The Sea Taketh (Alex Singer)

by Teresa Rae

  “Gramps has told you everything there is to know about us over all that wine the two of you drink.” I playfully hit his arm.

  He gently returns the oxygen tube to my face. “After making a brief appearance, we will return to watch a movie Kerstin sent me.”

  “And what kind of movie is it?” I ask, wrapping up in my sweater and thick coat.

  “You know how she is, it’ll probably be a mind-numbing romance, but she’ll nag me until I watch it.”

  * * *

  Christian’s Victorian house is packed with what seems to be the entire village of Seaside. The old-timers have staked out places around the food. High school students lurk uncomfortably in the foyer, looking as though they’re expecting to see Marjory’s ghost. John and Talia are surrounded by well-wishers.

  “The house looks very nice,” I whisper to Christian. We smile and wave to friends from school as walk through the house. All evidence of Philip’s attack is gone, being replaced by new paint, doors, and flooring.

  “Yes, it is a shame that so many of my antiques were destroyed. Yet, I would trade the house to have Marjory back.”

  I squeeze his hand, knowing how he feels.

  “What exactly is the story?” I whisper. Because I have been sick, I don’t know exactly what our official explanation for everything is.

  “It’s simple. Philip broke into the house and shot up the place while searching for you. Marjory wouldn’t stand for it and used an explosive to fight Philip. When it went off, she was killed, and Philip was frightened away. Later, his body washed ashore. He must have been confused after the explosion and drowned in the ocean.”

  “I like that Marjory is the heroine of the story,” I say, squeezing his hand.

  “Of course, Marjory has always been a heroine.”

  Refer to Fact #3 – Marjory was a good and loyal neighbor.

  Christian!” John exclaims from across the room. He joins us, embracing him. “I am extremely grateful to have your help and support at this time.”

  “I feel the same about you, old friend. Has the school contacted you?”

  “Yes, and I informed them, in no uncertain terms, that the Pedersens will remain my guests as long as they wish. I just wish I could serve you a delicious wine, today.”

  “You and I will drink to Marjory tonight when my parents come to pay their respect.” Christian pats him on the back.

  John smiles at Christian and I. “I hear congratulations are in order for the two of you.”

  “Yes,” Christian beams at him, taking my hand. “I am robbing the cradle, many generations over, but I have finally found my soul-mate.”

  “And how do you feel about the matter?” John asks me.

  “Christian and I are good together, but he will have to be patient. I have a few things I want to accomplish before I settle down,” I say.

  “Good answer,” he replies.

  Henrik and Sven join us, and I watch in amazement as John effortlessly converses with them in Danish. When I ask Christian about this, he tells me that Marjory had insisted her son learn Danish as a child and speaks it like a native.

  Jen and her family are also there to pay their respects, but Frank and Maggie avoid the mermen like the plague. They’re still not so keen on their daughter dating a merman and have tried to discourage Jen from seeing Sven. Jen shows them their efforts have failed when she passionately kisses him as they watch on.

  Hypothesis #12 is upgraded to Theory #11 – The Marshes want to lock Jen in her room until she’s forty.

  Observations – Dirty looks, avoidance of the mermen, encouraging Jen to date other guys.

  Realizing that I’m parched, I find only sugary drinks on the food table. I go to the kitchen for some water.

  I am tempted to back out of the kitchen when I find it occupied. Jackson is staring at the wall from his wheelchair. His brows furrow when he sees me. At first I think he’s angry, but then I realize it’s embarrassment on his face.

  “Hello Jackson, how are you feeling?” I ask. I walk to the sink, moving my portable oxygen so I can fill my glass with water.

  “I get the casts off in four weeks, and then I can begin physical therapy,” he says, quietly.

  “You’ll be swimming again before you know it.” I turn off the sink. “It must be nice to have your Uncle John back in Seaside.”

  “Yeah, it’s great,” he replies, bitterly.

  “I know you’re forced to work with him and everything, but he seems like a nice man.”

  “Dad says it’s just an act.”

  I interrupt him. “Jackson, no offense, but don’t you think you should form your own opinions? Your dad’s relationship with his brother is complicated and biased. I think you should give John a chance before you decide whether to like him or not. You never know, you might actually get along.”

  He answers me with silence.

  I go to the door. I hesitate for a moment.

  “You don’t have to be like them,” I say in a hushed voice. His eyebrows wrinkle. I continue. “You are Jackson Powers – not Michael or Richard Powers. You can choose your own path.”

  “My parents expect me to take over the practice.” His face is hard to read.

  “If you don’t want to be a doctor then don’t go to medical school. My family has always been fishermen, but I won’t be. Gramps loves pickled herring. I think it’s nasty. You can be your own person. Our quirks and personality traits are just part of the story; our decisions make up the majority of who we are. You don’t have to do what all the other Powers did. You don’t have to make their mistakes.” I take a breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to lecture you. I’ll see you around.”

