The Call Of Thalassa

“I’ve always been drawn to the ocean.”

-Kenny Chesney

The familiar huge building of the library appeared in Aileen’s vision, filling her with relief and a sense of security. The large windows were hidden by green climbing plants and scented flowers, covering almost the entire facade of the building.

She quickly climbed up the few stone steps, her ankle boots making a clicking sound as they touched the old stone. She turned the rusty handle of the old wooden door and immediately stepped inside the huge familiar place that had become her very own heavenly paradise.

She was greeted by numerous rows of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outward like she had arranged for them to be the week before. They were color-coded with dots and arranged in alphabetical order according to their theme in order for them to be found more easily.

There were huge round wooden tables and comfortable leather armchairs, so the people that came to the library could sit down comfortably and read their chosen books. Although, nobody ever cared to visit the old building, except for her and the owner, Mr. Newton.

The villagers didn’t care much about knowledge as they believed that it didn’t help them improve their lives in any way and therefore, they didn’t visit the library regularly. They thought they had better things to do than sitting around all day and reading fictional stories that couldn’t help them better their everyday life.

They had to focus on their respective jobs as they needed to support their families, so most of them, being sailors left the village for days and traveled in the ocean. When they returned back from their journeys, they wanted to relax from the tiredness of their trips and to make up for the lost time with their beloved family members. Therefore, they believed that wasting time away from them to read a couple of old pages weren’t worth their precious time.

Honestly, Aileen couldn’t be happier about the villagers’ ignorance and the distance they kept from the library. It only meant, that she wouldn’t have to worry about them coming to the library during the hours she worked and that she could enjoy her working hours by reading peacefully her favorite books.

It was a perfect job for her since she was apparently getting paid, so she would read the adventures of her beloved fictional characters. Not that Mr. Newton complained about this fact or he didn’t enjoy her company.

“Wouldn’t change it for the world”, the young girl sighed dreamily before she heard a loud sound from the top floor.

“Aileen, my girl! Is that you?”

Aileen heard light footsteps descending down the wooden stairs from the second floor of the library. A familiar old man with grey hair appeared in front of her, holding a red book on his right hand and a warm smile on his wrinkled face.

The librarian always greeted her this way since his nose was inside the pages of a book most of the time. She greeted Mr. Newton happily and pulled off her jean jacket putting it on the closest hanger.

“Do you have anything for me to do today, Mr. Newton?“, Aileen politely asked the owner as she clapped her hands together.

“No no! You are free to do anything you like today. We’ve finished everything that needed to be done last Friday”, The old man dismissed her, shaking his head negatively.

Aileen nodded to him and made her way towards the small kitchen that was behind the huge front desk. Taking her favorite mug from the counter, she made herself a steaming cup of warm chocolate that she would enjoy while she lost herself in the pages of her books. Taking the hot cup in her hands, she hummed a soft tune as she walked through the familiar long corridors of the library.

“If you need anything, I’ll be in the history section!“, Mr. Newton said to her as he made his way back upstairs, leaving her alone to do whatever she wanted.

The empty library smelled like the dusty pages of old books and strong coffee, giving her a sense of calmness and familiarity. The numerous shelves were full of dusty books, some of them older than others. Their pages were either white since they were new and brought in recently or yellow and wrinkled thanks to the many hands that had turned their pages. It was her very personal piece of heaven and that’s why she instantly accepted to work here when they made the proposal for her.

Sitting in her usual comfortable chair around the round wooden table, she reached for the books that lay scattered in front of her. Drinking a sip from the tasty goodness off her mug, she caressed their hardcovers, before reading their titles that were written in golden ink. God only knew how old these books were and how many hands had taken a hold of them before her.

Drinking another big sip from her hot chocolate, she made her choice and opened the familiar book, which she had read already too many times, to her favorite chapter. “The Tale of Captain Ross” was a classic novel and a very well-known story in their small village.

He was a great captain who had traveled in many places and had gotten himself in all kinds of troubles. However, his last one led him to his death and that was mainly why he was so well known around here for. Turning the pages quickly, she started reading intently the words on the yellow page.

“...The sea was quiet, too quiet from what we were used to. The crew was anxious and worried as they had an airy feeling that something bad was going to happen. They didn’t feel safe in the stillness of the water and the silence that had fallen around them and neither did I. It was like the calm before the storm and they didn’t like it for one bit...”

