The water.

Jamie

I love the beach. I always have. My father used to be a sailor until his ship hit some rocky waters and crashed against some rocks. His body was thrown across the rocks and he hit his head pretty hard. He doesn't remeber anything now. Most days he just sits and stares forward. His friends call him a vegtable, since he doesn't walk or talk. They've told my mom to just put him out of his misery, but she refuses. She wants to keep him alive for a long as possible. She told me she can still see the real him in his eyes. She knows he's there. Somehow, I know what she's talking about.

Whenever I've had the chance, I go down by the beach in the backyard. A window in our house looks over the rocky waters I can't get enough of. My mother won't let me on a ship, but that doesn't stop me from looking at it whenever I can. Mom calls me Moana, since I'm always staring into mother nature's bright blue eyes.

And when I'm not staring, I'm swimming. Or sitting by the shore with my feet in the sand.

Recently, I've made a habit of going down there at night. I've been going down there around ten each night for the past two months. It really calming. The air is cool and crisp. The stars are pretty to look at. It's just you and the waves.

I walked by the shore, looking for seashells. You never knew that type of seashell you would get. Sometimes I would get huge conch shells and other times I just got measly little ones. It didn't matter how big the seashell was or what condition it was in, I kept all the shells I found.

While searching, I noticed an imprint towards the shore. It looked like something was struggling to get out. As soon as I noticed, the tide swept it up, taking the imprint once the tide receded. I watched the water, and a few feet ahead of it I saw a murky darkness. Almost completely black. I took note of this and continued to walk forward, finding it impossible to find seashells.

Eventually, I gave up looking for seashells and sat by the shoreline. I dipped my toes in the water. Usually, the water is kinda chilly, but today it was oddly warm. It was pretty calming, actually. I sighed and laid down, looking up at the stars. I frowned as I realized I had no knowledge of constellations. I only knew the standard big dipper and little dipper, which were nowhere to be found.

The longer I sat there, the calmer I felt. I even began to laugh as my body filled with euphoria. My lungs loved the salty air and my body couldn't get enough of the sand. I loved how the waves made me feel. It was one of the few times I was actually content.

Soon, I sat up, ready to go home. As I looked around, I noticed a boy around my age about ten feet away from me in the water. I wondered how I hadn't seen him before, since he was so close. It was hard to see many details on him since it was so dark, but I could tell he had jet black hair down to his shoulders.

"Hey!" I called to him. "What are you doing out here so late?"

He turned to me and smiled.

"I could ask you the same question." He began to walk towards me.

As he got closer, I noticed more features on him. He was shirtless, revealing a six pack. His face was perfectly shaped and he even has some muscle on his arms and legs.

"No, but seriously, who let you out so late?" He was standing in front of me now. He ran a hand through his shiny black hair.

I felt my face warm up. "I uh- I come out here at night. Just cause I can, ya'know? W-what about you?" This boy was drop-dead gorgeous. The water glistened off every part of him in all the right ways.

"Midnight swim. Couldn't sleep." He glanced past me to my right side. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

"No! Not at all. Please, sit." I patted the spot next to me.

He smiled and took a seat. It was at this point I realized how terrible I was at small talk. I'd never seen anyone else around here. It was usually just me.

"How come I've never seen you?"

"Just moved in. How long have you been here?"

"My whole life, really. My dad used to be a sailor."

"Used to be?"

"His boat crashed and he hit his head really badly. Doesn't do much now." I don't know why I told him that. None of my other friends know about what happened to my dad. They just assumed I didn't like him cause I never talked about him.

"Sounds rough."

There was a silence betwene us for a few moments. I glaced into the water and noticed his feet were buried beneath the sand.

"Why are your feet beneath the sand like that?" I asked while pointing.

His eyes flashed with fear for a second and then smiled. "My feet are really ugly. I try to hide rhem."

"Oh, I'm sure they cant be that bad." I reached down and grabbed his ankle.

"Oh no. Don't do that." He said in a monotone voice. I could hear a hint of something sinister.

I nervously laughed and tried to pull my hand off. I couldn't. I was stuck. "Uhm, w-what's going on?"

He lifted his foot. Instead of seeing toes, I saw a hoof.

"You said your dad was a sailor, correct? I'm surprised he never told you about selkies.

I tried to pull my hand off with more force.

"Must have been one shitty dad, huh? I'm sure his boat didn't just crash on those rocks like you said. Probably found some mermaids. I'm sure they lured him in and he barely eacaped with his life."

I began to cry. "Why are you doing this?"

The boy laughed. "Wow. You don't know anything do you?"

I whimpered and tried to pull my hand away again.

"You've been coming here the past few months, right?"

I put my other hand on his leg to see if that would help me. He laughed histerically at my efforts. I wasn't able to pull my hand off. Instead, my other one stuck as well. The boy continued laughing.

"Ah, sorry." He wiped a tear from his eye from his laughter. "When you touch a Selkie you stick, dear. I've been luring you out here with my presence for the past few months. Obviously it worked. Now, I believe you'll fully hate this next part, but hey, we have to eat, don't we?"

I slid into the sea with him. I heard a huge boom of thunder before my head hit a few rocks. It left me breathless. I sucked in to try and get air. My lungs filled with salty water. I tried prying my hands away again. Nothing worked.

"Do you know what happens next?" He turned to look me in my eyes. "You drown."

I was coughing, trying to breathe air instead of the terrible water I used to love. Now it was a heavy weight in my lungs. I could feel myself going cold as my body gave up. My heart began to slow, shutting off all my other organs. I looked at him one last time only to see a menacing grin full of sharp, poined teeth just like a shark's.

Selkie

I watched her eyes roll into the back of her head. She quit stuggling, a sign she was dead. I bit her shoulder, tearing off her skin. I sighed happily. The taste of meat in my mouth was so sweet I couldn't help but continue to eat away at her until all that was left were her insides. I hated that part of the human. It was never good. Humans' insides were disgusting and often filled with their own bowel movements. I threw her insides out on the shore, emerging as a beautiful black horse. I thought I would have to trot along the shoreline to find my next victim, but soon realized I wouldn't have to. The girl's mother had just emerged from her house. I quickly retreaded back to the water before she could see me.

"Jamie!" She called. "Jamie, your father is finally awake! Please come back home!"

I chucked beneath the water. If only she knew the reason he was awake.