The Heart's Content

"What a funny little trinket." She thought, admiring the gold object she had discovered in the wet sand along the shore. "Funny but pretty. It must be some sort of decoration—like my necklace, though I'm not sure how humans wear this thing."

She examined each of the charms closely.

"I wonder what these are supposed to be." She mused, studying the piano-shaped charm and the music note-shaped charm. "I know that one is a human girl, and the other is a type of land creature—what are they called again? Birds? Yes, that's it. But these two... I can't quite figure out what they could be."

Before she could delve deeper into her investigation, she sensed someone approaching and quickly hid behind the rocks, just like last time. Peering out cautiously, she saw it was the young girl from before—the one who had come to help the poor man she had rescued.

"It has to be around here somewhere." Beth said, scanning the sand. "Oh, please don't let it have been washed away."

When she couldn't find what she was searching for in the dry sand, Beth moved closer to the shore. There, she spotted something sparkling in the water near some rocks and approached it. A figure hiding among the stones panicked and darted away, hoping to conceal itself from the girl, but it was a futile effort.

"Who's there?" The red-haired girl called out. When no one responded, she added, "Hey, I may be young, but I'm not stupid. I know someone's back there—show yourself!"

"Now what?" Thought the hidden figure. "I don't know how to get out of this without revealing myself."

"If you won't come out, then I'll come in." Beth warned.

"No! Wait! Don't come over—I... I'll come out."

Beth heard a deep breath being taken before the voice finally revealed its owner. She was immediately struck by the figure's beauty. Her pale blonde hair was long enough to cover her body, reminding Beth of the finest silk. Her eyes were a deep blue like the sea, yet sparkled with bright silver like moonlight. Her skin was as fair and rosy as an evening primrose, she was a a beautiful a pearl, maybe even more so. But Beth's astonishment grew tenfold when she looked down to see a scaly, aquamarine colored fish tail instead of legs.

"Oh my God." Beth blinked rapidly and splashed water on her face, convinced she was hallucinating. "Are you...a...a...A mermaid?"

The enchanting creature paused for a full five minutes before responding.

"Yes." She smiled nervously.

"Oh my God!" Beth exclaimed, her voice brimming with excitement. "This is... incredible! I never thought—wait, are you for real, or just some lady in a costume trying to advertise?"

"I'm sorry, what?" The mermaid asked, confused. "Costume? Advertise? What are those?"

Beth glanced down at the shimmering fish tail. It looked remarkably authentic, complete with movable fins. She leaned closer and pinched a bit of the scaly flesh, testing if it would tear like fabric.

"Ow!" The mermaid yelped, jerking her tail away. "That hurt! Why did you do that?"

"It didn't tear!" Beth realized, her heart racing. "It's not a costume! You're the real deal! Holy crap!"

Ecstatic, Beth felt a rush of joy. Growing up, she had always believed in mermaids and loved reading stories about them. As a child, she would search the bayou creek for these mythical beings, only to learn they were said to dwell in the sea. Her brother and the adults in her life dismissed such creatures as mere fiction. But here, right in front of her, was a genuine mermaid—an actual half woman, half fish.