The Mermaid

Jacob thought of his grandfather’s last words, before his ashes were thrown to the sea. He held onto Jacob’s hand, the rest of his family gathered around him. Jacob wanted to pull away, but he didn’t want to be that asshole that would be shunned by the family for not staying with a family member before his last moments.

Jacob grimaced at the bad breathe of his grandfather, it reminded him of what death would smell like. He leaned over to Jacob’s ear, and whispered:

“Ignore the beauty by the sea. She will never let you free.”

He died at that moment, and Jacob had no idea at first that he was still holding onto his hand. Or that his family members were all around him, as they were all crying into their palms, blowing their noses, and comforting Jacob. They all felt so sorry for him, telling him that his grandfather loved him so much.

In reality, Jacob was never that close with his grandfather. He had decided to look after his grandfather in the family, when he realized that no one else was going to step in. He hated nursing homes, and didn’t think anyone deserved to be cooped up in there, waiting for death.

Jacob tried to form a bond with his grandfather as he watched over him, but he was left with utter confusion and fear every single day. His grandfather would be sitting in his rocking chair, in his cozy cottage by the sea, yelling at the ocean from his window.

Jacob would do his best to comfort him, but no matter what he did, his grandfather would not stop screaming these words:

“She took my brother! She took my father! She took my mother! She is waiting for me, don’t you see?”

He would point out his window, but every time Jacob would take a look at the lovely beach, nothing would be there. Jacob wondered if his trauma was finally catching up with him in his grandfather’s last years. He had asked multiple family members what had happened to his family when his grandfather was eight years old.

His family had all mysteriously disappeared, and he never got over that.

He was left all alone in this cozy cottage, and one day he was found by a neighbor, crying for the family who never returned home. He decided to ask that same neighbor, and instead of that stranger who found his grandfather, it was a child around thirteen years of age.

Jacob asked her if the neighbor that found his grandfather was here, and she let him in. Jacob could see her parents inside, all talking with an older woman in the kitchen. The girl introduced him to her family, and the older woman asked Jacob if he would join her outside on the porch.

She offered him a cigarette. Jacob politely declined.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, waiting for the woman to speak. She eventually did, looking out at the sea.

“Your grandfather believes that a woman in the ocean took his family.”

“What?”

She took a deep drag on her cigarette.

“It’s bizarre, isn’t it? I think the poor man doesn’t want to accept that something far sinister took place that night. So he conjured up a fairy tale to hide the real thing. It’s what people do when they want to erase something they would rather forget. God, I was around my niece’s age when I found him. I will never forget how terrified he was.”

“Was there ever an investigation into what happened?”

“Yes.”

“And what did they find?”

The woman blew a smoke ring. Jacob once found that pretty cool when he was a child himself. Until he realized how bad smoking was for the human body.

“They found three sets of footprints leading from the cottage to the beach. It looked like his family had walked straight into the ocean.”

Jacob didn’t know what to ask after that. The woman stayed with him outside for a long time, neither of them saying anything else. Jacob had left in a daze, not knowing what to think as he continued to look after his grandfather.

He felt so sorry for him, and he wondered if his parents had gone mad, and had taken his older brother with him, as a sort of sick pact to let the ocean take them. Why they didn’t take his grandfather with them was a mystery, but at least he was spared from such a horrific fate.

Jacob was staring at the now empty rocking chair, feeling like shit.

It bothered him that he couldn’t feel any shred of empathy for losing him. He felt sorry for what his grandfather experienced, and if he had done more for him, maybe he could have helped him to move on from his heavy loss many years ago.

At least his grandfather was now with his family again, and he hoped he was at peace. Jacob released a deep breathe, and raised his head to look at the window. He saw the beach, and it was beautiful. It was a shame that his grandfather feared such a lovely view.

A woman was standing in the water, her back facing him.

And she was singing.

Jacob thought it was the loveliest tune he had ever heard in his life. He stepped outside, wanting to hear it as close as he possibly could. He found himself walking up to the beach, following that voice. He could see that the woman’s hair was red, and it looked like she was naked.

Jacob felt his face turn red as he came closer to the woman, walking into the water. He did not care that his clothes were getting completely soaked, or that the water was freezing. He placed a hand and on her bare shoulder. Her skin felt cold and soft beneath his fingers.

He got the urge to suddenly kiss her skin too, and before he could lean in to taste her, she turned around. Jacob screamed when he saw what was there.

Nothing.

Her face was a black abyss.

An endless chasm that was releasing a wonderful melody. Jacob tried to run, but she latched onto him with her arms. He cried out from the pain, feeling wetness trickle down his arms. Her nails were as sharp as knives. Jacob screamed again, hoping for anyone to hear him.

The waves at that moment began to take on a different view, the waves crashing against each other like a storm was about to arrive. Jacob could feel himself being dragged toward that blackness. The melody continued, and before he was taken to wherever fate awaited him, he thought of his grandfather’s last words.

“Ignore the beauty by the sea. She will never let you free.”

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn