(comic by Buttersafe)
Well if this ain’t a big fucking mood
It was quite early in the morning when Anya decided to go take a walk. The sky had just begun to turn into a light purple, and the sun wasn’t even out yet. Not many people were out and about just yet, save a few bakers and shopkeepers setting up their respective businesses. Anya idly watched them bustle about as she walked towards the beach with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets.
Nearing the sandy area, her attention was captured by some flowers that had fallen to the ground, no doubt the result of the storm last night. There were also twigs, leaves, and some small shells strewn about. Anya bent down and picked some of them up, putting them inside her pocket to store them away later. She continued on her way towards the sea, watching curiously as some crabs and beetles here and there scuttled across the shell covered land towards the water. The beach was at its most serene when there were no tourists chattering and littering away.
A sudden splash from somewhere on her right startled Anya. It was followed by a couple more splashes, albeit these were quite a bit softer than the first. Intrigued, Anya deviated from the path, and made her way towards the rockier area. As far as she knew, it didn’t have any fish in it. So why the splashing?
The answer was waiting in the form of a mesmerising tail entangled in a fishing net. Anya couldn’t help but stop in her tracks and let her mouth drop open upon seeing it. The tail was thrashing around weakly, it’s movements growing more sluggish as the seconds passed by. Snapping out of her trance, Anya scrambled towards the lake, grazing her elbow on a particularly rough rock as she slipped accidentally. She didn’t stop, however, choosing to simply increase her speed with a small hiss while taking a pocket knife out of the pockets on her jeans. The water was a deep, murky green, and that combined with the shadow of the rocks above, and the darkness of dawn, made it very hard to see whatever it was that had gotten tangled in the net. And where she was stepping.
Grimacing, Anya stepped into the pool, grateful that she was wearing a sturdy pair of boots. At least she wouldn’t have to walk around with slimy socks. As she braced herself against the rocks beside her, the creature thrashed again, splashing some water on Anya’s shirt, making her curse. While looking at the water dripping down her front in mild disgust, the creature slowly moved underneath one of the low hanging rocks, obscuring it further.
"Hey, calm down,“ Anya said, holding her hands out placatingly. "I’m only trying to help, I swear.”
She did not think it would work, but the creature surprisingly calmed down enough for her to make her way over to it and begin cutting the wires of the fishing net. The creature was ridiculously huge, which made it all the more difficult to entangle it. It was also very scary. Anya hoped it didn’t like to bite.
Untangling the creature took up a lot of time, but finally, finally, Anya was close to finishing. The creature was clearly getting restless, what with thrashing its tail around constantly. This forced Anya to bend down and partially hug its tail in an effort to reach the last bits of wire clinging to it. As she cut through the remaining line, the tail jerked suddenly, knocking her off her feet.
With a yelp, Anya fell on her back, and under the water. Her arms flailed around, and she accidentally inhaled a large amount of the salty water. It made her splutter and cough, which only ended up with more seawater going down her windpipe. Her glasses had fallen off in her panic, and the water stung her eyes painfully.
Something gripped the front of her shirt all of a sudden, and yanked her out of the water, before roughly slamming her back onto one of the few smooth rocks present there. Anya grunted in pain, her eyes still shut tight as the salt burned in her eyes. She tried to wipe her eyes roughly before opening them, only to freeze at the sight of the massive creature in front of her.
Its skin was of a light purplish hue, and it had bright blue eyes. There were fins lining its scale-covered arms. It was scowling down at her with what looked like an extremely distrusting look. It opened up its mouth, which unhinged like an eel’s jaw, and Anya saw at least 3 rows of terrifyingly sharp teeth. Shivering, she hoped that it didn’t plan on using those on her. She squirmed a little as her back began to ache from the pressure, but the creature tightened its grip even further, giving her no chance to move.
"Uhm, can you please let me go?“ She asked in a small voice. The creature stared at her for a second before replying in rough noises.
"What?”
The creature grumbled for a few minutes, before abruptly letting her go, making her splash down inside the water once more. She gasped as she hit the freezing water, making the creature grab her shirt again, and lift her up, before very gently setting her down on the ground. She sat there for a few minutes in a complete daze as the creature disappeared somewhere, only to return with her glasses. Anya quietly took them with a muttered thanks, and put them on, frowning as everything remained blurry and distorted because of the seawater. When she looked up, however, the creature was gone.
She made it back to the yellowing building she called home at around 8 o’clock. All of the other occupants were already up. Her roommate approached her with a look that was part amusement, and part concern.
"What happened to you?“
"Pretty sure I just met a mermaid,” Anya murmured, flicking her now dry and extremely stiff hair.
"What?“
"Uh, nothing. I got lost and fell into one of those holes with seawater in them..”
"Sounds like something you’d do, honestly.” The older girl huffed and shook her head. “Go get changed. Dia is just about to finish with breakfast"
"Yes ma’am!“ Anya answered before speeding up the staircase with a two fingered salute.
"Kids these days…”
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