the Legend of the Captain and the Mermaid She appeared above the surface of the water one sunny summer morning. A breathtaking goddess, she combed her long hair with one hand, while holding a mirror in the other and sang toward the sun. Her voice has always been sweet and hauntingly melodic. The echoes leave an enchanting aura and an air of euphoria too. Sailors who hear those songs are mesmerized into grounding their boats on the rocks, when they listen to those distant angelic melodies. It appears as though to be a mermaid. Legend has it, that she can foretell the future and once gave supernatural powers to a mortal man. When the sailors come ashore, they sometimes happen to meet up, just by coincidence. What follows is great laughter, cheering and merry-making in the raucous saloons. The scene lasts far into the night hours. They have many different occupations and experience. However, they're all like brothers, each one together share their mutual love of the sea. There are the fishermen, who rely on their daily catch in the shallower waters, to meet the supply and demand of the market. Some others speak of long dirty days of hard labor, drilling at the oil rigs miles far from shore. Others also, speak of their extended-stays aboard giant iron cargo ships that make round-trips across the ocean. Then there are those who tell of sailing in rugged wooden sailing ships, carrying cargo from sea-to-sea. Later comes the conversations from several different groups of men. They speak amongst themselves in hushed 80-proof voices. Most of the sailors in the pub only whisper of the legend, while others loudly ridicule them in fits of drunken laughter. These seafarers have mixed feelings that contradict, but their ponderings are far beyond curiosity. They question how their own ridiculous thoughts could even come to such a shared discussion. Everybody knows that fables, fairy tales and legends are what mere children think are true. Just like believing in Santa Claus, the thrill of the belief is broken, once the real truth becomes known to a mind that has matured. They know it's not mentally healthy to even discuss the topic, but they can't help but wonder together about the "Legend of the Captain and the Mermaid". The huge wooden ship took just over two years to build. The ship's crew looked ahead excitedly toward it's completion. They had cut and hammered with content precision during each of those happy days. Tall sails were finally raised one sunny warm day in the month of June and the vessel was ready for it's fist departure from port. There was mutual loud, victorious and jubilant laughter, over having accomplished the goal of this crowning achievement of ship-building. A strong and enduring vessel, it had stood proud and tall. It was a furious storm all during that black night, seventeen years since the ship's first launch. The ship's captain had never encountered a hurricane attack such as this, one cold black November night. His ship rolled and swayed as it was ravaged by the pounding of high waves and relentless downpour of rain. The sails were suddenly ripped away from their masts like torn paper. Only splinters of their wood lie on the deck, sharp as knives. Crew members, one by one, slid to their death as the ship was helplessly tossed back and forth. The ship took on more and more water, starboard and aft. Finally, the ship's bow and stern were shattered. The great weight of the incoming deluge of water brought the long wooden vessel to ruin. Captain Mike, as the crew affectionately called him, was the last member on deck. He jumped overboard into the crashing sea, just as the once-sturdy ship quickly sank. Only the front tip did he see, for just a fleeting moment, then all was gone. The ship had now disappeared forever, only relentless rain and a black void remained. Although he struggled impossibly to stay afloat, he could only rely on impending doom, with no hope or saving grace to cling to or even hope for. She saw the man from far below. He was struggling to stay afloat and he was gulping water. She approached him with great speed and clasped his body to hers as she met him with saving arms. "Right this way", she smiled. An unspeakably beautiful and captivating Mermaid had come to his rescue. She gently loosened her embrace and he followed her down beneath the sea. Not for him to die, but to be reborn. Away from his world, so shattered and torn. She smiled with her lips and with her eyes. She fell in love with this mortal man who seemed rugged and yet gently handsome. He felt cheer and peace, just as a young son might feel in his mother's presence. Now he had tenderly become her Merman. Forever. The legend is still the topic of discussion for seafarers in countless smoky pubs. To this day, they still hear her haunting and beautiful songs sometimes. She now appears rarely on only the brightest of sunny days. There is always a shadow of a second fish that accompanies her, also with the head of the human. This second fish swims next to the mermaid but can only be glimpsed, when gazing a bit deeper below the surface. Faint and garbled laughter seems to come from afar. This fish doesn't entirely resemble a mermaid. There are fins and a smiling face for certain, but this face has something different about it, a beard. And so it was with the sailor's savior from ages past. The mermaid and merman swim joyfully together in Atlantis. Forever side by side. They make sweet love at the deepest ocean sand. Only at midnight, when the moon turns the tides . . . gently away.