((Ok I did the mermaid thing better I think))
They strapped her legs together using the belt she'd stolen from her father before she left. No sense wasting good rope on a stowaway tart, the captain had said, tearing off her man's shirt to bind her hands together. The crew had laughed. The cabin boy, so friendly to her when he thought she was a boy, laughed as cruelly as the rest of them.
They made her hobble out to the end of the plank, some taking bets on whether she'd make it all the way to the end. They hadn't let her take her father’s eyeglass with her, saying they had more need of it than her where she was going. She turned to face them and met their eyes, letting her rage speak for itself. She sang her own funeral dirge; none here would mourn her.
Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest
Yo, ho, and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo, ho, and a bottle of rum…
The Captain began to read the charges... you are guilty of stowing away on a Merchant Navy vessel…
Maya didn't wait for him to finish. She refused to let her courage fail her, and dived, arcing gracefully towards the water. She'd spent her whole life by the sea, even with legs and hands tied together, she believed she could stay afloat. She knew she was dead but luck favours the brave; that was what her father said. Luck favours the brave. Be brave, my girl.
She hit the water perfectly and swooped underneath, coming up for air much further from the ship. Her legs swayed back and forth underneath her, a poor imitation of the motion she needed to tread water. Easier to float on her back, but that would attract sharks. Still, she could do it. She had to do it.
She drifted near the ship for a day, the current pushing them together. The crew waited to see how long she would last. Bets were placed, money changed hands, but she trod water defiantly. She would not give them that satisfaction. She had wanted to see the world as men see it, free and without expectation, but they had thrown her off for fear she'd bring bad luck to their ship.
Only once the crew had gotten bored did she allow herself to let go. She was dead, she knew she was dead. Time to admit it, and let go.
She sank for what seemed like an eternity, and her lungs started to burn. Panic touched her then and she thrashed and tried to reach for the surface, but a glance upwards told her it was too late. Not enough time.
Dark shapes flitted around her and she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the rush of a shark attack, but none came. Instead, she opened her eyes to the curious face of a girl.
No, not a girl - scales lined this girl's face and her hair moved with the ethereal beauty of seaweed in the moonlit tide. Sharp fins rose smoothly from her arms, and Maya was sure if she smiled there would be row upon row of sharp teeth. Gills adorned this girl's neck, and where legs should have been was a swooping, graceful tail. One of the merfolk, a siren of the deep.
The mermaid studied her quizzically, and dived towards her. Maya started at the movement and panicked, thrashing in her bonds, knowing she couldn't get away from this fearsome creature. Mermaids ate men, and she didn't know if she'd rather meet her fate at the hands of a mermaid or a shark.
It was neither. With a deft movement, the mermaid used the fin on her arm to slash through the bindings around Maya's wrists. Now she smiled sadly at Maya, and Maya was relieved to see normal teeth. Tales proven wrong, but what good it did her now she didn’t know.
"I remember this." The mermaid’s voice was clear as a bell, strange in the silence of the ocean, and it seemed to carry in the gloom. Maya blinked. She had not expected conversation. "It feels like a dream but I know it was real. I couldn't breathe."
Maya stared back, not comprehending. Maybe she was dying and this was some kind of fever dream. The mer tilted her head, her quizzical expression mirroring Maya's own confusion, and swayed closer.
"I couldn't breathe..." She repeated softly, and, pulling the girl's face in closer, kissed her.
Warmth spread through Maya like wildfire, and she forgot the shrieking of her lungs for air. Dimly she remembered hearing somewhere that a kiss from a mermaid would grant the lucky man eternal life as a mermaid's lover and wondering how you would even make love to a mermaid because they have the tail...
The mer released her and Maya sank, her eyes dimming. She felt the seabed catch her, cradle her, wrap her in seaweed, and everything went black.
She awoke to a crowd of faces. All women, all ageless and serene, all scaled and gilled and all excited. They smiled when she opened her eyes. One silver-haired mer pushed her way forwards and Maya recognised her as the siren who had kissed her. Shyly, she deposited something in front of Maya and waited.
Her father's eyeglass. She looked up at the mermaid, questioning.
"They threw you over." The mer replied, a hint of anger in her soft voice. "They threw us all over, and they forget." She grinned fiercely, and now her teeth were sharp "But my sisters and I, we remember. And we sing to them so softly of our sorrow, they wreck themselves in their hurry to offer comfort."
Maya smiled back, feeling power in her tail, her jaws, her arms. Her fiery red hair billowed in the water around her and she pulled water in through her nose, feeling the individual particles rush past her tongue, and tasted, dimly, the blood of the men who had sentenced her to death, all for wanting to see the world.
She suddenly needed to see the sky, and her tail responded. She powered up, up straight up, her sisters swirling and cavorting and laughing around her and always the silver-haired siren kept pace with her. Together they breached the surface… and Maya saw it.
The burning wreck of the ship she had wanted to call home lit up the night sky like a beacon. A lifeboat sat apart from the burning wreckage, forlorn, and on the sea breeze she could taste the fear of the survivors.
Her sisters were silent now. This moment was hers.
Slowly she moved towards the dingy, careful to stay behind the three figures. She felt adrenaline begin to surge through her veins and started preparing herself for the leap that would carry her over the boat and within plucking distance of her prey. A touch on her arm halted her, and her silver-haired mermaid shook her hair slightly, and touched Maya’s lips.
Maya understood. They needed to know before they died. Softly, she began to sing, voice scarred and husky from the saltwater she’d breathed.
Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest
Yo, ho, and a bottle of rum
The captain was the first to turn and look for the voice, not recognising the song or the voice of the singer. He lost his senses quickest and stumbled-dived over the side of the boat, where Maya’s sisters waited.
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo, ho, and a bottle of rum…
The cook was next, wide eyes betraying his terror at hearing her voice once again. He had remembered her dirge, even if no-one else had. He stood up jerkily and was frozen by the war between the bewitching song and his fear-riddled instincts. Maya leapt then, snatching him from the lifeboat as smoothly as she’d once pulled a fish from its watery home. Down she took him, down and down, where her sisters waited.
When she resurfaced, only the cabin boy, so friendly and yet so cruel, remained. He huddled in the dinghy, hands clamped over his ears, weeping softly to himself. He wasn’t much older than Maya had been. She swam to the side of the boat and pulled herself up slightly, resting her head on her arms.
She remembered the games she had played with this boy, but it was like looking at water-stained portraits. Something else would be required for this boy. Once again, she sang.
My heart is pierced by Cupid
Slowly his sobbing faded.
I disdain all glittering gold
His hands came away from his ears, and his breath no longer hitched
There is nothing can console me
Maya reached out slowly and cupped her face. His eyes opened and met hers.
But my jolly sailor bold.
He reached up and grasped her hand once, tenderly, then with a sad smile, threw himself backwards over the furthest side of the dinghy. Laughing, Maya plunged down after him, chasing him to the ocean floor where he joined the bones of other men in their eternal slumber.
