Friday, July 8, 2011

#fridayflash "Washed Upon the Shore"


Washed Upon the Shore

Waves surged over Mer’s head. The sea god’s wrath raged fierce and powerful. She spat a mouthful of brine and dived down, attempting to move below the surge. Another swell grasped her, dragging her toward the surface. A strange current refused her entrance to her ocean home.

A jagged lightning bolt ripped across the blackened sky. It blinded Mer and she blinked back spots before her eyes.

She was rising higher and higher. The wave crested and dropped below her. She gasped as she hung in the air before plummeting like a boulder into the cement-like water.

Pain radiated from her body. Fear gripped her throat and she tightened her fingers around the pearl necklace. Her theft started this roaring tempest, yet she still was reluctant to release her prize.

Her world tumbled around her, and she angled her tail to stop it. The mermaid thought she would lose her kelp dinner, if this kept up. She slowed and broke through the surface once more.

“Mine.” His voice carried within a thunderclap, and she shuddered, her ears ringing from the sound.

The ocean receded around her, as if a thirsty whale satiated itself with it. She twisted and gasped at the tsunami lifting to greet her.

“No.”

Mer had nowhere to outrun the monster.

Water crashed into her like a battleship. She swirled and twisted amongst the foam. Her body scrunched up, attempting to be smaller. A plastic bag tangled in her hair. Her arms scraped against coral. Her mind screamed when she could not. Over, under. Around and around.

Smack!

Mer slammed against sand.

She didn’t move, could barely breathe as the ocean tugged on her. The necklace yanked from her fingers. Magic burned along her magnificent tail, splitting it down the middle. She cried out in grief, anger as air rushed into lungs instead of gills.

Soft rain tickled her bruised flesh. Waves gently lapped on her feet where her tailfin once was. The sky grew lighter, a paler gray with a glimmer of blue peeking from the clouds.

“Mine.” The sea god whispered in a final thunder rumble.

9 comments:

Terri Talley Venters said...

Cool story, Cherie. I wrote a mermaid short last month (different plot). Great minds think alike. =)

Aubrie said...

Great action and tension in this!

Maybe she'll find out she's better off being human anyway?

Christine Rains said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Christine Rains said...

Awesome story! It has the potential for a lot more. It would be a great prologue for a longer story.

Summer Ross said...

lots of tense action going on in this piece Cherie. I enjoyed the ending- because i wasn't expecting it. It does leave me with questions like was she a human before she stole the necklace? if she wasn't then this is clearly a punishment and i wonder how she will get back to being a mermaid.

Linda Glaz said...

Nice details, could really see and feel all of it.

Cherie Reich said...

Thanks, Summer! Good questions. By the way, Mer was always a mermaid. I'm thinking of expanding it for next month's Raven and the Writing Desk short story.

Cherie Reich said...

Thanks, Linda, too!

Sheila Deeth said...

Wooo. Cool story.