Monday, the 1st of January.
The girl sits on the rock, the sun dipping down behind the dark clouds that hang heavy on the horizon, obscuring the city on the other side of the bay. Her home. The steel grey waters rise and fall, seeming to grasp desperately at the rocks of the groyne. The girl pulls her thin summer scarf more tightly over her shoulders and presses the palm of her hand into the small of her back. “Serenity, you should go home,” she tells herself firmly, but she can’t tear her eyes away from the sea. She lets her feet slip into the sea, up to her thighs, it pushes her tender ankles against the rocks, the action barely adding to the pain that already fills and threatens to engulf her.
“Serenity, you need to go home.” At first she thinks it is the wind echoing the words back to her, but as she feels a soft hand on her arms, taking her, leading her away from the sea, she knows that she was mistaken.
Tuesday, the 2nd of January,
They met again the next morning, two girls perched on the edge of an outcrop, a sea of possibilities spread before them. Against the lingering nighttime cold they huddle together for warmth as Serenity begins to speak. “I’m sorry for last night,” she began, but the other girl – Camilla – shakes her head. “Don’t be. Go on.”
“I used to live there -” she pointed with a shaking finger, “-but we moved just before Christmas to be closer to my grandparents and good health care.”
Camilla nods. “You were injured…” her voice trailed off.
“Chronic pain. I got sick after a swimming competition and for some reason I never really got over it. I lost myself that day. I won the race, but I lost myself.”
Wednesday, the 10th of January,
Camilla guided Serenity’s hand over the paper, helping her from the smooth stroke of the mermaid’s tail fin with her brush. Unaided, Serenity repeated the motion, forming the second fin. Below them the sea sparkled under the light of the sun from behind a cloud.
“Her arms should be angled like this,” Serenity said, demonstrating the position, finding a use for it for the first time in months, her shoulders hurting less than expected.
“You can have it when it’s done, you made it possible,” Camilla said, not looking up from the watercolour.
Serenity smiled shyly at her.
Thursday, the 18th of January,
Turquoise waters barely rippled as Serenity and Camilla slipped off the edge of the groyne and into the warm inviting waters. Seagrass threaded through their toes as they walked over submerged rocks. The water lapped softly at their stomachs, the temperature difference painful for Serenity. She pulled her goggles over her eyes and taking a deep breath slid beneath the skin of the water into a softly tinted world. Experimentally, she kicked her legs, unsure how it would feel, and pushed herself forward towards the softly swaying seaweed forest, sand paths snaking through it.
Camilla led the way, swimming into one of the wide paths, fish darted through the plants, some in mottled brown, some brighter colours.
They surfaced inside a little courtyard, a ring of purple seaweed in the centre and grinned at each other.
“It’s beautiful,” Serenity breathed.
“You’re beautiful,” Camilla responded shyly. “It doesn’t take a big achievement to matter, even the smallest seashells are beautiful.”
Friday, the 26th of January,
“School in only a few days, what do you think it will be like?” Serenity questioned.
“Fun, because you’ll be there,” Camilla answered. “We should start taking notes before it gets too dark.” Scribbled notes soon filled the pages of their notebooks, beginning of tales of a mermaid kingdom and the beauty of the sea.
At last it became too dark, the setting sun sending a path of golden ripples over the bay. “I want to swim that path one day,” Serenity whispered.
“You will. We will… together,” Camilla responded, taking her hand. “Wherever it leads, we can find happiness in it. Promise.”
“Promise.” Echoed back, and whether it was from the wind or her own lips, she wasn’t sure.