“Get away from me!” I screamed.
As they closed in, a figure burst into the
warehouse, stabbing one of the men.
Jason. His eyes were wild, his face contorted
with rage. “Anyone touches my wife, and I’ll
kill you!”
The men scattered, but one threw a knife as
he fled. It slashed Jason’s shoulder.
He clutched the wound, his face pale. “You’re
<
okay… that’s all that matters.”
I had intended to leave him there, but I
couldn’t. I took him to a hospital.
- 14.
Jason needed stitches. I waited until he woke
before I prepared to leave with Lily.
He struggled out of bed, begging us to stay.
“Please don’t go! Please, Ariel!”
Hearing him call me “Ariel” brought back
memories. He had called me that every day,
kissing and holding me close.
He had promised, “My love for you is forever.
I’ll never betray you.”
I pushed his hand away.
“Why did you betray me, Jason? You loved
me, and yet you still betrayed me. Why are
you saying these things now?”
“I’m sorry… I was wrong. I didn’t understand
my own heart. Humans… we’re complicated.”
He looked at me with anguish. “Sometimes,
we don’t know who we love.”
“Please, Ariel, give me another chance. I’ll
spend the rest of my life making it up to
you.”
“Okay,” I said.
His face lit up with hope.
୮
“But first,” I continued, “you have to count
every grain of sand in the ocean.”
The light died in his eyes. “That’s…
impossible.”
“Exactly. Just like it’s impossible for me to
forgive you.”
I looked out the window at the setting sun.
“Do you remember the sunset on the day you
bought me, Jason? It was beautiful.”
“I thought you were my light. But you pushed
me into the darkness.”
“For ten years, I’ve been haunted by
nightmares. I’ll never forget what you did.”
niynшmares. III Never forget will you uiu.
“I’ll never forget you ripping away my
scales…”
“Please… stop,” he whispered, clutching his head. “I wish I could go back. I wish I could
change everything. I just want to be with
you.”
“It’s all my fault.” He hung his head.
“But if you won’t forgive me… then I’ll die.”
“You can’t die.”
“I gave you my lifeblood. You’re immortal.
You’ll live forever… all alone.”
A sense of satisfaction washed over me. He
bad inflict
had inflicted so much pain, and now he would
suffer, too.
“”
“No… please don’t… Ariel… I was wrong… He wept, then turned to Lily. “Lily… you don’t
want to see your father like this, do you?”
“Yes, I do.” Lily’s voice was hard. “Have you
forgotten? You ripped out my scales, too. You
injected me with that poison.”
“I wanted to believe you could change,
Daddy. But Mommy’s right.”
“Forgive and be tortured.”
“Even if we forgave you, the scars would
remain.”
Jason’s despair deepened, a useless gesture
く
of self–punishment. It was too late.
As we left, I said, “Jason… I knew you loved
- me. I told you, but you didn’t believe me.”
“If you had… things would be different. You
did this to yourself. You deserve this.”
Lily and I returned to the ocean. We never
went back to land.
We found happiness in the deep sea. I met
another merman, a true love, the protector of
our realm. He vowed to keep Lily and me
safe, always.
On our wedding day, news reached us from
the surface. Jason had lost his mind. He
wandered the streets, begging for
forgiveness.
But it no longer mattered. I had found true
love, a new life, a new beginning.
2
Everything would be alright again.
