Erin

Erin found a mermaid on the beach.

At first it stared at her with it's green eyes panic-filled, then all
at once the fear left it, and one pale arm reached towards her in
supplication.
She clambered down the hillside watching the wind lift the mermaid's
thick glass-green hair. It's eyes were the pale turquoise of sand under
deep water. It smelt of deep caverns and ancient corals.
She stopped and the mermaid saw pity and concern in her eyes. It saw
there was no harm in her, and Erin knew this as if the mermaid had
spoken it aloud. She reached out tentatively, and took the sea-bleached
hand in her own.
'I'm Erin' she said, in an uncertain voice. The mermaid's eyes were
thoughtful. 'What's wrong? Can you stand?'
The mermaid gave her a look, glancing back meaningfully. Only then did
Erin look at the tail, spread out like an azure silk flag, fine
filaments extending into the shallows like pale threads, and the
mermaid's long lithe body, covered in fine scales of mother-of-pearl.
Her skin was almost translucent, but there was a deep gash in her side
which gaped like an open mouth. The mermaid followed her gaze.
'Damn seals' she said. 'Ye canna trust them an' that's a fact'
Erin was taken aback. The mermaid grinned.
'Whassa matter. Ye nivver met a Scottish mermaid before?'
Erin swallowed. 'I've never met a mermaid before'
The mermaid gave a chuckle. 'C'moan then, help me ontae that
rock'
Erin watched her pull herself onto the rock. Her pale arms were as
muscular as a man's, yet somehow still delicate, the pearly skin
belying the strength beneath. Erin had never seen anything more
beautiful.
'I should go and get help' Erin said.
'Whit, fur this wee cut? It'll be healed by high tide. That's no' whit
grounded me, this is.'
And she parted her hair to reveal a large reddish lump.
'The bastard nutted me, so he did'
Erin felt a nervous grin twisting her lips. 'Um, who did?'
'I told ye. A seal did it' The mermaid stared at her. 'Ye mean ye don't
know aboot seals?'
Erin shook her head. 'Why did he hurt you?'
'We was fightin', like. Don't tell me ye don't know aboot the war
either? Youse humans are that stupid'
Erin stood up, indignant.
'I bet you don't know who the prime minister is'
The mermaid laughed suddenly, a sound not unlike the waves retreating
from the sand.
'Sure n' ah do. Elsevin Vik, he's the prime minister'
Erin sighed. 'I mean our prime minister' then she realised what the
mermaid had said. 'You mean you have one as well?'
'Of course we have one'
The mermaid looked at Erin for a long moment, making her feel
self-conscious. She knew that, compared to other girls, she was not
only fat but desperately plain, but compared to this creature, she was
the ugliest thing alive. She wasn't stupid, though.
'Well, why don't you tell me about the war, then'
The mermaid looked at her, absently scratching her left breast. Erin
looked away, embarrassed.
'I could tell ye, aye, but where ah come fae, stories- well, they have
a price, like'
Erin sat down on the sand, pulling her coat around her to hide her
bulk.
'You mean like currency? It used to be that way here too, long
ago'
The mermaid watched her. 'No' exactly', she said hesitantly. 'Och, I
canna explain.'
Erin let her fingers trail in the sand. 'I haven't got anything you
could possibly want'
'Sure ye do' the mermaid said.
Erin looked out at the white waves rolling in like pearls, enjoying the
feel of the breeze in her hair. She decided that this was just some
hallucination, and when she looked back the mermaid would be gone.
After all, even if mermaids did exist, why on earth would they be
interested in Erin, with her boring, lonely life, her face and body as
plain as a stone. Only her dreams were interesting, when she imagined
herself famous and celebrated, her life filled with meaning and
purpose.
She looked back. The mermaid was looking at her with amusement.
'So. Am ah tellin' this story or no'?'
Erin had forgotten all about the price of stories. 'Oh. Yes
please'
The mermaid grinned, her teeth gleaming like opals. She slid onto the
soft sand, and wriggled to make herself comfortable.
'Well then. It started when Grelach fell in love wi' a human man. That
sort o' thing always ends in tears, believe me. However, fell for him
she did, so she went to her father, Honich, the seal lord, and asked
his permission to leave. Now Honich didnae want tae lose his only
daughter, so he told her she could not go.
So Grelach went instead tae the whale lord, who is wiser than any. He
knew that Grelach would go, permission or not, and so he told her to
call the Coral council'
Erin smiled, fascinated. 'The Coral Council?'
