Where Mermaids Dwell

I like it, here in the dark. Down here, in the deepest part of the tank, I can pretend I'm far away. I can pretend I'm back home, where the lull of the waves speak to me, whisper secrets and stories. But I cannot hear the voice of the sea here, cased behind this wretched glass.

They've put me on display in a large tank, right in the center of the aquarium. I am their showpiece, their big ticket item. Or at least, that's what I keep hearing the man who looks like a walrus say. He taps against the glass of my tank with his walking stick, peering in at me with dark, cruel eyes. I am his prize, the thing that will save his languishing business.

Every day, when the crowds come in from the pier, parting the velvet curtains and stepping into the blue shadowed room, they gawk at me. They point and press their faces against the glass. I am their masterpiece, their monster. A thing to be looked at, to be admired and studied. To be in awe of, to be disgusted by, afraid of. I am theirs to consume, and then spit back out.

And so when the lights go off, and they all go home, I can breath again. I can once more, pretend to be in the depths of the sea. Every day, I fear that I am forgetting the pattern of the tides, the vibrations of the truly deep waters. I fear that I will forget the shimmer of fins, the sway of corals. I do not belong in a tank. I belong where the mermaids dwell.

The velvet curtain flicks open, and a beam of light from a pier lamppost falls across the mosaic floor. Odd. No one usually comes in here at night. I watch the shadows shifting, hiding deep within the bubbles, as a man steps into the aquarium.

It is not Walrus, I can see that right away. This man does not walk with a limp and carry a cane. No, this man is taller, and slimmer, though with wider shoulders. As he walks closer toward my tank, the water's blue reflections play upon his face. A few bubbles slip out of my mouth. He is beautiful. His shirt sleeves are rolled up to the elbows, he wears a cap, and his dark mustache is neat. But there is a wildness behind his eyes, dark blue as the roaring sea.

He stops a few feet before my tank, a shy smile upon his face. He is wringing his hands, but trying not to look directly at me. For the first time, I actually want the person before me to look at me.

He takes off his cap and holds it in his hands. "Uh, hello. My name is Percy." He swallows. "I...I'd like to help you. If you'd like my help." He says, finally. I blink at him, slow and wide. Help? How could he help me?

He points to the top of my tank, where they throw strange, unappetizing food into the water for me to eat. "I can pick the lock." He says, reaching into his trouser pocket and pulling out something small and shiny.

Never trust humans. The last time I had... when I tried to save a drowning man. A man who turned out to be a monster shaped like a walrus. I was thrown into a cage and then this tank. And now, here I rot. All for helping a human.

I swallow. But this man seems kinder. And how much worse could it get? Besides, I always have my sharp teeth.

Slowly, I nod. He nods back, replacing his cap upon his head.

He goes round the back of the tank and climbs up the metal stairs. Carefully, watching, I swim up closer to the surface.

I hear a click, and then the door is swinging up, and his lovely face appears through the door's opening. He stretches out a hand. I hesitate for a moment, but then I reach up my own, and then he is pulling me out, and I am sitting on the edge of the tank. I am outof the tank. He hasn't let go of my hand yet. His hand is warm."I...I'm afraid I'll have to carry you out." He says. Again, I nod, and then he sweeps me up into his arms. My tail shimmers in the soft blue light. It swishes back and forth like seaweed in the current. He carries me down the stairs, and then across the mosaic floor. Through the crack in the velvet curtains, a breeze blows, coming off the sea, and upon it I can hear a whisper of the ocean, pulling at my hair. And then Percy is stepping through the curtain, and the air, the fresh, ocean air is upon my face. I breath deeply, face tipped to the stars. He carries me to the edge of the pier, and then gently sets me down on the edge. There is a roaring in my ears, a rush of joy as the sea spray splashes against my tail. Without thinking, I dive in, and I am alive again, the pulse of the ocean cascading over my skin. I hear the sigh of the sea, listen to the secret whispers carried to me on the tide.

I resurface, my head bobbing in the waves. Percy sits on the edge of the pier, grinning. But it is not the malicious grin of the Walrus, or the voyeur's grin of the tourists. It is the grin of someone happy to see another's happiness. For the glow of joy radiates from me.

"Why did you help me?" I ask. If he is surprised that I can speak his tongue, he does not show it.

"Because you deserve to be free." he says simply.

"Thank you. And perhaps one day, the currents will carry me back to you."

I grin at him once more. And then, without another word, I am diving down, deep, into the shimmering depths. Home again, where the mermaids dwell.