Of Different Waters

“Mom,” Ronan leaned near her ear to whisper, “are you sure this is legit?”

And the comforting reply of, “Uhhh,” really helped to validate his trepidation with the whole situation.

It was currently 7pm and they were out into the middle of the ocean on the sketchiest fishing boat Ronan had ever seen. Apparently the boat doubled as a whale watch tour… thing during tourist season. The other eight passengers and Ronan and his mom had paid to ride on this disgusting boat at the promise of seeing some ocean mammals.

It had been a good price and the fisherman who was captaining the ship seemed to be nice, and maybe just a little bit crazy. Maybe Ronan should have sat this one out with his dad…

He looked at the motley crew assembled on the boat.

There was a family of four. The typical cookie cutter family, complete with a well-mannered little girl and a rambunctious boy whose mother hissed, ”Jacob,” every time he got too close to the side of the boat. Next was an elderly couple who seemed to be very excited to be on this boat. Then two girls, maybe in their mid twenties. Ronan had wrongly assumed them to be friends until he was corrected when one shoved her tongue down the other’s throat. So… date then.

And then there was the captain of the boat. He was dressed warmly, which Ronan had to admit, seemed to have been a smart move. There was a cold breeze every once in a while that had him shivering. The man even had a cap pulled over his scraggly scarecrow hair.

There was a splash.

Ronan jumped and looked over the side of the boat. Practically right next to it was a group of…

“Porpoises!” the captain yelled. “Starboard side!” Everyone on the boat hurried to the right of the boat to look at the animals.

“Those are harbor porpoises, Phocoena phocoen,” the old man explained to his wife. “It’s really perplexing that they’re here. Usually they stay to shallow water and are quite shy. But look at that one, it’s actually looking up at us. That’s the most social porpoise I’ve ever seen!”

Ronan’s mom stared at the man, mouth opened wide in disbelief. How did he know so much about porpoises? His wife gave her a tight smile and explained, “He’s a marine biologist.”

Ronan looked down at the three porpoises swimming alongside the boat. “Hey!” one of them greeted, looking at Ronan. “Why’re you up there?”

“Yeah,” another one said. “You smell like us. You should be in here.” Ronan just shook his head and mouthed the word no to the group.

“Well suit yourself,” they chimed before swimming off.

There was nothing to be seen for around fifteen minutes.

Ronan leaned against the side of the boat and let the sight, sound and smell of the ocean surround him. He felt at peace, like for the first time in days he was truly safe. He wanted to freeze this moment in time and stay out on the water forever. The only thing that could possibly make this trip better would be actually getting to swim out in the ocean, way out here where you could see nothing but water and sky.

“Humpback whale, starboard side!” And just like that everyone crammed together on the right side of the boat again.

“Megaptera novaeangliae,” the old man whispered to his wife.

The whale popped his head above the water and his gaze zeroed in on Ronan. “Well, I’ll be damned, those porpoises weren’t lying. You do smell like us. Sure you don’t want to come in?” The whale asked slapping the water with his pectoral fin. Ronan shook his head. God knows he wanted to. Wanted to just jump in the water and swim away, but, he belonged on the land. He was human. A human in love with the sea, but still human, not a whale or a porpoise.

“Alright. But you really don’t know what you’re missing.” The whale swam off.

Ronan watched the whale swim away, until he couldn’t see it anymore. Then he saw it. About 100 yards away from the boat. That whale was breeching. The captain was whooping for joy, while the old man exclaimed excitedly, “He’s putting on a show!” Everybody on board oohed and ahhed as the whale gracefully launched out of the water and made a gentle arc with his body. He flopped back down and Ronan grasped the side of the boat as the waves from the ferocious splash reached them.

The whale swam back up to the side of the boat.

“That was amazing!” Ronan yelled to it.

“You’re welcome,” the whale said smugly before swimming away for good this time.

Ronan was once again watching the whale swim away when he glanced at the wheel of the boat to see no one steering the ship. He looked around for the captain and found the man standing very close to him, muttering under his breath, while staring out at the sea. “Never see this much activity… Not normal.” He looked around the water, searching for something. “Has to be one of them around.”

“I’m sorry,” Ronan interrupted the captain’s mumbling, “what has to be around here?” He really wanted to know. If there was another animal out there he didn’t want to miss a chance to see it.

“Huh?” the captain grunted, his steely gaze refocusing on Ronan.

“You said there ’has to be one of them around.′ What’s ‘them’?” Ronan asked again.

“Oh,” the man said simply, “A mer. There has to be a mer somewhere near here.”

And this is where Ronan’s mom joined the conversation. “A mer? What’s that. I’ve never heard of one of those.”

“What’s that? What’s that?” the captain asked incredulously , effectively getting everyone on the boat to quiet down and pay attention to him. “Only the most mystifying being in the ocean. They’re intelligent and absolutely beautiful.”

”Homo Syreni,” the old man whispered to his wife. Ronan wondered if she got off on listening to her husband speak the dead language… and then quickly banished the thought from his mind.

“And they’re called mers?” the little girl asked, looking up at the captain with big brown eyes.

“Yes they are, princess,” the man growled. “But you might know them better as mermaids.”

A few people on board gave a nervous chuckle. Was this guy serious?

Mermaids?

There was no such thing.

“Mermaids aren’t real,” the girl’s brother bit out.

“Oh, and how would you know?” the captain challenged. “You’re what? Seven years old?”

”Eight!” the kid huffed.

“Ooh, eight. And how does a big ol’ eight year old like yourself know that mers aren’t real?” the captain mocked.

“My daddy told me!”

“Well kid, I’m telling you now, they’re real. And I’ve seen one! He was beautiful.”

”He? Guys can’t be beautiful.”

“Yes they can. And he was. He had long blue hair decorated with shells and seaweed to keep It out of his face. Pale-as-the moon skin and his tail,” the man’s voice developed an almost dreamy quality, “I’ve never seen that color blue on anything else on Earth. His whole body seemed to shine white and blue. There were dustings of scales on his arms and back too. He’s the most beautiful being I have ever seen,” the man gazed off into the expansive sea lost in his memories.

After a few minutes of them just being rocked by the waves the captain cleared his throat. “Well, it’s about time to head back to shore.”

He resumed his position at the wheel and started the engine back up. Then he steered them in the direction of the docks.

It was on the way back that Ronan saw a group of dolphins off in the distance.

“Look, Mom! Dolphins!” the little boy shouted excitedly jumping up on the second rung of the railing and pointing at the creatures.

“Jacob, get down from there, you’re gonna fall,” his mother scolded.

There was a sudden lurch of the boat, and Jacob fell into the water. Ronan looked over the side of the boat. There was no sign of the kid.

That’s not good.

He had to resurface soon, right?

“Oh, my god, Jacob!” the mom screeched. “He can’t swim!”