'Aye. It meant the lord of every species must come and listen to her
case, and then take a vote. Grelach spoke well and sadly about her
long-distant love, and these days there are many of us of mixed blood;
seal and merman, and many were moved tae tears, so that when the vote
was cast, it was even. Then Honich looked around and saw that the
merlord, Avila, was not there. The merlord is a changeling, and there
is no love lost between them.'
'A Changeling?'
'Aye, He was born human, ye see. The legends say that one day a
changeling will come to lead and unite us, and Honich had long feared
that Avila was the one.
Honich tried to have the council dissolved quickly for want of a
decision, but just then Avila arrived, and wasted nae time at a' in
voting for Grelach to go. Honich could do nothing, so off went Grelach,
and nae doubt she was happy for a time, though her human husband was a
fool'
The mermaid leaned across and spat in the sand at the uselessness of
mortal men. Erin was impressed.
'Grelach told him there was a storm afoot, but would he listen? She
stood watching him sail away, careful no' tae touch the water, for then
she'd be a seal again, forever. Well, the storm came, and took his
boat, and set him drifting far to sea where the cold reigns, and
Grelach sensed him dying, and heard him bewailing his foolishness, and
regretting that he would never see his dear wife again, and so she went
to the sea and she swam to him. She kept him warm with her own body
until the morning came, and other humans came to rescue him, and
Grelach returned to the sea, lost in misery'
'Oh!' Erin exclaimed. 'How romantic. And she could never go
back?'
The mermaid grimaced. 'Romantic, hah! Grelach never went home, but sank
down into the abyss, and was gone.
So then, Honich, he wasn't best pleased, ye might say.'
'And that's when the war started?'
She nodded. 'Honich accused Avila, and in return the merlord showed his
true colours and fought back as petulantly as any child.'
Erin listened, entranced, as the mermaid told her about the great
battles, about all the poor creatures who were lost, and the great acts
of bravery on all sides.
'We've been fighting since. Many long years. We are a weary people, but
there's nothing else for it. The old legends are as far off now as they
ever were. Seal and Mer are united only in their hatred of one
another.'
Erin watched as she scratched at her side. The mermaid was the most
beautiful, vibrant, alive creature she had even seen, and she found
herself suffused with a longing for that far distant world, for the
grace and beauty of the sea creatures and their complicated war, so far
removed from her everyday loneliness, her dull and routine life. The
mermaid was watching her, and she smiled.
'You must be feeling better, your wound has almost healed'
'Aye, that it has.'
The mermaid looked into Erin's head and saw her life. She had respect,
the girl, and influence. She was clever, and had laughter in her days,
though also loneliness. The mermaid grinned at that. Loneliness was
something you could do something about.
'So, Erin. Will ye pay for my story, eh?'
Erin frowned. 'What is it you want?'
'Nothing you will not give willingly'
Erin shrugged. 'I can't think of anything you'd want from me.'
'There is something that I see in you - ' The mermaid smiled suddenly,
reaching out and lifting her chin with her cool fingers. Erin shook her
head, not understanding.
'Now then' the mermaid said. 'Will you give me what I ask for?'
'Tell me what it is?'
'I'll show you. Give me your hand'
Erin hesitated, then, she thought savagely, what did she have to lose?
She put her hand in the mermaid's cold one, and suddenly the air
twisted. She felt sick as the balance of the world tilted, throwing her
into a wild spin, and something was ripped from inside her, as
something else was pushed in, and then there was a great searing stab
of pain.
When she came to, she was lying on the beach. She opened her eyes
slowly, to see someone climbing the cliff path. They walked awkwardly,
as if in pain, and astonishingly, she could hear the climber's
thoughts;
How dae these humans get aboot on these things?
But beyond that, there was the sense that the woman was mightily
pleased with the pale brown of her hair, and the dull pallor of her
skin, and even the excess of flesh around her bones. Erin looked down
and saw that the tide was coming in, and she was half submerged. It was
the easiest thing in the world to simply slide with the gently pushing
sand into the welcoming waves. Her long hair spread out behind her as
she swam through the clear shallows, and a sense of peace and belonging
settled on her such as she'd never known. She flapped her huge tail,
delighted by her speed, by the grey and silver fish which darted away
from her touch, by the great forests of kelp like secret worlds. This
was where she belonged, after all, and as she swam she wondered about
her incredible transformation. A changeling!
She thought about the story the mermaid had told her, of war and pain,
and of legends.
Erin smiled. Hadn't she always dreamed her life would have a
purpose?