This prompt came from a friend. She told me to write about "a cursed mermaid and an ocean diver pilfering food stashes" but instead of diver she texted driver. So it became a post-apocalyptic tale of mermaid and an man who used to move ocean currents trying to survive. I like the ideas I used for this one so I hope I can come back to it.
-Rose B.
Survival, Curses in the Unresponsive Sea
"Would you hurry up?" She's trying to sound annoyed but there's some tension leaking through. Even if her voice was steady the look on her face and the twitching of her spiked ears would give her away.
"Who knows when we'll find food next, it will pay to be thorough later." I keep my voice quiet, the packaging of snacks is loud enough. It's like there was a mandate declaring snack packaging had to be as loud as possible.
Her eyes flash black and her lip curls in disdain. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath when she opens them again they've returned to the deep blue of the open ocean. "Your right, this area rubs my scales the wrong way. We should leave as soon as we can."
I nod in agreement, "The water feels stagnant and heavy."
I throw documents to the side as I riffle through drawers to find the snacks tucked away at the bottom. I throw everything I find in a bag, even the deep pressure sweet sardines, although why someone would think that was appropriate snack food is beyond me. I found less than I would have liked but that's how it had been since the coral farms died.
"That's it, let's go."
"Finally," She flicks her silver-blue tail and moved towards the door. I attach the bag to my back and swim after her. The black patches on her scales and the ragged parts of her fins would have caused a huge upset when society was functioning but it fits in, in this dead-end world.
She pauses by the entrance to the open waters, "Anything we need to be aware of?"
I stop next to her and feel the water, "It's the same as when we arrived: suffocating and wrong."
"So there could be something out there."
I nod, "Even though the Ocean has changed, water shouldn't be like this, especially in this open area."
"Let's leave quickly then." She moves out the door and I can just barely hear her add, "And pray that we don't meet whatever is here."
