She wasn’t a real mermaid.

“Aye! Avast!” Rick shouted, brandishing his sword as he lunged, allowing the three hundred dollar pirate coat to flare dramatically as he battled Steve, who was playing the role of Black Bart today. “Give up the Heart of the Sea and the rest of the treasure or prepare to die, ye scabberous dog!”

“Nevarrrrrr!” Steve wailed far too loudly, then pointed theatrically with his hook up to the billowing sails. “For the Heart of the Sea, ye see, is a necklace worn by… the mermaid princess! Its mystical powers shall soon be ours!”

A large gasp ran through the crowd as the spotlights swiveled to illuminate the young woman seemingly trapped from a cage hanging in the air near the crow’s nest. Her hands reached out in a silent plea as she swung her tail back and forth, the light glinting off the iridescent shades of purple, blue, and green waving stripes.

“The Heart of the Sea cannot be claimed by mortal men, for like the ocean, it is freedom itself,” she announced in a proud, lightly accented voice that instantly captured the audience’s attention and caused Rick to frown a little. This mermaid certainly didn’t sound like Kelsey, who was late to every rehearsal and constantly attempted a breathy, sultry, Marilyn Monroe act. Shrugging, he figured he’d find out who replaced her soon enough.

“How dare ye kidnap one of the Daughters of the Sea King!” Rick shook his fist and shouted above the clangs of swords around them, keeping half an eye out for any newbies drifting off their marks. It only took being stabbed once to teach him that lesson.

“We dare to be rich!” Steve cried, and his band of pirates, all with carefully dusted scarred faces and cloth caps, roared in agreement before attacking Rick’s collection of privateers, marked by their matching blue coats and white flowing sleeves.

Two more rounds of back and forth swordplay ranged all over the large ship that served as their stage, then he and Steve paused as another pair of specially cast tumblers did a series of flips and somersaults between them, earning applause and impressed shouts.

“Fool!” Rick shouted, having safely tossed his expensive coat out of harm’s way during the interlude, gesturing to the bubbling water below. “The Sea King has sent his wrath upon ye in the form of…”

“The Kraken!” The rest of the performers wailed, then ran around in choreographed chaos as a large shadow was projected on the mainsail.

Three, two, one, he counted silently, then braced himself for the giant spurt of water to hit the deck and part of the crowd, eliciting gasps and laughter as those in the ‘Splash Zone’ were quickly soaked.

Once most of the water had drained off the sides, the pirates dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, Steve taking off his huge black tri-cornered hat and begging Rick to help them.

“We cannot fight the Kraken! It’ll bring us down to Davy Jones’ Locker for certain! What chance do we have to survive?”

Rick hummed loudly, chin in his hand as he turned to his crew, who shrugged their shoulders in puzzlement.

“How does one appease an angry creature sent by the Sea King?” He wondered aloud, waiting for the kids in the audience to shout out the answer.

“The mermaid! The princess!”

He leaned closer. “What’s that, new recruits? Speak up.”

“Rescue the princess! The mermaid princess!” The children yelled over each other, the cage lowering as the girl swung her tail and waved her hands again.

“What prin— oh, you mean the mermaid princess!”

“Yes!” Came the exasperated reply.

“Well, why didn’t you say so!” He called out, then hit the rope tied around the mast with his cutlass, breathing a sigh of relief when the bottom of the cage dropped open in sync this time, sending the trapped mermaid falling the last few feet, her shrill scream stopping the moment he heroically caught her.

Despite the fact that Rick had seen and done this show for years, all knowledge of his next line instantly vanished the second she landed in his arms.

She was certainly not Hollywood wannabe Kelsey.

Her eyes were the deepest shadowed blue he’d ever seen in all his twenty years, rings of emerald green giving way to cerulean. His freckled, somewhat tanned ashy skin stood out sharply against her deep bronze arms currently encircling his neck. Her wide nose was framed by the smiling apples of her cheeks, and dark black ringlets streaked with gold bounced as she turned to look at him, the sparkling scales of her tail catching the light—almost as if it were real.

