The freedom of the ocean. Drifting and soaring beneath the waves. Hair flowing behind as the mermaid hit top speed, tail flapping in smooth, powerful strokes. Gills drawing in deep even breaths, the oxygenated blood adding power to the humanlike arms that were dragging the mermaid forward through the water.
Escaping. Away.
The sound of the boat’s motor receding into the distance. The humans hopefully to be left far behind.
There was stinging pain where the corded strings of the fisherman’s net had dug into flesh and scales. Fingertips ached from the desperate struggle that had freed the mermaid to drop back into the water below, traumatized and panicked, fleeing with the desperation of someone that refused to be captured again.
The mermaid had been warned about the danger of humans, but it was this experience that hammered the point home.
Humans are dangerous.
The mermaid swam forward with amazing speed, then surfaced briefly to expel the last bit of oxygen from the largely vestigial humanlike lungs before plunging down into the deeps. Welcoming the pressure of the deeper depths that humans and their machines rarely visited. The safety of home. Where humans could not go.
=END=
~Harper Kingsley
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