Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli

Author:Donna Jo Napoli
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 0100-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

THE YEARS

PART III

TEN

IMMORTALITY

I wake to stars. Philoctetes, beside me, breathes shallow in peaceful sleep. I listen for what woke me, but I hear no slip of serpent through water. No rustle of peacock feathers. Nothing that hints of threat — of Hera. I am simply awake. Utterly untired. I move carefully away from the warm halo of Philoctetes' body to the water. I expect my tail where I burned it to hurt a bit still, my shoulders and ribs to ache a little. I expect my fingers and palms to be raw from digging into the stone of the fountain wall. Instead, I feel strong and ready. My tail has finally healed.

My bruises have disappeared. My hands are surprisingly without blemish. It is fitting — for my body is a vessel filled with delight. I am married, at last.

I ease into the water and swim around the cove aimlessly. I turn onto my back and float. The air carries odors I recognize, but they are different tonight. They come to me individually; my nose picks out heady oleander, the rotted droppings of a distant leopard, the rich maturity of plums. The air yields noises, too, and again my ears pick each one out from the others: the whisper jump of a predatory spider, the heartbeat of a dove, the light snore that comes now from my man. Each smell, each tiny sound, has integrity and strength. My sensations are different tonight. Is this the difference between those who have loved and those who haven't? The sky glitters with distant fires. I feel I could fly to them if I tried. But I have no wish to leave this cove — no wish to leave Philoctetes. Ever.

Love is a miracle.

Lovemaking is a miracle.

Philoctetes is a miracle.

I curve backward and dive. I roll along the bottom of the sea. I twist in and out of the kelp bed. I slither along the rocks to where it gets shallow, closer to the sleeping man that I now know as mate. I swim faster as I approach

him. My pulse quickens. My lips tingle. I swim so fast my sight blurs. I cannot wait to be with him again. Oh, my lucky heart.

Ahi! My shoulder rips open. I back away from the mussel-covered rock I collided with and surface quickly through the blood that makes the salt of the sea stronger than ever. Savage pain explodes through my body. The exposed bone shines white in the moonlight. Nausea rises in my throat. My head clouds. I know I am about to swoon, about to drown.

But even as I watch, the flesh heals over the bone, leaving no trace of the gash. Not one more drop of blood. I stare, dumbfounded.

All pain has vanished.

Oh, it has happened!

I am immortal.

The knowledge makes me giddy. I am tempted to tease a shark. To bait the she-bear. To seek out a swordfish. Is it really true? But how could it not be? The decree of the gods is final.

I am happy.

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