｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔰
zeró. — metamorphosis!

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

terra-cotta waves drifted teasingly onto the shore
the softness of the water stroking her tail ever so gently
her mane of copper locks was interlocked through her fingers
the long soft, silky texture fragile to the touch
the stones and rocks that lay beneath her were coarse and rough
an opposite to the loving caress of the sea that usually enveloped her
clear skies loomed overhead as the mermaid absentmindedly hummed
the day she had died and been reborn had also been a clear day
she was unsure how many years had passed since that fateful day
five or fifty? it did not matter to her, not really
even when five hundred years had passed she would not forget
( nor would she forgive )

she would not forgive the sailors on the ship she had tried to find refuge on
she would not forgive their cowardice and their callousness
a woman aboard a ship was a bad omen
she would not forget the way they had bound her or the unsanctimonious way they had thrown her into the cold, unforgiving icy depths
it had been dark at the bottom of the ocean 
all hope had been abandoned
and yet just as she had given in to her fate
accepting death in open and defeated arms
her mouth opening to let the water in, hoping distantly to stop the burning in her brain

it all stopped

and then chaos unfolded
instead of the burning stopping when the water entered her heaving lungs
it spread — she was on fire
that she was sure of, her veins pulsing erratically as she desperately pleaded for death to take her
but death did not answer her prayers that day
instead her legs bound by rope merged together atom by atom at a slow torturous pace
by the time the fire in her veins was drained she had lost all sense of time
her grasp on this mortal plane was thin
yet she persevered
she wanted to live
though a piece of her had died that day, she had been reborn stronger

humming a sorrowful tune beneath her breath
the mermaid's eyes latched onto a large ship just barely grazing the horizon
when she smiled it was not the kind pretty smile one would naturally assume she would have
no her pearly whites were twisted into a maniacal grin
her small pink tongue running teasingly across her unnaturally sharp incisors
her scaled hands gently placed her hair brush upon the shore
the handle a glistening bone white under the gaze of the sun
it was silent as she slid into the oceans depths
nobody ever saw her coming
not until the screams had already started at least

AUTHORS NOTE!
so this isn't really a prologue. well it is— but basically it's a piece from my uni poetry portfolio and is actually what sort of inspired the story.

i wasn't going to actually put this in here cause poetry isn't my strong suit but i figured what the hell, may as well.

unedited
-summer