My Little Mermaid

When the door slammed against her back, Juliette jerked awake. Startled and fearing what had happened, she shot up and turned towards the wooded thing. “Oy, somethin' is blockin' da door.” Juliette recognized the voice. The voice of Master Hemlock. He's the fisherman along with all of the males in his family. Some said he was half crazy coming out of the womb, but most believed the water took part of his sanity.

But there wasn't time for her to think of things like that. She needed to get him away, along with his brothers and sons. She needed to do whatever quickly because Nicolas was still asleep, deep in slumber as his body healed. Sucking in a deep breath, she cracked open the door. “Master Hemlock?” He was called “master” because he was a master at his trade. She knew this and hoped he wouldn't send her back home if she was polite.

“Missy?” The old, weathered man with gray stubble across his chin as white peppered his brown hair. He squinted for a moment before recognizing her. “Well, Miss Julliette Carver,” Isaac Hemlock said. “Why are you in there? Your parents were wonderin' where you were last night.”

Julliette swallowed the lump forming in her throat, nervous. She had to figure out a way to get rid of him before he found out about Nicolas. “I needed time to myself. I lost track of the time, so I decided to stay here for the night.”

Isaac nodded, rubbing his chin and scratching at the stubble. “Aye.” He told his brother what was happening. He turned back to her, smiling. “I'll leave ya be. Just hand me that net.” Isaac figured she wanted to stay away from her family at this moment, especially when they would be yelling at her. He knew what everyone said about her and her fantasies. He even agreed with some of them, but Isaac also knew what it was like to be shunned, to be made fun of.

She gave him a curt nod before turning around, shifting the door close. Searching the small shack, Juliette found the net in the back, hanging on the wall. Nicolas was underneath it. Letting out a sigh, she maneuvered around him and picked up the net, hoping not to drop it nor fall on him. The edges dangled, gently brushing against Nicolas' arm. He shifted, mumbling something, but Juliette was relieved he didn't wake up. She heads back to the door, holding the net for Isaac to take. He took it before handing it off to his brother, a short, stocky version of Isaac. “Thank you. Now, just head on back home. Your parents wanted to talk with ya.” She nodded, not saying anything as he walked away with his brother just behind him.

As she watched him disappear over the hills, leaving her alone with Nicolas. She breathed a sigh of relief before shutting the door. Turning to the still sleeping merman, Juliette gulped audibly. She didn't want to wake him. It might cause him to lash out at her. But she needed to wake him up. He needed to get back home. She needed to get back home. Taking a deep breath, Juliette walked over to him, praying to whatever deity above she could think of to protect her when she woke up Nicolas.

Reaching out, she gently shook his shoulder, hoping he will wake up easily. He didn't. He turned over, snoring softly. Groaning loudly, Juliette called to him, “Nicolas. You need to wake up.” She shook his shoulder again, and this time he started to wake up. His blue eyes flickered open, turning towards her. He looked as if he didn't know exactly who she was nor where he was. But after a moment or two it seemed to come back to him. He sighed heavily, pushing up, turning over and staring at her.

“And why are you getting me up?” Juliette shook her head before turning away.

“Breakfast, what do you want?” she asked, knowing it would be best if they wait for the cover of night to take him back. “I'll head into town to get something to eat. No one should be in, but just in case, shove something in front of the door.” Nicolas stared at her, not believing he could shove something in front of the door. Her shoulders slumped as she turned to look for something. On the door is a lock, a long plank that had a spoke that made it easier to move along the door. “Use this. It should work.” Nicolas looked as she gestured to the lock. He nodded, accepting it would work, and he could use it.

“Just get me what you usually eat.” Juliette nodded. She walked down the hills and to the dirt path back to the town. She just hoped her parents wouldn't hold her up.

The town appeared in her sights, and it sent dread through her. Juliette ducked her head, walking home. People paused in their duties to look at her as she passed. Her shoulders slumped even more as she walked to her home. The wind blew her hair up and around her head. She brushed it away, seeing her home just ahead of her. Juliette steeled herself as she walked into it.

“Where the hell have you been?!” Her mother screeched, rounding on her from the couch. Juliette flinched, not wanting to face her. Helen clenched her hands before placing them on Juliette's shoulders, giving the eighteen year old a good shake. “You did not come home last night. We thought you were dead.” Juliette bit her tongue. Like you would care. Her mother huffed, storming away with a string of curses to the high heavens.

