Status: I don't think this will ever turn into a long story so..
Beautiful, ***er Souls of the Sea
A storm was coming
A storm was coming. Dark clouds were gathering above. The sky was grey, the rain was soft yet, but it would soon be pouring down the houses, the hills, the pubs, the shops, the forests, the docks. The wind was whistling yet, but soon it would be howling like a dead sailor’s lost soul. Rowena hated storms. She was terribly frightened of storms. She hated how the breeze suddenly became the howling wind, she hated how the blue sky suddenly darkened, she hated how the sun disappeared out of sight, she hated how the rain became violent. Above all, Rowena hated how the sea turned into a wild monster whenever a storm came. She loved the sea. Her father was a fisherman and she always went fishing with him, he told her stories from faraway lands, stories about mysterious sea creatures, vicious pirates and sirens with their enchanting songs and lovely, shimmering fish-tails. Her mother was bothered by the siren stories when her father mentioned them, but Rowena never minded. Rowena loved the fishes in the sea, she loved the shells she would sometimes collect, she loved how the sea was cold, endless and deep.
She stared out the window, she could see the rocky bay in the distance, the sea, now almost black, was crashing against the rocks loudly. She could hear the seagulls shrieking in panic almost. The wind banged on the window. Let me in. Rowena shivered.
“The water is boilin’ Rowena!”
Her mother’s voice calling from the next room brought her back from the depths of her thoughts. She walked away from the kitchen window, took the water from the stove and poured it to the three little cups with tea leaves in them. Carefully, she placed them on a silver tray and carried it to the small living room where her mother and Miss Susan were sitting. Miss Susan was in tears and her mother had her arm around her. “Don’t worry now dear, come let’s have some tea, come now.” Rowena took her own teacup and sat by the small fireplace in the corner of the room.
“What if they take her, oh tell me, what will I do then? The storm is coming, Alaine, the storm is coming, you know what that means, they will be coming.” Miss Susan wept. They. Rowena didn’t really know who they were, but they must’ve been evil people because whenever the storm came, they would come as well, and every child, boy and girl would not be allowed to go to the seaside, but most parents didn’t even let their children go out to the streets let alone the seaside. Rowena had asked her parents once or twice about these people everyone feared but they had never given her a proper answer. “ Are they pirates ?” she had asked them, “ Are they mermaids?”, then her mother would sigh worriedly and her father change the subject.
Once in a while, they would take someone from the village. When it was a boy, the village people would find the boy’s dead body by the rocks, and sometime they would never find anything left from the body. Rowena had a friend who had been taken by them once, Jonas he was called. He had beautiful blond hair and dark green eyes, Rowena had liked him a lot. When it was a girl they took however, the girl would never, ever be found and people would stay away from the families with the lost daughters after the event. Rowena never knew why. All she knew, was that they were evil.
Miss Susan was weeping louder now, sobbing. “They are going to take my baby girl, Alaine, my baby girl!”
“She’ll come home soon, if she doesn’t, the men will go seeking her, don’t cry now.”
It was Lily, Rowena knew, the young daughter of Miss Susan. She was an eight year old girl, she was a joyful, adventurous, funny girl.
“I’m sure Lily will come back home before the storm arrives, Miss, she is a smart girl.” Said Rowena, turning to her mother and Miss Susan. The woman sniffed and took a sip from her tea. “But I do not understand where she might have gone…” she sighed and started sobbing again. Rowena had and her friends always played down by the seaside, Lily was one of her friends. Rowena thought where she might have gone and then suddenly she jumped up. The little goldfish pool behind the rock covered with dark red moss. Lily always loved playing back there, and it was her favourite hiding place when everyone played hide and seek. Rowena just knew, she had to be there.
“I know where she might be!” said Rowena excitedly and walked to her mother and Miss Susan. The crying woman looked up at her with a tiny light of hope in her eyes. “I can go looking for her! I know where she might be!” Rowena repeated. Her mother placed her cup on the table and stood up, “No.” she said, in a cold and certain voice. “You will not leave the house until the storm ends.”
Rowena stomped her feet, “But mom, I know where Lily is, she must’ve gone to her hiding place and I know where it is! No one else can find it, Lily has told only me!” It didn’t matter how much she feared the storm, Rowena was a brave girl, she was quick, smart and loyal to her friends. She had lost one friend to them and she didn’t want to lose another. Lily was one of her closest friends. She looked into her mothers eyes.
