The Outcast

I am a mermaid. Unlike the others, my tail is black—a sign of immense power. But instead of admiration, I was shunned. The elders whispered that I was cursed, a dark omen. My parents, terrified of what I might become, abandoned me. Since then, I have lived alone, hidden away in the deepest part of the river, a shadow among the waves.

The waters of the river were my only solace. While other mermaids swam together in schools, their tails gleaming in hues of blue and green, I lurked in the shadows, afraid to be seen. I learned to survive by hunting small fish, weaving reeds into makeshift nets, and listening to the whispers of the current. The river spoke to me in a way it never spoke to the others. When I placed my hands against its bed, I could feel its pulse, the way it moved and breathed. It carried stories from the ocean beyond, from places I would never dare to visit. But even the river could not silence the ache of loneliness inside me.

I often wondered what it would be like to belong, to have someone accept me for who I was. But that hope was a distant dream, buried under years of solitude and whispered fears. The mermaids of the village, the ones who had once been my friends, avoided me now. Even the youngest children were warned to stay away. I could see the fear in their eyes when they caught a glimpse of my tail slicing through the water. To them, I was a nightmare given form, a legend of misfortune.

Still, I watched them from afar. On nights when the moon was full, and their laughter carried over the waves, I would creep to the edge of the village and listen. I could see them weaving songs into the wind, their voices rising in harmony, a melody of belonging. A world that was once mine but was no longer. A world that had rejected me.

For years, I stayed hidden, surviving off the river's offerings, never daring to venture beyond its banks. But as I grew older, the loneliness became unbearable. A single thought began to take root in my mind: Why? Why was I different? Why was I feared? Was my black tail truly a curse—or something else entirely?

The elders never explained it to me. They simply cast me out, leaving me to piece together fragments of half-spoken warnings and stolen whispers. But I needed more than rumors. I needed the truth. And so, one fateful day, I made the decision that would change everything.

I would leave the river. I would find answers.

The thought both thrilled and terrified me. The river was my home, my prison, my sanctuary. I had never dared to stray too far from its depths. But I knew that if I stayed, I would never know the truth. I would never know if there was more to me than fear and isolation.