Next Time [Hamilton - LAMS]

Day 1 (1)

I ignored the voices. Not only the voices of the beings around me but the voices in my head. The ones that urge me to use my voice, the "gift" of an alluring enchantment to unsuspecting humans.

I can safely consider myself the only siren in the whole sea that doesn't use my gift of song. I skipped classes, I ignored my parents, and all for what? That a human or two isn't devoured by the waves I call "home"?

In that case, it's worth it.

Humans are said to be incompetent and overall bumbling though I can't say I have ever talked to one. I would like to. It would be an. . . interesting conversation. I would of course never reveal myself as a siren though - only has a mermaid.

Ugh, mermaids.

They sit around on sharp rocks that scratch their scales while combing out their utterly ridiculous long hair. I, on the other hand, spend my time skipping my voice lessons and exploring the sea. It doesn't sound like much, but there is a whole world out there, and 70% of it belongs to the sea.

While most of the time it is all fun and games, I would have to be cautious of pirates. After hundreds of years, they still roam the seas. How many times do they have to crash their ships to realize it's dangerous out here? For them anyway.

My long and flourishing green-black tail hits the sand along the sea floor.

"Sorry," I mutter meekly as a school of tiny fish scatter into random directions.

I adjust the brown satchel pulled across my shoulder. It's a miracle that the fabric hasn't mildewed from overexposure to water. Then again I found it in an old wreck. Maybe pirates are more advanced then we thought? But they are humans before anything else, and that defines them as idiots - simple as that.

My webbed fingers brush against a peachy-shell, half submerged into the sandy bottom of the ocean. I pick it up gently before examining the conch, keeping an eye out for a hermit crab's legs or a chunk of rogue coral. After coming to the conclusion that the shell was empty, I stuffed it into my satchel. I hence swam off, minding my tail that was too big for my liking.

I take in my surroundings: the seaweed being coerced into different directions, a school of fish that entangles themselves through the said seaweed, and a ship. An actual ship.

I'm surprised at first. I knew pirates sailed these waters, but I didn't ever think to come face to stern with one.

I swam up a bit, admiring its shape and the barnacle-covered boards of wood. I was so close now that I could caress the rough surface. I was tempted to take in the air that the water protected me from. I could go off the air for a week at most. Most sirens go to the surface to sing and mock the mermaids, but none stay for longer than those few hours at a time. If we sirens aren't exposed to water for a long period of time, we'll shrivel to put it frankly. Our voice will first grow hoarse, so they say. It happened to my friend Peggy supposedly. Her voice grew ragged, her tail and scales rough and dry. If she was out of the water any longer, she told me her skin would've peeled and left her vulnerable. She could've died, but I don't know if the story is true to begin with. She won't even tell me where she was though I think she was meeting someone. A human, perhaps, even though it's forbidden. I guess I would never know considering she hasn't been out of the water since.

It was then when I felt the coarse and taut set of ropes wrap around my tail. My big ass tail that got caught in its webbing.

I attempt to resist the pulling, but it only gets tighter, soon engulfing an arm. I attempt to use my free hand to untangle myself to no avail. A few decent-sized fish share my same fate as I'm pulled closer and closer to the surface of the water.

I take in a last gulp of water, the gills plastered on my cheeks tingling as I break the surface, air hitting my face.

It tastes rough. Like I shoved too much kelp into my mouth that it was getting hard to swallow it all.

My breathing is shaky when I meet my captors. Sure, I showed a brave face, but I was terrified.

Pirates.

Thoughts?