As you wandered along the path you felt your legs becoming heavier and you were breathing harder. You realised then that you have been going steadily uphill and the grass underfoot had given way to sand. You had been winding among the sand dunes for some time and were feeling very tired. You couldn’t remember the last time you slept. Was it yesterday....or longer? You began to look around for somewhere to rest when the path descended suddenly. It had become quite steep and you were almost trotting in an effort to stay upright when you tripped over some rocks in the dark.

As you rounded the bend you stopped...alerted! What was that noise? The wind moaning...no...a whale...perhaps! As you listened more closely you could almost hear words. The sound called to you...entreated you!

"Hurry, hurry to me!"

The song spoke to you of great need, the loneliness, the longing. Entranced, you quickened your steps and entered a small, secluded cove. At the edge of the rocks the runoff from the heavy rain made a delightful, mini waterfall, and, splashing under the crystal droplets, was a woman in a deep pool of swirling turquoise water. You startled her and she swam away, her dark blue tail flashing in the moonlight . She climbed up on a rock further out, her song becoming sweeter and more enchanting.

Her dark hair had a green sheen and hung down over her body gleaming like ivory under the moonlight. Many eons ago was she enticed from the land over the hill by her adoring mer-man... and happy they were ...until that dreadful day when a fishing vessel stole away their children. Faithfully, she waited night after night on the rock, watching and waiting for her love to return. She was sure she could hear him calling on the wind, "Mera...mera..mera..."

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"Call of the Sea" © Josephine Wall
"Why do you not come," she called. "What keeps you away so long." More haunting did her song become. "Come, come to me before I dissolve with grief."

The wind carried her message across the sea, where it reached you. You were thus under the Siren's spell. You were compelled to go to her! She begged you...entreated you! She promised you love like you had never known. You had never felt so wanted...you started walking to the edge of the rocks...unmindful of how they were so slippery with seaweed.

You were ready to go to her...when a ringing and clanging interrupted the melody and you awoke from your enchantment. There was no mermaid on the rock...only a buoy swaying noisily in the waves as a ship passed by. You were lucky!