Sapphire
I parked in front of my house and came out of the car to lock the gate. My house was surrounded by a small but sturdy fence meant to give me a little privacy. I stretched and yawned a little, gosh was I tired. Today at work was hectic, I was once assigned to another case. Enough about work, even thinking about it was draining.
I walked to my porch and opened the door with my keys, there was no sign of Tommy to welcome me. Seems like the little shit has gone out, I just hope that he doesn't get into trouble. Tommy was a stray ginger cat that I took in. He followed me all the way home from my jog in Green Lake Park. I think the reason he actually followed me home was because I gave him food and he saw me as a potential food source. We had a love hate thing going on, if you get my drift.
I dropped my bag on the floor and myself on the couch. Gosh! I was so tired, I haven't been able to even have me time. And I haven't gone swimming like for ..... two weeks now, that was bad for a mermaid .Mom would kill me if she knew, I was even due for a visit. I wouldn't be surprised if I hear the bell on the gate ring and see all members of my maternal extended family on my doorstep. They were that terrific and protective.
Back to the swimming thing, it was bad for a mermaid who lives on land to forfeit swimming in water for a week. But for two weeks, it was like death sentence. But as a half-mermaid I had a little advantage, I could go a whole month without swimming. The only consequence was that I would be dehydrated a lot and if I strain harder, might fall terribly sick. But for a full-blooded mermaid, that person will definitely die. My grandma told me the easiest way to kill a mermaid was to keep them from water for more than a week. There was this myth that mermaids were one with water and keeps the water balanced and protected. I could vouch that the second part was true, since my second job working as an agent under The Paranormal Bureau Investigation Of Supernatural Crimes. My division specialized basically on crimes committed on water. And we were obligated to guard and protect all the water bodies of Seattle.
But for me, be able to survive two weeks without swimming was difficult and takes discipline. I help combat this by talking walks and jogging around riverine areas like The Green Lake Park. My home was not too far from there and that helps too. There was this compulsion that comes with being a mermaid, the water always calls to you especially if it's been long you went swimming. It's worse when there is a full moon, mermaids and mermen come out to sing, mate and spread themselves out on rocks in the night. Weird traditions though.
I made my way to my room and removed every single article of clothing from my body as I prepared to take my bath. I entered the bathroom and I was confronted with my reflection on the mirror. I had a full length mirror in my bathroom, most people do. But I kept it there for a different purpose, because I liked looking at my body appreciating myself. Professionals call it self obsession, but I called it self-love. I prided on myself after a really traumatic something happened to me in my younger years which I didn't want to go in details.
I saw just myself in themirror, 5'1, clear porcelain complexion, big blue eyes with a button like nose and lush pink lips topped with blonde strawberry hair. People always complimented me on my skin because it was my best physical feature. I got most of my features from my maternal side. The only thing I inherited from my paternal side apart from my siren abilities was the stubborn chin and their natural attractiveness. Which was carved like stone which brought about the family name Stone.
Enough about my family history and all, I turned on the taps on the bathtub filling it with water and adding my perfumed soap forming bubbles inside the tub. I released a sigh filled with relief as I sank into the bathtub resting my head back on the headrest. I know what you're probably thinking, that I was going to transform into a mermaid because I'm contact with water right? Wrong! people especially humans have this misconception about us, a lot of things like thinking sirens and mermaids are the same (which both my grandmas will take offence at.). And thinking that that mermaids phase when they come in contact with water.
Wrong! I'll take the first issue. Mermaids do not phase when they come in contact with ordinary water, whether freshwater or any other kind of water. We can control our phasing, we phase when we want to. So, ordinary water does not have any impact on us but..... sea water kinda do. Sea water only affects us when we come in contact with it during a full moon uprising, there by causing an uncontrollable phasing. That's all, the sea water also helps in phasing faster, I don't know maybe cause of the amount of salt in it (I'll have to ask Grandma Maggie.)
Okay to the second issue, mermaids and sirens are not the same ever. Don't let either of them hear you say that, else it will definitely end up in a bloodbath. Sirens and mermaids have only similarity that is their hypnotic voices, nothing more. I picked up the loofah and started scrubbing my body. It's just that sirens have more powerful voices and they have an ability called shimmering. It's used to charm people, make themselves look alluring. Sirens are physically attractive but there's this aura that they emit making feel that you've to do everything possible to please them. The only people that are immune to this shimmering are their family members, friends, (who love genuinely) other sirens and maybe people with strong telepathic abilities. That doesn't mean they can't allure them, they actually can and it requires strong concentration.
After rinsing my body in the tub, I climbed out and brushed my teeth. I decided not to apply lotion since I was going swimming, didn't want to pollute the water and endanger it's inhabitants. I put on a loose T-shirt and loose jogging pants and grabbed a sandwich on my way out to Green Lake Park.