Clorinde has just finished moving into her new beachside apartment. She glanced at the spacious, light room that was her new bedroom. The bed was pushed against the east wall of the room, right next to the huge window that covered half the wall. The bed looked comfortable as hell and Clorinde wanted nothing more, but to get consumed by the sheets and finally relax after all of this moving drama she’s been enduring for the past month or so.
She sat on the edge of the bed, testing the mattress. It was indeed soft as a cloud. Clorinde left out a yawn before her gaze captured the beautiful beach view outside her window. Even though it was a late afternoon in September, she could still see people running around, having fun. She noticed a group that looked slightly drunk, pushing each other around in the water and throwing some kind of a ball around. Her gaze lingered on them for a while for no particular reason when she noticed something in the distance.
Something goldish glimmered in the sea, near the horizon line. Clorinde thought it must’ve been the setting sun reflecting on the surface of the ocean before she saw it again. This time, she was sure it wasn’t the sun. The warm golden tone that appeared from the water was a different shade than all the other thousands of light particles glimmering in the ocean. This thing she saw felt more ethereal, almost captivating. It piqued her interest immediately.
Then she remembered something. No, it couldn’t be.
When Clorinde was younger, she’d come to a nearby resort with her parents almost every summer. She liked the whole atmosphere of the place so much, that she promised herself that she’ll get an apartment here when she’ll be older.
But that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to come back to this little paradise her family had discovered.
As a teenage girl, she used to sneak out of the hotel late at night, after her parents had already fallen asleep. She loved taking walks late at night, admiring the quiet, empty streets of a small town that was bustling with people during the daytime. She watched the moon, how the light it reflected created a tranquil scenery. Clorinde loved to just sit on the beach, admiring the peacefulness of the night, enjoying the gentle night breeze messing up her hair.
One night, she decided to go further down the coast. She hasn’t been that far from the resort on her own yet, especially at night. She reached the end of a pavement and there was no street lights illuminating the path in front of her. She stood frozen for a moment, taking a deep breath. Clorinde continued walking along the shore, she could feel some sand getting stuck on the bottom of her shoes. A short while later, she stumbled over some rocks and fell on her knees. She was kneeling down, right next to the water on a small natural pier, so close that she could smell the saltiness of the ocean. Suddenly, she heard a splash in the water. A huge wave of anxiety hit her as she quickly stood up and stumbled backwards. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.Who the hell was in the ocean past midnight?!
Clorinde’s eyes stayed focused on the water, she felt like she could see the outline of someone swimming around underneath the surface. She was growing increasingly weary with each passing second.
Then suddenly, a blonde head popped out of the water. It was a girl, about the same age as Clorinde. The soft moonlight made it seem like her blue eyes were glowing. Clorinde stared like she was in a trance. She noticed the kind look in the girl’s eyes, the strands of wet blonde hair that got stuck to her face when she emerged from underwater and gills... wait, what?
This girl had gills!? Clorinde was flabbergasted and she still hasn’t uttered a single word. She just... stared.
They made eye contact and held it for a while in complete silence that was only interrupted by splashing waves every now and then. The moment felt almost… magical, but Clorinde couldn’t pinpoint why.
She slowly sat down on the very edge of the rock she was standing on. “Uhm… hey there,” she finally mustered up “What are you doing here this late? Isn’t the water cold?” The blonde giggled, her hand coming to cover her lips. “No, it doesn’t bother me. And I could be asking you the same question. Why are you all the way out here in the middle of the night?” Clorinde kept quiet again, a bit confused about the girl’s answer. She gently put her hand into water, immediately shivering from how cold it was. And that girl seriously wasn’t bothered by it?
Clorinde’s expression was still one of confusion and the blonde girl noticed so. Suddenly she disappeared underwater.
In place of her face, Clorinde saw something else. A mermaid tail, covered in tons of golden scales, glistening in the pale moonlight. Some of the scales by the fins were teal and just as breathtaking as the golden ones. Clorinde was even more shocked than she was before, if that was even possible. This pretty girl she met in the middle of the night was a freaking mermaid. A real-life mermaid!
Clorinde was snapped out of her thoughts by the cold splash of water caused by the girl’s tail. Her head appeared above water again and she fixed her hair. Clorinde noticed a few golden scales that covered her forearms as she did so.
“Pretty cool, huh?” she said with a smirk, observing Clorinde’s surprised expression.
“You’re… you’re a mermaid?” Clorinde managed to muster up as she pinched herself. That made the mermaid giggle again. Clorinde found herself being a bit flustered, the girl’s smile was bewitching to say the least.
