Waiting

Wilhelm grumbled and sat up in his bed. Perhaps today he would finally kill that stupid rooster. Still, the farm wouldn’t tend to itself. With a yawn he swung his feet to the floor and stood up. After changing out of his sleep clothes into working ones and redoing the mussed braid in his long hair he wandered towards the kitchen. His granddaughter, Monika, was bustling around in there. Watching her silently, Wilhelm was forced to admit that she was somewhat strange for a girl. She had broad shoulders and strong limbs from working around the farm and only two months ago she’d cut her hair so short that it barely reached her collarbone. Not to mention that she was unusually serious for such a young maiden and didn’t twitter on about boys like her friends did (something he was both happy and slightly worried about). At least she was wearing a dress today, even if it was only her plain red one with white sleeves.

He finally spoke up when she pulled the pot of porridge off its hook over the fireplace. “You’re in a hurry today.”

Monika flinched and let the pot drop onto their rough wooden table. “O-opa! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she scolded lightly, hurrying to grab a rag. She continued speaking while wiping up some porridge that had spilled over onto the table. “I’m going to watch for bruder’s ship after I finish my chores.”

Wilhelm got two bowls and spoons before sitting down with Monika at the table. “Are you waiting by the docks, or the tide rocks?” he asked.

“Well, the docks are crowded so I thought the tide rocks would be best,” Monika replied evenly. She watched her grandfather as he ladled some porridge into his bowl. He scooped up a spoonful and blew on it before eating.

“This is very good,” was his only comment. Monika let out a tiny sigh of relief and quickly brushed her bangs out of her greenish blue eyes. The fact that he had not objected to her going out was his way of saying that it was okay. She’d had a feeling that he would let her go, he knew how much she worried about Roderich. Despite his many annoying traits, Roderich was her only family besides Wilhelm and the life of a sailor could be dangerous.

After they’d both finished Wilhelm looked out the kitchen window. The sky was lightening with the approaching dawn. “You should hurry, the tide will be coming in soon.”

Monika nodded and scraped the last bits of porridge out of her bowl. She worked quickly; washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, collecting the eggs and milking the cows before she finally left her grandfather’s farm and headed towards the beach.

It was only a twenty minute walk and soon enough she was hopping across the large, flat rocks that were only visible at low tide. She headed towards a larger rock about fifty feet from the shore, her favorite place to sit. She sat down on the slightly damp surface, silently marveling at how the ocean had smoothed away it’s sharp edges and left only a bumpy dome. Settling for a few minutes of watching, she gazed out at the sea. It was still dark and gray and untouched by sunlight. The pink and purple sky added a splash of color though and it was light enough to see the harbor far to her right. That’s where her bruder’s ship would land when it came back. All she could do now was wait and wonder if today was the day...

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The first thing Monika heard after she nodded off on the rock was a splash. She saw bubbles and murky water. She felt cold. She couldn’t breathe. Water filled her lungs instead of air and she gagged violently. Hands clawed the ocean without her knowing and scraped against the rock in a futile effort to surface. There was a reason her grandfather didn’t like her near the rocks during high tide. The water rose so high that anyone who couldn’t swim was putting themselves at risk and the ocean had rubbed the underwater parts smooth, making it difficult to climb back up. Like an idiot she had not only stayed too long but she’d also fallen asleep!

Something cool gripped her wrist and tugged her invitingly towards the surface. With a strangled gasp Monika’s head breached the water and she gulped in the wonderful salty air, choking a bit when her lungs coughed up water at the same time. Whatever had grabbed her wrist released its hold only to replace it on her hips. It pushed her up and over until her stomach brushed against rock. She quickly wrapped her arms around the rock and pulled herself up higher until only her knees and lower legs were still in the ocean. Monika let her cheek rest against the rock and screwed her eyes shut while she hacked and spluttered.

“Wow, it’s a good thing I was nearby, huh?” a high, beautiful voice asked. Monika’s eyes flew open. A young man, around her age perhaps, was staring at her. He had short, auburn hair with a small curl on the left side of his head and hazel eyes. He also happened to be shirtless and the lower half of his body was in the water so Monika couldn’t tell if the nudity continued. She hoped not.

The boy smiled widely, his eyes disappearing for a second. “Are you okay?” he asked kindly.

Monika nodded and lifted up her head a bit. “Danke. Um… who are you?”

“I’m Veneziano, but you can just call me Vene. What’s your name?” he chirped.

“Monika.”

“That’s such a pretty name!”  

Monika felt her cheeks burn and she brushed aside some of the sopping wet hair that clung to her neck. “It’s nothing special.” A breeze ruffled the water around her and she shivered, finally registering the cold. “H-how are you not freezing?!” she asked Veneziano. She may have been soaked but he was still halfway in that chilly water.

Veneziano coughed nervously and shrugged. “I go swimming all the time. I hardly feel the cold. In fact, I bet the water is warmer than the air right now!” He shrugged again and twisted slightly, something green peeked out around his side.