Her mother shook her head, “No, no.” Miss Susan looked at Rowena’s mother, “Please.” she whispered.
“The storm hasn’t begun yet, mother, it won’t take me long, I will find her and come back home before it is late, I promise.” Rowena said. Her mother sat back down and sighed thoughtfully. A minute or two passed, then she spoke to her daughter. “You must be very quick, Rowena, find your friend, bring her back home, don’t say anything to anyone, no one needs to worry. You must be very quick, do you understand?”
Rowena promised to be quick. Her mother buttoned up her rain coat, jumped in her yellow boots and went out to the streets, leaving her mother and Miss Susan by the door, watching her go with worried eyes.
People were calling their children to their houses, closing their shops. Rowena walked down to the seaside, quickening her steps. She saw people looking at her, some even called after her, telling her to go home. She didn’t turn to look at them or reply them. She needed to hurry, the wind had started to howl and the rain was hitting her face colder and harder now. Fora moment she regretted ever deciding to find Lily herself, but then she remembered she had no time for thinking.
By the time she arrived at the rocky bay, the rain was pouring and the wind almost carried her off her feet, away to the dark sky. Rowena was freezing, and she was terrified. She had to find Lily, before the weather got worse. The waves crashed against the rocks, come come, they roared.
Rowena was soaking wet, she ran through the rocks, tripping over once or twice. When she looked back, she couldn’t see the village anymore, only more and more rocks and waves. On a usual day this would not frighten her, but this was not a usual day.
Finally, she found the rock covered in red moss and she was right, her friend was sitting behind it, all wet and shivering , unable to move anywhere as the tides came crashing over her tiny body. She was holding on the rock, crying. “LILY!” cried Rowena and grabbed her friend by the arm. Another tide crashed over the two of them and they hit the sand. Rowena got up and pulled her friend up. “We must go home Lily, come on!” she shouted over the wind. Lily sat back down on her knees and water came pouring from her mouth, she coughed. Rowena patted on her back, “Come on, Lily, we must go home, you’ll be alright when we go home.” she said, trying to sound brave for her friends sake. They held hands and started running back to the village.
They had not gone very far when Rowena heard something, something she had never heard before that made her stop running. “Rowena, come on!” screamed Lily and pulled her by the hand. Rowena had her eyes wide open, she turned around, trying to find the source of the sound that had made her freeze. It was a song. It was the most beautiful song she had ever heard, the most beautiful voice was singing, the most beautiful voice anyone could ever hear in their life, was singing a haunting son. Rowena could hear it now clearly, even though the wind howled and the waves crashed and the birds shrieked. “Rowena!” her friend cried but her voice sounded so distant and so unimportant compared to the music of a fairytale.
She couldn’t understand the lyrics to the song she was hearing, but she knew the song all the same. It was like a calling, a calling from home. Something inside Rowena stirred and came alive. The song was coming from the sea. She walked towards the sea, another wave came and fell over her. She had her face burried in the sand. “ROWENA !” she heard her little friend call out from the distance one last time. She tried to sit up, spitting sand and coughing out water. The waves had suddenly became softer. Rowena crawled towards the sea and tried to find those who were singing the song of her home. Her grey eyes shined and her lips, purple from the cold, parted.
She saw them. There, not very far in the dark sea. Some of them sitting on rocks nearby, some of them swimming, half of their body out of water. They had long hair, red, blue, green, black, gold, silver and they had even longer tails, covered in silver scales glimmering in the water. Their skin pale and shiny, their breasts firm and large, their pale eyes with long lashes and their dark, full lips. Come come.
Rowena crawled further and the sea pulled her in its cold, wet arms. The tides grew wild again. The song became louder, and they came closer. One of them touched Rowena’s face. The girl shivered violently, with the touch of the siren, the sea water ran through her veins and the gods and goddesses of the great sea spoke to her. Another one came, and then another one, the song became louder and louder. Another one touched Rowena, and then another one. Their enchantingly beautiful faces had shadows over them and their eyes had black blood in them. They ripped off Rowena’s clothes and touched her human body. And with every touch, she became more and more like the beautiful, murderer souls of the sea. With every touch she became like them. Water poured out of her lips, her nose, her eyes, her ears and cleaned her body of the human soul.
