Page 4 of Don’t Hook the Merman

Even if nothing was there, what harm could it do?

He and Colby had already decided today was a lucky day. Luke might as well take advantage.

2

LUKE

There were two walkable beaches bordering Pine Bluff. Luke chose the one slightly further up the coast.

He didn’t know why, other than that was what felt right this morning. And maybe also because it was his favorite of the two, a large semicircle of sand and rocky tide pools bordered by sloping cliffs.

The water was freezing, and the currents were strong around these parts, so not many people dared to swim, but there had been an old local man who used to do his laps in the water every morning. Luke had liked to come walk the beach and watch him go. It had been soothing, in some odd way, to see someone so at home in such inhospitable elements. Because Luke might have loved living near the ocean—the sound of the waves, the coastal fog, the pleasure of walking barefoot on cold sand—but he was still wary of getting pulled under. He didn’t want to end up like his dream self: adrift and helpless in an endless sea.

The ocean might have been beautiful, but it demanded a certain respect. Luke never forgot that.

The small parking lot off the highway was empty, though, which wasn’t that surprising, since most of the locals preferred the other beach, the one with easier access and a longer stretch of sand for walking or letting their dogs run along the surf.

Luke scrambled down the thin, rocky trail that led from the parking lot to the beach below. The fog was already lifting, much sooner than Luke had expected, and early morning light was peeking through the clouds, the sun barely done rising.

At first, it seemed like the beach was completely empty.

What did you expect? Luke asked himself. No cars, no people.

But then, from far off to the left, there was a flash of…something. Like some sparkly, shiny thing had popped out of the surf, catching Luke’s eye. But it was low tide, and there were rocky tide pools jutting out between Luke and whatever had flashed at him, and it was hard to tell what he’d seen.

Maybe it had only been a fish, leaping out of shallow waters.

But Luke walked down the beach in that direction anyway. “Hello?” he called.

There was no answer, but something—some prickling of his senses—told Luke he wasn’t alone.

And yes. There. Luke could see it now: a person sprawled out in a small patch of sand between the tide pools and the far cliff. They were barely far enough out of the waves to keep their head from being submerged.

Had someone gone swimming, lost themselves to the currents, and been washed ashore? How long had they been out there, at the mercy of the freezing water?

Luke started running, his work boots trudging heavily through the wet sand.

Please don’t let them be dead. Please.

Luke reached the rocky tide pools and started scrambling over them, keeping one eye on his feet and the other on the limp form in the sand. His first impression as he got a closer look was of long blond hair, wet and tangled and covering much of the person’s back. They were shirtless, their lower half completely submerged in the water and their upper half not doing much better. If they were alive, they had to have been approaching hypothermia.

“Hello?” Luke called again, trying to hurry as much as he could on the slippery rocks. “Are you—are you hurt? Can I help?”

He couldn’t tell if the person was conscious. Luke thought it might be a man, considering how broadly they were built, but he still couldn’t see clearly.

And then⁠—

Movement. A small shift of the body, almost imperceptible. And a voice, faintly answering, “H-Hello?”

Luke started scrambling even faster, hissing as his palm slipped over the rocks, one of the jagged edges cutting through his skin.

“Hi!” he called frantically. “You can hear me? Are you okay?”

Obviously fucking not. But apparently asking stupid questions was Luke’s main crisis response.

The person spoke up again, louder this time. “I need…help.”

Their voice was surprisingly deep and smooth, now that Luke could hear them clearly. Luke would have thought they’d be raspy and waterlogged, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard such a nice voice. It was…weirdly soothing, considering Luke’s panic.