The Nereid and the Seachild - Many Days Later

This is the story of the Fey of the Waters, told in five parts.

The boy immersed himself in his studies, learning the basics as his new school insisted, learning how to maneuver his freedom and survive his life, but his spare time - when he wasn’t swimming or collecting driftwood, sea glass, and polished stones - was spent with his nose in a book.

 

Finally, after weeks of study, he emerged with a name for himself. Eager to test it out in introduction, he found himself wandering the beach, headed for a little park he passed daily on his way to school.

 

The park was frequented by mothers, fathers, children, other students, workers with a day off eager for a swim, and the boy sat down on a bench and looked around him, debating who to introduce himself to for the first time. But fate made that decision for him when a familiar face appeared in his line of sight, a bright smile hidden behind a shock of bright red hair.

 

The boy lit up, excited to see his old friend the bartender.

 

“Hello there,” the bartender said. “Do you mind if I join you?”

 

The boy shook his head and patted the seat beside him. Though he had more practice now with speaking, he still preferred to use his language minimally. It was best to let his soul speak for him, and trust that there would always be those out there who could hear its voice, since his own was so quiet.

 

 The bartender collapsed with a great sigh onto the bench. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your big old coat,” he teased. “And your skin - it’s starting to fill out. You’ve been eating more. Did you finally leave the bar?”

 

The boy nodded, waiting for an opening to say what he wanted to say, but suddenly not so sure he could say it.

 

The bartender nodded softly. “Good,” he responded. “I’m glad to hear that. It was no place for a kid. I’m sorry I so frightened you that last day. I shouldn’t have cornered you like that.”

 

Emphatically, the boy shook his head, moving his lips and forming the words carefully. “You didn’t frighten me so much,” the boy said. “It was the vending machine. It wasn’t…logical.” He laughed lightly. “I wasn’t…in a good place back then.”

 

The bartender’s eyes grew wide at the boy’s halting speech. “You speak,” he said.

 

The boy dropped his eyes, smiling and blushing. He nodded. “I always spoke. Just…was rusty.”

 

The bartender’s hand rested on the boy’s back, gently rubbing his thumb in circles between the boy’s shoulder blades. “I’m glad to see you doing so well,” he said.

 

The boy took a deep breath, and looked up, meeting the bartender’s eyes. “My name is Palaimon,” he said. “He was a god who rode dolphins and swam with the Nereids and saved sailors in trouble.”

 

The boy saw the confusion flicker over the bartender’s face, but the man was too polite to say anything. He smiled softly, and nodded. “Well, Palaimon, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure you know this already, but my name is Hans.” He held out his hand, and the book took it and shook it, before turning back to watch the water.

 

“Do you remember the lost mermaid that haunted the bar?” the boy asked.

 

Hans laughed. “Everyplace has its own myth about that, but yeah, I remember it. Pretty little thing can’t find her way home?”

 

The boy shook his head. “She never lost her way home. She was just helping people. Do you want to hear the real story? It’s the story of a Nereid, and the seachild whose life she saved.”