You're not sure how long you've been in this net for. One second you were strolling along under the water, below the "sky people," as your kind calls them, and then the other second you're scrambling trying to get out of a net that was very obviously not made for merman or mermaids like you.

When the sailors first caught you, they looked surprised. You thought that they'd let you go because of how in shock they were, but it turned out that they just kept you and called it a celebration.

You've heard many conversations within the past few hours. Some of the sailors were thinking of selling you off to a thing called a "circus." Some of them were talking about killing you and keeping your tail as a trophy in the boat. As they drank and hollered, only one of them was quiet: A tall girl in a white button-up and black pants, her hair brown and wavy and her earrings shining like they were real gold. From time to time, you'd catch her looking at you. The voices slowly got quiet as you passed out from exhaustion and fear of what was coming next.

You were then awoken by the feeling of sand on your body and a couple of the sailors pulling the net onto the shore of what looked like to be a town. Even if the docks were out of everyone's view, you were surprised that no one that's not one of the sailors has spotted you yet.

"Alice, watch the little fish thing, will ya?" you heard one of the sailors say as they all left. You had no idea who Alice was.

After a few moments, you sighed as you looked towards the ocean. It was hot on land, and your scales were getting dry. Then, you felt a snap on the net and you quickly turned around.

It was that woman again.

She quietly ripped the net open as she whispered, "Ay, be quiet now, I don't want them to catch you or me doing this... You don't deserve to be in some run-down net like this one, or in any net in general, yeah?" Her voice sounded warm and calming, yet tough and brave at the same time.

You were shocked that a human was kind enough to free you.