Stranded
Darkness. All around her, all she could sense was darkness. This threw her head into despair, and fear clogged her throat. She wanted to cry out, to scream, but her throat felt dry, scratchy even. Then she noticed something; an aroma she knew, something salty. Pain wracked her body from the tips of her toes to her head, so she tried to reach out in the darkness to touch it, only to feel her fingertips twitch in the fine grain beneath them. She was positive she would never forget it for the rest of her days; she considered again.
She momentarily opened her eyes only to shut them tight again, the glaring sun making her blue orbs feel as though they were melting in her skull. She attempted to move her hands to cover her eyes but to no avail. There is another problem with her. Her name would not come to her, no matter how hard she attempted to remember. Sound returned at that point; the sound of the wind in trees nearby and waves brushing against a shore. She tried to open her eyes again, almost cheering when she kept them that way. The sun hung bright in the sky, almost blinding her.
A cerulean sky with milky clouds floating high above her met her gaze. She tried to move her head to gather her bearings, but her neck felt stiff, as though she slept in that position for a long time. Stretching out on either side of her seemed to be sandy white beaches with emerald waves lapping at their shores. Were her limbs not in immense pain, she would have enjoyed the view, and another realization occurred then. The waves she heard before; she could feel now, lightly crashing into her body right at her waist. Perhaps that caused her to rouse, she wondered, deciding to move her aching body further up the shore.
As long as her bones remained intact, she should attempt to stand, but with how bad her body hurt, she could not bring herself to. While she tried to pull herself from the water, she once again wondered how she found herself in this situation. The pain made her want to curl into herself and cry, though she needed to get away from the waves. Unfortunately, she could not drag her aching body that far, meaning she would probably remain stuck here alone until she died. That thought caused terror to curl through her veins, which caused her heart to beat quicker in her chest. The wind shifted again, causing the leaves to let out another whisper.
“What have we here?” A deep voice startled her from her desperate crawl away from the waves. “A mermaid?”
She turned to lock eyes with a man standing over her, his gray orbs watching her curiously. Unable to find a reason to mistrust the stranger right away, she opened her mouth to speak to him, only to realize her predicament, and close her lips, pursing them in her upset. The man bent at his knees, his gray eyes locked on hers, before he reached out his hand and brushed some sand from her cheek. He appeared scary, with a scar under his eye on his right cheek, and an aura that made her want to run. However, she could not; not with so much pain coursing through her body.
“Are you too scared of me to speak?” He asked, watching as she shook her head. “No? Ah, maybe you lost your voice to the sea. That makes things difficult, woman.”
“…” Her blue eyes narrowed a little, but she could say nothing.
“I mean no offense, but if you cannot tell me your name with your voice, do you know how to write?” The stranger asked, pointing at the sand next to her. “Maybe you could tell me how you arrived here.”
She leaned over the sand, running her fingers along the coarse grains while trying to think of what to write. Her only option is to spell out the truth; that she knows nothing. How she arrived here, what she was doing, why. None of it came to her, no matter what she attempted to recall. The only thing she gained from trying was a massive headache. Her fingers moved along the sand, spelling out the words ‘I don’t remember’ with messy letters. He only hummed before offering his hand to her to do something. She found him studying her again before looking down at his large hand.
“I promise, Mermaid, I don’t want to hurt you, just help you,” He said looking down at her. “It may be a beach, but if you stay wet like that overnight, you could get sick. I live on this island, so I can help you get your strength back. Maybe that will bring back your memories and your voice.”
She took in a deep breath, hoping to steady her quaking heart rate, and took hold of his hand. With a nod, he locked his free arm under her knees and moved the hand that held hers under her back. He moved in slow, careful motions, but lifted her with ease as he came to a full stand. Against her left side, she could feel the warmth of his body along with the hard-line of muscle he carried. Lulled by that heat, she found her head growing foggy before sleep seemed to take over her brain. She rested her aching head against his chest and allowed herself to be carried off to her uncertain future.
