I Saw a Mermaid Once

Once, when I was very young

A child of perhaps seven

I saw a mermaid

At a lake that was so nice

We called it a beach

There were even tiny shells

Littering the sand

Which I liked to collect

In my little, plastic bucket

I had been warned to stay off the pier

The end which dropped off into deep water

But I didn't listen

I was a stubborn child

Too curious for my own good

And recklessly brave

I snuck along the pier

Passing sunbathers

Who basked in the sun

And old men with fishing poles

Trying in vain just to catch one fish

I reached the end of the pier unnoticed

I descended the ladder into the water

But just a few rungs from the bottom

My foot hit something slippery

Algae perhaps

I grasped at the ladder, but I fell anyway

As I fell, my face hit the rung in front of me

Knocking my jaw jarringly

On the unforgiving iron

And breaking open my lip

With my own teeth

I was plunged into murky water

Sinking fast, like a bullet

It was as though a stone

Had been tied around my ankle

Several feet of water

Rushed over my head

Crushingly

I was terrified

But then I felt something

Colder than the cool water

Brush my skin

I reacted in fear

Trying to propel myself upward

Toward the surface

But I continued to sink

My vision blurred

I felt strong hands clamp

With sureness

Around my waist, lifting me

I was propelled upward

Faster than I had sunk

I broke the surface spluttering

Trying to clear the water from my vision

A soaking mass of dark, wet hair

Was nestled close against my neck

I was cradled in a woman's arms

Like a little baby

She looked scared and concerned

She shoved me, unceremoniously

Up onto the pier

And as she turned and dove

Back into the depths

I caught a glimpse

Of a shining, silvery fish tail