By the time Lily had arrived at the village and gathered the people of the village for help, it was too late. Yet the village people did not know so they followed the little girl down to where she had left her friend. The sea had calmed down but the wind still howled and the rain still fell. The tides kissed the shore goodbye as the village people arrived. They all watched, as the sirens dived into the water and swam away to the open sea. Some of their faces seemed familiar to the village people, strangely familiar, strangely similar to their long lost daughters. Their song became quieter and quieter as the village people watched them, with the deepest fear in their eyes, frozen, no one daring to say a word.
She stared out the window, she could see the rocky bay in the distance, the sea, now almost black, was crashing against the rocks loudly. She could hear the seagulls shrieking in panic almost. The wind banged on the window. Let me in. Rowena shivered.
“The water is boilin’ Rowena!”
Her mother’s voice calling from the next room brought her back from the depths of her thoughts. She walked away from the kitchen window, took the water from the stove and poured it to the three little cups with tea leaves in them. Carefully, she placed them on a silver tray and carried it to the small living room where her mother and Miss Susan were sitting. Miss Susan was in tears and her mother had her arm around her. “Don’t worry now dear, come let’s have some tea, come now.” Rowena took her own teacup and sat by the small fireplace in the corner of the room.
“What if they take her, oh tell me, what will I do then? The storm is coming, Alaine, the storm is coming, you know what that means, they will be coming.” Miss Susan wept. They. Rowena didn’t really know who they were, but they must’ve been evil people because whenever the storm came, they would come as well, and every child, boy and girl would not be allowed to go to the seaside, but most parents didn’t even let their children go out to the streets let alone the seaside. Rowena had asked her parents once or twice about these people everyone feared but they had never given her a proper answer. “ Are they pirates ?” she had asked them, “ Are they mermaids?”, then her mother would sigh worriedly and her father change the subject.
Once in a while, they would take someone from the village. When it was a boy, the village people would find the boy’s dead body by the rocks, and sometime they would never find anything left from the body. Rowena had a friend who had been taken by them once, Jonas he was called. He had beautiful blond hair and dark green eyes, Rowena had liked him a lot. When it was a girl they took however, the girl would never, ever be found and people would stay away from the families with the lost daughters after the event. Rowena never knew why. All she knew, was that they were evil.
Miss Susan was weeping louder now, sobbing. “They are going to take my baby girl, Alaine, my baby girl!”
“She’ll come home soon, if she doesn’t, the men will go seeking her, don’t cry now.”
It was Lily, Rowena knew, the young daughter of Miss Susan. She was an eight year old girl, she was a joyful, adventurous, funny girl.
“I’m sure Lily will come back home before the storm arrives, Miss, she is a smart girl.” Said Rowena, turning to her mother and Miss Susan. The woman sniffed and took a sip from her tea. “But I do not understand where she might have gone…” she sighed and started sobbing again. Rowena had and her friends always played down by the seaside, Lily was one of her friends. Rowena thought where she might have gone and then suddenly she jumped up. The little goldfish pool behind the rock covered with dark red moss. Lily always loved playing back there, and it was her favourite hiding place when everyone played hide and seek. Rowena just knew, she had to be there.
“I know where she might be!” said Rowena excitedly and walked to her mother and Miss Susan. The crying woman looked up at her with a tiny light of hope in her eyes. “I can go looking for her! I know where she might be!” Rowena repeated. Her mother placed her cup on the table and stood up, “No.” she said, in a cold and certain voice. “You will not leave the house until the storm ends.”
Rowena stomped her feet, “But mom, I know where Lily is, she must’ve gone to her hiding place and I know where it is! No one else can find it, Lily has told only me!” It didn’t matter how much she feared the storm, Rowena was a brave girl, she was quick, smart and loyal to her friends. She had lost one friend to them and she didn’t want to lose another. Lily was one of her closest friends. She looked into her mothers eyes.
Her mother shook her head, “No, no.” Miss Susan looked at Rowena’s mother, “Please.” she whispered.
“The storm hasn’t begun yet, mother, it won’t take me long, I will find her and come back home before it is late, I promise.” Rowena said. Her mother sat back down and sighed thoughtfully. A minute or two passed, then she spoke to her daughter. “You must be very quick, Rowena, find your friend, bring her back home, don’t say anything to anyone, no one needs to worry. You must be very quick, do you understand?”
