This story is by Emilia Wozniak and was part of our 2023 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
The ocean waves were quiet as they crashed gently onto the rocks. The beautiful creature sat listening to them as she waited. She watched the bright moon, the cloudless night, the gulls that slept around her. Quiet, serene. Gorgeous.
Yet the beauty of the ocean failed to amaze her. Instead, she just stared at it all blankly, her shimmering tail waving idly in the icy water at the base of the rock she was perched on.
The siren wondered again if this was to be her existence. In her hundreds of years of life, she had seen everything a creature like her could see. She had killed countless mortals, and no longer felt an ounce of remorse. But she could feel something calling to her from beyond the waves. A tether that she couldn’t follow.
Her dark hair fell down to her waist, covering her otherwise naked body. The sirens kelp- green eyes and expression were sharp as she waited for what felt like hours, until a large ship appeared on the horizon.
The siren sighed. She did not feel remorse for the lives lost, but she also did not enjoy luring the sailors to their deaths either. Despite that, it was the only way to stay alive.
She had considered it more than once, to the displeasure of her mother, the Siren Queen. She had considered not doing her duty under the full moon each month. But everytime she tried to resist, her instincts took over, and she awoke the next morning amidst a shipwreck under the sea.
So now she did what was expected of her. With a subtle flick of her tail, the siren dove under the water without a sound. Gliding through the darkness, she closed her eyes. That tether was tighter than ever around her heart, her soul,connecting her to something she would never know.
She ignored it.
Within moments, she treaded water at the base of the magnificent ship, her arms moving in tune with the soft currents. Up close, the boat looked even larger than before, the wood polished, candles lighting the deck far above. Planes of glass on the sides of the ship allowed her to view cabins filled with cots, cannons, and an overfilling supply of weapons. Pirates, the siren thought.
She let her impulse take over, allowing the hauntingly beautiful voice to float up to the seamen.
There once was a mermaid, her beauty unmatched
She was beloved by all sailors
But alas she remained detached
She heard the shouts from above, but ignored them. Lovesick pirates never failed to annoy her. Instead, she started her backwards retreat towards the rocks, effectively leading them towards their doom, all while singing her song.
Until the day she viewed the sailor with eyes so sweet
The mermaid was instantly hooked by his humor
And his kindness was utterly complete
The siren reached the cliffs, drawing on her magic. The clear night disappeared as the bright full moon was covered with the dark storm clouds. Thunder crashed. Still, the ship continued on its course, the fog and clouds from the storm effectively covered the jagged rocks awaiting them.
When the siren reached her spot amongst the gulls, now flapping their wings in fear, she finished her song. The melody winded through the air, reaching the sailors ears despite the distance.
But the sailor didn’t love the beautiful mermaid
And in her rage, she sank his boat, dragging him beneath the waves
Thus, she was now another creature, born from the betrayed
Oh, there once was a mermaid, her beauty unmatched
And from her wrath, the sirens were hatched
When the song was finished, the seamen were released from her trance. The rocks were revealed to them. Their shouts of joy were transformed into those of terror. The crew attempted to alter the boat’s path, but it was too late.
Despite herself, despite her training, the siren closed her eyes as the boat hit the rocks with the force of the mighty ocean. Even still, she could feel herself strengthening as the mortals died. One after the other, she gained their strength.
Finally, she opened her eyes, watching the boat sink below the surface. The ship that had felt so mighty minutes ago now looked meek. Powerless. She relished the emotion, a feeling, which were all too rare for her.
Then, a flicker of movement caught the siren’s eye. Far below, in the crashing surf, now so calm after the storm faded, was a young woman. Her voluminous skirts floated around her as she struggled to hold onto a plank of wood from the ship that was now almost completely beneath the waves.
The siren knew that she should wait, to watch until the young woman fell beneath the waves along with the rest of the mortals. Mortals sometimes survived the initial crash, but it was only a matter of time.
However, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the women, fighting with surprising strength against the allure of death. Her shoulder-length gold hair was plastered to her head and face, but her brown eyes were clear.
Unafraid.
` Even from a distance, the siren could see the woman lift her head to search for help. And see as the women looked straight at her. The tether around her heart clenched.
Her body was moving before she could grasp the look the woman had given her. She moved through the water quicker than an eel, and grasped the woman’s arms gently.
And then the siren jolted backwards. The tether, the bond that had been wrapped around her heart for a hundred years… that bond had purred in her ear. It had relaxed its tight grip, finally fulfilled.
The siren didn’t take the time to consider what that meant, how it had known that this woman would be here. She again took the woman’s arm, staring into her eyes. The woman relaxed her hold on the plank of wood, and within a moment, they arrived at a smooth rock a hundred feet away.
The siren couldn’t breath, couldn’t speak. She didn’t know what to do with her arms, with the tail curled underneath her. Not as the woman sat up from where she had laid her, her eyes still holding the sirens. Despite the death of her fellow companions, there was no fear in her eyes. Finally, she spoke.
“Thank you. Those pirates… They had kidnapped me weeks ago. I thought they would kill me. You saved me, I am in your debt.”
The siren continued to stare at her. She could only think of one thing, one question, to ask the woman. One question, the question she had been waiting to be answered since she had first felt the tether around her heart. The tether that had led her here, to this moment, this woman.
“What’s your name?”
The siren’s beautiful voice was raspy, but the woman still looked shocked. Shocked, but without a lick of fear. Not as she answered, her own voice unwavering.
“I am Sophina. Lady Sophina Romano.”
It was the answer the siren had been asking for centuries. And for the first time, she felt hope, and happiness blossom in her chest. It answered the question, yet asked a thousand more, waiting to be answered. The siren smiled, the first in her long existence.
“Hello, Sophina. I’ve been searching for you for a long, long time.”
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