My Little Mermaid

Maria had her fiance in the house today. They were sitting in the living room, huddled together on the couch. A recent addition. It was large enough to hold three, and it was blue. But this time, only two sat on it. Juliette watched from the outside, gazing longingly at them. She wanted to be like them. She wanted to have a relationship like them, but that would never happen. Not in this life time.

Today, Juliette was to work in the vegetable garden, weeding out front. Helen watched her, making sure she didn't do something she wasn't suppose to. It made Juliette feel like a criminal. She felt trapped, caged within her own fenced yard and home. It didn't help that she wanted to go to the cliff again, to maybe catch a glimpse of that man—merman again. He had been on her mind since the day she saw him. Seventeen days ago. Every time she went back, he wasn't there. It left disappointment in her when she went back home after every trip. He was becoming her freedom. Her relaxation. Her escape from her mundane life. Even though he wasn't there, the thought of him being there and her seeing him again made it worth while. It made her appreciate the time she spent away from her oppressing family.

“Juliette, you're dreaming again,” Helen pointed out, raising the last part of her sentence, sounding almost sing-songy. It snapped Juliette out of her daze. She wasn't doing what she was suppose to. Pulling at the weeds, she tossed them in the bucket. It became automatic after awhile. Her mind started to wander as she pulled weeds from the ground.

She thought of places under the water. The dangerous water that tried to kill her. Still in awe of it, Juliette felt the fear start to disappear after only three days away from it. She wished she could swim. To swim in the chilly blue depths would be a dream come true.

“Juliette!” Helen snapped, bringing her daughter back once more. “You're dreaming. I thought I told you to stop daydreaming. It's bad for the mind.” Helen's hands worked at planting a few flowers and pulling the green monstrosities known as weeds from the dirt. She turned to the fair haired girl, narrowing her eyes at her cheeks. The telling sign of red stained the peach colored skin of Juliette. She knew her daughter was getting sunburned, but she did nothing about it. It wasn't her job to take care of the eighteen year old girl. It was Juliette's.

“I don't think it will.” Juliette kept her eyes on the dirt as she talked with her mother. “Daydreaming can't be that bad. Children dream all the time.” Helen snorted, unimpressed. Brushing her a few rebellious strands of hair back, Helen went back to her work, glancing at Juliette every chance she got.

“Children learn to stop dreaming.” Her hands stopped moving as she turned to her mother, surprised. “You seem to have forgotten that.” Juliette scowled as she pulled furiously at the plants littering the garden. She moved away from her mother, not wanting to be close to her. To be reminded, over and over again that she was the dreamer, crazy enough to believe what she saw in the water, hurts. It hurt, especially coming from her mother and family.

She finished the beds and stomped to the compost out back, dumping the weeds. Juliette said nothing as she walked out of the fenced yard of her family's home. She needed time to herself. Time to calm down. She knew just the place to do it. The cliff.

Standing up on the cliff, she relished the roar of the waves in her ears and the wind blasting against her skin. It felt right. Everything washed away as she stood there, arms spread out and head back. It felt like life was coming into her again. She didn't feel like a dreamer any more. She felt like a person, a normal girl growing into her body. It was a wonderful feeling.

Opening her eyes, Juliette sat down, staring at the ocean. The sky was blue with blots of clouds marring the color. She sat there, watching the scene before her as if a movie—something she read about, an electrical device that had moving pictures. There was a picture in the museum of one, but no one now could figure out how it worked. That kind of technology was lost to the ages, leaving scars in the earth. Technology left some places uninhabitable. Animals fled from those areas and people created villages together. All along the water's edge.

That was what she learned in school, but she was out of school. Just this past summer, she graduated. Now, everything was draining from her memory because none of it was applicable. There was barely any technology left in the world. She knew there were some degrading technology out in the wasteland beyond the farthest fields, but no one was allowed to go there. It was deemed forbidden. Even to the elders themselves.

“I need to head back,” she whispered, looking up at the darkening sky. The sun was starting to set, dipping lower and lower. She needed to be back before dinner or her mother would send her to bed without it. Walking down from the cliff, she heard something. A flipping and flapping as if something was struggling. Pausing in her stroll, she turned back, looking at the beach behind her. There, at the edge of the water, was something large, rolling and flapping a tail trying to get out. It looked so pitiful. Her heart clenched at the thought of the fishermen coming to find the creature.

