Ocean's Destiny
It was a cold day at the beach. Gray clouds blotted out the sun, while winds strong enough to make most stay home blew full force. They disturbed the fine sands, causing the small grains to rapidly shift back and forth, as though the beach were a giant hourglass.
Nothing could have kept me away from the ocean. I’ve always been drawn to it, and I saw the ocean as having a powerful scientific connection to humanity. The sea is the cradle of life, as the all living things originally gestated within it. Even today, the sea keeps us alive by allowing us to breathe. The largest production of oxygen on Earth is oceanic phytoplankton, without which our species could hardly draw breath.
As I walked towards the rough looking waves and to the ships far off in the distance, my thoughts turned to the realms beyond biology. People in boats were just protecting themselves from the ocean’s hunger. Like when Odysseus tied himself to the mast of his ship, sailors tie themselves to the facsimile of land to avoid their own demise.
There was a warning sign posted about riptide, which explained the absence of swimmers. Most would avoid swimming in the sea after reading a sign like that. But when one avoids the ocean because of riptide, they are conceding that their lust for life is weaker than the ocean’s strength.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m no daredevil, at least, not in the traditional sense. I get no thrills from dancing on the edge of death. I look only for my peace and I don’t let anything get in my way. I slowly removed my shirt, wincing at the piercing wind on my exposed chest. I stuck my toe in the water, feeling the cold. It wasn’t enough to deter me from getting it; it never was. I edged in, the ice cold waves numbing my body as my thoughts turned to the past.
About 15 years ago, when I had just become a teenager, my lust for the sea almost did me in. It was another riptide day, and my family begged me not to swim. I dove in regardless, and when I was far out, the riptide pulled me away from the shore faster than I could swim. I felt the pull of my mortality and my energy start to fade. I used what little energy I had left to call out for help, but the frantic crashing of the waves drowned my voice out. I frenetically moved my arms and legs, but the longer the struggle went on, the further away I was from the shore.
My limbs grew heavy, and with a sense of dread I realized it was futile to struggle further. My body grew limp as I surrendered myself to the sea. My head slowly sand under the waves, and I let out what remaining air I had quickly. The ocean seemed dark, and I closed my eyes, not wanting to see death coming. Just then, though, I felt a powerful pair of arms grab my waist. In what seemed like no time at all, I felt myself being carried to the shore. With all the water in my lungs, though, I still couldn’t breathe, and my skin burned. I was laid onto the sand, and a pair of soft lips rested on mine. Soon I was breathing again. I didn’t even cough up any water.
The brightness of the sun disoriented me, but I didn’t forget the face. A girl a few years older than me, with long flowing strawberry blonde hair and a big smile on round, dimpled cheeks stared at me for a moment. Her large breasts were exposed, but her long hair partially obscured them.
“Stay safe out there,” she said, before running back towards the waves. I didn’t see her again or find out who she was, though she was forever burned on my brain.
The brush with death had only confirmed my desire to be in the water, as though confirming to me that I had a guardian angel. I had few friends – and none of them appreciated the sea as I did. I hadn’t had a girlfriend for long. So nobody really interfered with what my family called my “extreme swimming” in the coldest and most dangerous oceans of North America.
Speaking of dangerous, I realized that I had already been swimming for quite some time and I hadn’t bothered to look behind me. As I did, I realized I had already gone farther than I had intended. I turned and started back, but I was already feeling a little winded.
After a few moments, it became painfully obvious I wasn’t going anywhere. Each wave reset my progress like clockwork as the tide did its work. I scanned to the left and the right, hoping there was something else I could swim to. I spotted a sizable black rock formation to my left, and figured reaching it would be easier than fighting the current.
With some effort, I made it to the towering rock. I wasn’t prepared, though for the rock to be so slippery. Each time I grasped it, my fingers fell away. I couldn’t pull myself up. I scraped my fingers raw and bloody, but I couldn’t do it. Now I wouldn’t drown, but I couldn’t tread water forever. And with the ocean cold, I had hypothermia to worry about.
