The Water Lilie's

The Journal

I sat on the floor of her cabin in awe of what I was reading. 1897, I couldn't believe how old this journal was... and it was in mint condition. It was a brown, leather journal with a folding flap to cover it, it had a leather band wrapped around it to hold the cover shut, small cracks were creased into the leather from where it had been folded and opened over time but other than that, it looked almost perfect. The pages inside were only just starting to yellow, they still were bright in color and the ink on the pages hadn't seemed to fade over time.

I continued flipping through the pages.

August 12, 1897

I do not know what it is I shall do today. I feel lost, my legs feel like a jail cell... Trapping me in this human world filled with people who look at me as if im a monster. I tell them I just moved here from Romania, which is why I look the way I do. Pale, dark hair, dark eyes, skinnier than most... Everyone here is so tan, full of life and radiant. I need to move... I have to get away from here soon.

August 29, 1897

Today I got a job on the island, I started working at a small jewelry store just a small way into town. The owner there is friendly. I try and be polite to customers, but when I see couples come in I can't help but feel heartbroken. My heart aches for Owen every day.

September 8, 1897

Im living in a small shack on the outskirts of town now. As far away from the Ocean as possible. Every time I feel the water hit my skin, I miss home. That's where I belong, but I can't stand Ordella... she should not be the one who rules the Ocean. The rules down below are not fair. I don't think they are fair... they are worse than the rules on the human land. I want to rule. I need to.

Oh my god, I can't believe what I am reading...I need to keep this journal. I need to find out more.

I quickly skim through a couple more pages, pages about this' women's' life, her job, her heartache.

I continue reading pages quickly, a few years have passed now, I notice she did not write every day but it seems as though she wrote about her hardest days and the most important days. Now it seems she's writing in the 1900's.....

May 17, 1900

Today I felt lost. I've been sad for so many years, I think of Owen every day... I think of what they did to him right before my eyes. 3 years it has been but I can not seem to find my path in life, not in this human world.

May 29, 1900

I have an anger burning inside me. Today I am angry. Today I must face the Ocean.

April 1, 1900

Last night, I walked down to Crystal beach. The Ocean had never looked so beautiful, it sat there in silence, dark blue water glistening in the moonlight. Small waves brushed against the shore washing over my bare feet in the sand. It felt like home. I sat there for a while, I cried. I cried so loud. Being there reminded me of Owen, I had never felt love before in my life until I met him. Down there, we are not allowed to fall in love. We were not allowed to roam the Ocean, we had to stay within our land which consisted of this godforsaken island. Ordella has a pact with someone by the name of Melusine. A creature of high power in the deep, dark sea known for her multiple arms, human-like face and spiked tail... Shes a ruler of sharks, whales, and creatures of the sea deeper then us Lilies have ever been allowed to go.

Because of this, our rules are strict, Ordella has a rule against falling in love with someone of a different kind. But down below, there are not many men of our kind...making procreation hard and finding a soul mate even harder. Ordella didn't care, she never cared.. she had her love, Orien. She knew that for her she had everything she had ever wanted, but for the rest of us we had nothing. We had the water, the fish, the mesh land, and each other but nothing more.

Last night, while I sat there on the shore, thinking of all these things. I realized I had to do something. I saw the water move a bit a few meters out before me and I wondered what it was when suddenly a familiar face surfaced out of the water. Slowly inching towards me. Dark hazel eyes, long black hair, grey skin. I sat there in shock. Before my very own eyes was my mother. I wondered if she recognized me in this form. I got up and began to walk into the water, slowly inching towards her.

I called out her name, but she raised her finger to her lips to shush me. She reached out her hand and gave me a single piece of seaweed. She motioned for me to eat it, and I did. Soon after she submerged back into the water and I followed. She had turned to face me, she told me to breathe. I was so scared. But I did, and a bubble formed around my mouth allowing me to breathe, back in the water, back in my home. I stayed with her for a little while, I admired her beauty. My kind was so beautiful, the beauty of their souls kept within one single gem that gave them all life. The gem that Ordella wore around her neck.

Last night, after I waved goodbye to my mom. I went home, exactly where I am now. Writing in this journal, but last night gave me a brilliant idea. Last night, I came up with a plan that could change everything.

“WHAT THE HELL,” I spoke out loud.

This cannot be happening, whoever has written in this journal was able to breathe underwater the same way I did today, and this was hundreds of years ago. Reading about this woman, or creature, or whatever she was makes me wonder where she is now. What happened? The rest of the pages in the book were ripped out, leaving me left in curiosity of what her plan was and what happened. I stood up off the hard, wooden floor of Ms. Erendales cabin and held the book in my right hand. I limped over to the nightstand beside her bed and looked through the drawers, finally, I found something hidden away at the bottom. A silver, metal, heavy duty flashlight.

“Thank you, Ms. Erendale,” I said sarcastically.

I walked over towards the small window that was bolted shut, I raised my left hand up high which held the heavy flashlight and wailed it down onto the glass. The glass exploded into the air, shattering into pieces as it hit the floor. A couple pieces grazed my arm and a few got caught in my hair. But I didn't care, I just needed to get out of here. I tossed the flashlight and book out the window onto the ground below me, it was a short way down, but I could easily climb out as long as I could squeeze myself through.

I managed to pull myself up with the little strength I had in my arms and pull myself through the small, shattered window. I winced in pain as a couple small pieces of glass scrapped my legs on the way out. Once I hit the hot sand of the beach all I could feel was the relief. I didn't even care about the pain anymore, the only thing I cared about was getting back to my cabin before the others returned.