Fish Eyes

CHAPTER 1

Swimming close to the ocean floor, near the thick leafy seaweed and mossy rocks, I’m provided with a welcome cover from predatory fish. I have to think of these things because, being a mermaid, I grow slowly and can live a very long time…if I’m careful.

Crabs and lobsters scuttle around on the ocean floor. Tiny bubbles come up from the sand: there are clams under there.

Something long, flat, and wide wiggles its way free of the sand and swims off. It is an Angel Shark. Its flat body and sandy colored skin allows it to bury itself in the sand and blend right in.

A solitary Manta Ray slides along the ground, flapping its fins like a cape.

The strength of my tail produces rhythmic pulses streaming behind me as I glide over the swaying plants, the tips of the kelp brushing against my underside. Beautifully colored coral with glowing petals stretch out over the mountainous rocks.

I am almost home. Vivid colors erupt around the rocks as I fan my tail to create a disturbance in the water. Tiny fish, in various shades, are startled by my presence and vacate their hiding places. Spiny Caudal fish, with their wing-like fins, dart away.

My sensors warn me that I have company moments before my guest comes into view. A Whale Shark is moving its massive body from side to side as it glides past me. Thankfully it never bothers mermaids, but that doesn’t explain why it would be swimming in this part of the ocean. Curious by the rare sighting, I make a detour from my route home and follow the gentle giant at a comfortable pace heading into an area of the sea that isn’t so…inviting. The water is becoming colder and darker until suddenly, without warning, I begin to spin in circles.

Something strange is happening. The water is churning wildly, tossing me around as if I were a small insignificant fish. The current is strong.

I dive deeper into the sea trying to free myself from its grip, but I can’t. The thrust of my tail isn’t strong enough. I’m locked in a battle, a tug of war between me and…and what? As the strong current forces me towards a massive black hole, something collides with my head.

Did a shadow just fall across the ocean floor, or am I imagining things? Total darkness comes; and with it, the absence of water—gone in a flash. I am lost—lost in a fragment of nothingness. What has happened to my body? I try to move in my panic, but I have nothing to move. My tail is gone, and so am I. My body ceases to exist. Am I dead?

My life flashes before my eyes and I’m sure that this is the end. But wait! I feel a tingling sensation and the return of my beating heart, thumping unusually fast.

My brain searches for an explanation as the uncomfortable tingling throughout my body grows stronger. Then I feel the beginnings of some movement. I’m alive! I know I am because I can feel sand beneath my body…cold and gritty against my hot clammy skin.

While lying sprawled out on my back, I try to remember what happened. Something about churning water…Strong currents…Darkness.

When my eyes flutter open, I see the sky full of gulls. They soar in huge lazy circles. There are scores of them. Their call is high and shrill as they dip and twirl.

The sun pokes out from behind a colorless fluffy mass, a cloud I think, and I quickly look away. The bright sunlight makes my eyes behave strangely. They blink, blink, blink repeatedly, and I cannot make them stop.

I sit up so fast my head spins with dizziness. Still, I manage to gaze at the shoreline and see the glimmer of breaking waves. At first, I marvel at how blurred everything is, and wonder if my eyesight is damaged. But then I realize I am on land. Maybe I see things as a human sees, which means to see so little.

Glancing behind me, I stare in silence. A low line of rocks twists out from the shore, stretching out into a long thin body. At the tip, it narrows into a sharp point. It’s dented and creased along the middle, as if it were the jaw of an amphibian filled with sharp teeth. Jagged rocks stand along the top like fangs. Dark and menacing, it looks as though it could easily come to life with a snarling twist of its body. A cold shiver creeps up my spine to my neck.

I’ve been cast ashore! I blink hard in disbelief. What if I’m discovered before I have a chance to return to the sea?

The thought is terrifying! With my arms, I begin to drag the weight of my naked body to the water’s edge. Then I stop. With a sinking heart, I gawk at two skinny legs ending in flat broad appendages with several stubby short extensions. Human legs where my brilliantly hued tail used to be! Then I look at my hands. What happened to the translucent webbing between each finger?

I cry out in shock and horror at the sight; but instead of hearing my lovely enchanted voice, a hideous gargled noise escapes my lips. I begin to choke on grains of sand and something else that’s lodged in my mouth.

Reaching inside to grab hold of the moving lump of flesh, I try to remove it. It won’t budge.

My eyes begin to leak—droplets of water sliding down my face.

How did this happen? One moment, I was swimming home after a fun time exploring the shipwrecked Sea Witch; and the next, I’m not sure. Something catastrophic must have happened! The sea turned into a violent and deadly mass of turbulent whirling water, and it sucked me into the vortex. There was no escape and that is all I can remember.

