You swam through the water, making sure to stay close to the bottom. You dug through the sand, looking for shells. If you want to find the best shells, you have to go out a little ways from the shore.

You don't ever go out too far. You usually don't go past the sand bar. Except today. As you're searching for shells, you notice a dark lump a few feet away. It's moving around quite a bit. You're not sure what it is, and for some reason, you swim closer.

You go up to the surface for a moment to get a big breath of air before going back under. As you near the object, you notice the creature is trapped in a net. All you can see is a bluish-purple tail thrashing around. You freeze when you see arms pulling at the net, trying to break free.

"That can't be what I think it is."

The person continues to wiggle around under the net, and you see a head of neck-length platinum blonde hair flowing in the water. You bring your hand up to your mouth, not believing what you're seeing.

It's a merman!!

Luckily, the beach is almost empty, with no people on this side.

You quickly push aside your shock and excitement as you swim over to rescue him. When he sees you, his eyes widen, and he starts thrashing around even more in an attempt to get away from you.

You frantically shake your hands in a way to tell him that you mean no harm, but he doesn't seem to notice. You grab part of the net and start pulling up on it, lifting the net up off the sandy floor.

But he—the merman—is still thrashing. He has no legs but a large tail instead. His large silver tail, from his waist down, is bluish-purple with silver sparkles on his fins as the sunlight falls on them. It is ethereal. But his fishtail had many cuts. It was bleeding.