Me and the mermaid

*Chapter 1: The Scream* I am a man in my thirties, jobless, owning nothing, not even a single real love story to brag about. I was in love with poetry and writing; perhaps it was my only escape from this misery. The sea was my only loyal friend. I would sit for hours in front of it, talking to it. When I was happy, I saw it calm, and when I was angry, it raged like a flood. I usually sat there at night, just me, him, and the wind, and that was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. One night I was sitting there, the darkness was absolute and the moon did not show. The beach in Alexandria was completely empty. No lights from the cafes, no fishermen, no lovers walking. Just the sound of the waves and the cold wind. I lit my cigarette and the flame shook in my hand. I said out loud to the sea: How long will this misery last? How long will I remain alone? All my friends got married and traveled, and here I am, talking to water like a madman. And in a moment, I heard a voice crying for help: "Help me... I'm drowning!" I fell silent to make sure. My heart was beating so fast. Truly, it was a female voice, young, terrified, but where? I saw nothing but pitch-black darkness. The sea was black ink. I stood up and started running along the beach shouting, where are you? Where are you? The sound was coming from the heart of the water, far away, about sixty meters inside. I didn't think for a second. I took off my shoes, took off my jacket and jumped. The water in December was like ice cutting through my body. It stole my breath. I swam towards the sound and the waves were hitting me hard, pushing me back, slapping my face. My clothes became heavy. I saw her... a white phantom floating and sinking. She was a girl with long black hair shining even in the dark, her skin pale white. She was wearing a white dress that floated around her. I got closer, stretched my hand and shouted with water in my mouth, grab my hand! Hold on! And the moment I touched her hand, the unexpected happened. It was not the hand of an ordinary girl. It was cold as ice, colder than the sea itself, and strong as steel. My hand went numb instantly. She raised her head and looked at me. She smiled at me with a terrifying smile, revealing sharp teeth like needles, not human teeth. Her eyes which I thought were beautiful, suddenly turned completely black. She pulled me with a strength no human could possess. The more I tried to escape, the more she held onto me and pulled me into the depths. I screamed but water entered my mouth and choked me. I tried to hit her face but my arms felt shackled, as if I was tied with iron chains underwater. Below us, in the deep, I thought I saw shadows moving, waiting. The sea was suddenly full of whispers. I gave up. My body had no more power. I said to myself, this is the end, I will die here alone as I lived alone. No one will even find my body. I closed my eyes and let my body sink, surrendering to the cold. I kept sinking, and my life flashed before my eyes like a film strip. I saw myself as a little child running through the alleys of Alexandria with bare feet, my first day of school holding my father's hand, playing football in the street, and when I saw the sea for the first time while holding my mother's hand and she told me the sea never betrays. I saw the girl I loved in university who left me because I had no future. All this while I was being pulled to the depths at a terrible speed, the pressure crushing my ears. Then I heard a voice as if coming from the sky, but I was underwater. A soft, warm, female voice saying, wake up, wake up... enough. And a golden-blue light exploded in the darkness. I began to open my eyes to find myself lying on the shore of an unknown island. My chest hurt, I was coughing sea water and sand. The sky above me was not the sky of Alexandria. It was purple and had two moons, big and small. The sand was white as snow. In front of me was the sea and to my left was a girl like the moon on the most beautiful night of the sky. The girl had on her head a crown studded with sapphire and coral, as if adorned with the stars of the sky. Her hair was black as the dark night and soft as touching silk, her skin white as milk and her honey eyes were full of worry. She wore a strange glowing dress made of pearls and sea light. In that moment I understood nothing... except that I was silent as a mute... and she kept looking at me innocently and wiping the water from my face with her cold hands and telling me, don't be afraid, I saved you. You are safe now. I told her with a broken voice, from whom did you save me and where am I and who are you? She answered with an angelic smile saying, you are here on the Island of the Lost, the island that no map shows. And I saved you from the mermaid lovers, the dark ones who eat lonely sailors. You were sitting alone a lot on my beach and I was watching you and hearing your voice every night and I know everything about you. And I loved you and wished I could make you happy. She was talking and I was silent as if I were watching a movie, my mind could not comprehend the events, but she looked with a smile as if she had read my thoughts. "Don't be afraid ever, I am with you. You almost died and you are the cause." I said in amazement, "Me? I am the cause?" She laughed, a laugh like music, and said, "Yes, is there a sane person who goes to the sea at two in the morning alone, talking to the waves? Are you crazy? My crazy human." *To be continued*