One eyebrow quirked at him in amusement before she blinked slowly, releasing him from whatever paralysis had set in, and then declared, “My hero!”

The crowd cheered, and Rick finally remembered to incline his head. “Your Highness.”

Another roar came from the speakers, and while long shadows of writhing tentacles were cast on the sails, he tried desperately to refocus his mind. “My lady, what can we do to vanquish this terror?”

“Fear not, O brave one,” she answered, white teeth grinning at him. “I shall save you from this storm, for the Kraken is commanded by the Heart of the Sea.” She paused and held out a garish bit of green costume jewelry, lifting the necklace aloft before calling out, “Begone, foul beast! Begone and tell my father I am saved.”

With one last spray from the water cannons, the dark forms subsided, gaining another round of applause and joyful shrieks from the gathered assembly.

She waved a regal hand to the ocean below and gave a benevolent smile. “See, my sisters come to escort me home.”

Murmurs and gasps of awe ran through the crowd as the younger audience members pointed to the waves in excitement.

“Look Mama, look! Mermaids!”

Tails of all colors flashed beneath the surface as the half-dozen girls with seashell bras and starfish hair ornaments swam around the ship and smiled at the children pressed against the fence.

Lowering her gently into the water, Rick wrapped a rope around his hand as he leaned out over the ocean, nearly parallel with the waves.

“Will I ever see you again, princess?”

Tossing her dark hair over her shoulder, she lifted a hand to encompass the sea, giving him a soft, knowing smile that nearly sent him plunging into the water. “Perhaps. One day.”

Turning to the crowd, she grabbed one of the handholds on the hull and leaned back, showing off her colorful fin before continuing, “If you look beyond the horizon, where the sun kisses the sea, perhaps then, you shall find me. Fare thee well, my jolly sailor bold.”

She blew a kiss in his direction, which he caught and pressed to his heart in a melodramatic movement, earning a few stray ‘aw’s from the crowd. The rest of the mermaids waved, flipped their tails, then set off back under the water, around to the small pad on the far side of the ship out of sight.

“Fare thee well, mystical maidens!” He shouted, then spun on his heel. “And thanks be to my newest recruits, for helping me defeat Black Bart himself! I’m happy to have ye be part of my crew any time!”

Somehow he made it through the rest of the spiel about how photo ops with the mermaids and pirates could be purchased in Treasure Cove by the gift shop in twenty minutes’ time before bolting to the men’s green room on the lower deck.

“Steve!” He hissed, shoving past a shirtless pirate with an eyepatch and a pantsless hero hopping on one leg. “Do you know who the⁠—”

“Jesus, Rick, ease up next time will you? You know I have a tennis tournament this weekend and now my elbow’s all shot to hell!”

“Sure, whatever,” he waved dismissively. “Who was the mermaid today?”

The other man shrugged and touched up his stage makeup. “I dunno. Last I heard, Kelsey was still up for the whole week.”

“Five minutes til photo op!” Came a shout from the door, and both of them quickly shoved their coats and hats back on.

She was there, sitting on the bench in front of a fake treasure chest set against a beach backdrop with two other mermaid girls. Her azure eyes turned to him as he rushed up, a hint of a grin on her full lips as his throat went dry.

After forty minutes of photos with kids who either talked a mile a minute or were suddenly overwhelmed by shyness (dealing with a few “I know that mermaids aren’t real,” and the occasional middle aged creeper who tried to sneak an arm around the mermaids before Rick or Steve ‘accidentally’ got in their way), they waved to the crowd and helped the mermaids onto their ‘magical carriage’ and walked with the handler back to the girls’ green room.

Trying to play it cool, Rick helped push the decorated transport on the same side as the princess and started, “Hey, uh, I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier. I’m Rick.”