Monika looked at her savior skeptically. “If you say so… Oh, I think you’ve got some seaweed on your back.” Before Veneziano could protest she grabbed his arm and pulled him closer so she could reach his back. He squirmed and mumbled something about it being nothing but Monika persisted and spun him around. What she saw made her gasp in shock. A long, green fin was sticking out of his back. It started at the middle of his back and ran along his spine until it disappeared into the water. Unthinking, she lifted him up higher until she could see his waist. Monika didn’t know what to think when she saw his skin turn into green scales…

“You-... You’re…”

With a mighty heave Veneziano broke free and swam a few feet away, no longer bothering to hide his tail. He eyed her warily, distrustingly. Monika sat up slowly and for a minute the only sound came from the sea as it continued to breath in the tide. Her blue eyes met his hazel ones and she hesitantly held out a hand to him.

“I won’t hurt you,” she promised. “You saved my life, I couldn’t hurt you.”

An expression akin to a pout pooled and settled on Veneziano’s lips. “Would you hurt me if I hadn’t saved your life?”

“Oh, don’t be silly! Come back here!” Monika snapped. Veneziano flinched and unconsciously obeyed, swimming forward and accepting her rough hand with his smooth one.

“Sorry… my grandfather always said I should never trust humans,” the merman admitted shyly. He ran a thumb along Monika’s wrist and continued, “I feel like I can trust you though…”

Monika didn’t know how to respond verbally, so she let a small smile curl around her mouth. They watched each other for an eternity, or perhaps it was only a second, before she blurted out, “You’re a merman!”

Veneziano smirked. “Really? I couldn’t tell.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Monika stammered. “It’s just… you’re not supposed to be… real!”

“Yes, well…” The brunet let go of her hand long enough to scoot onto the rock. “No offense, but most merfolk don’t like land dwellers very much. We try not to make ourselves noticeable.” Monika shrugged indifferently. Her attention was focused on Veneziano’s muted green tail and how it twinkled in the dawn light. She wondered if his scales felt as smooth as they looked… Veneziano either didn’t notice or didn’t care because he continued to talk. “It’s not even your fault, I think. Besides the fact that you eat fish-” his nose wrinkled in disgust “-there’s nothing really wrong with you… except for those things.” He poked Monika’s foot curiously, repeating the action when it got a giggle out of her.

She swatted his hand away before he could coax a full grown laugh out of her. “Why do merpeople not like humans then?”

A distant look washed over Veneziano’s face and he let the tip of his tail fall back into the ocean. “No one really remembers, but according to legend one of our princesses died because of a dragon-”

“A dragon?!”

“I told you it was a legend, hush!”

Monika pressed her lips together irritably and waited for him to continue.

“Anyway, the princess and the dragon met one night and fell in love. They kept meeting each other secretly until they finally decided to use a spell to make them both human so they could be together. When the princess’s father found out he was furious and made a law out of spite forbidding anyone in his kingdom to go to the surface and talk to her. And then…” Veneziano trailed off.

“And then what?” Monika demanded.

“Well, they grew old and died together.” Veneziano cast a sidelong glance at Monika. “Most merfolk live forever you know.”

A tiny snort escaped her throat. “Believe it or not, I didn’t,” Monika confessed in a mock serious tone. She mulled over the tale for a bit before asking, “Why didn’t the dragon turn into a merman? Or why didn’t the mermaid turn into a dragon? Why choose to be human?”

“I don’t know… Maybe they saw something in you humans that the rest of us never- are you okay?!” Veneziano looked at Monika worriedly. With a start she realized she was shivering uncontrollably. She’d been preoccupied with the myth and meeting a MERMAN and had forgotten she was still soaked in cold seawater.

“I’m fi-....aaACHOO!” A giant sneeze sent her reeling back a bit. Monika wiped away a bit of snot and groaned. “Ugh, I probably look a mess.”

“No, you look very pretty!” Veneziano said with another dazzling smile.

Monika turned red again and looked away towards the distant docks. Her eyes widened when she saw a ship heading towards it. “I-It’s! my bruder’s ship! Roderich is home!” she yelled, pointing towards the harbor. Veneziano looked at the ship curiously.

“Your brother is a sailor?”

“Ja!” Monika clambered to her feet and started hopping back to the shore, the journey made somewhat perilous since the rocks were now slick. “I have to go see him! Opa will be so happy!”

Veneziano tried to conceal a frown and swam alongside her. “You’ll come back, right?” he asked anxiously.

Monika paused. She swiped her bangs out of her face again and looked down at the mythical creature, her rescuer, her… friend? “I think so… I may be busy the next few days, but I’ll come when I can.”

“Same time, same place?”

“Ja.”

The boy’s smile was almost blinding. “It’s a date then!” He sank into the ocean before Monika had time to blush.