Few weeks later....

I was standing on the sea shore, the winds kissed my azure hairs. It was such a pleasure to have it fluttering naturally. I was very difficult to hide waist length thick tresses, with a small wig. Yet I had to manage due to the unnatural colour of my hair.

I looked at my skin which glowed with a pearly, luminescent texture in the full moon.

The waves shone with an eerie bluish glow and the sand glistened blue wherever I stepped. Thanks to the magic of the tiny Noctiluca, the bioluminescent creatures.

“Ianthe,” beckoned a voice from the water.

“Hey Aalton,” I greeted the figure which hopped onto the rock.

“Come here my heart,” he waved to me.

I stepped into the water and as the cool waves touched my feel, I felt the sense of being at home. Water was my life. The water rejuvenated me.

I gingerly sat on the rock, balancing myself with my feet.

“So, how are things going on?”

“Fine,” I gave a wide smile, “High school is fun and I am kind of liking someone a lot.”

His face fell.

“Ianthe, do you realize that you could never get serious with anyone of them.”

I sat very still as I realized the bitter truth in his words. The few kisses shared with Ambrose came back to me. The heat, the fire, the passion.

“Ianthe, I say this as I love you. Don’t think I am jealous of him, whoever he is. But you have a long life Ianthe, you are immortal. He will die even before you turn 180. Ianthe, you are 90, mature enough to understand that,”

Silence fell as his words took time to sink in. When they finally did, I had tears in my eyes.

“I want to turn to a human,” I wept.

Aalton caught my shoulders in an iron grip, “Are you crazy? You want to be like him? He would never love you and in the end you will suffer just like Ariel, the little mermaid, did.”

“That’s all a myth Aalton, There is no such thing, so just relax. I can never become one of them. That is a forbidden desire,” I tried to convince him.

“Oh,” he heaved a sigh of relief, "I had thought for one moment that you had found some way…”

“I am just enjoying. You need not worry so much Aalton,” I said, to lighten the mood.

“I worry about you every minute Ianthe, it’s just that you never ever cared to give one thought to how I feel,” his eyes glistened.

“I am sorry,” I hugged him, as he buried his face in my hair, “You know I don’t feel for you, or any merman in that way.”

“Yes, you want to go hook up with some human freak,” he snapped, drawing back from my embrace.

“Aalton…”

“You know, I was a fool to come here,” he jumped into the water, and after a few seconds, his head came up above the water, “You do whatever you feel and break your heart over those stupid creatures. You know what, it’s useless to try to explain anything to you.”

And then he was gone.

I sat there for a long time, pondering over the night’s conversation.

When I turned back to go, the red flaming rays of the sun were just touching the sky and birds were beginning to sing. My mind was a jumble of emotions.

576 words...
TO be continued...

Thanks for reading.