And potentially much more, I thought as I felt a tug on my right ankle. Was it a fish, a squid, an errant seaweed vine? I struggled to shake free, but my other ankle was grasped as well. With a hard tug, I felt myself lose my hold on the rock and slip into the sea.
I sank further and further into its depths, struggling along the way but also feeling a sense of peace as I was completely enveloped by the water. I had decided a long time ago that if I had to die some way, I would not regret dying while doing what I love. But I did want to know what in the hell had my legs.
Suddenly whatever it was released me, and I swam upwards. When I surfaced, I was in a dimly lit underground grotto. I surmised it must be the inside of the massive rock. There was a sandy embankment and a few holes in the top letting in staggered streams of light.
As I pulled myself onto the embankment, I heard a splashing sound, and the sound of something surfacing. The echoes of the sound prevented me from knowing exactly where it came from, but it seemed to be from one of the darker corners.
“Who are you?” I tentatively and accusatorily asked the darkness. The question reverberated in the air for a few moments.
“Who are you?” a female voice, distorted by the echoes, replied.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, changing gears.
“To save your life, of course,” she replied. “You should be more careful where you swim.”
“I don’t want to be careful,” I said, still feeling a little disoriented, but never reacting well to anybody challenging my love for the sea.
“Well, then, I’ll just have to keep looking out for you,” she said.
“Wait a minute,” I started. “Shouldn’t you be careful too? You’re out swimming all alone.”
A beautiful, sing song laughter erupted from her side of the grotto and echoed melodically. I heard her dive beneath the water and with a splash near the embankment; I saw a flip of a mermaid’s tail.
“Is this for real?” I asked, my heart beating in my throat.
“Of course,” she said, returning to the dark side so I could not see her face. “How else do you think I was able to rescue you? You’re an expert swimmer and it was too tough for you.”
“If mermaids are real, why has nobody else ever seen one?” I halfheartedly challenged. Secretly, I didn’t want logic to destroy my belief in something this magical.
“We choose not to be seen by you, most days anyway,” she said. There was a long pause, and I started to shiver from the cold.
“We should get you back to your own kind. You’ll die of something or another if you wait too long,” she said, and I reluctantly agreed. I was instructed to close my eyes and wade into the water, which was frigid all over again by now. I was pulled under and holding onto her hand, I was tugged to shore. I turned back as I stepped foot on the sand, but when I turned back I saw only a green tail waving good bye.
The next day, I was back, but this time with scuba gear and an oxygen tank. I wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this go to waste. I made my way to the grotto, but waited for hours in vain. Every day for two weeks, I went back, but there was nothing.
Winter was fast approaching and the water was getting colder and more dangerous every day. But I couldn’t accept giving up. I couldn’t just let her slip away. In desperation, I waited for the next riptide, ready to swim without any gear. When the day arrived, I tore off all my clothes and walked into the ocean. The cold was more intense than I had ever experienced. I swam for the rock like mad, knowing I had no way to get back without her.
I was shaking with cold by the time I reached it. I didn’t have to wait for more than a minute before I felt her hands on my ankles and I was swept under. I tried in vain to get a good luck at her, but the water was moving too fast and the ocean was too dark. At last I was inside the grotto, and I wasted no time pulling myself up to the sand.
“You just don’t give up, do you?” she said from the shadows. “You can’t come back here anymore.”
“I’ll do what I need to do,” I defiantly insisted.
“You’ll die,” she said firmly. “No.”
“I can’t be away from the sea,” I tried to explained. “From…you,” I added, feeling embarrassed.
“What are you supposed to do? Meet me here every day? Live a life you never explain to anybody else on land? Drown when I don’t show up?” she asked. “Sometimes you have to let go of your dreams.”
“I can’t,” I confessed. “I long for the sea more than I long to breathe.”
A long pause ensued.
“If that’s really how you feel…” she began. “You could live in the water. Like me.”
“Become a mermaid – err, a merman?” I asked. “That’s possible?” I felt my pulse quicken with excitement.
“There’s a catch though,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be able to go back, would I?” I asked.
