Silver sparkles glint off the sea, the sun's bright glare shines into my eyes. My head aches and my stomach rolls more that the ship on the waves. I turn to return to my cabin, hoping for maybe a few hours more sleep, when I hear it- faintly at first, but growing stronger as I concentrate on it. Though the song has no words, it conveys emotion more profoundly than any piece of music I'd heard before it. Tear sprang to my eyes as I felt the despair of loneliness, of seclusion, or rejection. I almost laughed out loud as the song conveyed the sheer exhilaration of swimming through the ocean depths.
The melody calmed my spirit and body, so that I felt hungry for the first time since the voyage had began. As I turned to approach the galley I felt a slight pull, a resistance to leave the spot where I could hear the music, yet my belly won out.
During my time as crew on the Explorer I often heard the singing. It was always there in the background, and it grew louder if I concentrated on it. Each time it grew harder to return my focus to the task at hand. Due to my lack of concentration my shipmates thought me to be a simple fellow, and tolerated my presence with the patience normally reserved for those of a slower nature, yet they did not attempt to socialize with me on our hours off. The only company I had was the cabin boy, himself a simple fellow. It was he who eventually succeeded in drawing from the secret of the song. He did not laugh at me as I had expected. Instead, his expression turned grave.
'Beware the singing of the Lady of the Sea.' He warned. 'We've lost more that one sailor to her call this past year.' On questioning, the boy told me that though he had been fortunate enough never to have seen the Lady of the Sea, for to do so meant almost certain death, she was rumoured to be more beautiful than any maiden alive. Long flowing red hair that just begged to have a strong man's hand brush the wayward strands from her face. Deep-set eyes that reflected the colour of the sea, long lashes that set a mans heart aflutter. High cheekbones, a dainty nose, a full mouth with lips as red and smooth as a rose petal. Flawless skin, petite breasts only covered by that beautiful hair and a fish tail.
At this last feature I started, and asked the boy if he was sure, raising my hand to let him know the punishment if I found him to be jesting with me. 'Nay,' he cried. 'I speak the truth. She has a fishes tail. Long and graceful, it's scales sparkle with all the colours of the rainbow. At the end is the most ornate fan you will ever see on a fish. The membrane shimmers from colour to colour, and you can see the blood running through.'
I was tempted to disbelieve the boy. He was probably just repeating a yarn told to him by a drunk fisherman. Yet no normal woman could sing the song I heard. The song haunted me still, months after I first heard it. Not content with disturbing my waking hours, it now penetrated my dreams. On occasion I had woken to find myself on deck, the song still in my head. Over time the song had been changing. No longer so alluring with the carefree sense of adventure and fun, it had become progressively more depressed and morbid. The pull on me had remained the same though, it had grown even stronger in fact.
One night as the ship battled the most fearsome storm, I heard the song again. More powerful than ever, it called to me. I could not resist. I tried, I knew I had to stay at my post to help the crew through the storm, yet I was drawn forwards. To the side railing I went. I looked over, and though the sky was dark and grey, I saw her. The cabin boy had not lied, if anything she was more beautiful than he's described. She raised her arm and beckoned to me. I didn't hesitate, one hand on the railing I went to swing my legs over. The only thing that stopped me was the crash of a wave into the side of the ship throwing me off balance. In the disorientation that followed I managed to regain some of my wits. What was I thinking, about the jump into a stormy sea in the middle of the night to be with a woman with a fishes tail? I leaned over the railing to check if she was still there.
She was, and once I looked into those eyes, I was her captive again. 'Come!' she sang. I had to obey. Over the railing I leapt. The water was ice cold, and the air rushed from my lungs. Wave after wave pounded upon, so I could not get a breath in. 'Save me!' I screamed. My maiden came towards me, she wrapped her arms around me, and started to pull me under.
As we plunged deeper and deeper she sang to me. She sang of the love she'd possessed for a young man, a sailor. How she had sung for him each night, following him from port to port, leaving her family and friend behind her. She sang of a storm, and a shipwreck. She sang of saving the man, and bringing him to shore so that he could get the care he needed. The song broke me heart as I felt her love and anguish. At this point though the song changed, it became bitter and angry and she sang of the man falling in love with the doctors young daughter and how the man never sailed again and quickly forgot about her. Now she made sure that no man who heard he song ever forgot about her, she made sure that she was the last face they ever saw, and the last sound that ever heard was her laugh.