Now, here I am; not knowing if the others of my kind are dead or alive.

As I moan with grief over the possible loss, my eyes leak worse than ever.

Suddenly, I hear a loud noise and catch a glimpse of something charging up the beach dodging scraps of wood and other debris. My eyes are too blurry to see clearly; but whatever is heading my way, it is moving fast.

Then someone starts to shout. Tank…you get back here!

Now there are three running towards me.

Speaking audibly is obviously the method of communication, but I have no time to ponder this discovery. Fearful of the approaching attackers, I’m too busy attempting to stand, using my human legs to escape into the vast, deep, murky water. If I am the sole survivor of my people, I will not go down without a fight!

As hard as I try though, I cannot stand properly. The extensions that look like stubby fingers at the bottom of my legs won’t allow me to stay upright. Fortunately, I’m able to stumble a fair distance into the water before the first assailant arrives.

The upper lip of the hairy creature curls up into a snarl, a rumbling noise coming from deep in his chest. The threatening sound starts to grow louder…more menacing. With his teeth showing, he begins to bark!

Two humans, one grown female and one smaller replica, arrive. The larger one has a hard time quieting the animal.

I’m so sorry about Tank! She repeats apologetically. I don’t know what got into him!

Suddenly, Tank begins to scratch and sniff at the spot in the sand where I had been beached. The human takes advantage of the moment and grabs hold of the object around Tank’s neck. She drags the beast away while leaving one last comment. By the way, wear a bathing suit. There are kids around here!

After they leave, a mournful sigh erupts from my throat. What am I to do? I understand the basics of the human language but words like bathing suit are not in my vocabulary. And why didn’t the female speak to me telepathically? The guttural dialogue that came from her mouth sounded creepy. Oh well, she is gone now.

Hello! The sound of a soft deep voice penetrates the air—air that is thin and light compared to the thick heaviness of water. Are you all right?

I quickly spin around and there, poking out of the water, is a seal with a human face. Or is it a human with a seal’s body? Either way, I am so limp with fear that the weird knobs halfway down my legs are knocking together.

He regards me in quiet deliberation, his dark eyes appraising me. Does he have a knife? Will he gut me like a fish?

No. I must kill him first!

Without my tail to regulate the rhythm of my pulse, my heartbeat is rapid—much faster than the normal twenty beats a minute.

Sing, Zazzle…sing!

I open my mouth to sing the deadly song of the Siren, to lure my victim to a watery grave, but there’s a problem. I sound more like a screeching banshee!

Grimacing in response, the human plugs his ears. His large, dark, dewy eyes with curly lashes are curiously staring at me.

I try it again only this time, the enemy ducks underwater. Common sense tells me to kick and punch beneath the waves—to make it difficult for him to approach.

But it doesn’t work. When he reappears, he is closer—too close! Instinctively, I lunge forward and sink my teeth into his flesh…tough, rubbery flesh.

At first, he yowls in surprise. What are you doing? Let go! Then, when I don’t, he grabs my nose and squeezes hard until I have no choice but to release him. I am left with a strange unnatural taste in my mouth while I catch my breath.

The look he gives me is of shock and anger, but I don’t care. I won! I scared him away. The human stranger swims toward shore, strong arms cutting through the waves with little effort. The only question is…why couldn’t I penetrate the extra skin covering his nakedness and tear the flesh from his bone?

Using my finger, I feel around inside my mouth, but what I discover comes as another shock. My beautiful double row of serrated teeth have been replaced by…I’m not sure. They feel like one row of tiny square pearls.

My attention goes back to the shoreline just in time to watch the male climb a hill. I watch him disappear inside a large structure and I remain where I am—scared and lonely. Why I linger in the water, I’m not sure. I suppose it’s because there’s nowhere for me to go. I glance up at the sky and wonder what I will do when the sun grows sleepy and slides into the ocean.

As I tread water, my long light hued hair floats in a cloud around my face.

I can’t ignore the pain. My skin—it is sore to the touch. Who was to know that human beings suffered such a fate? I will share this new insight with my people when I see them again. I mean…if.

I want to distract myself from my watering eyes, so I concentrate on nourishment. I need to feed on Plankton. It is the basic food source for species like me—a mixture of tiny plants and animals. This gets me to thinking. What if I end up starving to death?

The last thought is unnerving and suddenly, exhaustion overwhelms me. If survival means living outside the realm of the ocean, I would rather die. I glance up at the sun and, like the bright orb, I allow myself to slip beneath the water. My body instinctively wants to hold its breath. I don’t resist, but I continue to struggle with the need to resurface! The will to