“You could, but only for a minute or two. You could become human again, but only for as long as you can hold your breath,” she explained.
“That doesn’t seem very long,” I said.
“Sometimes, it is long enough,” she said knowingly.
“Long enough for what?” I asked. Then it dawned on me. “Come into the light,” I insisted.
“No,” she said, her voice sounding tense of the first time. “Why do you need to see me?”
“Because, I remember you,” I said. After a long time, she finally came into view.
She obviously didn’t look exactly the same. She had grown into and adult, just as I did. But there was no doubt in my mind – this was the woman who had saved my life 15 years ago.
Her round cheeks broke into her signature wide dimpled smile as our eyes met.
“Why did you save me?” I said, repeating my earlier question. “People drown every day. Why me?”
“Maybe it was because I sensed your love for the sea,” she said. “Maybe it was because you are beautiful. Think whatever you’d like.”
I rushed into the water and I could feel her powerful arms wrap themselves around my narrow shoulders and her warm breasts press up against my chest. As we embraced, I knew what I wanted.
“Make me like you,” I whispered with desperation. “Take me under the waves with you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my whole life,” I said.
“Close your eyes,” she said, and I obeyed. I could feel her lips affix themselves firmly to my forehead, and she tenderly kissed me as she hugged me tightly. The embrace was so tight I could almost feel my bones break, but that didn’t matter.
With a warm tingle, I could feel my legs start to fuse together and my feet change into a fin. The warm feeling continued, spreading throughout my body. I wept with joy as I shed my humanity. When it was over, her lips moved from my forehead to my lips and she kissed me passionately and ravenously. I held on for dear life.
When I opened my eyes, I knew I was hers forever. Once again, she grasped my hand and pulled me under. But this time, I could breathe freely. This time, when I surrendered myself to the sea, it was not to signal the end of my life – it was to signal the beginning.
~~~
Nothing could have kept me away from the ocean. I’ve always been drawn to it, and I saw the ocean as having a powerful scientific connection to humanity. The sea is the cradle of life, as the all living things originally gestated within it. Even today, the sea keeps us alive by allowing us to breathe. The largest production of oxygen on Earth is oceanic phytoplankton, without which our species could hardly draw breath.
As I walked towards the rough looking waves and to the ships far off in the distance, my thoughts turned to the realms beyond biology. People in boats were just protecting themselves from the ocean’s hunger. Like when Odysseus tied himself to the mast of his ship, sailors tie themselves to the facsimile of land to avoid their own demise.
There was a warning sign posted about riptide, which explained the absence of swimmers. Most would avoid swimming in the sea after reading a sign like that. But when one avoids the ocean because of riptide, they are conceding that their lust for life is weaker than the ocean’s strength.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m no daredevil, at least, not in the traditional sense. I get no thrills from dancing on the edge of death. I look only for my peace and I don’t let anything get in my way. I slowly removed my shirt, wincing at the piercing wind on my exposed chest. I stuck my toe in the water, feeling the cold. It wasn’t enough to deter me from getting it; it never was. I edged in, the ice cold waves numbing my body as my thoughts turned to the past.
About 15 years ago, when I had just become a teenager, my lust for the sea almost did me in. It was another riptide day, and my family begged me not to swim. I dove in regardless, and when I was far out, the riptide pulled me away from the shore faster than I could swim. I felt the pull of my mortality and my energy start to fade. I used what little energy I had left to call out for help, but the frantic crashing of the waves drowned my voice out. I frenetically moved my arms and legs, but the longer the struggle went on, the further away I was from the shore.
My limbs grew heavy, and with a sense of dread I realized it was futile to struggle further. My body grew limp as I surrendered myself to the sea. My head slowly sand under the waves, and I let out what remaining air I had quickly. The ocean seemed dark, and I closed my eyes, not wanting to see death coming. Just then, though, I felt a powerful pair of arms grab my waist. In what seemed like no time at all, I felt myself being carried to the shore. With all the water in my lungs, though, I still couldn’t breathe, and my skin burned. I was laid onto the sand, and a pair of soft lips rested on mine. Soon I was breathing again. I didn’t even cough up any water.
