Through the eyes of Ng

Chapter 3

when you drive out of the big city through the lonely path and into forest lines for hours you would eventually come across a T-shaped road (east west south because well, you are driving from up north and heading down south). Benson's hometown Idia was towards the South i.e the straight road as you approach then towards the east was a town known as Odia that had residents who although quite peaceful would eat almost anything! and in the opposite direction of this hometown was another town. This town was infested with snakes, quite creepy actually because most of these people don't kill or eat them at all so these creatures thrive here.

Odia was a small place where some few people here don't eat snails but they hope all too often that the snakes miss their way and find themselves in their territory so they can feast on them. While some hoped to stumble on snakes others simply went hunting them down in their sister town yet their where a population that just wanted to be left in peace and away from these cursed creatures. part of this population was Mr and Mrs Imirad

From what I know Mrs Imirad was a petite beautiful woman. it amazes me how every woman happens to be beautiful in her own way and no matter how one may look like a goddess there would be some males out there who would not be interested in them while there would be very simple ladies whom they would prefer but we would talk about them later for now, let's talk of Imozac

Imozac was a fearless man who loved traveling and so he had been to places before circumstances made him come back home he was once in Calader where he used to work as a fisherman as the tale goes and one day just after a storm he came outside with his beach bench as I call it and boom his life changed .

As the story goes he saw something struggling in his net and it moved with so much organized force to be a school of fish so he took his canoe and went to check it out. What was stuck in that net was something many people don't believe exist up till this day and the government would surely kill this poor creature while trying to study it in the lab that I am quite sure of. Well as some of you might have already guessed he saw a mermaid and contrary to how disney present those creatures it didn't look all too glamours.

“No way!”

Precious would you shut up?

I ignore my sister this time

“Mum that didn’t happen… did it?”

“Of course it did” came her reply

“Wow” was the only thing I could say

I am so stunned,I don’t even know what to believe at this point and where to draw the line

Hi,my name is precious, I’m 17ys old

My mother (aunt) is telling me a story that I don’t want to accept as a reality as you might have already guessed. I don’t know weather to be happy or pissed that she’s saying it now

“The mermaid looked like a starved human soaked in muddy water for hours”she continues, With fins and webbed hands the bones of her upper body where too visible to be considered normal along with openings by the side of her upper and lower body. Her eyes where pitch black and she had very poor hair with different kind of things stuck to it. she obviously felt threatened because of how he just showed up out of the blue so obviously she tried to attack him it was then and only then that he realized she had claws although not long but relatively Sharp and when she sneered at him you got a good look of her human shark looking odd set of teeth.

Her fin thins at the end giving it a razor sharp look which horrified Imozac but with his dealings with animals he noticed that they can sense fear. so he maned up but still wondered how she had not made it out of the net yet .Looking carefully he saw that she was badly injured with bites all over some covered with sand, not there wasn’t much difference between that and the color of her poor part-human body and he was some worth disgusted but he knew he had to get her out because she was scaring all the real fish away and ruining his hand made well customized very strong family trend net...lol...odd description I know but when you live in a family where just one trade is practiced everyone strives to be the best it in , one way or another perhaps one person catches more fish in the night than during the day because of his special means while another catches more in the day than night yet there could be a unique person who fishes even during storms and comes back successful, fulfilled and unharmed, leaving the others puzzled. How he does it ,they do not know and I don’t know about you but if I where him I would never tell . End of story.

Imozac moved slowly towards her and she watched his every move. Despite being in a net she still acted like she was the predator with the upper hand because in reality they both where predators but as I know your biggest counterpart is undoubtedly someone like you, equally knowledgeable and equally armed.

He reached for his knife to cut a line which would open a part of the entangled mess and that was when the creature's expression suddenly turned to horror signifying that she knew well the bad uses of a knife. He tried to calm her down but the up and down motion of his hand with a knife in it seemed to tell her something else and she let out an ear piercing scream then tried swimming away by moving from side like a shark instead of up and down the way she should.

