Mermaid on the Beach

The storm raged in the sky as the winds swirled and caught the dancing embers of the firewood, which burnt amongst the trees in the lonely island. The island was not yet an island, as the water had disappeared with its emptiness only a memory. There was nothing on the bleak surface of the sand, the sea had taken everything, although all that belonged to it was water. No creatures ever ventured into the sea, it was so full of cold and it burnt your skin as you entered its icy waters. The thunder rumbled through the sky and crawled towards the dying trees. The sound of water began to patter on what was left of the leaves on the crooked branches that swung like dying soldiers against the trunk of the burning tree. Its brown leaves that had been falling throughout all of the seasons were crippled on the ground, hidden amongst the dead grass and parched sand of the floor. Sorrow filled the air as the clouds let out their misery over the entire globe, the water filled each ditch in the ground and the reflection of the charcoal sky was mirrored in the growing stretches of water. The closer the lightening came to the ground, the more the water fell, heavier than rocks on a sheet of glass. They smashed into the ground and crashed against the stones, the pebbles bounced into the air as the water attacked with malice.

Abandoned boats from years before lay on the parched surfaces, the floors began to absorb the water and the ocean grew around the islands. Boats began to feel at home once again, the first time in hundreds of years after their silence. They rode on the waters and lifted themselves to the heavens, oblivious to the fact that water was seeping in through the lacerations in their wooden skin. The embers from the burning tree danced through the space that was tightening above the oceans. Seven wondrous oceans formed under the sky, and the fish began to emerge from under rocks where their atoms had formed the shape of their flesh again, the earth remembering how to create such beauty. The sand leaped out of shape on the beaches that were being given life, and the silky layer of the ocean lapped up onto the calm beach. Its green silky appearance formed into the shape of a girl, her curves being drawn onto the sand in a silhouette at first, with her hair flowing as dark as the night across the arches on her back. Her shoulder blades drew themselves upwards as she reached out slowly to touch the dry sand ahead of her. Below her back, scales began to form on the pale skin, which was as pale as glass, and transparent so the insides of her glowed like day had arrived early. The glowing embers from the trees burning branches danced towards her skin, burying themselves under its surface so that she would always glow like the fiery red of strands of her hair. It made her appear as if she had emerged from the lightening itself, which struck the water and lit up the beauty of the scarred sky behind her head. She lifted her head and stared at the burning tree far from the beach, just a tiny dot of glowing orange brightness from where she lay, beached like a body from the bottom of the ocean bed. Her eyes blinked out the salty water like tears from deep inside of her, and they ran down her face, streaking her white skin that was covered in tiny specks of light that glittered when the lightening illuminated her face. Fingers webbed slightly, she ran them through the sand, and held it up to her crimson eyes, much like her scarlet strands of hair.

As tiny fireflies scattered from above her they drew themselves towards her skin, rubbing against the soft part of her cheek so that they left an iridescent shine to her face which was filled with amazement at the burning tree that looked alive with light on the horizon. Her scales were washed with salt water, which burnt her slightly with its rough scent, and they shone as if made of incredibly colours that changed every moment she stared at them intensely. Her naked torso was covered with goose bumps at the warmth of the beach, perhaps the storm was leaving the heat of the day to burn up again, and as the heat was so intense it made burnt. The stars were beginning to fade, and the moon was hung so low in the sky it was almost fading to nothing as the horizon slowly turned pink. The storm raged still, but there was a distant rumble of hope as the last bolt of lightening hit the burning tree, its embers scattering for miles around, its huge branches falling as if giving up all hope in the world, and landing on the sodden ground below. She turned, pulling her heavy tail behind her and collecting sand on its gentle surface, to the ocean. The waves lapped up against her and their freezing touch enticed her into the water. The embers followed as if they had found the one they should worship forever more, and into the ocean she dived like she had always known that to be her home. In a flourishing draft of ocean breath, the storm settled suddenly, and the mermaid that had been created from silky ocean skin, fireflies and embers from a tree set alight by the cruel ways of a storm disappeared into the depths, a trail of bright light following in her wake. The sand lay untouched again, and the people emerged from caves near the beach, oblivious to the happenings of the mysterious world whilst the feared the cruel manner of the earth’s most powerful and beautiful wonders. The ocean let out a sigh as it grasped the sand on the beach, its white fingertips leaping up to reach the dry patches of sand, but failing and washing back into the sea. She swam for miles below the waves, into the darkness of the depths that people never knew existed, and her skin let out a light for all other creatures to find. The embers followed in a dancing frenzy, longing to bury themselves in her hair and skin, her beauty drawing the entire ocean downwards as it sank slightly from the beach. She left a thin layer of dust behind her that was absorbed by the water and became only a slither of colour in the empty ocean.