The brightness of the sun disoriented me, but I didn’t forget the face. A girl a few years older than me, with long flowing strawberry blonde hair and a big smile on round, dimpled cheeks stared at me for a moment. Her large breasts were exposed, but her long hair partially obscured them.
“Stay safe out there,” she said, before running back towards the waves. I didn’t see her again or find out who she was, though she was forever burned on my brain.
The brush with death had only confirmed my desire to be in the water, as though confirming to me that I had a guardian angel. I had few friends – and none of them appreciated the sea as I did. I hadn’t had a girlfriend for long. So nobody really interfered with what my family called my “extreme swimming” in the coldest and most dangerous oceans of North America.
Speaking of dangerous, I realized that I had already been swimming for quite some time and I hadn’t bothered to look behind me. As I did, I realized I had already gone farther than I had intended. I turned and started back, but I was already feeling a little winded.
After a few moments, it became painfully obvious I wasn’t going anywhere. Each wave reset my progress like clockwork as the tide did its work. I scanned to the left and the right, hoping there was something else I could swim to. I spotted a sizable black rock formation to my left, and figured reaching it would be easier than fighting the current.
With some effort, I made it to the towering rock. I wasn’t prepared, though for the rock to be so slippery. Each time I grasped it, my fingers fell away. I couldn’t pull myself up. I scraped my fingers raw and bloody, but I couldn’t do it. Now I wouldn’t drown, but I couldn’t tread water forever. And with the ocean cold, I had hypothermia to worry about.
And potentially much more, I thought as I felt a tug on my right ankle. Was it a fish, a squid, an errant seaweed vine? I struggled to shake free, but my other ankle was grasped as well. With a hard tug, I felt myself lose my hold on the rock and slip into the sea.
I sank further and further into its depths, struggling along the way but also feeling a sense of peace as I was completely enveloped by the water. I had decided a long time ago that if I had to die some way, I would not regret dying while doing what I love. But I did want to know what in the hell had my legs.
Suddenly whatever it was released me, and I swam upwards. When I surfaced, I was in a dimly lit underground grotto. I surmised it must be the inside of the massive rock. There was a sandy embankment and a few holes in the top letting in staggered streams of light.
As I pulled myself onto the embankment, I heard a splashing sound, and the sound of something surfacing. The echoes of the sound prevented me from knowing exactly where it came from, but it seemed to be from one of the darker corners.
“Who are you?” I tentatively and accusatorily asked the darkness. The question reverberated in the air for a few moments.
“Who are you?” a female voice, distorted by the echoes, replied.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, changing gears.
“To save your life, of course,” she replied. “You should be more careful where you swim.”
“I don’t want to be careful,” I said, still feeling a little disoriented, but never reacting well to anybody challenging my love for the sea.
“Well, then, I’ll just have to keep looking out for you,” she said.
“Wait a minute,” I started. “Shouldn’t you be careful too? You’re out swimming all alone.”
A beautiful, sing song laughter erupted from her side of the grotto and echoed melodically. I heard her dive beneath the water and with a splash near the embankment; I saw a flip of a mermaid’s tail.
“Is this for real?” I asked, my heart beating in my throat.
“Of course,” she said, returning to the dark side so I could not see her face. “How else do you think I was able to rescue you? You’re an expert swimmer and it was too tough for you.”
“If mermaids are real, why has nobody else ever seen one?” I halfheartedly challenged. Secretly, I didn’t want logic to destroy my belief in something this magical.
“We choose not to be seen by you, most days anyway,” she said. There was a long pause, and I started to shiver from the cold.
“We should get you back to your own kind. You’ll die of something or another if you wait too long,” she said, and I reluctantly agreed. I was instructed to close my eyes and wade into the water, which was frigid all over again by now. I was pulled under and holding onto her hand, I was tugged to shore. I turned back as I stepped foot on the sand, but when I turned back I saw only a green tail waving good bye.
The next day, I was back, but this time with scuba gear and an oxygen tank. I wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this go to waste. I made my way to the grotto, but waited for hours in vain. Every day for two weeks, I went back, but there was nothing.