A shuffling noise could be heard from the top floor, disturbing the peaceful quiet of the otherwise silent library. Shrugging it off, Aileen returned her attention back to her book as she figured that Mr. Newton lost his glasses for the millionth time between the many papers that were scattered around his table and was looking around for them.

“...They appeared out of nowhere and surrounded our ship from all sides. They looked like beautiful young girls with their pretty faces, silky hair, and majestic eyes and the men fell instantly for it. I, however, knew that something was wrong. There was no land close by and they just appeared from the ocean. Something bad was going to happen...”

“...They were so close to our ship now. The men fought between them to get a glimpse of them as they reached the ship’s rails. They had us mesmerized with their abnormally beautiful looks. It was like falling in love at first sight...”

A lock of her flaming hair fell into her emerald eyes cutting off her reading. She quickly put them in a lazy bun and continued from where she was.

“...They began to sing to us. We didn’t know the song nor the language of it, but it affected us greatly. Their voices were so melodic, so clear, and magical. We wanted to hear more of it. I saw one close by my side and I moved towards her, wanting to listen more. However, for every step I took forward, she moved a bit backward, until I finally reached her.

She continued to sing with that amazing voice of hers while she cupped my face with her small hands. The more she sang the more I leaned in towards her plump lips wanting to kiss her, but she was getting slowly back into the water. When she was completely underwater, I took a big breath and dived my head under the water’s surface wanting to follow her...”

Aileen shook her head from side to side at the stupidity of Captain Ross, knowing exactly what was going to follow. That was a big mistake.

“...I opened my eyes underwater to see her fascinating form only to discover that she was not quite the same. Her face, hands, and stomach were partly covered in green scales. In the place of her legs there was a long wide green tale like the one that fishes have, but more dangerous and lethal-looking. Her webbed hands had long, pointy, black nails that could cut human flesh like it was paper. Her teeth became sharp and pointy as she opened her mouth to growl at me.

But the worst was her eyes. They became brighter under the surface of the water and the iris was no longer round but had the shape of the slit-like eyes of a snake. They looked at me in a murderous manner shining brightly like yellow gems. That was the last thing I saw before everything went black...”

The hair on her arms stood tall as she read this part of the story. It always affected her greatly, no matter how many times she had already been through the story and knowing the way it ended. Drinking the rest of her now cold chocolate, she closed the book and returned it to its self.

Captain Ross never returned back and there wasn’t a body to officially confirm his death. People say that those marine creatures, also known as merfolk, mutated his body violently not leaving one part of it to remain. His death was painful and dreadful. His tomb was wet and deep into the depths of the sea. The only thing remaining of him was his fame and stories.

“A terrible end for a famous captain”, Aileen mumbled to herself as she drank the remaining chocolate in her mug.

The books of the library were full of similar stories. Of brave local sailors that lost their life mysteriously at the sea. All those mysterious deaths were always leading us to believe that the same marine creatures were to blame. However, most villagers believed that they were gone by now since no incident had happened for a very long time.

“Sirens and mermaids”, the young girl murmured to herself as thoughts of the creatures filled her troubled mind.

She opened another book about Greek mythology and quickly turned the pages to her favorite oceanic myth.

“After Alexander the Great, the greatest king and conqueror that Greece has ever seen found the Fountain of Youth, he filled a flask with its immortal waters. When he returned home he washed his sister’s silky hair with the fountain’s water.

Later, after Alexander died at a very young age by a strange illness, his beloved sister, Thessalonike, went mad with grief. She was so upset and heartbroken by her brother’s death that she attempted suicide by jumping into the sea.”

Turning quickly the page, she continued reading.

“However, Alexander had bathed her hair with the waters from the Fountain of Youth and therefore she did not drown. Instead, she turned into a mermaid and supposedly lived in the Aegean for hundreds of years.

During her life in the sea if she ever came across a sailor, she would always ask them the same question:

“He lives and reigns and conquers the world”, she wanted to hear and then she would let them continue their voyage unharmed.

However, any other answer would result in her transformation into a Gorgon, like Medusa. She would then send the ship and everyone on board to their dark, wet graves.

So, if you are out sailing, see a woman in the water and she asks you if Alexander the Great is still king, you know what to say.”

The red-headed closed her book, keeping it close to her chest for a few moments. Her thoughts filled with mermaids and sirens, the things that she both admired and feared since she was but a young child.

Standing up, she took her empty mug to the kitchen and washed it. Her mind still elsewhere.

“Could they be all actually real?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End of chapter 5!!

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Until next time!!