After many failed attempts to calm her down he realized that the sun had started rising or should i say the night was fading away and that was a bad thing in so many ways because people would start coming out to make a scene, blame him, cook stories carry rumors and it could lead to a riot that might mean him leaving and if someone with bad intentions could see her? oh my word everything was all so messed up now,what to do?

He did what he thought was more reasonable , He tried dragging her to shore which was very difficult because of her struggles and the fact that she weighed a ton! But then she stopped all of a sudden and although it perplexed him, his mission reminded the same.

He pulled her with the net,making sure that half of her was submerged and when the waves traveled up shore , most of her body would get wet before the water retreat…but there was one problem, she wasn't moving!

Is she dead ? Am I too late? is all this my fault? he asked him self.hold on, why is she so heavy and skinny looking in the first place? her tail was really long, could that be where all of the weight comes from?

Imozac POV

I am felling really guilty right now and I still can not believe my eyes.This is an actually mermaid, they exist!

Should i tell my wife? questions kept coming in and out like they had a vip pass to disturb my brain. But my wife would freak out big time! she was against coming here in the first place because it was said that indians who practiced black magic had a lot of followers here but I don't believe in all that crap so I pulled the emotional card on her and she agreed to come along so long as we keep to our selves and leave as soon as possible.

It hasn't even been 2 months yet and this bizarre scene in front of me this morning is more than I could ever imagine.some weird dude told me not to fish here last week but he looked like he was half sane so I didn't take his words to heart

Damnit I'm no doctor and I need help with this thing.

It behaved too aggressively to be a female, maybe it's unisex, two in one just like flowers? because it is far too heavy and vicious with no soft features apart from the long but very thin looking hair and the baby bump which to be honest is more than just a bump.

I rush to my bench and took some herbs to give it because that's all I can think of and although it's breathing she's doing that way too slowly but I'm thankful she's not dead yet. Gosh I'm not comfortable calling it a her,what if it's just a him with a pot belly, it's possible right?

I walk up to her careful and wrapped a long rope around her mid area keeping her sharp fin hands in place then I hold her jaw using my fingers to force her mouth open just like those mean old women do to force children to eat in oder to pour the mixture into her mouth. Instead of wincing at the. bitter taste she licked her mouth and I was utterly disgusted, at the vague of puking even.

slowly she opened her eyes and smiled, wait what? she smiled? how did she even know how? I removed the net when I was sure she wasn't going to bite me and watched as she tried to move her tail but whimpers, DRAMA! wasn't she all over the place back at sea a few moments ago?

I looked and saw that she twisted her fin and that was probably why she swam so oddly. The poor creature most have passed out due to pain. she tried signalling me to do something but I don't understand until she bent forward and took both sides of get fin attempting to twist it back then looked at me again oh s**t! she doesn't mean what I'm thinking, does she?I get on my knees and slowly took her fins the way she showed me and she didn't try to attack me so I raised it slightly then with all the strength I could muster I turned it swiftly and she let out the same scream she had earlier but not nearly as loud as before because she covered her mouth with one hand or should I say fin then wrapped the other around her side.

After a while she began to drag herself to a nearby palm tree beside the water line. I offered to help her but she refused so I just followed closely I’m only here because i feel like I'm responsible for all this to begin with so I have to make sure she was okay before I leave.

when she got under the tree she grabbed a hand full of dried up grass?I thought it was grass until I got a closer look and saw that it was coconut fiber and there where a lot of them scattered around but the coconut trees where a few feet away from this lone palm tree. I didn't have to wonder long about what she needed it for as she started scrubbing.

Oh so the semi animal knows how to take a bath too huh I say inwardly and I heard her chuckle! seriously?!