  I quickly escape out the door, chastising myself for speaking so bluntly to Jackson. I almost run into John. He startles me, and I spill my water.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there,” I say, looking around for something to clean up the water with.

  “You didn’t see me because I was eavesdropping,” he says, using a cloth napkin to clean up the mess. He shakes his head. “Oh this won’t do! We can’t have such a mess on the High Prince’s floor!”

  It’s really strange to see a grown, professional man making a fuss over a little spilled water. He smiles when he sees my shock.

  “I’ve been to Atlantis, twice, and you should see the palace the Kelps live in. I’m not impressed with money, or power, but I’ve never seen such reverence directed toward a family before. The Kelps are revered there. We could experience an uprising if merfolk ever discovered Christian wasn’t treated as they deem necessary.”

  “Yeah, pretty much everyone kisses his high and mighty butt,” I respond.

  He laughs. “I can already see why he’s madly in love with you. My wife was the same. She didn’t care about my credentials or degrees. She was all about self betterment, and she constantly told me what I needed to work on. I loved her for her candidness.”

  I change the subject. “Why were you eavesdropping?”

  He raises an eyebrow mischievously. “I must keep an eye on my nephew. I knew he was in the kitchen when you went for water. Christian explained the history between you two, and I had to hear what you would say to him after he purposefully crashed into your fiancé. I must say I’m very impressed. You just saved me two weeks of intensive work in a single conversation.”

  I wrinkle my forehead.

  “Young adults are most likely to listen to their peers,” he says. “I’m grateful you showed compassion instead of resentment. It will make it easier on everyone, and I have a feeling Jackson values your opinion.”

  The kitchen door begins to slowly open.

  “Ah, Jackson, let me get that for you!” John exuberantly opens the door. He pushes Jackson’s wheelchair to the next room. “I saved you a piece of Maggie Marsh’s glorious apple pie. I remember that apple is your favorite.”

  “Thank you … um … Uncle,” Jackson replies, uncertainly.

  John grins as hands him the piece of
pie. He gestures over his daughter.

  “Jackson, would you please indulge me? Talia has been dying to find out whether American teenagers are really like the teenagers portrayed in films. Perhaps you could enlighten her on the reality of American teenage social patterns?”

  “Please, Cousin Jackson,” Talia says in her disarming British accent. “I watched the occasional teen drama while I was going to medical school, and I really must know how many of the plots accurately described teenagers.”

  She wheels him away to a quiet spot.

  “You’re very good, old friend,” Christian joins us, patting John’s back. “Having Talia befriend him will bring him a step closer to actually liking you.”

  “Yes, that is the plan. However, Talia is actually very intrigued by Jackson, as we both are. We, Rockwells, never give up on family.”

  * * *

  The next month and a half are some of the best of my life. Each day I spend at school, followed by a study session with Christian where he teaches me about the Realm. While he searches for his priceless heirloom, I do my homework and read about the Realm. Each night, Christian spends an hour with me, just talking on the sofa. We discuss everything and nothing at the same time.

  The peace in my life also brings peace in other areas. My nightmares completely disappear, and my health improves drastically. I’ve never slept or felt better.

  Jen’s life had gone in the opposite direction. Because of her continued marriage plans, her parents ground her, only allowing her out of their sight for school and work. Sven takes it in stride and obeys her parents’ wishes. They spend as much time together as they can at school. Despite her parents’ objections, Jen is more love-struck than ever, and Sven’s respect towards her parents only increases her respect for him.

  Theory #11 is upgraded to Fact #18 – The Marshes want to lock Jen in her room until she’s forty

  Proof – Grounding her for being in love

  Watching the Marshes reaction to Sven and Jen’s relationship verifies to me that I was correct to be confused by Gramps’ lax attitude: he hangs photos of Christian and me throughout the house, calls Christian his grandson, and pretty much struts around the village. With the increase in income, he hired a new deckhand to help Joe and gave them both a competitive salary. The fishing boat brings in some of the best catches in the village, and I’ve never seen Gramps happier or less bogged down by the worries of life. Christian seems to be the answer to all of his prayers.

  I cross out the third on the calendar as I wait for Christian to pick me up for school. May has brought warm weather. I sun myself in a sunbeam peering through the window. The weather is so beautiful I contemplate a swim with Christian. His water warming trick might make it the perfect day to swim in the ocean, if I’m brave enough.

  “Good morning,” Christian says as he walks into the house. “Am I finally going to be able to persuade you to swim with me today?”

  “It’s so beautiful. I don’t know how I can refuse,” I answer.

  He smiles. “That’s excellent news. Where is your backpack?”

  He glances around the kitchen.

  “Oh, I must have left it in my room,” I stand.

