Siren Song

Content notes: infertility, mention of drowning

There are many kinds of fish in the sea, of all shapes and sizes and colors.

The same goes for merfolk. Carol and Mintas were two mermaids in love with the same merman, and this was fine. They were as different in looks as in character.

Seen from above the waves, Carol was a luscious streak of coral, from white to red. Mintas was the deep sea, in dark blue and green and brown. Sael was the shallow water after a storm, in all colors of the swirling sand. What they had in common was their love for each other and the yearning for a child that Sael could not give them. It was a common problem that merfolk sometimes needed humans to father their children.

Many a time had Carol and Mintas tried to lure a man to their side. But another common problem was that men tended to drown themselves, driven mad by the song of the mermaids. As they did not want people to drown, they only sang for small fishing boats with no more than three people on them, so that each of them could save one person from drowning, knowing that the madness would stop soon afterwards. But they could not stop singing altogether, as this was how they communicated above the waves. And they really longed for a child.

The three had all but given up hope of finding a human who could bear their song, when they saw a tiny boat being tossed about by the waves, threatening to sink in a late summer storm. As they dove into the waters, they swam towards the boat and reached it just as it crashed against a reef, splintering. The one man on board quickly began to sink.

Mintas was the fastest swimmer and soon caught up with the drowning man. She took him in her arms and brought him deeper. There was no safety amid the churning waves, but there were caves with pockets of air far below, and there she brought him, Carol and Sael following just behind.

They laid him on the sand below the deep, and soon he started coughing and moving, looking around in wonder. He had never seen merfolk before. And they stared at him. His light skin had been weathered by years of work on the water, the hair with the first streaks of grey was clinging to his face, dripping. He wiped some droplets from his deep green eyes.

The three merpeople were not sure what to do. They wanted to ask if he was harmed, but did not want to risk a bout of madness as he was still recovering from nearly drowning. After exchanging some looks Mintas and Carol swam a bit further from the shore, to catch the man, should he rush into the water, while Sael let himself get washed ashore by his side. Thus prepared, Sael asked if the man was alright, ready to cling to him, should he go mad. But the man neither moved nor answered.

Sael tried a different language, again with no result. He only knew parts of a third and slowly stammered something, gesturing to make up for his lack of words. Now the man started to move, but not towards the water. He just sat up straighter and gestured back. As the merfolk also often talk among themselves by using signs, Sael soon understood and called Carol and Mintas closer.

After a while they were all half-in, half-out of the water, signing and laughing. The man would not fall mad upon hearing the song of the merfolk as he was deaf and always had been. He made a living by fishing, which was why he had been out despite the weather. They brought him food and drink and invited him to stay until the storm had passed. Meanwhile, they would look for what was left of his boat and make repairs, so he would not be stranded in this underwater cave once the storm was over.

And thus, when the storm had blown over, they brought him up again, to a boat that seemed fashioned from the wrecks of many others and that had barrels filled with fish on the deck. The human man was moved and asked if there was anything he could do to thank them for his life and livelihood. The three exchanged glances and after some blushing they told him why they had been watching for boats and that they longed for children.

So they all visited the cave once more to share food and drink and love.

When they were all back at the boat the man asked if he would ever be allowed to return. The three merpeople smiled and nodded, each embracing and kissing him and giving him a colorful pebble before diving out of sight, back to their world in the deep.

Now, every once in a while, a small boat with a single man on board goes out to sea. An observer might see this man toss a pebble overboard. Not long after the pebble sinks, Sael, Mintas, or Carol, or perhaps all three, appear and take the man with them, under the waves.

The boat floats there until the next day, when the man returns, and is given kisses and more pebbles. Maybe, after a while, two smaller merfolk join the group. And maybe, another long while later, a third. And if the man seems happier than he has ever been before, he does not tell anyone how it came about. For who would believe him?