Mermaid wishes- 250 words

The sign says don’t walk on the dunes.  We climb over them. 

 The sandy ocean paid as much notice to that sign as we do. The hurricane dared her to take back what was hers and she answered. She’s back home now. Her white caps sway to shore in a vicious dance. 

The full moon is her partner who leads her in a foxtrot from east to west and back again. She doesn’t storm off the dance floor tonight. She loves to dance. I watch her recital in time with my breath.  It steadies the fear that she could swallow me whole as a snack before appetizers ,and finish every last bite of dessert without noticing an ache.

I am inconsequential at her edge. 

When I was a mermaid, I’d have been able to dive in between their legs, and raise my backfin with their breath. My fin would draft me forward in their wake, towards whomever I need to be, wherever I want to go. He would set himself aside so my every scale would shine like gold. 

I am not a mermaid today.  I can barely remember the peace that kept me safe underwater as a toddler. Fin longs to get in the water and remind me that I am beautiful. My mermaid self wants to dive in and dance in the midst of these great lovers. I have so much to learn, to give.   I want to believe that I’ll remember to breathe. 

I 

Dive

I 

drown