Miserable, Lonely, and Depressed

Harmony swam through the crowd gathering in the middle of Maritania. It was the usual mid-day lunch and shopping crowd she had grown used to every day of her life for the past seventeen years. She sighed once she broke through and had finished her usual smiles and salutations. She wanted something more than this. It was all too mundane for her.

“Hey! Harmony!” Harmony kept her eyes set forward and continued swimming. “Harm! Harm! Harmony!”

Harmony stopped swimming and waited for the caller to catch up. A mermaid a bit younger than Harmony with bright blonde hair swam in front of her and swished her hair out of her eyes.

“Hi Nessa,” Harmony said, continuing to swim at a slower pace.

“Where ya going?” Nessa asked, swimming circles around Harmony.

Nessa was one of the smartest mermaids of her age. For only twelve years old she knew almost as much as Harmony. Her curiosity made her that way. Ever since she could swim on her own she would swim ahead and explore and ask questions. Harmony clearly recalled it driving their parents crazy.

“I don’t know. I’m just going.” Harmony said, growing irritated with her sister swimming in front of her every two seconds, constantly slowing her down.

“Oh. Can I come?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” she said, putting a fake smile on her face.

“Why not?” Nessa asked, stopping in front of Harmony and pouting.

“Because I’d like to have some time to myself.” Harmony sighed, swimming around her sister.

“Are you going up to that rock again?” Nessa asked causing Harmony to stop and turn around. “Yeah, I know about it. I followed you once a few months ago and saw you swim to the surface against a huge rock.”

“I only had my head above the water, Nessa. It was no big deal. No one saw me.” Harmony said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

“Is that where you’re going?” Nessa asked, putting her hands on her hips and swishing her tail.

“It’s really none of your business where I go, Nessa.”

“I’ll tell Daddy.” She said defiantly. Harmony pressed her lips together in a thin line. Nessa was their father’s favorite. She was smart, obedient, she knew her boundaries and because of that she was Daddy’s golden girl.

“Fine, Nessa, I turn 18 in a week and I’ll be able to live above the surface with the humans forever.”

“Daddy will never let you and you know it.”

“Dad can’t control my life.” she spit out.

“What makes you think he’ll let you stay if he didn’t let Arianna stay?” Nessa asked giving Harmony a look.

“Arianna didn’t want to stay, Nessa.”

“So…?” Nessa asked and Harmony sighed.

“Just go away Nessa.” Harmony said, turning away from her sister and swimming as fast as she could.

“Face it Harm! You’re going to live in Maritania for the rest of your life!” Nessa called. Harmony looked over her shoulder and could see Nessa’s blonde hair and red tail swimming back towards Maritania.

“I’ll show her.” Harmony muttered, continuing her long swim to the place that would bring her closer to everything she wanted in life and more. The surface.

****

As Harmony got closer to the surface her tail moved faster through the ocean’s waves. The sunlight was shining down on her skin making her feel warm. She smiled as she could see her favorite rock up ahead. She loved to swim up to it and just watch the people relax on the sand or play in the water. Her favorites were the little humans.

Finally her head broke through the surface and she breathed in the fresh air and swam right up to the rock, looking toward the sand. She was disappointed to see that no one was there. With a sigh she leaned against the rock and let her tail swish gently in the water as she watched the seagulls fly above her head. A splash in the water caught her attention and she turned her head.

A boy, about her age was standing on the sand. His… feet were showing and he was holding these funny looking things in his hands. She watched with fascination as he threw a small pebble to the water and it skipped before falling down into the depths of the ocean.

Harmony focused on his face. Though she was too far away to notice details she did notice that he had dark, dark brown hair and beautiful skin. Something silver on his hand caught her eye and she tilted her head in wonder as to what it could be.

The boy started walking across the sand, moving closer to the rock. Harmony was cautious and moved behind the rock more but still kept peeking around to watch him. As he got closer she noticed his eyes were a beautiful, deep brown. He was saying something but she wasn’t close enough to hear. She ducked behind the rock as he got closer and closer and listened intently.

“When you love someone, and they break your heart, don’t give up on love, have faith restart…” he mumbled, looking up and gazing over the ocean. Harmony looked at his face and saw the emotion. He looked so sad and she felt bad for him.

A strange noise came from somewhere and Harmony looked around for the source. She looked back towards the boy and saw him holding something up to his ear and he was talking. He sounded funny talking to himself.

“Okay Mom, I’m just at the beach. I’ll be home in fifteen minutes.” He said, turning his back to Harmony. “No, Nick and Kevin don’t need to get me. I rode my bike. Okay… bye.”

The boy walked across the sand again, slowly disappearing from Harmony’s sight. She swam around the rock again to watch him longer. She was intrigued by this boy.

“Maybe… when I finally have my chance on land… I’ll see him again.” She said. With no one else to watch on the beach she dove back underwater to swim back to Maritania.