I now realize that she wasn't all that revolting. she was just covered in a lot of grime, mud and dirt. Her wounds had actually closed up but not healed yet and she had scaled both real hard ones which simmered and imprinted ones. she was still very skinny but her skin did not look any less overly soaked. After a while when sunlight hit her I realized that she was not too hideous apart from the teeth and sharp fins, it was all just a camouflage to blend in with her harsh environment perfectly but she still had thin hair though,I mean how does hair grow under water anyways?

so why on earth do they call them beautiful (mermaids) they are literally some worth pity fully looking half humans with more animalistic sides nothing much really.

She stretched out her hand and I took it feeling more confident and her strange palm wrapped mine easily.

Curiosity took over and I reached forward to touch the scales on her side opening by the rib and the scales were really really light,covering her skin and the areas without such scales looked like they where water wrinkles with little white holes which actually looks like a nice pattern from afar and she gasped a little revealing more of her teeth and mouth this time.

I was about to ask her something because I'm sure she can understand me but I don't think her eel looking throat would let her form words. Just when I opened my mouth to say something I heard a beautiful call from a distance like an eco nothing I've ever heard in all my years and trust me, I have heard countless animal sounds but this sounds was so different

she squeezed my hand. lightly and I managed to tear my eyes away from the dirty river and back to her pale looking face

"leave"

I heard her say.huh?... she speaks?

My train of thought came again. I remember what those crazy sounding dudes said about the mysterious creature they called ismil, they even made up a whole story to back it up.

They said a lot of bull crap like...

The queen is after her and her Majesty is not pleased.The creature is a monster because it's a half breed (and why not i mean it looks the part) so pretty much half of the others hate it but it had worked well over the years to get either people or the others to like and come to accept it.

I also heard that it can't send distress calls like like them (the others) but it sure can scream! and that is enough.i think back to the awful sounds it made, They say :

"she/it is fast and can swim almost as fast as the tycoon mermaids who live in the most dangerous places

so they say.

That is all my poor brain can carry. sometimes i sit back and wonder how they knew all these places i myself have never even heard of and i travel! but this? HA! these places have got to be on another continent! They just replied dryly: The sea takes you anywhere so when you have living sea informants you'll hear about anything and everything. Bizarre right? I mean they travel all to come back and tell you stories? that's their job? well I wouldn't mind tho because i would much rather hear of deadly waves, snakes and sharks with raging storms than experience them or what do you think, am I right about that?

Then the more present and readily available information is that

ismil herself who i think is the creature before me seeks peace between land and sea because of her likeness for humans just like Iara (their queen) coming to the surface regularly during storms without fear because she is a fierce warrior as she was quite vicious by nature which to be fair she is but warrior against what or whom exactly ?

There isn't really much at sea and I doubt that civilization to that extent is even needed.

They're also some speculations that it saved someone important so yes after It saved the princess from a shark ambush when she was 16 some officially worshipped the creature which I found appalling. These creatures live long as long as they stay safe with there life expectancy being 100 I say that's a lot

Many people call them "creatures of the devil" i don't know their reasons but I some worth support them maybe it's because the ancestors of these beasts had been linked to drowning human ships and killing them but the truth might just be that we(humans) attacked first as it is in most cases and they had to protect themselves anyway they could. Animal are known to go straight for the kill when threatened after all.

she has a soft spot for humans and have been in close proximity with them, too close for most of her kind but she doesn't seem to mind and now here I am helping her

I hope this thing doesn't get the wrong idea and keeps coming back after this, she'll scare away all my fish

How did a swimmer as fast and good as her get caught in my net to begin with.

if I tell those goofballs about this they would probably cook up some more story about a war and how this warrior thing had to make sure everyone was safe and drive the intruders away so it was outraged and did not even realize that a net was ahead of it until It made impact and then they would blame me for not calling them to help her chase off the cowardly invaders because those bastards can't stand a real fight, all they know how to do is go after the weak or injured.

