Chasing Tide (A Merman's Tale And The Human Who Desired Him)

TALES OF UNKNOWN.

Chapter: 46.
*****

Standing in the colorful room, his eyes scanned the mystical treasures he's kept for so long, he was even starting to doubt all he knew, all he was made to believe until now. The second his eyes landed on that video, he felt it, that burning sensation as it rippled through his veins, causing his blood to pump faster and his heart termored.

When he was six he had thought his great grandmother mad when she would often tell these tales of Merfolks, dragons, fairies, elves, whispering ghosts, who lived in a beautiful city under the sea and how they were real… she said the whispering ghosts often lure men and women under the sea…. trap then suck their souls, they would sink ships and flood trespassing islands. 

As a child, he enjoyed these tales whenever they visited, she liked him best among his other siblings, it could also be to the fact that even as a child only he bothered to listen to her fairytales while the rest just laughed at the ninety-eight-years old woman and considered her delusional for her tales. But, he would often sit beside her feet and listen to her go on and on about this great city under the sea. Then once he was twelve his great-grandmother passed away, which made him very sad. He was going to miss her tales but while he cried by himself under the tree in his suit, refusing to go into the house, his grandmother found him.

She smiled at him but he wouldn’t smile back until he saw the pendant his great grandmother often wears around her neck now on his grandmother's neck. His great grandmother never parted with that pendant, he had remembered seeing that around her neck since he could remember.

“You like it don’t you, little one?” His grandmother had asked once she caught him staring too hard.

“It’s great-grandmas!” He pointed out the obvious. “Why do you have it?”

“Because someone will have to keep it safe until it returns to the seas.” She told him with a beaming smile.

His face lit up like a lightbulb when he heard her mention the seas. “You know the stories too?!” He asked, jumping to his feet and rushing into his grandmother’s waiting arms.

“They are not just stories, little Matthew,”

“Really?!” He gawked staring up into her wrinkled eyes.

“Yes, my love,”

“Great gran says that she is the descendant of the merfolks are you one too?” 

“Indeed, I am, and so are you, my love. Wait until you are a little older and you will understand, I will tell you all from where your great gran… my mother left off.”

“Cool!” He cried, turning to his great gran’s resting place he muttered. “Thank you!” 

“Now, let us go into the house, it's getting chilly outside.” And so he went in.

And just like his great grandmother, he found he could still enjoy these tales from his grandmother who told them exactly just as his great grandmother did. His mother and father thought him troubled for often paying attention to all those fake tales but he never bothered with them. When he was sixteen, she got sent away to live in the Nursing Home. He didn’t like that agreement but held little to no say in the matter. Once again he was the only one who bothered with her well enough to often visit her at the Nursing Home during holidays and whenever he went on breaks.

Every little chance he got… he was there, by her side, they would often take a drive to the ocean on different occasions, on her birthdays, on his birthdays, when she didn't feel well and when he was depressed, there she would tell him more about this magical underwater city. His worries would then be swept away by the waves of the sea and by the time they returned to the Homes, they both would be feeling refreshed wearing contiguous smiles on happy faces.

Everyone in the family gave up on the woman when she began telling these stories and being that the D’aureville family never wanted any form of tint to their prestigious family name, they immediately sent her away and never bothered with her after that only making payments to be certain she was well looked after. But Matthew was different, he understood his parents better than anyone ever could, and he held the facade that they treasured so dearly until the very end.

Unlike his brother who went wild, tired of protecting the great perfect family name, being the good son, and living up to their expectations, and in the end, lost his way and inheritance. Matthew knew better, he wasn’t a perfect son but he knew how to keep what doesn’t belong to the family outside the family and so his parents saw only the perfect son when they saw him. It wasn’t the best way to grow up but it paid off in the end.

On one of his many visits to his grandmother’s, he saw she was terribly ill and when he panicked and offered that he take her to the hospital she had disagreed but instead yanked him towards her bosom and with a quivering voice whispered into his ears.

“Look under my bed…” Without questions asked he went on his knees and looked, he found dirty bags stuffed full and hidden under the bed and so he quickly pulled his face up to meet her weak eyes and she smiled nodding for him to pull them out. He was twenty-three at the time, one would think at this age he must be weary of these things but he wasn’t.

His sister had once said… “Stop egging grandma on as you did with our great-grandma, you know these things aren’t real why do you keep indulging?!” But as he did with all the warnings he’s received over the years, he simply shoved it under the carpet. It doesn’t matter if it’s real or not, what matters is that these women have someone who cares enough to smile, laugh, and listen to them, even believe in their tales. Something they wouldn’t understand since they never bothered to.