Swallowing the dread, she headed to the kitchen, to get something, anything to eat. Finding a few apples, bread, and cheese, Juliette sneaked out the back, knowing she had to get back to the wooden shack and to Nicolas.

“Where do you think your going?” This time it was her father, William. He stood there with his arms crossed, glaring. His hazel eyes burned holes through her head. She didn't want to stop, but it wasn't often that her father talked with her or said anything to her. “You stay out all night and now you're sneaking out? Where's your loyalty? You made us worry.” Again, she bit her tongue as tears threaten to fall. She knew this was all a show, to show that they had accepted her, at least somewhat. They wanted to show this to everyone else, even though they all knew they didn't. They ostracized her within her own home. If she could, she would spend everyday inside the shack and stay near the ocean. But they would search for her and then punish her.

“I'm going out. You know, staying out of people's way.” She couldn't keep the biting tone from her voice, but she kept it to a minimum. Juliette marched away, knowing William wouldn't try to come after her. No, he would let her go.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she made it out of town with the food still in her small satchel. The shack came into view. A smile pulled at her lips, a genuine one. She knocked at the door, knowing it to be locked. “Nicolas, open up. I brought food.” The bolt shifted and the door unlocked. She waited for a moment, to make sure he wasn't still behind the door when she opened it. Poking her head through, she saw him sitting on several boxes in the corner, looking angry. Juliette sighed before shutting the door behind her. “I have apples, bread, and some cheese.”

Nicolas eyed the girl as she started to cut the bread and cheese, splitting everything as evenly as possible. “When can I get out of here?” he asked, annoyed to be stuck in a small wooden building for so long. He felt restless.

Juliette lifted her gaze and stared at him. She looked back down, fearing what will happen when she says until tonight. “Until cover of night.” When he doesn't say anything, she looked up, wondering what had kept him from berating her. He stared at the food, feeling his hunger gnaw at his stomach. Juliette held out his portion, even adding in her own apple. “Here.” Nicolas eyed the food, watching her from the corner of his eyes, eat a few pieces of cheese. He wanted to make sure it wasn't poisoned. He ate the food, not expecting them to be the same as what he had back home. He thought for sure, there would be some weird gnarled tree root or brain. He was thinking the worst, so when she brought regular food he recognized, he was pleasantly surprised.

They ate in silence. Neither one felt the need to talk. Until Juliette asked, “Do you have apples underwater?” Nicolas swallowed the bite he just took, looking at her as she finished the bread slice.

“Yes.”

“Really?” She was surprised to say the least. “How?”

“We have a garden.” He looked at her as if that should be obvious.

She huffed, brushing the look off. “But wouldn't the trees drown or be crushed?” Nicolas chuckled, not believing she could be this dense. “What?” Juliette turned her gaze down, feeling she embarrassed herself.

“You are the most oblivious woman I have ever met.” She pursed her lips, not liking to be called oblivious. “Don't you have gardens up here?”

“Well, yeah. But those are just patches in the ground where we plant seeds.”

“Wait, your gardens are just patches of land? No automated water system or UV lighting?” He paused in eating his bread and cheese to stare at Juliette. Nicolas thought everyone had these things. It was a necessity down under the waves.

Juliette furrowed her brow, confused beyond belief. “Automated? UV?” She tried to think of anything that she learned in school. Nothing came to mind. She didn't remember learning about UV or automated anything. “What's that?”

The merman choked on his food, nearly spitting it back out as he turned to Juliette. “If you don't have those, what do you use?” Juliette figured he should know this, but shrugged.

She listed off all the things they did when growing something. “We plant the seeds during the spring and water them by hand,” she pointed out. “We then harvest them later in the year.” Nicolas gaped at her. “You don't do that?” He quickly shook his head.

“No. We do harvest them ourselves, but with some help. The rest is automated.” She tilted her head, still not understanding what automated meant. Her hands started to sweat, a sign she was nervous and uncomfortable. Nicolas turned away to stare at the wall, wondering how far apart they actually were. “Do you have any technology?” Juliette perked up, recognizing that word. She knew of it and knew only what was told and shown to her, but that was it. No one truly knew how they worked any more. Only the electricians kept the technology running.