The other mermaids giggled a bit, but Rick ignored them as the girl simply smiled and answered in that same lilting accent, “Nadine.”

“Nadine. That’s… a great name. Would you… can I buy you a coffee, when you’re done?”

Those deep blue eyes caught his in an amused look, then she nodded regally. “Yes.”

He didn’t even care that Steve was rolling his eyes or the other girls were laughing at his blush.

—

Kelsey, it turned out, had gotten a part with the giant attraction in Orlando, and so Nadine became the main mermaid princess, much to Rick’s delight. Post-show coffee quickly became routine, despite the fact that Sophie winked at them every time they came in and shared more humiliating memories of Rick’s childhood if he lingered too long, and in spite of his mother trying to embarrass him at every point.

“Alright everyone, we have two shows tomorrow, one at eleven and one at two. Don’t be late. There are reports of a possible storm, but it shouldn’t hit until late afternoon,” Olivia Raleigh announced to the group after their Friday night rehearsal. “Nadine, excellent work, but show off that tail more. The kids love it. Steve, keep eye contact with the audience, and Rick, you did great, sweetie.”

Titters scattered through the actors as the blood rushed to his cheeks and he scowled at the floor.

As everyone began to pack up, his mom tapped his shoulder. “Look, before you go, I wanted to tell you that I know it’s disappointing, but it’s just one internship. There’ll be more chances⁠—”

“Two internships,” he corrected her sourly. “Plus the one I got rejected for last year.”

“Honey, they’re just internships, not your whole life. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

“Whatever.”

Mrs. Raleigh pressed her lips together, then changed the subject. “Don’t be out too late at the beach tonight. I want you sharp for the shows tomorrow.”

“Yeah, fine, I got it,” he snapped, brushing her off and marching outside.

He jumped a little when he heard Nadine’s voice. “The beach?”

Scratching the back of his head, he tried to shake off his bad mood. “Oh, yeah. The crew usually has a bonfire down at the shore after rehearsals.”

“Are you going?”

“Why not?” He answered back more sharply than he meant.

She raised an eyebrow at his tone, but still followed him out to the sand where Steve and the other pirates had just set the pile of wood ablaze. He snagged two beers out of the group cooler, ignoring the teasing calls of “You’re doing great, sweetie!” as he stomped over to Nadine, who was standing at the edge of the water.

“This isn’t forever,” he told her abruptly after a long pull of his IPA, causing her head to tilt and her dark, gold-streaked curls to shimmer in the distant firelight. “It’s just for the summer, and then I go back to college. Then I’ll graduate and get out of this stupid little town. Get away from all of it.”

She studied him for a quiet moment, then turned to watch the last of the sun fade as gentle waves washed over her toes. “And go to where?”

“Anywhere. Anywhere that’s not here. You know, I’ve been in this show since I could walk. It’s all my parents talk about, or think about. But none of it’s real. The show, my parents, my friends.” He took another pull of his beer. “Everything here is fake.”

Rick had almost forgotten Nadine was there until she hummed noncommittally. “Not all of it,” she spoke, stirring the water with her foot, the moonlight glittering off the water like scales. “Perhaps you only see false things because you look for them.”

“What else would I look for?” He asked sourly, knowing her look was a rebuke but ignoring it anyway.

“I enjoy the playacting. The children, the adults, they see it as a world that could be. As one they could hope for.”

“Oh, sure. Hope for mermaids and magic and crap that’ll never come true.”

He crossed his arms and threw his empty bottle into the ocean. Without glancing at him, she waded out, collected the bottle, and walked past him.

“You seem intent on self-pitying, so I will leave you to it. But if disappointment is all you look for, that is all you will ever find.”

Clutching the empty glass in her hand, she left him alone with his bitter thoughts and the cold, uncaring waves.

—

The next morning, Rick told his mom he was too sick to do the show.