I tell you, those people would make up anything to justify the situation it all seems overly rated to me

I had totally forgotten that she told me something earlier until I was drawn back to reality by a small pain, she actually slashed a small cut at the extreme of my palm just enough for a few drops of blood to escape the gap in my flesh

what in oceans world was that for? I almost yelled at her and she made a face indicating that I was annoying her.

In the blink of an eye she was in and out of the water holding a brown statue “Take it”she said and everything you have would double but you have to leave. I can not kill you because you helped me. No one sees me without permission and lives so I would grant you this chance if you leave and never come back.Pardon me fish sticks you ain't God.

Well well my wife would be happy about that! that's for sure but leaving on such short notice is not fun for anyone because we just got here.actually we have been here (in this town) for almost a year but we moved to the sea side two months ago that is what I mean.How would i talk about this to my wife, what if she asks about my reason, which she would because she’s a smart woman who knows exactly when something fishy is going on plus this is as fishy as it gets.

I was hesitant at first i did not want anything from her or a reason to submit to any fetish believes, be spell bound owing commitments and what ever stuff would come up in the future but then she told me that it was meant to be on land but like many other lost things had found itself beneath the waves so I reluctantly took it after making sure to ask as many questions as possible just to make sure I knew what I was getting into, also stating conditions of my own and finalizing the deal. I saw it all as a rewards for helping and that's all.I’m not at fault.

I'm walking home to the touches still burning bright all around the house and my panic looking wife pacing up and down.when I get to a good distance she seems to sense my presence because her head snaps in my direction so fast I feared that she might have broken it twisting it too much and too fast for my liking, maybe it would roll off.

Mrs Imozac

He never takes this long, seriously!

The sun is up already so where could he be? Is he alright? Is he hurt?

I should have gone to get help by now right? but no, I have this feeling deep within me constantly saying he's ok yet I can't help but worry because he is my husband after all.

He's my new identity, my pillar, the father of my kids and they aren't married yet. My kids can't have their wedding without both their parents , no! that was never the plan!

Another ten minutes go by and I am done waiting if he's fine,he is going to get an ear full of questions and a sore arm from me constantly slapping his biceps as that had now become my new method of punishing him .

Just as I these last thoughts pass my mind I feel his presence, he's definitely here so I look out so fast it felt like my head got loosed from my body like the cap of a bottle when you urgently need a drink and there he was walking back with everything he took along the previous day but something is off because he doesn't even have a single fish with him.I can ask about that later.Right now? , relief washes over me and I run to. hug him like some teenager seeing her boyfriend for the first time in a long while.He hugs be back and I can feel as he eases, something definitely wasn't right and I am very sure about that now. why was he tensed in the first place.

I try to pull away to ask him what the matter was but he tightened his grip and I frown. Oh my God this is more serious than I thought he only does this to feel less ... what's the word I'm looking for...

burdened?yes that's it, burdened!

Imozac has always been a strong man who knew well how to deal with things and when it comes to matters of the heart, he has his way of handling it too which I learned well on the second occurrence plus he is not one to cry easily which I'm thankful for because I'll cry along with him and that is never good, it never helps the situation but if something goes wrong he comes home quiet and straight towards me while doing so in a way that I would hear his footsteps so I wouldn't get startled and look his way then like a lion walking towards a mouse at a dead end he approaches slowly while I watch him take a stand so close to me lift my chin to look into my eyes for a while (his way of telling me to go with the flow because he's too blue to speak) and just as if I was trained to, I understand everything from the look in his eyes. He then hugs me for a while then when you expect him to let go, he tightens. this has always been his strategy. sometimes he tells me what's going on while still holding me with his mouth just beside my ear and his chin on my shoulder if the matter is short and straight to the point but In more serious cases he picks me up and takes me to the bedroom (hey! to talk)

This time he doesn't say anything so I took the initiative to ask. what's wrong Imozac? i say in a soft soothing voice

He doesn't reply after three seconds and I'm about to ask something else when he let's out a sigh and say