She took another deep breath as she locked eyes with the girl in the water again. “What’s your name?”
The girl tilted her head slightly to the left and smiled “My name’s…”
Navia. Clorinde shook her head, pulling her gaze away from the huge window in her bedroom. Could that have been her? No, she said she doesn’t swim this close to the beach town. But if that really was her, she had to meet her, had to see her again.
The sun was finally almost gone and Clorinde watched the last few people leave the beach from her balcony. She then stood up and walked into the bathroom, grabbing a hair tie, and tying her purple hair into her usual ponytail with a few loose strands dropping on her face. She stared at herself in the mirror for a brief moment while getting ready. She felt a strange feeling in her chest, but she didn’t know why. It felt like a mix of excitement, worry and something else.
She put a dark blue jacket over her plain white t-shirt and some dark shorts before she hurried out of her apartment. After a while of walking, she stopped in her tracks. There was no more pavement ahead of her, no more streetlights. She hadn’t stood there since that night when she met Navia. It felt almost nostalgic as she took a step on the sandy beach, walking over the rocks that popped out of the sand every now and then. She walked onto that same pier ages ago. The rocks were in a slightly different position than the last time she was there, but other than that, not much has changed about the location.
Clorinde walked to the end of the pier and kneeled down. She took off her sandals and let her feet dangle in the water. She stared at the million stars blinking in the night sky as she waited. She didn’t know what it was, but something was telling her that she would be seeing Navia tonight.
And lo and behold, she did appear about thirty minutes later. Her head popped from underneath the water and Clorinde felt her heart skip a beat. She was even prettier than she remembered. The moonlight made her soft features look even more ethereal and her eyes glimmered with excitement as she gave Clorinde a wide smile.
“I can’t believe I’m seeing you again after all these years” she exclaimed as she climbed up on the pier, sitting besides Clorinde and dipping her tail in the water.
“How’d you know I’ll come here?” Clorinde asked as her hand subconsciously went to fix Navia’s wet hair, pushing it away from her face. Her hand lingered on Navia’s cheek for a moment, feeling the soft skin right beneath her fingertips. Before she managed to retreat her hand, Navia’s was holding hers against her cheek.
“You could say it was a lucky guess. But I am really happy to see you” her smile beamed as her blue eyes met the other’s purple ones.
Clorinde could barely concentrate. Her head was filled with a million different feelings. She felt overjoyed since she’s meeting the mermaid again, but at the same time she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. Navia seemed like she’d been waiting for her since the last time they saw each other, which was basically in their teens. Meanwhile, she had completely forgotten about her. If she hadn’t noticed her tail earlier that day, she wouldn’t come out to their pier. She didn’t understand how she could forget all about her, but at the same time, the memory of them got lost in a whirlpool of stress from her jobs and other lovers she had in those years.
Her smile faltered and Navia’s face grew concerned. She gently squeezed the hand that was placed on her cheek before speaking. “Hey, Clorinde? You seem a bit… down. Is everything okay?”
Clorinde just silently shrugged, she didn’t really feel like discussing her feelings of guilt with Navia. Instead, she looked up and gave her a small smile.
They stared at each other for a while. Both of them were silent, but it wasn’t the uncomfortable type of silence. It was the silence that made both of them feel comfortable and safe with each other. The kind of silence that could last for eternity, but they wouldn’t mind.
The moon was high in the sky, illuminating their faces. Clorinde slowly and with slight hesitation leaned in, letting her lips meet Navia’s. The latter couldn’t say she wasn’t expecting it, she returned the kiss, her hand getting tangled in Clorinde’s hair, untying her ponytail, and letting her hair flow over her shoulders.
Clorinde could feel the taste of Navia’s mouth in hers; she tasted sweet, maybe like macarons or maybe wafers, mixed with a slight salty taste from the sea water. It was a strange taste, but she enjoyed it. She liked feeling the mermaid’s lips against her own.
Over time, the kiss grew more and more passionate, Navia was gripping at the back of Clorinde’s head as their lips danced together in a fiery dance. Suddenly, Navia jumped into the water, pulling Clorinde with her. They continued making out underwater, their bodies moved in sync as Clorinde’s hands wrapped around Navia’s waist.
Both their heads popped up from underwater, giggling. Navia rested her forehead against Clorinde’s, a soft smile playing on her lips as she quickly kissed her nose. The sun was about to rise, and the sky was starting to get a beautiful orangey color.
“Well, I might see you around. Tonight was fun” Navia then disappeared beneath the surface, leaving Clorinde alone. Clorinde ducked her head underwater, but her lover was already gone.