(Year is 1710)

Mermaids, sirens, same difference, humans didn’t get it right too often anyhow. We didn’t sing to lure sailors to their doom, we didn’t wear seashell bras. We had tails instead of legs, yes, but we also had webbed hands and claws, small fins on either sides of our heads in place of ears which flicked whenever we were scared or nervous. Human’s ignorance was preferred though, if we stayed known only as fairytales, then there was no danger, for either parties.

It was night, and when it was night, I liked to swim to the surface and look at the stars. Rarely humans were out at that time anyways. So imagine my surprise as while I laid on the surface tension and looked at the galaxy, I heard a bell ring and lights moving over the water. A ship.

I swam under water to get away as it sailed forward, only for my tail to get caught in something and pulling me in. Then I was being lifted from the water.

“Shoot. It’s a net…” I said to myself, the fins on either side of my head flickering. I just had to hope it wasn’t pirates.

“Something’s caught in the net! Go check it out!” I heard called out from aboard the ship. I bristled and I scrambled to cut the netting my tail was tangled it, but the rope was too thick.

Then the shadow of a head peered over the side of the ship, I couldn’t see their face, it was too dark. They just stood there, they didn’t scream that there was some creature, or scream and jump back, they just stood there. And that was equally terrifying.