Rowena promised to be quick. Her mother buttoned up her rain coat, jumped in her yellow boots and went out to the streets, leaving her mother and Miss Susan by the door, watching her go with worried eyes.
People were calling their children to their houses, closing their shops. Rowena walked down to the seaside, quickening her steps. She saw people looking at her, some even called after her, telling her to go home. She didn’t turn to look at them or reply them. She needed to hurry, the wind had started to howl and the rain was hitting her face colder and harder now. Fora moment she regretted ever deciding to find Lily herself, but then she remembered she had no time for thinking.
By the time she arrived at the rocky bay, the rain was pouring and the wind almost carried her off her feet, away to the dark sky. Rowena was freezing, and she was terrified. She had to find Lily, before the weather got worse. The waves crashed against the rocks, come come, they roared.
Rowena was soaking wet, she ran through the rocks, tripping over once or twice. When she looked back, she couldn’t see the village anymore, only more and more rocks and waves. On a usual day this would not frighten her, but this was not a usual day.
Finally, she found the rock covered in red moss and she was right, her friend was sitting behind it, all wet and shivering , unable to move anywhere as the tides came crashing over her tiny body. She was holding on the rock, crying. “LILY!” cried Rowena and grabbed her friend by the arm. Another tide crashed over the two of them and they hit the sand. Rowena got up and pulled her friend up. “We must go home Lily, come on!” she shouted over the wind. Lily sat back down on her knees and water came pouring from her mouth, she coughed. Rowena patted on her back, “Come on, Lily, we must go home, you’ll be alright when we go home.” she said, trying to sound brave for her friends sake. They held hands and started running back to the village.
They had not gone very far when Rowena heard something, something she had never heard before that made her stop running. “Rowena, come on!” screamed Lily and pulled her by the hand. Rowena had her eyes wide open, she turned around, trying to find the source of the sound that had made her freeze. It was a song. It was the most beautiful song she had ever heard, the most beautiful voice was singing, the most beautiful voice anyone could ever hear in their life, was singing a haunting son. Rowena could hear it now clearly, even though the wind howled and the waves crashed and the birds shrieked. “Rowena!” her friend cried but her voice sounded so distant and so unimportant compared to the music of a fairytale.
She couldn’t understand the lyrics to the song she was hearing, but she knew the song all the same. It was like a calling, a calling from home. Something inside Rowena stirred and came alive. The song was coming from the sea. She walked towards the sea, another wave came and fell over her. She had her face burried in the sand. “ROWENA !” she heard her little friend call out from the distance one last time. She tried to sit up, spitting sand and coughing out water. The waves had suddenly became softer. Rowena crawled towards the sea and tried to find those who were singing the song of her home. Her grey eyes shined and her lips, purple from the cold, parted.
She saw them. There, not very far in the dark sea. Some of them sitting on rocks nearby, some of them swimming, half of their body out of water. They had long hair, red, blue, green, black, gold, silver and they had even longer tails, covered in silver scales glimmering in the water. Their skin pale and shiny, their breasts firm and large, their pale eyes with long lashes and their dark, full lips. Come come.
Rowena crawled further and the sea pulled her in its cold, wet arms. The tides grew wild again. The song became louder, and they came closer. One of them touched Rowena’s face. The girl shivered violently, with the touch of the siren, the sea water ran through her veins and the gods and goddesses of the great sea spoke to her. Another one came, and then another one, the song became louder and louder. Another one touched Rowena, and then another one. Their enchantingly beautiful faces had shadows over them and their eyes had black blood in them. They ripped off Rowena’s clothes and touched her human body. And with every touch, she became more and more like the beautiful, murderer souls of the sea. With every touch she became like them. Water poured out of her lips, her nose, her eyes, her ears and cleaned her body of the human soul.
By the time Lily had arrived at the village and gathered the people of the village for help, it was too late. Yet the village people did not know so they followed the little girl down to where she had left her friend. The sea had calmed down but the wind still howled and the rain still fell. The tides kissed the shore goodbye as the village people arrived. They all watched, as the sirens dived into the water and swam away to the open sea. Some of their faces seemed familiar to the village people, strangely familiar, strangely similar to their long lost daughters. Their song became quieter and quieter as the village people watched them, with the deepest fear in their eyes, frozen, no one daring to say a word.