...to slip beneath the surface and soar along the silent bottom of the sea agile and shining in water honeycombed with light.

When had my fear of broken plates gotten so grandiose? My desire for extravagant moments so small?

I stared at him. “You’re a bat, Rudi! She’s a mermaid. What were you thinking?

Sharp knives seemed to cut her delicate feet, yet she hardly felt them, so deep was the pain in her heart. She could not forget that this was the last night she would ever see the one for whom she had left her home and family, had given up her beautiful voice, and had day by day endured unending torment, of which he knew nothing at all. An eternal night awaited her.

Oh, a mermaid's comb. Heavy stuff, but safe enough as long as you don't use it around water. Or a busy highway. You're not planning to lure any young men to their doom, are you?"
How embarrassing! I shook my head, blushing.

Human?' The girl cocked her head the other way. I caught a glimpse of pink gills under her chin. 'My sisters told me stories of humans. They said they sometimes sing to them to lure them underwater.' She grinned, showing off her sharp needle-teeth. 'I've been practicing. Want to hear?