Once upon a time there was a lovely young siren, with the tail of a dolphin and the voice of an angel. She loved to swim the ocean but her favorite place was a calm beach guarded by a reef of coral. She would sit on the spires that nearly breached the water and sing, the music echoing throughout the cove.
One day, a young woman came upon her. Too generous to keep the angelic voice to herself, she told the rest of her seaside village and soon many people would come to listen to the young siren's song each evening she chose to grace the bay with her presence. One young man in particular listened more attentively and for longer periods of time than the others. He was enraptured by her voice and beauty and frequently left her gifts on the edge of the shoreline. He would frequently wait until the rest of the village had retired to bed and sit by the edge of the shore and talk to her.
As time went on, the young siren found herself more and more attracted to the man. He was attentive and flattering in all the best ways, gifting her with beautiful objects from the surface world. As she accepted his gifts, she became curious about the world above the sea. What was it like up there, when one walked among the humans? She was not interested in the beauty of the surface world as it was, the stars and the plants had their own comparisons under the waves. No, she wanted to know about the humans themselves. Sirens were a solitary race, living alone or in small family groupings. They have no palaces or kingdoms or walls or roads. They make their homes where they please, in a cave or a forest of kelp or a coral shelf. They adapted to the environment instead of changing it to fit them. As the young man talked about fields of crops and herds of animals that they used for food, the siren longed to walk with him through the magical world he painted.
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One day, the young man, David, told her he had learned of a ritual that would allow her to walk on land as a human for three days and three nights. At the end of that time, she must return to the sea, for the magic would fail without the waves to renew it. The siren had heard of other creatures of the ocean who had the ability to walk on land, selkies, who could shed their seal skin and embrace human forms for a time, so she agreed to his ritual. After all, what love he must have for her to make her wish come true in such a way! She hesitated only for a moment when he told her that it would be painful for her. She was determined to seize her dream before her chance slipped away.
He came back the following night with a small vial of golden fluid, a sharp knife, and a book with the binding cracked and falling off. He asked her to swim as close to the shore as she could. She swam up and flopped onto the shore. He assisted in pulling her the rest of the way onto land. He handed her the golden vial.
“Drink this. It will dull the pain.” She smiled at his thoughtfulness. He had managed to find a magic liquid that would help her feel better. She uncorked the vial and tipped it into her mouth. It was as sweet as the honey cakes he had brought for her in the past. She swallowed the liquid and looked into his eyes trustingly as he brought the knife to her hand. Her eyes drooped shut as she felt the knife push against her pinky finger. Just as he promised, she felt no pain. She had the vague sensation of being lowered to the ground before she went completely unconscious.