So she walked over to it. Once she was close enough, she noticed it wasn't a fish or even a whale. No, it was the merman from before. He laid tangled in the net, exhausted. His chest heaved in air. Each breath blew a bit of sand away. Juliette noticed he had off colored skin. It wasn't the usual peachy color of a humans, but a pale blue mixed with the normal human color.

She stepped closer, crouching down a few feet away from him. Tentatively, she reached out, touching his out stretched arm, just to see if he was awake and alive. His head snapped up as he nearly smacked her. She fell back with a squeal, not expecting the strike in the slightest. He sneered at her. “It's okay,” she started softly, shifting onto her knees. “I won't hurt you.” As soon as she was in arm's reach, he lashed out again. “I'm trying to help!” Her shout didn't even phase him. Whenever she came close, he would either try and hit her hand away or wriggle back.

A silence fell over them. Juliette, tired and sunburned, sat there before him, arms crossed. She didn't know what to do. He just didn't accept that she was there to help him. Not that she expected him to. She was a stranger to him. She didn't even know if he could understand her. Besides, what if mermaid/mermen customs were different? She could be insulting him for all she knew. Groaning, she flopped back, letting her mind wander. “What are you going to do when the tide comes in?” she asked, thinking aloud, looking at the dark sky. The moon shone over head. It was full tonight, which she was happy about. At least she could see.

“What is it to you, human?” the voice, snide and condescending, said. Sitting up, Juliette stared at the man, black hair and blue eyes, wondering if he really did just speak to her. “Don't you want to eat me?”

“What? Eat you? Why would I want to eat you?” she asks, incredulous of the whole idea. “That's like...” A shiver rolled down her spine at the thought. “cannibalism.”

“So? Don't you do that all the time?” Juliette stared at him, not truly understanding why he would think she would do that. “You eat your old and dying. Along with your enemies. And at times sacrifice them to your gods,” he spat, trying to get in a better position within the net.

“Um...no. That was centuries ago, if not a millennium.” The merman seemed confused. “Eating human is bad for your health,” Juliette stated simply, reciting what a text book said. “Can I help you now?” He didn't move to stop her as she crept closer. Once she touched the thin black strands making up the net, she flinched back, expecting him to strike her. He didn't. He just watched her cautiously as she pulled and untangled the net from his body. At times he hissed in pain where the net cut into him, but he never hit her as she worked.

Wiping the sweat from her brow on the back of her arm, she gave the last tug and pulled the net free, falling back. The net fluttered down across her legs. The male pushed himself up, rolling over and sitting straight. He flipped his tail a few times, splashing her. But she didn't move. Everything about him entranced her. She didn't believe herself as she sat there looking at the half fish, half human before her. He shouldn't be real. He should be a myth, and yet he was here before her. It just never sank in before. She knew he was real, but her mind kept crawling back to what others said about the myths and stories—“They are nothing more than a lesson, a moral. Nothing in them are true. Remember that.”

“Well,” the man paused, glancing at her. She snapped from her daze, staring at him. “Thank you.” It was soft. Not even louder than a whisper, but she heard it. She heard it loud and clear even with the wind and the water roaring around her. Those two words made her heart flutter.

“You're welcome,” she said automatically. “If...” He turned to her, staring at her with those blue eyes, the same blue as his tail. But unlike Maria's blue eyes, his didn't hide secrets and couldn't change any man's mind with just a gaze. No, his eyes were like the ocean, calm and dangerous. They showed his emotions; anger, shame, and gratefulness. “Could I possibly know your name?” When her question was answered with silence, she figured he wouldn't answer. Sighing heavily, Juliette started to get up, tossing the net back into the water.

“Nicolas.” Cocking her head, she stared at him, thinking the name fit. She didn't know why, but it did. “But it's polite to say your name as well. Or is that not how it is up on land?” he asked, sounding a bit miffed by this whole situation.

“Oh! Sorry, my mind wandered. I'm Juliette.”

“Juliette?” He sounded dubious. It was like he didn't believe her or didn't like the name.

