Luusa rises from the deeps at daybreak. The winter sun is pale and cool in the east. A fragment of moon still hangs on a thread of cloud in the western sky. She breathes her first breath of the day and sighs.
Luusa is searching for a mate, but she’s never encountered a male of her species. The sea teems with octopi, with jelly fish, and mantas. Whales abound, and crabs and corals, but her race, that of the ancient Aqualeii, has dwindled.
This morning, Luusa dares to search closer to the shore. With a sudden breath, she sees him floating just beyond the line of breakers. With a racing heart, she secretly watches him from behind the swells, as he swims back and forth, back and forth in the calm water.
He is a fine-looking creature with long red hair. He could be Aqualeii, a sea-dweller, like herself… She quietly slips beneath the surface and swims closer to him, but from below, his body reveals he’s not of her species and her heart sorrows. Her loneliness grows.
Without a thought, she swims quickly and resurfaces about five fins away from him. He yelps and stares. “Oh! You scared me! Who are you!”
“Gyfits kreetu kamos,” she says softly. “Luusa,” she adds, pointing to herself.
He doesn’t understand her but he nods and smiles. “Jason,” he says.
“Jason? Doov! Tika bekmeens!”
He answers, “Okay,” and swims closer. He reaches out to touch her face, and is relieved to see that she’s real.
They circle each other playfully, circle again, and once again. They swim together, splashing, laughing, teasing in the early morning light.
After a time, Jason swims toward the shore, calling to Luusa to follow him. He rides in on a small slow-rolling wave and stands on the shore beckoning. Luusa watches, but doesn’t follow. She waves at him to come back. “Jason! Sidfa vin chybnjk! Vin chybnjk!”
He swims back out to her, and takes her in his arms. She lays her hands on his shoulders, and kisses him, saying, “Jeda ul ibfam.” She pulls him down, down, down, taking him into the deep where she lives, her arms and flukes caressing his body.
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Those mermaids are nothing but trouble. 🤣
I hope she has the power to make Jason breathe underwater like her. Otherwise, it’s a sad ending.