You wandered barefoot along the damp sand, the breeze cool and the scent of salt thick in the air. The beach was quiet and calm. As you walked, the only sounds you heard were the rhythmic crashes of waves and occasional crunches beneath your feet.. But then you saw it

At first, it looked like a tiny oddly-shaped fish. It lay half-buried in the sand, tangled in a ribbon of seaweed, its tiny scaly body rising and falling in shallow breaths. Breaths? You kneel down to get a closer look, your heart and mind racing as you examine the being

It wasn’t a fish.. It was a.. a girl? No—something more. Her torso was human, but her lower half tapered into a silver fish tail