Predictably, his mom freaked out while his dad calmly brought her the directory with the understudies’ names circled and her cell phone before offering Rick some Pepto Bismol and 7up and closing the door with a gentle encouragement to get some sleep.

Eventually the door closed and the car drove away, leaving him in the house that was at once too small and too big for the raging frustration in his heart. His eyes flicked from the rejection letters in his trash can, to the course catalog decorated with far too many post-its and question marks, to his silent phone where not a single friend, from college or town, had checked in on him.

But honestly, why would they? What would be the point?

“Screw it,” he muttered viciously, grabbing his surfboard and storming to the beach.

He knew it was stupid, going out into the water when he was in a dark mood and hadn’t surfed in over a year. But the ocean had always been the one thing to calm him, to drown out the rest of the world in salt and sea and sun as he hovered just above the surface.

But almost as if it echoed his mood, the bright playful blue waves that rocked and soothed him were replaced with grey, angry swells crested with white foam, crashing down with wrathful roars mimicked by the claps of thunder. Before he knew it, the rip tide had carried him far into the ocean, with the shore barely in view and the pirate ship, white sails billowing with wind, bobbing like a toy boat in the water.

Rick laid flat on his board and tried to turn back, but his deep, smooth strokes quickly shifted into panicked paddling as he was pulled up into the reef break, sucking in a single breath before the wave crashed down, spinning him like a top under the water and yanking off the leash connecting him to his board.

He followed the bubbles and broke the surface, gasping for air and glimpsing a crack of lightning across the dark sea before another break, taller and heavier than the last, slammed into him. Rick spun, then sank, lungs burning as his arms grew weak, and wondered if this was truly it. What would his parents think? How would he be remembered?

Would he be remembered?

As his sight faded, the lightning flashed again, casting the silhouette of the curving waves above, along with a swiftly moving figure shifting across the surface.

Odd. It almost looked like a dolphin, or large fish… but with arms. And a tail slightly too long to be human, bioluminescent stripes glowing in the black water as it outlined the large fin and the curving torso and arms, its eyes shining an eerie green in the darkness.

The figure swam closer, and he could have sworn the floating mass of ringlets looked strangely familiar, with small hints of gold reflecting the next bolt of lightning.

His mouth dropped open in shock, allowing his last bit of air to escape as Nadine’s face came into view. It was Nadine, but her face was somehow longer, her eyes larger, and when she smiled, her teeth were much, much sharper.

“Frederick Raleigh,” she murmured in a bemused tone, her voice echoing clearly through the raging water. “What did you hope to find here?”

Shadows crept over his vision just as she reached out to caress his cheek, her fingers thin and keenly edged. “The Sea King’s palace is a beautiful place,” she told him in a sing-song voice, canting her head slightly. “Pity only dead men can visit.”

She drew him close as he finally surrendered to the dark.

—

He awoke, gasping and sputtering for air as he spat out the lingering seawater in his lungs, fingers digging into the wet sand. Breathing heavily, he glanced up at the night sky, clear of clouds and sparkling with stars, impassive and calm as the moon shone on the gently lapping shore. To his right, he saw the distant lights of town, the familiar shape of the pirate ship casting a long shadow on the ocean.

Still trying to reconcile his last memory with his current circumstance, Rick turned to the side and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Nadine sitting next to him, her legs extended into the water as she studied him with an almost predatory air.

“What… what the hell happened?” He asked, his heart still beating a mile a minute.

“I found you,” she stated thoughtfully. “Drifting into the sea.”

“Oh God,” he moaned, holding his head in his hands as the realization sank in. “Oh God, I almost died. I almost drowned!”

“Yes,” she agreed softly, her voice carrying a slight hint of disappointment. “Almost.”

He slowly looked over at her tone, blinking as her face shifted slightly, the sharp row of teeth giving way to a human smile.

“So what is it you sought beneath the water, Frederick Raleigh? If it was death, she nearly claimed you.”

“No, no, nothing like that, I just… I went into the ocean because I wanted to… to forget.”

