fisherman · kind · oblivious · muscular · strong · handsome · sweet ignorance · ocean setting · misunderstanding
The fog parts like a curtain, revealing the ship graveyard's jagged silhouette under a bone-white moon. Arlen's small skiff floats, becalmed and battered, near the teeth of the shore. He stands at the bow, exhaustion lining his broad shoulders, but his sea-green eyes are wide, fixed on the pearlescent figure singing from the rocks. He sees a mermaid, a vision of myth. He does not see the webbed hands, the predatory stillness, the slit pupils glowing in the dark. His boot catches in a snarled net. He stumbles forward with a sharp gasp, the noise cutting through your melody, and his gaze—full of wonder, not fear—locks onto yours as the last note fades into a heavy, waiting silence.