“Yeah, why?” she asked, getting a bit defensive over her name. The one thing her parents gave her out of love. The one thing she could hold on to for the rest of her life. Nicolas just shook his head, not giving an answer. “Well,” she looked over his body, noticing the cuts are still bleeding. “do you want me to treat those wounds?” Juliette asked softly, gesturing to the scrapes. Nicolas turned his gaze down to his body, looking over the bleeding wounds. His face scrunches up a bit, showing his frustration. “Salt in those would really hurt.” He turned to her, wondering what she might be thinking. “There's a shack. It's not far and no one uses it. You could stay there until those heal.” Nicolas glanced back at the ocean before turning to the girl next to him. She stayed back, keeping her distance, which he was grateful for. He never liked people crowding him.

“And how am I going to get there?” he snapped. He regretted it instantly as she flinched away.

“I could carry you,” she offered, wringing her fingers together. “Or go get something to pull you in.” He stared at her form, wondering if she could even lift anything with her lanky form. She looked around, searching for something to possibly use. Juliette didn't know what to do. There was nothing, just her and him. She stood up, moving to him. Looking down at him, gauging how heavy he was, she placed her hands on her hips. In her mind, she was trying to figure it out. She didn't know if she could carry him, but she will do it.

Nicolas lifted his arms up, giving her some help to get him up. She wrapped her arms under his arms, trying to lift him up enough to start moving him. His tail dragged as she pulled him towards the shack. She tried to keep to the grass as she moved to the wooden shack. It stood alone, not used any more. It had moss growing on the roof. The grass was long and overgrown. Some of the boards were chipping away with rot. But it would do.

Juliette grunted as her muscles shook. Small tremors as she bumped into the wooden door. It opened in, luckily. All she had to do was push against it and go in. Nicolas glared at the water, thinking about how he got caught in the fisher's net. He never got caught before, but this time he wasn't watching where he was going. It didn't help that he had been there before, and there were no nets. It lulled him into a false sense of security.

When her arms shook terribly, she nearly dropped the male. Her heels hit something behind her. She tripped and fell back, taking Nicolas with her. He landed on top of her, crushing her. She couldn't breathe. He wiggled off, laying on his stomach. “What the hell are you doing?” he yelled, annoyed. Juliette gasped and spluttered for air as it rushed back into her lungs after being forced out. “You could have done that a bit gentler.” Nicolas glared harshly at the young woman, but Juliette just soaked up his harsh words, knowing there was some truth to them. But there wasn't much she could have done.

“Yeah,” she rasped. “I know. I tripped,” slipped from her lips as she sat up, grasping her shirt. Nicolas stared, surprised about her answer. He didn't know if she was being sincere or not. He could never be sure with humans. They were creatures unknown to him. He never thought he would ever meet one, but now he has. He had heard stories and watched them over and over again. Nicolas didn't know if all of them were true, but to know that such barbaric things happened. He hated humans. They were the reason for everything. They were the reason the world was sent back to a world without technology.

“At least you admit it,” he grumbled. Juliette didn't say anything. “Well, are you going to leave me here or what?” She cocked her head slightly, thinking on it. She really didn't know what she was going to do. She could leave him. But then how would he get back into the water or what would happen when someone found him? These thoughts and more ran through her mind as she figured the best thing to do was stay with him.

“I'll stay. I don't know what would happen if someone else found you.” Nicolas blinked, surprised by her. He didn't expect her to be worried for him and about what would happen to him. All he had was a preconception about humans when he met Juliette. And she was proving him wrong at every turn.

Juliette sighed and sat down further away from him, giving him his space. She knew he didn't want her anywhere close, but she didn't want to risk the weather outside during the night. Nicolas shifted away from her before laying his head on his arms, watching her carefully. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it, forcing her eyes close to show she wasn't a threat. Nicolas watched her, waiting for her to do something against him. She didn't. She just drifted off into her dreams, relaxing on her knees before curling up on her side. Juliette used her arm beneath her head as a pillow. He still didn't trust her, but his body was telling him to get some sleep. To relax and heal. His eyes were drifting close, but he fluttered them open every few seconds, staring at the girl.

He slowly drifted off. His dreams and body worked together, taking him away from reality and into fantasy. Nicolas was asleep. Everything now was up to fate. He nor Juliette could predict the future and if anyone would come. They could only hope no one would.