The Hippy and the Mermaid

An October dawn breeze rustled Rainbow Wilson’s hair as the hippy stoner looked out across the calm tranquil waves. Whilst the sea was calm, and as beautiful as ever, his mind was sickeningly turbulent. It was like his tortured brain was constantly flashing from negative to positive and back again - his mood swinging beyond all control or conscious explanation. He sparked another joint and enjoyed the first blast - felt at one with the world and the sea, but by the second toke he wanted to drown himself in it. Fucking hell, thought Rainbow, I’m so alone, so screwed up, so scared. And he inhaled again.
     Three or four joints later his brain was scrambled egg. No longer getting heavy, he knelt down on the sand in a blissful gone coma, paying careful attention to the sound of seagulls and taking simple pleasure from this. There were no people about, none that he could see, so no call for paranoia. This was a good stretch of beach that he had found, in that it was quiet and desolate. But perhaps that was only because it was early morning. Still, it would be early for quite some time.
     The sun ahead of him beamed down on the incoming tide, though to his right was the unpleasant threat of fast approaching grey clouds - a contrast in weather like his previous feelings. Directly above him though - at least for now - the sky was a perfect blue. So he didn’t care.
     And then he saw the mermaid.
     He saw her just as he was about to leave - having decided against his initial plan, instead to head off back to the train station and then back to the city - return like a moth to the flames of that urban hell. She called to him - “Hey there, hello!” He turned round and was instantly transfixed.
     There were things about this half girl half fish that made him feel warm inside, not just her looks - short glistening seaweed hair and a sweet endless smile - but also the aura surrounding her. She was so warm herself - so genuine, delicate and fragile. A little self-conscious and hesitant, but she had summoned up the courage to call out to him, and for this he felt truly honoured.
     “Well hi,” he answered her, his mouth turning to a grin. So powerful was her presence that in such a bizarre situation as this he did not flip out, but instead found communicating with a supposedly mythical creature from his bedtime stories as a child to be the most natural
thing on earth. “So you’re a mermaid.” he said, stating the
obvious “What’s your name?”
     “Dawn,” replied the mermaid. “Wow,” said Rainbow.
     Dawn continued to smile at him - “Hey Rainbow,” she spoke, “As well as your name, I know your mind. I know that you are feeling troubled. You worry about your depression, but your pain is natural.”
     “I can’t take anymore,” said Rainbow “It’s all too damned confusing. I don’t know what I am doing or thinking. I don’t know what I’m here for or what I want to achieve from this life.”
     “You want to be loved,” Dawn enlightened him “And you want to love. But you hate yourself. I wish you wouldn’t. You love other people - the other souls that you meet - and these ones you love, they love you back. But because the hate (for yourself) exists amongst the love (negativity amongst the positive) you continue to feel alone. You can never have invincible love until the hate is eradicated.”
     “I think I love you,” stated Rainbow - a thought he would normally confine to his head but now said out loud - just as the first drop of rain landed splat on his eyelid.
     “No, don’t love me - we are not compatible,” she said. And she didn’t just mean sex-wise. Ironically, see, she hated herself also, thus getting close to anyone would just not work. She could try to persuade other people not to hate themselves, but could not create any change within herself. She was also scared of embarking on something so magical as a love affair, in fear of pinning all her hopes on something that would leave her heartbroken. Plus most importantly to her there was
the other person to think about - she couldn’t risk hurting someone she cared about.
     Rainbow smiled at her. She tried not to, but couldn’t help smiling back.
     A crash of lightning suddenly lit up the greyed sky. He plunged forward into the cold sea and into her warm embrace. They hugged - the water splashing in all directions - the moment lasting forever.