The Story Of Alun & Gaia

My name is Alun. This is my story about my best friend Gaia. My life, I can tell you, has been a blessing with her around. We both ran away to a better life in the Bahamas and even met a mermaid.

It all started with my breakup with my boyfriend. I rushed to get ready for our brunch date. He told me that he wanted to tell me a surprise. Coming to the local diner, I see he's with another woman. The woman, with red lipstick and her hair loose with curls, suddenly made my heart drop. Then she saw me, a smirk began to form, and she stared at me, like a predator studying prey.

"Hey babe," I say. "What's going on?" I glance at her again as she sticks her hand out to shake mine. "How are you? My name is Arpina." I shake her hand and suddenly felt her squeeze it tight, causing pain. I yelp but then press my stomach. "These cramps are killing me."

He doesn't react. Instead, he points for me to sit in the spot across from him. As I sit down, the waitress approaches our table.

"Welcome to Sunrise Diner. What would you like today?"

My boyfriend turns to Arpina. "What would you like?" My heart immediately drops. And I realize immediately that there's no surprise. Seeing her gaze towards him, him touching her thigh under the table, the pieces were coming together, but I keep quiet.

After making a decision on her order, my boyfriend orders, and then its my turn.

"Can I get coffee, black, no sugar?" As the waitress jots down her notes, I get impatient. When she leaves, I look into his eyes.

"You're dumping me. Aren't you?" I say. He looks away but says nothing. I get up and grab my purse.

"Alun. Please don't go," he says. I shake my head. And rush to the door.

The rest is a blur. The next moment, I look at my hands and realize I'm in my apartment now. Sadness comes over me, and I cradle my face in my hands and weep. I always had the slightest thought he was gonna break out with me, but now that it's actually happening, I feel like I'm slowly deteriorating.

Hours later, I give in and finally call my friend Gaia. She comes over with a bottle of wine and her PJs. I hug her and continue crying.

"Do me a favor and breathe, honey." she helps me to ground, and I finally calm down. After talking for a while, she brings up an idea.

"I just got a new boat after making stacks with my first customer. Exclusive baby. Fridge, air conditioning, not that cheap crap. Let's move to the Bahamas. Get some fresh air, be in a new place."

I immediately nodded and agreed. Anywhere but this city is where I need to be.

The next morning after finding house sitters, packing our bags, and kissing our families goodbye, we set sail to the islands.

"Good thing we went before the sun came up." she shares while controlling the boat.

"You can go to the back and take a nap if you want. It's gonna be a while." How does she have so much energy? I look at her, observing her face. I look at her nose, as she sniffs aggressively.

I make a face. "You didn't, Gaia."

She smiles but says nothing. I sigh and make my way to the back of the boat. I set up my blanket and fall asleep.

I wake up to a loud thud. I run to the front of the boat, making sure Gaia is okay. I meet up to find her looking over the edge of the boat.

"Is everything okay? I ask." I look over the boat but see nothing.

"There's a blue woman in the water," she says silently. I sigh and shake my head. "You see, this is why you need to stop doing drugs, girl."

She grabs my hand and looks at me, "It wore off hours ago." I look at the sky, the sun is bright, and the sky is blue. "Wait, how long have I been asleep?"

"Like about 8 hours. I thought you were dead. You literally laid on the bed like a stone." The fact that she didn't check on me makes me feel uncomfortable. Just as I'm about to say something, I hear another thud. This time it sways the boat, making both of us fall.

"It's the blue lady!" says Gaia. She gets up frantically and goes to the edge of the boat. I run after her. As I look over, I see a woman with blue skin and black eyes, showing no pupils & her hair grey and covered with seaweed.

"Hello," she says softly. I start to scream, but then she holds her hand to her lips. "Be quiet please, the fish are still sleeping."

Gaia and I look at each other, fear in our faces, but say nothing.

"My name is Oceane. O-C-E-A-N-E. I just wanted to see if you need help with where you're going. I can lead the way."

"We have a GPS," Gaia says coldly.

"What is GPS?" she asks. She cocks her head to the side.

"GPS is a global positioning system that allows you to go to any destination you choose, telling you where to go," she responds.

The creature looks down then says, "So you guys follow a device to get to somewhere."

"Why are you asking?" Gaia responds, growing more irritated.

I try to calm her down. I look at the blue woman in the water, and she stares with a kind of kindness in her eyes. I give in.

"Take us to the Bahamas. My friend and I need to go to sleep." Gaia looks at me, bug-eyed. "Are you serious?" she whispers to me.

I nod and look at the woman in the water. She smiles, showing her teeth, which are sharp but white and clean. She swims down into the ocean, leaving Gaia and me alone.

"Oh, she's totally gonna try to kill us," Gaia said, nodding her head. I'm gonna drink some wine and just let it happen at this point. I look at her, feeling anxious. What if she's right?

Suddenly, she comes back holding a flute. Closing her eyes, she holds the flute to her heart, and music starts to play. Then she starts singing, and the boat slowly moves forward; she moves to the front of the boat and swims towards our destination. Gaia sits down and sips her wine but says nothing. I sit next to her.

"I think we need to trust her," I say after a few minutes of silence. She purses her lips before taking another sip. I sigh. "I'm gonna sleep for a while. Why don't you sleep with me?" I ask.

"In what way?" She smirks and looks at me. I push her and laugh.

"I'm happy you decided to trust your heart in this." She says. "I think she has good intentions too, just a little spooked because she's not human." I look out into the horizon and say, "Humans aren't trustworthy, to begin with." I grab the bottle and pour myself a glass.

Gaia looks at me, then gives me a big hug. We hold each other with tears coming down our faces.

The days after that were nothing but happiness, glamour, and filled with new friends, we've become close. We haven't seen the blue siren since, but every once in a while, I like to float some small flowers into the ocean her name, thanking her for leading us to our forever home.