What the Tide Brings

Chapter 2 - Liam - Healing Touch

Staring at this otherworldly creature, Liam's grandfather's stories of mermaids inundated him. The bookshelves in the musty, old house by the beach we're filled with books that covered the subject. Some took it more seriously than others. Liam used to love his grandfather's mystical yarns, begging for new ones each night at bedtime. As usually happens, growing up got the better of him. Over the years, his belief in those stories diminished until he believed they were just fairytales to make him feel better.

Only, here lay proof otherwise, right in front of him. A mermaid. Seeing one in the flesh, he had to think maybe his grandfather wasn't making it up, after all.

Liam stared at her face. She was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen, although she wasn't as human as movies would have people believe. He expected something more akin to The Little Mermaid. A redhead in a clamshell bra, she was not.

Her skin was of the palest shade of blue, slightly translucent in places to show a tracery of purple veins. What he thought to be seaweed was a mane of silver hair that shone in the sun with a rainbow of highlights. He wondered if this could be the same mermaid from his grandfather's story. She looked exactly how the old man always described her.

Liam pushed that assumption away. Even if Grandfather's story were true, she couldn't be the same mermaid. She barely looked older than him.

Then again, how would he know? Maybe mermaids didn't age like humans. They could stay young and beautiful forever. It was hard to wrap his mind around that concept. It didn't seem possible. But he was staring at a mermaid. He was hardly an authority what was and wasn't possible anymore.

One way or the other, it didn't matter, because she was there, and she needed help.

He glanced to the sand, where a dark blue liquid pooled underneath her. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it seeped out of a gash on her tail. He quickly worked out that it was her blood. It took a second to shake off the weirdness of seeing a creature with actual blue blood. He had spent a semester volunteering at an animal shelter and wildlife rescue center; he knew that even fish bleed red.

A slight twitch in her flipper broke him from his musings. He removed his T-shirt to press it against her wound, applying pressure to staunch the bleeding. Then, he wrapped the long sleeves around her tail and tied it off to keep the shirt secure, while he made sure she had no other injuries.

His mind raced, wondering what to do next. He couldn't stitch up a person, much less a mermaid, and he could not take her to a hospital. They would call in scientists and government people to study her. Or worse.

He wasn't sure if she could survive the loss of so much blood. Nor did he think she would survive alone in the water so badly injured. She'd be shark bait. If sharks ate mermaids, which he pondered for a second before remembering that this was a dire situation.

When the sound of shouting reached his ears, he looked around, panicked. He was sure someone had discovered her. But the person he heard was quite a distance down the beach.

That cinched it for him. He had to do something, now. So, he did the only thing he could think of: He scooped her up into his arms—a hard task, as her whole body was slippery—and carried her back to his grandfather's house.

It was only a short jaunt, but she was much heavier than he'd expected. Plus, he practically had to run. He didn't want to chance anyone noticing the boy carrying a fish-girl. That might raise a few questions. Somehow, he summoned the strength to carry her to the house. He doubted he could ever replicate the act. He just had to help her.

Before he entered the house, he knocked to make sure it was empty. When no one answered after the third round of pounding, he turned the knob, thankful that he had forgotten to lock the door again—something for which his mother often chided him. For once, at least, his lack of consideration had come in handy. He never would've been able to manage both the mermaid and unlocking the door. He only just managed turning the knob without dropping her.