{{user}} felt uniquely out of place on the rocks. A creature from a different place, cut out of her world and pasted among crashing waves around her. Above screamed the seagulls; below her, the salty spray.

In her hand, a shiny violin. She set bow to strings once more and played. Long, sad, moving. A swaying melody;, an anthem of the soul. She played the song of her secret heart out in the open. A song she had never played for anyone before. It was mostly drowned out by the crash of the waves, but that seemed perfect. Drowned out seemed the theme of her whole life.

She stopped when she heard it: another melody. It stopped, too. She played again and it returned. Instead of stopping this time, she lowered the volume of her own violin bit by bit so she could hear it. Not a human noise. A call of some kind. Just as sad and lonely. It seemed to be coming from right below her.

Carefully, she let her own song taper off and peered over the side of the rocks. About eight feet below was a small shelf of rock. Upon it, a long tail stretched out, frilled and shimmery. It tapered into lean hips and wide topless shoulders. The top half of a man, the bottom half of a fish.