User blog comment:SOMEGUY123/300 Word Long Stories/@comment-5952769-20150201091250

Short Short Story (450 words)

One summer my cousin let me look after his beachhouse while he was out of the country. I fell in love with the sea, but it didn't end well.

I'd finished swimming and was on the porch enjoying a sunset and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon when I noticed something on the rocks.

It looked like a person but didn't climb like one. They seemed to be searching. I lost sight of the figure, but soon noticed a woman settled in the sand.

Walking up and sitting next to her seemed like the natural thing to do. I'm not normally so bold around a strange woman, but I was enchanted by the moment (or buzzed from the wine).

She was a dark-haired pale-skinned beauty. The stuff of Rococo paintings. The waves and sand made it hard to tell what she was wearing, but it looked like she'd gone swimming in a silver sequined skirt. Above the waist she was bare.

"The sea is beautiful tonight," she said. I concurred.

"Were you looking for something?" I asked.

She showed me. It was a knife, which she placed in a strange green pouch full of metal implements.

I might've wondered about that, but when she leaned against me I couldn't think about anything but her warm, soft body. I found myself eyeing her chest. I didn't mean to look, but there were a couple things I couldn't miss: long red gashes.

"You're hurt."

"No.  Those are normal."

She was right. I recognized what they were in a moment. The glimmering silver below made sense now.

I was surprised, but didn't make a fuss. I suppose I can thank the wine for that. I put my arm around her and we enjoyed the summer evening together.

When it was time for her to go, I asked if I could see her again.

"I'd like that," she said.

"Before you leave, may I see you?  All of you?"

She smiled and slipped into the water to wash off. All was revealed when she did a handstand in the shallows.

It confirmed what I thought. She was quite the mammal up top, but an unmistakable fish at the bottom. There was some confusion in the middle, with skin around the gills and scales around the navel. The things you expect to see on a woman stopped showing up after the waist.

"Now you," she said as she rested.

I didn't want to, but it was only fair.

"So this is a land man," she cooed as her eyes examined my naked body. She noticed something that made her look of innocent curiosity turn to disgust.

Soon I was running away. I've never gone near the ocean since. Not after those final words the sea woman said to me.

"That'll have to come off."