the building that houses the treasure. When he peeks inside he sees a large cardboard box.

He hauls it the floor. It's filled with paperwork, clothes, and a pair of large sunglasses. He slips on the sunglasses, and rustles through the box as they slip down his nose. He pushes aside a bundle of hairclips, revealing a flash of muted gold. He digs to the bottom. Sunken, and draped across the aged cardboard lies a heavy heart-shaped locket. He pulls it out.

His eyes grow wide.

Holding it to the sun he sees a diamond embedded in the centre. The light richochettes and casts fairy lights across the dusty room. It will be a perfect gift for a mermaid.

With eager anticipation, Shaun sprints back to the beach as fast as he can. He arrives before sunset, and watches with dwindling confidence as the other children begin to desperse back into their homes. He realises that the mermaid is wearing a coral wreath around he head. It must be a crown, he thinks. Maybe in preperation for her return home. As the last of the children is commandered home, Shaun's nerves spike.

He grasps the necklace like an ice-cream cone, and the cool chain drips down his wrist in pale gold butterscotch. Give it to her now, he thinks to himself, or you might never get the chance.

He doesn't hear the footsteps behind him, until his Mother is standing beside him. He jumps in surprise, and lets out an involunary yelp. His Mum laughs, "what are you doing staring out at the ocean?"

"Mum!" Shaun warns, obscuring himself behind the tree trunk, "can you not?" His Mum looks back at the girl, and then gives him a knowing look.

"What?" Shaun quips, sulkily dripping the necklace back into his pocket.

Later that night, Shaun lies in bed and wanders about the mermaid. When he feels his mothers weight at the end of his bed, he asks, "Mum, do you think the mermaid ever gets lonely? She cocks her head in confusion.

"Ariel?" She asks, "no sweetie, Ariel has all of her fish friends."

"No Mum, not Ariel." Shaun says with indignant impatience. "The girl. The one who watches the sea every night."

"The one that you watch?"

Shaun sighs, embarressed, "I suppose so."

As Shaun falls asleep, he wonders about the mermaids family. Maybe an island retreat isn't a holiday for her, as it is for him. Maybe her parents would rather be somewhere else, just like his.

When the man with the brochures had showed up at their door, Shaun's father had threatened him with a knife. He didn't know why, but he pulled out his own plastic pocketknife as well. When the man came back only two days later his parents had let him without protest.

Shaun hid up the stairs, just beyond his parents’ sight but close enough to catch their words. Of the few he caught, 'quarantine' and 'non-negotiable' fell to the floor, unnoticed. But the words he needed to hear, 'think of it like a holiday' marched their little legs through the kitchen and joined Shaun at the top of the staircase. His mouth fell open in surprise, and it took all his willpower to wait for the man to leave before he shot down the stairs, yelling,

"We're going to an island!"

His parents muffled their sighs of exasperation, and hid the brochures in their pockets.

Two days later they missed the first boarding, and then they missed the second. It was only when the man with the brochures showed up again that they actually found the motivation to leave.

And so, Shaun's arrival at the island was three days late, and all of the other kids knew each other by the time he arrived. The first touch of sand sent shivers down his spine. The granules were cold. When he tripped and fell chin deep in the golden dunes his parents plucked him, one arm in each hand and swung him to his feet, laughing. It was the first time he'd seen them smiled in weeks.

Shaun woke to the smell of pancakes wafting under his door. When he stood in the kitchen, rubbing his eyes, he was surprised to hear that his Mum had planned a trip.

"But Mum, I want to go to the beach."

"- What, so you can watch the other kids play from behind a tree? I don't think so. I'm taking you somewhere fun."

"Where are we going?" he insisted.

"It's a surprise."

Shaun swivelled on the spot, looking around the living room for his Dad.

"Dad's not coming," his Mum said casually, "he's got things he needs to sort out on the island.

Shaun shovelled a pancake into his mouth, “where are we going?" His Mum let out a sigh, then knelt down next to him. She pulled a worn piece of paper from her jeans; it was covered in cursive handwriting.

"A man on the island told me about a shipwreck - if we follow these directions it should take us there."

Shaun felt excitement bubble in his legs, "let's go!" he cheered, springing from the dining chair.

His Mum laughed at the sudden burst of enthusiasm, "wait!" she called, "you don't even know which way it is!"

They'd been wondering the woods for hours now, and Shaun had half a mind to turn around. But after a few more exhausting minutes, he finally spied the dilapitated silhoutte of a lopsided mast. "There!" He shouted, and broke out into a sprint.

He arrived at the shoreline, and keeled over in the shallow water, panting for breath. He gasped as he took in the size of the ship. Apparently - according to his Mum - it was 'too dangerous' to climb, so Shaun satisfied himself by inspecting it from the outside. Every broken chain and desperately clinging barnacle told a story that Shaun relayed with confidence.

"And this break in the wood is from when the fleed with all of England's treasures," he explained.

After hearing one too many stories about desperately fleeing barnacles, his Mother decided it was time to head home. "We can come back tomorrow," she told him, with a suspicious lack of enthusiasm.

The walk back home was surprisingly quick for Shaun, as he continued his fables about black-beard and barnacles. Finally, he ended his stories with an anticipated topic chance. "If we get back in time can I give The Mermaid her necklace?" He asked, thicking of the locket he'd hidden under his pillow.

His Mum scoffed in jest, "you won't," she laughed, "you're too scared to talk to her."

"I will!" He insisted.

The argued back and forth, until they saw the cabin lights flickering in the distance. Shaun mused to himself, "when we get home can I have more pancakes?"

"Pancakes for dinner? I don't think so."

"But you had a cocktail for lunch yesterday-"

His mother spluttered, making a sound somewhere between laughter and shock as they ascending the cabin stairs.

"- which means I get to have-"

Shaun stopped short, and froze in the doorway. Sitting in his chair, arms held tight to her petite frame, and green eyes wide, was The Mermaid.

"What's she-" he began to speak, but the words would not form.

His Dad stood in the kitchen, fidgeting with an oven-mitt. "Buddy," he said, voice gentle, "this is Mila". The Mermaid twitched her lip, in a nervous attempt at a smile.

Shaun stood with his mouth gaping, probably looking to Mila like a mute goldfish. In silence, assistance, his Mother gently guided him to the table, and then slipped a stack of pancakes under his nose.

"Mila's going to be staying with us for a while" his Dad explained.

Shaun looked at Mila across the table. He couldn't see any scales on her neck, but he noticed that her arms were quivering. She was scared, he realised, with a pang in his stomach. He took a deep breath, and called on his courage to speak. "Mum puts chocolate chips in the pancakes" he said, simply.

Mila picked at the pancakes with shaky hands, and plucked a chocolate chip from the dough. She nibbled at it, then took a huge bite from her stack. Her eyes lit up, "this is amazing."

Shaun beamed, and his father let out a small sigh of relief.

Mila ate in silence, and Shaun's parents exchanged fertive glances. The silence continued as the plates were emptied, and Shaun's Dad prepared a mattress on the loungeroom floor.

Shaun whispered into his fathers ear, with a sidelong glance at Mila, "I don't see any scales."

His Dad shook his head, "you were right," he said.

Shaun frowned, confused, "that she's a mermaid?"

"No," he responded, with a twinkle in his eyes, "she was waiting for her family."

Shaun didn’t know what to make of the sadness in his father’s eyes, so he asked, “do they know she’s here?”

His Dad shook his head again, and it took a moment for Shaun to understand what he was saying but the pieces slowly clamped together like the hinge on a locket. The Mermaid didn't have a family, and they weren't coming to find her.

She wouldn't be returning to the sea.