“Three? Three fucking babies?” He asked incredulously.
“He sent them off with a nursemaid to a faraway island, never to be seen or heard from again. What the lovers didn’t know was that their offspring were capable of razing the world as they knew it. Children born of the sea and sky with the power to lure gods to their death and create mighty storms to drown them all. Power so great that even the God of Chaos, their great creator, would be in awe of it.
As she lay broken in the sand, her lover mutilated beside her, she begged their leader for mercy. Spare them and their babies and no one in their line would ever raise a hand against him.”
“I’m guessing that didn’t go well?”
“He sneered at her weakness and made her watch as he ripped the legs from her lover, bound his body with the tail of a whale and cast him to the sea, cursed to never walk the lands again.”
“Fuck. What about her? Did he kill her?” Brooks was one hundred percent invested.
“No. Worse.”
“Worse? How could it be worse? Her man is basically dead, her babies are gone, she’s all fucked up and you’re telling me it’s worse?”
“The great ruler cursed her children to an island and then bound her immortality to her domain. If ever she were to leave, she would wither and die like a human and her home would crash to Earth, killing her children and lover.”
Brooks was silent as he digested the ending before something dawned on him.
“Wait… you said ‘crash to Earth.’ Does that mean she was a star?”
“No,”his Siren said, that sadness lacing the edges of her voice again.“She’s the moon, Brooks.”
“The moon? So–” his words broke off as the full reality of her story hit home.
“The moon and the sea were once lovers. The way the waves danced with the pull of the moon was so beautiful that even the stars were jealous. But now they spend their lives mourning the loss of a lover’s touch. The tides rise as the sea reaches for the moon but, as she falls to the sun, so too does the tide.”
“That’s fucking tragic, Siren.”
“Not all love stories end happily, Brooks. Some just have to be grateful for the time they get.”
“You sound like you have experience with that type of tragedy, sunshine.”
Her voice was weak when she answered,“I do.”
“I’m sorry.” Defeat plagued him.
“I know.”
“If I could, I would kill the motherfucker and give you his dick as a trophy.”
“Slow down, killer. The last thing I want is some guy’s taxidermied dick hanging above my fireplace.”
They laughed together and it eased some of the ache in his chest.
“For what it’s worth, Siren, I would let the stars fall from the sky and watch the world burn before I let anyone take you from me.” His throat tightened as longing set in. Longing for what his life could be like if she were real and he didn’t have to pretend.
Her breath caught and it was a moment before she whispered,“I would raise the sea and drown them all to spend even a moment in your arms.”
The silence was heavy as they mourned broken dreams.
“We should try to get some sleep, Siren. I think we’ve both had a rough day.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
Neither wanted to be the first to place the rigid bubble of reality back around them.
“Brooks?”