Winter was fast approaching and the water was getting colder and more dangerous every day. But I couldn’t accept giving up. I couldn’t just let her slip away. In desperation, I waited for the next riptide, ready to swim without any gear. When the day arrived, I tore off all my clothes and walked into the ocean. The cold was more intense than I had ever experienced. I swam for the rock like mad, knowing I had no way to get back without her.
I was shaking with cold by the time I reached it. I didn’t have to wait for more than a minute before I felt her hands on my ankles and I was swept under. I tried in vain to get a good luck at her, but the water was moving too fast and the ocean was too dark. At last I was inside the grotto, and I wasted no time pulling myself up to the sand.
“You just don’t give up, do you?” she said from the shadows. “You can’t come back here anymore.”
“I’ll do what I need to do,” I defiantly insisted.
“You’ll die,” she said firmly. “No.”
“I can’t be away from the sea,” I tried to explained. “From…you,” I added, feeling embarrassed.
“What are you supposed to do? Meet me here every day? Live a life you never explain to anybody else on land? Drown when I don’t show up?” she asked. “Sometimes you have to let go of your dreams.”
“I can’t,” I confessed. “I long for the sea more than I long to breathe.”
A long pause ensued.
“If that’s really how you feel…” she began. “You could live in the water. Like me.”
“Become a mermaid – err, a merman?” I asked. “That’s possible?” I felt my pulse quicken with excitement.
“There’s a catch though,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be able to go back, would I?” I asked.
“You could, but only for a minute or two. You could become human again, but only for as long as you can hold your breath,” she explained.
“That doesn’t seem very long,” I said.
“Sometimes, it is long enough,” she said knowingly.
“Long enough for what?” I asked. Then it dawned on me. “Come into the light,” I insisted.
“No,” she said, her voice sounding tense of the first time. “Why do you need to see me?”
“Because, I remember you,” I said. After a long time, she finally came into view.
She obviously didn’t look exactly the same. She had grown into and adult, just as I did. But there was no doubt in my mind – this was the woman who had saved my life 15 years ago.
Her round cheeks broke into her signature wide dimpled smile as our eyes met.
“Why did you save me?” I said, repeating my earlier question. “People drown every day. Why me?”
“Maybe it was because I sensed your love for the sea,” she said. “Maybe it was because you are beautiful. Think whatever you’d like.”
I rushed into the water and I could feel her powerful arms wrap themselves around my narrow shoulders and her warm breasts press up against my chest. As we embraced, I knew what I wanted.
“Make me like you,” I whispered with desperation. “Take me under the waves with you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my whole life,” I said.
“Close your eyes,” she said, and I obeyed. I could feel her lips affix themselves firmly to my forehead, and she tenderly kissed me as she hugged me tightly. The embrace was so tight I could almost feel my bones break, but that didn’t matter.
With a warm tingle, I could feel my legs start to fuse together and my feet change into a fin. The warm feeling continued, spreading throughout my body. I wept with joy as I shed my humanity. When it was over, her lips moved from my forehead to my lips and she kissed me passionately and ravenously. I held on for dear life.
When I opened my eyes, I knew I was hers forever. Once again, she grasped my hand and pulled me under. But this time, I could breathe freely. This time, when I surrendered myself to the sea, it was not to signal the end of my life – it was to signal the beginning.
~~~
Want to read more mermaid romance? Then check out Love in the Water. Love in the Water.
As a young girl, MJ was obsessed with the sea, and once found herself waking up underwater as a mermaid when she nearly drowned. Now that she's in college, she's tried to put that all behind her, but when new feelings and familiar faces start to surface, she'll have to make tough choices about what kind of future she wants. This book has a love triangle/romance focus.
As a young girl, MJ was obsessed with the sea, and once found herself waking up underwater as a mermaid when she nearly drowned. Now that she's in college, she's tried to put that all behind her, but when new feelings and familiar faces start to surface, she'll have to make tough choices about what kind of future she wants. This book has a love triangle/romance focus.