Atargatis who had not yet heard about the incident on the deck: the surviving members of the Blue Seas mermaids. They were sitting in the main cafeteria, silent and despondent, unable to decide how they could best go about remembering someone who had been alive and vibrant and real, and then suddenly gone. That was the problem, really. It had been too sudden; there wasn’t any time to adjust to a world that didn’t have Jessica in it.
Teal played with one of her decorative hip fins, rolling it between her fingers and smoothing it back down, over and over again. There was a permanent curl in the neoprene from her worrying at it. She liked it. She thought it gave her tail character. Jessica had liked it, too.
“This is wrong,” she said abruptly. The other mermaids turned to look at her. She kept looking at that curled fin, spiraling it in and flattening it out as she spoke. “We shouldn’t be sitting here, all dry and sad, because Jessica went too deep. She knew the risks. We all know the risks. I won’t pretend that drowning is fun, but I’d rather die with my fins on than off.”
“What are you saying, Teal?” asked Sunnie gently.
Teal raised her head. “I’m saying that if we want to honor her life, we should do it in the water. She wouldn’t want to take that away from us. She’d say that when you swallow half the pool, you should jump right into the other half and keep on swimming. Anything else would be letting fear win.”
Slowly, the other mermaids began to nod. “Kim?” said Sunnie.
“Paula and I can bring everyone’s tails down to the dock,” said the woman Sunnie had addressed.
“Good.” Sunnie stood. “Let’s go swimming.”
The portion of deck outside the cafeteria was deserted. The sun was trending downward in the sky; it would be sunset soon. Swimming after nightfall wasn’t necessarily any more dangerous than swimming during the day. The Atargatis was always lit up from within. As long as no one tried for any deep dives, the reflections off the water would be more than sufficient. After what had happened to Jessica, none of them felt very much like diving deeply.
It was a solemn group of women who stripped down to their bras and bike shorts and squirmed into the safe embraces of their tails. Neoprene and plastic hugged hips like a second skin as the mermaids began dropping, one by one, into the waiting deeps. Even then, they didn’t begin their normal frolicking or splashing around. They swam to form a loose circle, their weighted tails making it easier for them to float with their heads and shoulders above the waves.
They looked at each other. Then, slowly, Sunnie smiled. “You were right, Teal,” she said. “This is how I would want to be remembered. In the sea.”
That seemed to be the permission they had all been waiting for. The circle broke, the mermaids swimming in all directions—and while none of them dove deeply, or laughed from the joy of being in the water, they all seemed to be at peace, back in their chosen home. While none of them was quite ready to declare Jessica lucky for her untimely death, they each felt, in their own way, that being lost at sea, while terrible, wasn’t the worst way for a mermaid to go.
Teal was near the edge of the group when a motion caught her eye. She glanced down, and saw a tail whisk by, rendered black and gray by the shadows in the water. She gasped and looked up again, taking a quick head count. All of her fellow mermaids were present and accounted for.
All but one.
Feeling suddenly lightheaded, Teal took a deep breath and let herself slide beneath the surface, straining to see through the dimly-lit water. For a moment, all she could see was herself: her arms, pale against the dark, moving in and out of view as she held herself suspended; the washed-out cloud of her hair. Then, the shadow flickered by again. It was definitely the outline of a mermaid, arms pointed out in front of her to direct her passage through the water,
Teal played with one of her decorative hip fins, rolling it between her fingers and smoothing it back down, over and over again. There was a permanent curl in the neoprene from her worrying at it. She liked it. She thought it gave her tail character. Jessica had liked it, too.
“This is wrong,” she said abruptly. The other mermaids turned to look at her. She kept looking at that curled fin, spiraling it in and flattening it out as she spoke. “We shouldn’t be sitting here, all dry and sad, because Jessica went too deep. She knew the risks. We all know the risks. I won’t pretend that drowning is fun, but I’d rather die with my fins on than off.”
“What are you saying, Teal?” asked Sunnie gently.
Teal raised her head. “I’m saying that if we want to honor her life, we should do it in the water. She wouldn’t want to take that away from us. She’d say that when you swallow half the pool, you should jump right into the other half and keep on swimming. Anything else would be letting fear win.”
Slowly, the other mermaids began to nod. “Kim?” said Sunnie.
“Paula and I can bring everyone’s tails down to the dock,” said the woman Sunnie had addressed.
“Good.” Sunnie stood. “Let’s go swimming.”
The portion of deck outside the cafeteria was deserted. The sun was trending downward in the sky; it would be sunset soon. Swimming after nightfall wasn’t necessarily any more dangerous than swimming during the day. The Atargatis was always lit up from within. As long as no one tried for any deep dives, the reflections off the water would be more than sufficient. After what had happened to Jessica, none of them felt very much like diving deeply.
It was a solemn group of women who stripped down to their bras and bike shorts and squirmed into the safe embraces of their tails. Neoprene and plastic hugged hips like a second skin as the mermaids began dropping, one by one, into the waiting deeps. Even then, they didn’t begin their normal frolicking or splashing around. They swam to form a loose circle, their weighted tails making it easier for them to float with their heads and shoulders above the waves.
They looked at each other. Then, slowly, Sunnie smiled. “You were right, Teal,” she said. “This is how I would want to be remembered. In the sea.”
That seemed to be the permission they had all been waiting for. The circle broke, the mermaids swimming in all directions—and while none of them dove deeply, or laughed from the joy of being in the water, they all seemed to be at peace, back in their chosen home. While none of them was quite ready to declare Jessica lucky for her untimely death, they each felt, in their own way, that being lost at sea, while terrible, wasn’t the worst way for a mermaid to go.
Teal was near the edge of the group when a motion caught her eye. She glanced down, and saw a tail whisk by, rendered black and gray by the shadows in the water. She gasped and looked up again, taking a quick head count. All of her fellow mermaids were present and accounted for.
All but one.
Feeling suddenly lightheaded, Teal took a deep breath and let herself slide beneath the surface, straining to see through the dimly-lit water. For a moment, all she could see was herself: her arms, pale against the dark, moving in and out of view as she held herself suspended; the washed-out cloud of her hair. Then, the shadow flickered by again. It was definitely the outline of a mermaid, arms pointed out in front of her to direct her passage through the water,
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