She swiftly shook her head. “Not really. We have fridges, light bulbs, and some medical machines, but that's it.” He looked at her, shocked, realizing just how far behind they are compared to him and his world beneath the water.

“How can you survive?” He didn't think any of them would be able to survive without the technology they had, but then that was because they had yet to adapt fully to sea life. They couldn't survive without human food.

“We manage.” Juliette found this even more interesting, knowing he lives in a world full of technology unlike her own. “How do you put up with all the technology around you? Up here, it is taboo to even say the word.”

Nicolas shook his head, not believing something so helpful could be stigmatize. But on land, above the waves it was. “It's just normal.”

“Normal? But technology ruined the earth! How could something so evil be normal?” Juliette exclaimed, not believing something as dangerous as technology could be normal.

“Technology didn't. The humans behind the technology did.” She paused, thinking on that. She never thought that the people that used technology or created it were to blame. It was ingrained in her to hate technology because it ruined the earth. But now, could she do that? Realizing that it was her own ancestors that ruined everything through technology. She knew she would never look at it the same way again.

“Technology in most forms, doesn't have a mind of its own.” Nicolas reminded himself of a teacher. He never liked teaching. It was left for the ones that did. No, he liked exploring and even a bit of fighting. He didn't see himself as a teacher, but now, he was one.

Juliette sighed, stretching her legs out before turning away from the bare chested male. “I guess, not all myths are true,” she muttered, looking up towards the ceiling.

They sat there in silence, not asking any more questions nor feeling the need to. It was comfortable the way it was. They just needed to digest everything said, coming to terms that each other's worlds are miles apart. One shunned technology like it was the plague while the other embraced it as if an old friend.



Night descended upon the world, cloaking everything in shadows. Juliette made sure the path down to the beach was clear before dragging Nicolas out. He grunted and muttered curses as she bumped him against the doorway. She apologized every time, but he waved it off, knowing this is the only way he could get home. He needed to get back. His parents would have sent a search party already, fearing he might be dead.

She strained her muscles, tearing up at how painful it was to drag him over the hills and down to the beach. A metallic taste seeped from her lip as she bit it hard enough to draw blood. She nearly dropped him, gagging, but carried on. Once the water was lapping at her ankles she slowly let him go. Nicolas splashed, grinning as he hauled himself into the refreshing water. Juliette scrambled out of the water, fearing what it might do to her. She didn't want to die or experience that sensation again.

Nicolas turned to her, seeing for once the fright on her face. He didn't understand how someone could be afraid of the water. In a way, he could understand or, at least, sympathize. To her it must be like what it is like for me on land. Unknown and frightening. He watched as she stood there, watching him. Swimming came naturally to him, but he knew she couldn't. He did save her after all.

Juliette didn't know what she felt when he ducked under the water. She was glad that she didn't have to sneak around now, but also sad because he was different. He was the one person that she could talk to without fear of them thinking her crazy. Now that person was leaving. Although, she didn't want to keep him in a place unfamiliar and not his own. That would be selfish of her.

But her desire to see beneath the waves only grew as she watched him swim farther and farther away. She wanted to see what the water held. What secrets hid beneath in its depths. The water might drive her insane, but at least she would find out what lived under it.

“Juliette.” Hearing her name, she broke out of her trance, her daydreaming, to look out at Nicolas, bobbing with each gentle wave. “Thanks.” It meant the world to her to have him thank her. It wasn't like the first time. That was almost forced, but this one was genuine, heartfelt thank you. One she would never hear again. No one on land would thank her. She was the outcast.

The water ebbed back and forth, lulling into a trance once more. She sat down, grinning. Juliette knew she had to get back. Her parents were expecting her. At this moment she didn't care. This was her time to think and fantasize before being pushed back into her small box and try to conform to their way.

When her legs complained about being in one position too long, she stood up and started to head back home. She didn't want to, but she had to. Her ears tomorrow would hurt from the pinching and shouting her mother would dish out. All she could hope for was that it wouldn't be too bad. Juliette just wanted to sleep and not worry about it until morning. Even she could hope for that, but deep down, the platinum blond haired girl knew that was too much to ask for. She would be up for awhile.