Sisters of the Sea

She’d been sick for a long time. Doctors tried to help, tried anything and everything to even just ease the pain, but it wasn’t working anymore. Nothing was working.

The selfish part of him wanted her to hang on, just that little bit longer. He wasn't ready to let her go. He’d probably never be ready.

But life didn’t care about that. It didn’t care that he wasn’t ready, that he might never be ready to let the woman he loved go. She was in pain. He could hear it in her breath, see it when she moved. Living hurt. Existing hurt.

No matter how loud, how vocal that selfish part of him was, that desperate desire to hold onto her just that little bit longer, he couldn’t do that to her. He’d never be ready to let her go, but it wasn’t up to him. He had to do it. No matter how painful it was.

She was heavy, a lead weight in his arms. But he never let go, instead holding her close, savouring his last, bittersweet minutes with her.

The water looked so calm, so peaceful. He envied it. It was about to receive such a gift, such a joy. God, he envied the sea.

He dropped to his knees at the edge of the water, his knees screaming in protest. He held her close one last time, kissing her forehead. It was hot, so hot.

“I have to let you go, love,” He whispered into her hair. “I pray the sea be kind to you.”

With shaking arms, he lowered her into the water slowly. He could see the arms of her soon to be sisters, reaching out, inviting her to join them. The arms of women laid to rest in the sea time and time again. At least she wouldn’t be alone.

He choked back a sob as the reaching arms pulled her weak body into the water, pulling her further and further away. They pulled her from his arms, from his life.

When his fingers left her too hot flesh, as she was pulled in, deeper and deeper, he sobbed. The force ripped through him as he knelt at the waterline, tears streaming down his face and falling into the water.

It was better this way. She’d feel no pain, nor would she remember those long, agonizing months spent with doctors poking and prodding her. She’d forget him too, their life in that tiny cottage by the sea. She’d forget their animals, the crackling of the range on a cold rainy night, his stories told in the quiet evening.

He’d never hear her laugh again, see her smile. He’d never hear her humming to herself as she puttered around the house, feel her fingers carding through his hair in the early hours of the morning. But this was better. She wouldn't suffer with her sisters of the sea.

A ghostly arm reached for his face, wiping tears form his cheeks. The skin was like sea foam, and the cold of it burned. He could only sob.

“Thank you,” Said the creature, giving him a smile with too sharp teeth. “We shall keep her safe.”

He nodded, still silently wailing, his heart shattering in his chest.

“P-please. That’s all I ask.”

The siren smiled warmly, lifting herself up from the water to kiss his cheek.

“Too often our sisters come to us by the hands of wicked men. You are good, kind. She will know peace.”

She sank back into the water, turning away to join her sisters. He watched on, the cold water lapping at his knees. It was better this way.