Meeting Sherweene

Sirens are rumored to be the most unforgiving sea creatures of all according to those who sail late nights and in the forbidden waters beyond the coastal city. Many men have gone missing, presumably dead. That is the way of the siren for eons.

At the usual time, late at night, golden eyes pierced out of the salt ocean water, long thin darkness of hair surrounds those golden eyes, and the only thing the eyes are staring at is a lone woman on a boat. The one who owns the eyes is used to luring men being in the waters daring to capture their kind with nets, sharp weapons, and in pure disgusting hunger. This woman simply has what seems to be a bag of food, no net, no weapons, and a notebook and pen. The siren noted that the woman’s hair wasn't long as expected, it was cut up to the ears, and she is dressed in man’s clothing.

The siren cautiously moved forward within the waters, noticing the woman’s back turned to it. The woman was humming some kind of tune, it’s soft, welcoming, and almost alluring as what it sings.

Then she stopped humming.

“I must meet some siren…” the woman mumbled. “The rumors have to be true in some way.”

That’s right. Siren is what they’re called from the humans. Sometimes it forgets what they are to them. They wonder why they are called that word. There was another species they called, but was more so called “beautiful”. Something like mermaids.

Soon the golden eyes went above the surface of the water. The single drops of it from the long thin hair caused the woman to turn around in a jump for a moment, but the slight fall of the shoulders showed relaxation.

“Wow…” the woman spoke so softly it confused the siren. It was a tone of awe, not fear or lust.

The woman laid eyes on a creature that is almost human-like with blue skin that matches the ocean, golden eyes staring right back at her, head tilted, the hair thin and long it still surrounds the siren, yet no signs of breasts or any regular human features. Where the human ears would be is fins then trailing down the chin is gills. The mouth is so thin and white it almost looks cold. There’s patterns of stripes following down the body like tiger stripes and white and blue dots all over the skin like freckles.

“You’re quite exquisite,” the woman said breathlessly, and she quickly opened her notebook and the click of the pen she was scribbling down hastily. “Please if you indulge me or at least understand me let me just…”

The siren always understood the human language, but what is this woman doing in that notebook?

“Why are you not afraid?” the siren spoke. It was broken yet understandable.

The woman paused, her eyes widening and looking at the siren with the widest smile the siren has ever seen. “You can speak?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me do you lure men out of fun or food?”

The siren was appalled to say the least. “Food. Fun at times.”

“Why not me?” the woman asked.

“Not man,” the siren pointed out.

The woman looked surprised at the siren. Then looked down at herself wondering what gave it away.

“Sirens can tell.”

“Oh,” the woman stopped looking at herself then back to the siren. “Then why not lure me?”

The siren tilted its head as the gills moved for a moment. “Sense no harm to me or my kind.”

“Isn’t that fascinating,” the woman said in that awe tone once more as she began to scribble. “Please stay there.”

“Why?”

The woman then turned her notebook around to show the siren. It’s a sketch of the siren. It was messy but easy to follow even with the small details of the patterns and the gills around the jawline.

“Is that me?” the siren asked curiously.

“Yeah! Do you like it?” the woman asked. “Do sirens like anything actually?’

“Sirens like the ocean… whales… screaming men.”

“Do sirens all hate the male human species?” The woman turned her journal around, flipped to the next page writing.

“Yes. They always seek for something we cannot give or they harm my kind.”

“Sounds about right,” the woman muttered. “They see something new and amazing and all they want to do is cut it up and control it instead of understanding it.”

“You have experience with men?”

“All the time,” the woman scoffed as she stopped writing. “My husband is the only thing that isn’t like the others. He even supported me doing this. I’m a researcher by heart, but no man wants to see a woman in the field.”

“So you dress like one?”

The woman smiled and nodded. “Exactly.”

“Does… this husband like the look?”

“Oh he loves it,” she chuckled. “Then again he isn’t my husband. We are legally just married. He’s just safe with me.”

“How can man be safe when man can be safe on their own?”

The woman leaned back, gave herself a nod, and sat up straight thinking for a moment. “He likes certain kinds of people that the majority of the world isn’t ready to accept. He likes other men basically, not attracted to women.”

The siren nodded. “Genders are an odd thing for my kind. We are just one. Love whoever.”

“I wish it was that simple for us humans.” She then looked into the golden eyes of the siren. “Do sirens have names?”

“Yes.”

Awkward silence for woman. She asked, “What is your name?”

The siren tilted its head wondering how to translate its name into human language. “You humans would call me Pearl.”

“Oh!” She then reached under her blouse pulling out a silver chain with a single pearl on the edge. “Like this.”

“Yes,” the siren nodded. Then it went closer to her boat seeing the woman more up close. “Do woman human have name?”

“Oh! How rude of me,” she chuckled. “My name is Serene.”

Pearl tilted its head, blinked for the first time since this conversation started and spoke. “Sher-weene?”

Serene smiled in amusement. “Yes.”

“I have said it wrong, have I?”

“You have,” Serene chuckled. “But it’s okay.”

“I like you, Sherweene.”

“I like you too, Pearl.”

Pearl then pulled out what looks like what toads have onto the edge of the boat to pull themselves forward. “Do you have no desire to hurt my kind?”

Serene leaned forward with a smile. “I promise on my human heart. Nothing will happen to you.”

“How can I trust?”

“Well I am trusting you not to kill me and you haven’t,” Serene pointed out. “So that means something, correct?’

Pearl took a moment to think about it. Realizing this is the first time a human said something they felt something new. Then they nodded. “It does, but what does that ‘something’ mean?”

Serene clicked her tongue. “It means that we are going to be good friends.”

“Friends?’

“Here I thought you knew everything about humans.” Serene wrote something in the journal once more. “Friends is something where two creatures or more like each other just cause they enjoy their presence.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“It’s going to be sunrise soon, so I have to get back. Will you be here tomorrow night?”

“You can not join me in water?”

Serene put the journal and pen in her bag. She shook her head with an amused smile. “I can’t swim.”

“I can teach you how.”

“Maybe tomorrow night.”

“Thank you, Sherweene,” Pearl said, showing now a sharp toothy grin. Gums are bright pink but teeth white as their name.

Serene felt uneasy for a moment seeing how sharp the teeth were, but remembered they won’t hurt her. “Thank you, Pearl.”

Pearl watched Serene grab the boat oars on the sides and began rowing away. Pearl noticed a brighter smile from Serene as she disappeared further away from them towards the direction of the human coastal area. Then the golden eyes saw the sky slowly change from dark to light blue. Time to go home.