When she’d walked up to him & announced she was a mermaid, he’d responded that she looked like neither Darryl Hannah nor Ariel. A furrowed brow and cocked head were her only response. As the silence had stretched, with her mouth twisting into a small frown, he’d found himself compelled to break the silence.

That had been a mistake too, he thought, sipping his effervescent bitters. He should have ignored anyone weird enough to tell a complete stranger her delusions of fishiness, but he had hoped it was simply a unique come-on. And when he was incapable of ignoring, he should have bolted away from anyone who didn’t know some very mainstream mermaid references.

But, no. He’d been entranced from the moment he’d laid eyes on her a half an hour or more before she had approached him.… Continue reading →