The Lily's Splendor

Chapter 5

The sea was dark without the sun. Surprisingly though, I could see through this darkness as if my eyes were a pair of lights that illuminated everything they touched. I turned my head to see my hand joined with Henry’s.

Henry . . . so that was his name, I thought as I watched him guide us. As if he could sense me watching him, he turned his head to look at me. I felt my throat go dry when I was able to notice his handsome features, such as the strong lines that ran across his face, over his cleanly angled jaw and his proudly carved nose. His perfectly shaped lips were almost a cherry red, and his shoulder-length hair waved in coarse tangles across his forehead. I also noticed his gray eyes— perfectly framed with dark lashes—deepen as they took on a different look; as if all he could see was me. I looked away and lightened my grip on his hand, but his hold only tightened.

I tried not to watch at how elegantly he glided through the water with his tail gracefully swaying up and down; the way it played with the force of the water, creating synchronizing music.

We were soon swimming up to the surface until we finally broke through. Out of nature, I inhaled deeply, surprised that I had been able to swim for so long without air. Or did I? Had I been breathing underwater?

“I told you that you could do it.” Henry came up beside me, flipping his hair back and away from his face. We were close to the shore and I was able to see the pathway that leads back to my grandmother’s backyard.

“Can you swim on your own from here?” he asked. I turned to look at him.

“Yes.” I furrowed my eyebrows when his eyes never left my face. He began to come closer. The familiar tingling sensation began its descent down my arm and body.

“No.” I whispered to myself, demanding for whatever it was to stop. I didn’t expect for it to obey me but it did and the tingling sensation ceased. Henry blinked.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why that happens.” I said apologetically.

“It’s okay. I’m glad to know you weren’t doing it intentionally.” he smiled before releasing my hand. I began to swim away from him, his form staying still as he watched me leave. I suddenly stopped and turned to look back at him.

“I’m Kyra and . . . thank you for saving me.” I said with the utmost sincerity before swimming away. I had ended up body-surfing to get past the waves, eventually making it to shore without an ounce of tiredness from my muscles. Lifting my hand up to the moonlight, I gazed at my necklace as I began to unwind it.

I had first started wearing it when things had begun to happen. When men had begun to draw near me in an unnatural way…

“Kyra!” Jacques’s familiar voice shouted along with a chorus of other men. It sounded as if they were searching for me. Quickly putting the necklace back on, I ran over to the pathway and into a group of gardeners who were spread out with flashlights as they called out for me.

“Kyra!” Jacques called out to me in recognition from afar. He ran to me until he was holding onto my shoulders.

“Where have you been? Are you alright?” Jacques fired away.

“I’m fine. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, and then I woke up and had to dive off of the boat because it was beginning to splinter in half by the waves.” I said in a rush. A gardener came by and placed a towel around my shoulders.

“What? Are you okay?”

I grimaced when his voice rose but managed a nod. “I’m fine. Not a scratch on me.” I assured him.

“So nothing happened?” Jacques questioned me. I could feel his scrutiny on my face as the final events began to finally sink in. I began to shiver, but it wasn’t because I was cold. My hand went to my necklace to clutch the charm. I held on to it as if it would keep me grounded to reality and let me know that I hadn’t lost my mind and that I had actually been saved by a mermaid . . . well “merman” as he put it.

“Kyra? What is it?” Jacques’s voice sounded far away.

“Nothing,” I said, snapping out of it. “I’m just tired from swimming. I want to go to bed,” I admitted.

“Of course you do. Come.” Jacques kept an arm around my shoulders as we walked back to the house. His eyes never left my face as he escorted me to my room. He obviously knew that I was holding back a lot of what had happened.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe I should call Charlyze and have her fly home immediately.”

“No! That isn’t necessary. I just need some sleep.” I tried to look reassuring but knew that I wasn’t pulling it off. “Goodnight Jacques. And thank you for looking out for me.” I said as I began to close my door.

“Goodnight.” Jacques said after a moment’s pause. When I had closed the door I let out a sigh of relief. I let myself slide to the floor, dazed and in shock. Maybe that had been a “near death experience”?

No way. I knew for a fact that it had been real. I wasn’t going crazy. At least I hoped I wasn’t.

Getting up to my feet, I went to the oval-shaped mirror. What stared back at me didn’t look like a crazy woman at all. I did not have vanity or airs, but the only word I could describe my reflection was a “goddess”. Even in the darkness, through the soft moonlight, I was able to see what other men saw.

When I slightly turned, a glimmer on the hem of my dress caught in my reflection. Lifting the end of the fabric, my fingers carefully plucked a silver scale the size of my palm.

“See Kyra, you’re not going crazy. You actually were saved by a merman . . . a handsome one too.” I murmured. Bringing the scale closer to my eyes, I was able to see tiny golden specks embedded everywhere. I knew that I wasn’t going to throw it away. It was indeed evidence of my sanity, but I also found it too beautiful to just simply discard. It wasn’t its unearthly appearance that was just beautiful, but also the memory it gave me of Henry.

I wrapped the scale in a silk handkerchief before gently setting it in a slim jewelry box and storing it away in my desk drawer. I then quickly changed into my P.J’s, hanging up the soaked dress in my bathroom. It wasn’t until I was tucked in bed with the comforter pulled up to my chin that I found myself smiling.

Something so unnaturally real was happening, and I was standing in the middle of it. Perhaps even playing a character in this startling, eerie tale.