“No, he’s my cousin.”
“Cousin, ” she said, looking confused, “Who is the one with the beautiful hair? ” she asked, smiling at Megan. I looked over to see Megan’s freaked out face. Lorelei turned towards me suddenly, eyes excited.
“I have something, ” she sang in her ringing voice. She flashed another brilliant smile and dove back into the churning sea, giving my skeptical friends another excellent view of her tail.
They looked at me incredulously, vaguely horrified. With a splash she reappeared, only this time she had my binoculars around her slender neck and my bag slung over her shoulder.
“I have your... things, ” she said, wide eyed.
“Could I have my bag back?” I gestured, thinking about my keys. She reached up, and with one graceful motion flung the bag up and over the chain link fence. I bent to pick it up. “You can keep the binoculars,” I added, watching as she looked down and touched them.
“Binoculars, ” she repeated, and smiled radiantly.
At that moment, children’s voices sounded behind us and we turned to see a young mother with two little girls approaching the fence. With one graceful flip of her tail, Lorelei the mermaid disappeared into the waves. The kids ran up to cling to the chain link, squealing with delight as they spotted the basking sea lions. The tired mother parked herself on the bench and settled down with a sigh, obviously planning to stay awhile.
“Come on, let’s go,” I shepherded Cruz and Megan away from the fence, savoring my moment of sweet vindication.
“Holy Crap,” said Megan numbly as we made our way down the pier.
“That was intense,” added Cruz, eyes wide with shock.
I knew how they felt. It was a strange thing indeed to have all of your assumptions about reality turned upside down in a split second.
We came upon the fisherman and I paused for a moment, “Thank you,” I said with a sincere smile.
“What is your name, water girl?” he asked, his deeply lined face holding friendly eyes.
“Marina, and yours?”
“Lue Khang,” he replied.
“Well, Lue Khang,” I said, my smile broadening, “Thanks again.” I pressed my palms together and bowed my forehead to them. I knew this to be a sign of respect from my time in Thailand and I hoped he understood. I turned to leave, “Good luck fishing!” I called over my shoulder with glee.
“Heh, heh, heh,” I could hear his happy chuckle as I rejoined Cruz and Megan.
“Come on guys– let’s go!” I prodded my dazed looking friends, “I’ve been doing some research and have a ton of stuff to show you.”
By the time we made it up the steep stairs Cruz and Megan were getting over the shock and speculating wildly about what it all meant. I was relieved to have someone to talk to about it, and grateful to Lue Khang for tipping me off about her. I wondered exactly what he knew about Lorelei.
When we got home I brought out my laptop and started to excitedly show them all the information that I’d gathered.
“There are lots of stories about how they lure sailors to their deaths,” said Megan ominously, her topaz eyes flashing with the thought of it.
“Yeah,” Cruz said, “But over here, it says that they’ve been known to warn fishermen away from dangerous storms and rescue them from shipwrecks.”
“That’s what’s frustrating,” I griped, “There’s so much contradictory information.”
“I think our mermaid is much too pretty to be the killer type,” said Cruz thoughtfully.
Megan cast him a satirical glance, “Our mermaid?”
“Well, Marina discovered her, but we’re probably the only ones who know she exists!” he sounded mightily impressed with the importance of this, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I suspected the old guy fishing knew as well.
We kept on reading mermaid factoids to each other until late in the day. Mermaids were said to have the gift of prophecy, and to be immortal. They were described as both good and evil in a confusing mix of legend and lore. We read that they blessed people who were kind to sea creatures, and were able to bestow creativity and talent. Artists, poets and adventurers claimed to draw inspiration from them.
Lots of stories claimed that they possessed the power to grant wishes, and that their presence signified abundance and protection. They were also known to have the ability to transform, to grow legs and become human at will.
“What if they’re all over the place?” Megan wondered.
“What if she’s the only one?” Cruz countered.
We decided to find