She waded across the water in her dingy little boat, causing ripples that disturbed the moon’s reflection in the water. It was quiet around the island at night, the serenity of night only ever disturbed by the chirping of crickets and the occasional splash of a fish. She heard it all. Being accustomed to near complete silence really sharpened your sense of hearing. In fact, her hearing had led her out onto the lake.

Usually, she sat in her cabin with the windows open, enjoying nature’s noises while she stayed up reading late. Usually. Tonight, she had been disturbed. It had echoed through her window, causing her to jump at the unexpectedness of it. It was a splash, magnified by the usual quiet. She might’ve brushed it off as just a fish, but it was too loud. Whatever it was sounded big but she knew there was nothing dangerous in the waters around her island. So she made up her mind, gathering a flashlight and a fireplace stoker, the closest thing she had to a weapon, and walked the short distance to the shore to her boat.

She had set her things inside, pushing it out into the water before quickly climbing in, holding on to the oars attached to the sides. She looked around to see if she could  find any lingering ripples but was disappointed. Figuring she could at least make the most of the situation, she had rowed a little further out into the water, ending up where she was now.

Lying down in a small boat wasn’t easy, but she managed without too much trouble. She set her eyes to the sky, getting lost in the stars. Being distracted, she didn’t notice the slight, unnatural rocking of the boat. She didn’t notice when a the head of a curious creature popped up next to her boat, watching her watch the stars. She did notice, however, when the boat suddenly tipped to one side precariously, nearly causing her to fall out with a yelp. Somehow, she kept herself from falling in, her heart beating quickly. But as she steadied the boat, she finally noticed the creature. Or…woman?

   She had dark, shining skin, almost black if the moonlight hadn’t shown it to be the dark blue it truly was. Her hair was short and jagged, dark green and slimy. Her face was full, however. It was round and beautiful and her eyes. They were bright orange, glowing like two small suns near the water’s surface and full of curiosity at the human in front of them. She was immediately struck breathless, taking in both the oddness and beauty of the situation. She was enraptured by the eyes, but slowly became enraptured by the song, too. The song that had slowly become louder as she opened her mouth. It wasn’t until it was too late that she realized she had been slowly approaching the woman, tilting the boat far enough until she finally fell into the water next to her.

It was strange, being able to see underwater at night. But that’s exactly what she was able to do, the water in front of her being lit up by her eyes which had wasted no time in getting nearly uncomfortable close. Finally, she was able to see her full body. Her skin matched her face’s, only being interrupted by small, luminescent spots of bright green and dark, shimmering scales. The scales started around her midriff, slowly trailing down and eventually forming a long fish tail. She also noticed that wrapped around her torso seemed to be…wings. Wings made for swift travel in the water, made for racing fish, made for intricate movements, made for her. Taking this all in, she gasped, inhaling a lungful of water.

Realizing it too late, she began drowning, surprising her. She began to panic, but felt herself suddenly pulled quickly through the water by webbed hands. In nearly the blink of an eye, she was back on her shore, coughing up the lake’s water. Orange eyes surveyed her from the surface of the water and she absentmindedly noticed that the singing she had heard was gone. As she finally stopped coughing, she heard the same melodic voice, this time talking instead of singing.

“Are you…alright?,” it asked. It was scratchy and deep, but certainly not unpleasant to the ears. After finally regaining her breath enough to speak, she responded. “Wha…who are you?,” she asked, hoping to learn the name of the creature that almost both caused her demise and saved her from it. She took a second to think. No human had ever asked her name before. In fact, no human had ever survived an encounter with her. Then again, this was her first female human and a very strange situation. “Elpis,” she replied, hesitantly drifting closer to the shore. “And yours?”

She felt herself blushing, looking to the side when Elpis had gotten closer. Her torso had been revealed when she shifted her wings back. “Lu-Lucy,” she stuttered, peeking back at Elpis, relaxing when she found the wings back in their place.

“Lucy…,” Elpis repeated to herself before slowly sinking into the water, leaving Lucy stunned. What the hell?

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Every night after that, Lucy walked to the shore, got in her boat, and drifted a few feet out into the water. Every night, Elpis would swim to the surface to go meet her. At first, they spent the nights together quietly, enjoying each other’s company and watching the stars shine above. Soon, though, they began to engage in conversation. Each shared their story: Lucy had tired of people, finally deciding on living alone on an island only a few years after moving out of her parents’ house. Elpis had too grown tired of people, only it was her own people, the sirens. She had swam through hundreds of rivers and lakes to finally arrive in this one the night she was discovered by Lucy.

Every night, they seemed to open more and more to one another. They swapped stories and objects, quickly creating a seemingly unbreakable bond. However, this also left Lucy with mixed feelings. She love her friendship with Elpis, but in the back of her mind, in her heart, she soon began to wish for more. Now, every time she rowed onto the lake, she was filled with a warm tingling, an exciting expectation that was fulfilled when Elpis showed up.

Lucy told her one night. “Elpis…can I confess something?,” she asked quietly, eyes focused on the stars. Elpis hummed in response, the sound traveling through her gills and the water, creating small vibrations throughout the boat. Tonight was a quiet night for them: a stargazing night where Lucy lied in the boat while Elpis dipped and swam lazy circles around her. Lucy gathered her courage, pleading with the stars to give her more.

“I love you.”

Elpis was quiet. She had stopped her circles around the boat, making Lucy nervous. That is until she felt the boat gently tilt to one side. Lucy looked to see Elpis reclining gently on the boat, silently beckoning Lucy to move closer to her. Lucy complied. When she had moved closer, Elpis took her face in her hands and kissed her. It was quick but Lucy felt as if, in that moment, her heart was filled with the song from the first night she had met Elpis. She opened her eyes, not having realized she had closed them, and stared at Elpis.

“I love you, too.”