Current

A blood-curdling shriek filled the air. My heart jumped into my throat. I hadn’t expected anyone else to be out on the beach at four in the morning. Something told me to go towards the sound, telling me to ignore the mini heart attack just then.

I jogged towards the sound, my mind going through all the worst case scenarios. Was someone getting attacked? Killed? Kidnapped?

There was a high pitched whimper to my right. It sounded almost too high to be human. The closer I get to the sound, the harder my heart beats. Panic starts to creep up my spine.

What the hell could that sound be?

I run around a large boulder and my heart stops for a moment. There’s a long body face down on the beach, just laying there. It has to be at least eight feet long. It has a tail, like a fish. My first thought is a girl dressed up as a mermaid. Modeling happens a lot on the beach, though, as far I knew, never this early in the morning.

Its skin is a muted blue. The color makes me remember a documentary I watched. They said you turn blue when you die. I have to stop myself from throwing up. My stomach feels like it’s doing cartwheels.

The tail fin moves slightly. Sand wiggles its way into my shoes as I rush towards the creature. I gasp slightly when I reach them and drop to my knees.

This must be a film effects major. The detail is amazing; there’re gills on their ribs, and more fins on their elbows. Sand is laced in their hair. It looks coarse, but all hair does when it's covered in drying salt water.

Their webbed hand grabs mine. It’s ice cold. They’re shivering violently. I throw off my windbreaker jacket and lay it over their very long body. The jacket only covers from their shoulders to the middle of their back.

“Help me”, they murmur into the sand. The voice is odd; gargled and very high pitched. It’s sort of choppy, like how aliens talk in the movies. The sound makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“Okay- okay…How do I take this off?” I pat the mermaid tail lightly. The application is seamless, almost as if it were a part of the person. “I need you to walk.”

I go to touch the tail again, but before I can, the person lurches backwards. A strange hissing, growling, noise coming from them. Large pointed teeth are revealed and for the first time I can see their eyes. Frozen with shock, I stare at the person in front of me. Their eyes are grey, like those creepy fish who live at the bottom of the ocean.

My mind is going a million miles a second. Then finally it all come to a screeching halt.

This is a real mermaid!

“Oh my God,” I whisper.

The person, no, the mermaid looks to the sea where the current calms down. The current, that must have been how they got beached, it is unforgivable this early in the morning. There are other mermaids out waiting, swimming around frantically.

“Help me,” they say again.

“How?” The only answer is a webbed finger pointing towards the other mermaids.

Well, crap. How is my string bean, five foot four self going to help this giant creature back into the ocean? I think of something that might work, so it’s worth a shot. I take my jacket off the mermaid's back and lay it on the sand. “Climb on.” The mermaid needs some help crawling through the wet sand.

“Okay,” I keep saying to myself as I grab the arms of my jacket. I pull and, to my surprise, the mermaid moves towards me slightly. It’s a start. My shoes quickly fill with sand. It’s beginning to hurt. I kick them off. With every step my socks slide down until, finally, they are forgotten in the sand.

Ever so slowly, the mermaid and I get closer, and closer to the water. The other mermaids just keep looking at us. I’m exhausted, drenched in sweat.

By the sun rising, I can tell it’s nearly five AM. Once we make it to the water, the mermaid flops into the shallow waves. They’re making an almost gasping sound. The others make chirping noises; they sound just like dolphins.

The mermaid tries to swim to deeper water, but the current keeps pushing their long body back to the cold sand. They try over and over again.

For a moment, it’s as if I don’t have control over my body anymore. I run into the water, grab the mermaid's hand, and lead them diagonally. Against the current. Waves hit my face and chest, the salt water splashing into my mouth. I’d forgotten the ocean tasted like salty tomatoes.

Soon after, my feet don’t touch the ground and it’s getting more difficult to keep my head above the water. The waves are violent and the current unforgiving. The other mermaids shriek as a giant wave comes our way.

Suddenly, as the wave is about to crash down on us, the mermaid wraps one arm around my waist and covers my nose and mouth with the other hand. I can feel what feels like suction cups, like an octopus, on my lips. They pull me under the water and turns us around; curling themself around my smaller body. The wave hits the mermaid’s back and we spin around for a moment, then we resurface.

I gasp for air, but force myself to continue swimming towards the calm waters once I can make heads or tails of directions. However, the mermaid being almost twice my size makes it difficult.

The further out we go, the bigger and more aggressive the waves get. At this point, the mermaid is having to hold me above the water. I’ve never seen waves like these.

Exhaustion starts to creep in. I never was a very strong swimmer.

By the time we get to the calm water, I feel moments away from passing out. All the mermaids are making worried chirping noises. They still sound like dolphins. I’m floating on my back, in and out of consciousness. It’s silent for a while, then the mermaid speaks.

“Let me help you?” their voice sounds different now, almost like a lullaby, or a siren song. I nod to them groggily, part of me convinced I’m already dead, or having a wonderful dream.

The mermaid cradles my head with their webbed hand. Then, they flip us and pull me under the water. Only a moment later, their lips are on mine. Not really a kiss, but a transfer of something.

Slowly, I start to feel fuzzy all over. At peace. I open my eyes. I can see my reflection in the mermaid's green eyes.

She is so beautiful.