Siren Heart

Emelie    "Mom, I have to get off the phone now, my flight is boarding." " Yes yes honey, I can't wait till you get home. Your aunt, uncle and cousins will join us for dinner tonight when you get here". I roll my eyes but of course she does not see me. "Can't it just be us tonight, no big fuss Mom?" I know its hopeless to ask but I do anyway. "Come on honey, everyone has not seen you in 5 years, we are all excited to have you home. You deserve the attention". No I don't, geez. "alright Mom I will see you tonight, I got to go now before I miss my flight talking dinner plans with you". Getting up from my seat in the airport waiting area, I pull up my carry-on bag and begin walking towards the gate. "Alright, honey fly safe, see you tonight. love you". I love you too Mom". Hanging up, I rush up to the gate and swipe my boarding pass.  Leaving London has been bitter sweet. I loved it here, my roommates turned to family and last night we celebrated moving to our next life chapters with a bottle of tequila, which has me on this flight with a headache but it was worth it. Buckling my seat belt, my thoughts drifted to home and I wandered if anything would have changed in my 5 years away. Definitely not the town structure, Asbury Park has kept its stone town with the touch of modernity look all my life growing up there and I loved it. What I have missed the most is the beach, growing up my parents and I were on the beach every day, well we did have an ocean side house and my best friend Rosie and I played always in the groves near our house. Rosie. Another reason I was looking forward to spending this break back home. She had just graduated from Asbury University as a nurse and would be working at the local hospital. Even though we had kept in touch, I could not wait to hear all her crazy adventures in person. Hopefully we could visit the little secret grove we found when we were kids.  I loved our little sanctuary, the water in that grove was really blue, like the sky on an beautiful summer day and the water always felt like it was in love with me or was it I was in love with it. I always feel one with the water there. As the plane took off, I knew that I needed to visit our secret grove as soon as I got home.  Jack   The water had a different warmth to it this morning. It was before dawn, so the sun had not come up yet but the water was warm, more like it was humming. I did my usual before dawn swim around the kingdom making sure all was in order. The kingdom was just awakening as I swam through the paths between the crobels and the sun's rays were now lighting up the ocean. "Good Morning Prince Jack, it looks like it will be a wonderful day and we will have luck with the ocean flower for tonight's festivities" Samuel came swimming up to me from doing his own routine swim check, he was my second in command so we always met up after, just to make sure all was in order. "Indeed there seems to be something different in the water today" I waved at the passing mermaids probably swimming to collect fresh salt weed. "I think it's all the excitement of tonight's ceremony. Are you ready to accept your official duty tonight?" I was expecting his question, it would almost everyone's question to me today, typical. "As long as the Ocean will have me, I will serve our people as best as she guides me". I hoped of course that was true and I could actually do this. "Will you visit the surface world today?" Stopping, I turn my tail and face Samuel who stops as well. "I know you have to, I asked just so I could station the guards closer to the surface today because of the ceremony, you will become king tonight," He was right of course, I went around without guards because I always ditched them when I was younger and my mother, the Queen eventually stopped sending an escort out with me. As King it was law that I would always have an escort. I was nervous about tonight, mostly because my mother had to come into the ocean today. Since my grandfather was king, things in the ocean have gotten worse. Mermaids had to leave the ocean to stay alive, the ocean's waters were becoming poisonous because her essence was dying. My mother was among those that had to live up on the surface. It happened just after her coronation as queen, at first it would just be headaches, then the chocking on the ocean water and finally losing the ability to breath in the ocean. It was terrifying to watch when it happened to my mother and I did not like revisiting the memory. "Yes I will be on the surface today helping my mother with preparations, we will come down to the ocean together when it is time. Please ensure the ceremony is short, so we do not strain our surface merfolk." As we swim up to the palace, I could feel a sadness fall over me, the kingdom is not as vibrant as it used to be. Even though we still had a good number of merfolk living in the ocean, more and more were being affected by 'the sickness' and were forced to live on the surface.