WE ARE LEAVING! Before pulling away and looking into my shock filled eyes

As happy as I am to hear this I am also taken aback by how sudden this is coming and the fact that I have to move again when I'm living close to Ezi now and feel more comfortable here. Of all the places Imozac has made us stay in and all the situations we have endured this land was the one that took me this long to feel comfortable in. There was something about this place that made it even more strange ! yes my husband and I are from the same hometown and we left a few years after our marriage because I was not getting pregnant no matter how hard we tried and I got a feeling that I wasn't comfortable at home (is that weird?) don't get me wrong it's not like I'm not comfortable at my house it's just the rules and people in some of the neighborhoods that makes home not feel so "home sweet home" . To be honest the best times of my life where those I spent out of idia and those where relatively few.Imozac on the other hand has travelled a lot and never get's tired of it.so it made him happy when I told him that I wanted us to leave and live more like him. Things got a lot better after we left and we had children not one but two sweet boys! It turned out that I just needed to relax and take down that mental block along with the negative vibes

Ever since then we have been changing locations every three to five years and our kids are more like their father not even feeling bad that they where leaving friends behind but being happy that they would make more and new ones wherever we went extending their web

Back to the point. We are barely two months in this house and he got another one? I guess he's going to receive that earful after all.

Imozac POV

I pull away to see her shock after hearing what I had to say,at least she's not upset just shocked perhaps she would be fine with it because she never really did like it here after all

Boy was I wrong because after moments of silence and she eyes moving from side to side accessing thoughts while I watch her, she picks up all she can from what I dropped on the floor when I hugged her and after roughly dropping them by the side of the house she held my wrist pulling me inside then straight to our room where she gave me a lecture worthy a good seminal

"you brought us here Imozac and although I did not like it one bit you said I would eventually and now that I've loosened up,got the perfect place that feels away from the creepy people and made real friends you want us to leave?"

"How does that even work? hello? you listening?"

I nod slightly and she continues

"you do realize how difficult packing is right? oh no you don't, all you have to do is pick a location while your servants do the job of making the new destination home worthy you..."

HEY!

with that I cut her off by covering her mouth, she doesn't know how hurtful she sounds at times like why on earth would she call her and my kids servants ,no matter how angry she is that is just so wrong and messed up!

Don't call what is mine worthless ever again! I tell her in a commanding tone and she shivers clearly shocked but my response yet again

Usually I would try explain things to her but right now I'm not in the mood. just as we are speaking there is a knock on the front door and our second child Benson goes to get it.

Benson pov

My parents are quite different from other typical parents of my generation and I am really grateful for that. I know they have down times but when that happens they never let us see, till now. I am young but not stupid.

Hi I'm Benson,I'm twelve years old and the second child of my parents.

my older brother is busy at the back,He is my best friend and we are inseparable

I am sure mom and dad are not on best terms right now but thankful it's not too bad.

There's a knock on the door and head towards it shouting “coming!” so the person at the door and my parents know that I'm going to get the door.

I open up to find the king's messenger with a box in hand and he pats my head

I turn to look at my dad as he walks over standing behind me .

Imozac pov

what brings you by? I ask the messenger as I approached curious to know why he was here.

"The king wanted to thank you for your services so he asked to give you double the commission beware for he insists meaning this is not negotiable "

Well well it looks like the double blessings are already coming in and this is my one way ticket to leave

My utmost gratitude to the king I say to him then I reached in, took some of the reward and gave it to him. Although he can't keep his hands to himself,he was honest but I don't like people's hand's on my son's head

I head inside but stopped in the living room then called the attention of the whole house to drop the bomb

when everyone gathered I said:

Everybody start packing we have all we need and it is finally time to go back home, we leave in two days.

I made sure to speak in a voice that showed that I meant every words and I saw my soulmate's face fall in dismay

it's all my fault,I should have tried to change her mind about home .