The best part about living by the ocean, was that Quinn could go sailing whenever they wanted, weather allowing of course. There was nothing like a warm evening, a gentle breeze, and rolling waves to distract them from all their troubles. This evening in particular was a beautiful one. The sky was clear and the sun dyed the sky orange, pink, purple. The colors mixed on the surface of the water. Birds called to each other across the empty space. Quinn's boat bobbed up and down in the water, and they waited.
There was one other reason Quinn loved to sail. A secret they kept to themself. When the sun was low and the tide was high, they would sail out onto the bay, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most amazing thing they had ever seen.
'Would she be here again?'
'Did she keep coming back for the same reason they did?"
'Was she even real at all?'
These were the questions that would flow through their head as they stared out over the water towards the horizon. They heard the disturbance in the water before they saw the mysterious woman emerge from the water. She looked as beautiful as she always did. Dark wet hair pulled over her shoulders, rich brown eyes gazing up at them affectionately, a soft smile on her pale lips. Quinn sat on the dock of the boat and smiled back at her.
"Hello again." They said. Their eyes were always drawn to the shimmering fishtail under the surface. They were never quite sure what the exact color of her scales was, but it appeared to be some shade of greenish blue. She waved at their greeting; she never spoke, but seemed content to listen to Quinn talk. They would tell her about their day and all the little peculiarities of life on land. They would try their best to describe the strange inner workings of humankind and why Quinn didn't fit into it as well as they would like. They would tell her about their few friends, and even school. She would nod along and hmm in response to certain words. She seemed to understand even if she never spoke back.
This had been going on for months and Quinn still didn't know if it was a dream or not. After the first time they had seen her, they were positive it couldn't have been real, but came back the next day just to be sure. To their surprise she was there. And then they came back again the next day, and the next day. After a week they had decided that they didn't care if it was real or not. They couldn't stop themself from coming back. there was something too magical about the entire thing to be able to turn away.
When Quinn had talked themself out for the evening, the mermaid remained and stayed by their little boat.
"Thank you." They said, unsure where the words had come from. "Thank you, for staying to listen so often."
The mermaid smiled wider, and moved closer, touching her hands to the railing of the boat for the first time. The sky was getting darker, but there was still light shining off of her eyes. She crooked a finger and beckoned them closer. Quinn leaned in to feel heat rising there cheeks. She beckoned again and they leaned in closer. The two were so close that they could feel her soft breath on their lips. Their heart was pounding against their ribs for a moment it seemed like it stopped completely. The mermaid's cold hands moved to touch them, and her fingers traced wet lines up their arms to their shirt sleeves.
She grabbed onto them… then yanked hard and almost pulled them over the side of the boat.
Quinn caught themself on the railing and shoved back against her, freeing themself and falling to the deck. The mermaid giggled and the beautiful cadence of her voice almost made Quinn forget what just happened. Almost.
"What the hell!?" They snapped at the still giggling creature. She grinned, blew them a kiss, and sank back into the water with a splash. Quinn sat there until the sky was black and the moon rose above them. Finally, they stood, and set the sails to turn back towards land.
They knew they had put themself in a dumb situation. And they knew that they would return tomorrow evening. They would be fine as long as they were careful, right?
