A Sighting....

A Sighting....

It was preposterous.  We all knew that it was only folk lore. Fantastic tales told around fire pits when crickets called. “There’s no such thing” we all agreed, but local stories and ‘sightings’ persisted. Each with a set of binoculars, a camera and mid morning lunch in worn back packs, we set out on our annual ‘treasure’ hunt. On these hunts we searched for fossils and rocks, driftwood and sand dollars. The beach stretched and yawned while the tide was out into a broad open circle that stretched far to the west and to the east. The great rolling ocean pulled at the long gnarled fingers of land at either end of the white sand beach. 

Gathering as many rocks and shells, driftwood and sand dollars as we could carry, we filled our back packs with treasures. Only one of our group had a true fossil among the beautiful pieces gathered. Then as we approached a full and beautifully flowering bush at the end of the beach, chattering and calling to each other, we suddenly hushed. It sounded like children! We peered around the bush. There were four children splashing and playing. Just then we heard a woman’s voice. Their mother? Had we heard correctly? Was she calling them home?

Creeping carefully around the bush, we could see a beautiful golden haired mermaid riding her tail fin on the water at the base of a foaming waterfall. One of our group sneezed, and fell. The mermaid quickly looked in our direction; at the same time she called her children to her. She spied us. Strange beings huddled at a bush at the water's edge. With a watery flash she and her children disappeared below the waves.

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.”

~ William Plomer