The Seas Between Us by Jana Sun

Author:Jana Sun [Sun, Jana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

Merrow and I walked hand in hand to the library. One of the larger libraries was about eight blocks away, but I needed the walk. I needed to move. Merrow poured her heart out to me, told me things she probably shouldn’t have, and now she walked next to me in silence to start our search. There were no words left to say right now.

In four days, I was going to die.

I had to still be in shock, because I felt utterly calm. It seemed so farfetched, so unbelievable, and yet I saw the scales on her body. I saw as she tugged on the sleeves of a lightweight sweater to keep her hands covered so no one would see them. I’d dreamt of her every night and now my wish had come true, but with a terrible, terrible cost.

In four days, I was going to die.

Part of me wanted to ask if it would hurt. Would I drown? Would she have to cut my heart out of me? Would her tribe feast on my body and chew on my bones so they could stay mermaids? I tried to imagine Merrow with blood on her lips–my blood–drinking it down to keep her beautiful.

My stomach churned at the thought.

Merrow held onto my arm, letting go of my hand to curl a little closer to me. I think telling me the truth was harder on her than me hearing it. I didn’t regret a moment of our time together though; the concern on her face was enough to convince me that it was real, and that was enough. That maybe she loved me, or wanted to at least. It was odd that I felt sadder for her, having to shoulder this burden, this weight all by herself instead of for me. I was the one going to die, but once it was over, it’d be over for me. Merrow would have to live with my death being her fault, and that was somehow worse.

The library was quiet, like most weekdays. We slipped inside and Merrow’s eyes were like saucers. She glanced around, with a smile painted on her face. “I wish that I could read. I’m going to be a historian one day. For our tribe. There’s no written language in our world, not like this. We have some stone carvings, but it’s different? Our language is preserved in the echoes of the water instead of paper and ink.”

“I’ll read to you,” I said, my hand on the small of her back. I felt something poking up from her dress, and realized that it must have been more scales. Or maybe even the beginning of fin?

We wandered through the aisles, looking for anything at all about mermaids and sirens. I grabbed some old mythology books just to see if there was anything about ocean gods or creatures. “Let’s get some audiobooks too, and you can listen to those.” She smiled even wider at that–a book she didn’t have to read. I wanted to teach her how to read, but there wasn’t time for that.

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