  “I’ll grab it.” He goes down the hall.

  I open the fridge and grab some paper sacks from it. To help out John, Gramps prepares daily seafood lunches for our mermen and mermaid.

  “Alexandra, where did you get this?” Christian calls down the hallway from my room.

  I put the lunches on the table and go to see what he is talking about.

  When I walk into my room, Christian is sitting on my bed. Cradled in his hands is a shell from my collection. I recognize it as the shell I found when I cut my hand.

  “I found it in a tide pool,” I say.

  “When?”

  “Right before school started, during a storm. Did I do something wrong?”

  He shakes his head. “Why did you pick it up?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know.”

  “Please, try to remember.” The look in his eyes is intense.

  I think for a moment. “I find a lot of shells. The tourists always like the big and flashy ones, so I put those aside for Bill. I like to keep the unique ones.”

  “But this shell is very plain.”

  “No, it just looks that way,” I say, carefully taking it from his hands, I run my fingers over its ridges. “It’s some kind of mollusk, and they’re always special. It’s simple but perfectly symmetrical. Look at the way the shell wrinkles on the top and bottom.”

  I take the glove off his right hand and trace his fingers across the ridges.

  “It reminds me of the ocean. I think it’s beautiful,” I say softly.

  He gently places the shell on my desk. He takes off his other glove and outlines my face with his fingers. He surprises me when he forcefully put his lips to mine. His usual restraint is gone. He presses me to the bed and the kissing continues.

  “We have school,” I say between kisses.

  “I can’t believe how much I love you!” he says before kissing me again. This time it is his tongue that traces my lips. He sighs loudly before pulling away.

  I look at the shell on my desk as I sit back up. “What is it?”

  He lovingly runs the tips of his fingers through my hair. His eyes don’t leave mine. “I searched months for it, and you had it all along.”

  I wrinkle my brow. “You were searching for a shell?”

  “You were correct when you said this shell is special. It is so special I would have spent the rest of my life searching for it.”

  The shell is so small and unassuming it’s difficult to see why someone as important as Christian would spend so much time and effort to search for it.

  “What’s inside it?” I ask, knowing there has to be more to the story.

  He smiles, outlining my face with the back of his hand. “You’re correct in assuming it contains something of great worth. I didn’t understand before, but you have changed that. I now understand its immense value. It is the most precious gift I can give you.”

  I shake my head in confusion. “If it is so valuable, why would you give it to me?”

  He leans forward and tenderly kisses my forehead. “Giving it to you will make it even more valuable to me. Alexandra, the shell contains my immortality.”

  I gasp.

  He continues, “All merfolk create a shell when they come of age, and encased in that shell is literally their immortality. We treasure these shells above all else. When we choose a spouse, the shell is given to them, and they partake of our immortality, forever linking us together. Our immortality is so powerful it will turn a human into a merperson.”

  It seems so farfetched. Christian has a magic shell that contains his immortality, and he wants to give it to me, making me into an immortal mermaid. I inadvertently blink my eyes.

  “This was what Jen was talking about when she said we could live in the ocean?” I whisper.

  He intimately puts his forehead to mine. “Yes, in one month’s time, you will be old enough to become my adjoined. Then we will simply spend eternity together.”

  A Special Preview of

  Songs of Sorrow

  Walking through the fallen forest, I weep. I don’t quite comprehend my feelings, but seeing the dead and decaying trees brings me inconsolable sadness. The trees are in various degrees of decomposition, yet they are beautiful even in death. The bittersweet smell of decaying wood blows in a cool breeze. Chills run up my spine as I gaze over the final resting place of the once beautiful forest.

  I walk a familiar path, touching and mourning the fallen trees and forest. There is a still hush in the deceased forest, because the animals have moved to safer habitats. Without the forest’s protective canopy, the birds and squirrels have left, and the moss covered ground is drying and yellowing. The death of the trees has brought about the destruction of the forest.

  As I come to the end of the path, I find that the sapling, I h
ave dreamt about on various occasions, has grown into a tall and mature tree. Dark green needles show the health and vitality of the tree, so I am stunned when the tree simply falls over, joining the others in death.

  My heart races and I feel hot tears streaming down my face. The forest’s last hope is gone. The birds will never return.

  Suddenly a patch of bark falls off the tree’s trunk. I scream, covering my eyes with my hands, but I can’t get the image out of my mind. The stripped bark hasn’t revealed Christian’s face but my own.

  Teresa Rae graduated from Utah State University with a Master's degree in Second Language Teaching. She lives in rural Utah with her artist husband, three awesome kids, and a very tiny dog. When she isn't writing, Teresa spends her time reading, hanging out with interesting people from all corners of the Earth, and critiquing chocolate (she is a complete chocolate snob). You can keep up to date with Teresa and her books by visiting her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teresa-Rae/167989373404551