Her dark eyebrow raised above her azure eyes. “To forget what?”

“Everything!” He shouted, the echo bouncing off the unending waves. “To forget that I don’t know what I’m doing, or who I am, or where the hell I’m going!”

Letting out a long breath, Rick rested his head against his knees. “Or that I just feel… lost.”

The quiet, constant shushing of the waves was loud in the silence as he suddenly felt the overwhelming weight of expectations threatening to drown him all over again.

“Why must you know where you are going?”

His eyes snapped open and he looked at Nadine in confusion.

“Is it not enough to simply go?”

He scrambled for a reason he was sure was there. “Well… because. You have to have a purpose, a goal, or else you’re just… drifting.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Rick sighed. “Which is what I’m doing, I guess. Everyone else is growing and moving on, and I’m… stuck. And I don’t know which I’m more afraid of: changing, or standing still.”

Nadine reached a hand into the sea as it washed ashore, and for a moment the refraction of the water made her fingers look thin and almost webbed.

“We are all change,” she remarked, pulling her arm out and watching the drops grow heavy before returning to the ocean. “Water rises to air. Air falls to water. Waves turn to foam, foam turns to rain. To stop change, to only choose one, is to live a small life.”

Her cobalt eyes, ringed with emerald, caught his green ones as she gave him a coy grin. “I did not pluck you from the sea for you to live a small life, Frederick Raleigh.”

He could have said it was the relief of being alive, or the gentle glow of the moon on her umber skin, but if he was being honest, it was the gift of hope offered in her words that made him lean forward and seal her lips with his own.

She tasted like the ocean, both quenching and magnifying his thirst, drowning him in richness while leaving his lips parched and dry. His fingers quickly became lost in her soft curls, just as his thoughts were spun into incomprehensible joy. The plushness of her mouth and warmth of her skin as she traced the curve of his ear left a burning fire that contrasted sharply to the cold embrace of the reaching waves.

As they parted, she flicked her gaze to his, and he felt the immeasurable pull toward the ocean, the desire to make his bed amidst the sunken ships and drowned sailors, to follow her into the depths of the sea as he lost himself in her eyes.

But with a slow blink, Rick found himself scrambling out of the water that had somehow come up to his chest, and he thought Nadine let out a soft sigh of regret as he moved away.

Turning to face the moon, she spoke wistfully, “I must leave you now, before my delivering you to dry earth becomes for naught.”

“Wait!” Heedless of her warning, of the pinpricks of blood still on his lips, he desperately fought against the waves as they continued to rise. Nadine paused, then drifted slowly closer, floating along the small breaks.

“Can’t you stay?”

She reached forward, fingernails just brushing his cheek as she bit her lip, then shook her head.

“No. One of my sisters stayed, long ago. I came here to understand why.” Lifting her head to the stars, she added, “To understand her. I believe I do, now.”

Grasping his head gently, she pressed another kiss to his mouth, the saltwater stinging his bleeding lips even as he pulled her closer.

When she released him, it was with a small, sad smile. “But my heart remains my own. Though I was happy to lend it to you awhile.”

As she turned toward the horizon, he found himself searching for words, and stumbling upon the familiar phrases that had marked his entire life.

“Will I ever see you again?”

Tossing her dark hair over her shoulder with a wide, sharpened grin, she lifted a hand to encompass the moonlit sea.

“Perhaps. One day.”

With one last look of affectionate longing mixed with regretful hunger, she blew him a kiss, which he caught and pressed to his heart in wordless sincerity.

“Fare thee well, my jolly sailor bold. Fare thee well,” Nadine called, the musical lilt to her voice sending him one step further into the water before he stopped himself.

And as a large, glowing tailfin sent a spray of water into the air, Rick stared at the rippling surface of the sea, a slow grin growing as he felt, for the first time in a long, long while, an unshakeable certainty.

She was a mermaid.

She was real.

And so was he.