The watch boys were diligently protecting the ship, everything was as normal tonight as it had been all the previous ones.

The night without the starry sky was more monotonous than usual, so Tomy got ready to go to sleep.

When he was about to enter the cabins, he noticed young Lucas standing in the doorway, somewhat scared.

"Ha ha ha... Looks like it's not a good night, are you going to the bathroom again, boy?" The lookout asked with a smile on his face.

But the young man didn't answer, he just stood at the door, looking at him as if he didn't believe what was happening to him.

"Everything okay, Lucas?" Tomy asked, trying to understand what he was doing to the boy.

But the answer did not come from his forehead, but from his back.

"Everything okay, Tommy?"

The lookout turned as if he was afraid that the person who spoke would disappear into thin air, but he didn't see anything on the deck, only the sailors were there working as usual.

"It seems that I am very tired..." Tomy said to himself.

"ha, ha, ha, in the end that old devil was right and the bitterness of a lonely heart knows no limits…" The lookout laughed at himself, "... now I even hear voices"

"Did you hear a woman's voice too, Lucas?"

But when he turned to look at Lucas, there was no one at the cabin door.

Only cries could be heard in that direction,

"Luke!?" The helmsman asked aloud, frightened by the abnormal behavior of the cabin boy.

"Who is Lucas? There is no Lucas aboard this ship..."

Hearing the voice, the lookout ran to the deck, but did not find the person he was looking for.

"Lilly?!" The lookout yelled in desperation, fearing that the voice was just an illusion.

"Ha, ha, ha... why those screams, Tomy?" It was heard from the right edge of the ship.

The lookout ran as hard as he could to the end of the ship, but he didn't see any women leaning on the deck, only the sailors, who were still dutifully keeping watch.

"Lilly?!" The lookout screamed, almost tearing his vocal cords.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Down..." could be heard from the water "...I'm swimming"

The lookout was startled when he heard where the voice came from. As a precaution, he took his weapon and suspiciously leaned over the edge.

"Impossible..." The lookout's tears began to fall down his face as he looked at the scene before him.

A woman of around 40-45 years old could be seen happily swimming in the water, the black-haired, blue-eyed woman was not very attractive, but she had a cute smile on her face as she swam.

"What's impossible, Tommy?" The woman asked with a smile.

"You're not Lily...." Said the helmsman in disbelief of what he was seeing, "Lily is dead..."

"So who am I, Tommy?" Asked the woman who swam without caring much what the lookout said

"A..." Tomy, he wanted to say a sea beast, but a part of him held back, since the girl who swam was exactly the same as his dead wife "...I don't know what you are", the lookout finished. Instead.

"Are you sure you don't know? ... I notice you with doubts, Tomy?" Said the woman.

"I also noticed you with doubts that night, at the jellyfish party, but I ignored it anyway..."

The sailor's face suddenly changed, as he muttered, "How... how do you know that?"

"Because I was there, Tomy" The woman in the water replied, "We went for a walk on the beach, remember?"

"And you just found a ring by "chance" inside a clam"

"Ha ha ha, you were so nervous like now"

The sailor's face went from terror to incredibility, it was impossible for a sea beast to know the detail of the clam... Unless it wasn't a beast.

"Are you Lily?"…but… "Tomy, he still refused to accept the possibility "she died years ago from an illness"

"Yes, I died from the red flower disease" Said the woman as she happily swam in the water "I remember you hid it until the end, for fear that the governor would burn me"

"You didn't mind getting infected…" The woman said, outlining a smile on her face, "we wanted to die together, remember?"

"I would never forget it..." Tomy said with tears on her face, "But I lived, and you died, because the gods wanted it that way..."

"How is it possible for you to be alive again, Lily?" Tomy asked the question that his heart feared.

"I'm not, Tomy…" the woman said, staring at him in the water, "You can't go back once you leave…"

"But I'm talking to you now!!"Tomy shouted, fearing that the woman in front of him would disappear.

"or perhaps…"

"Did I die while he slept?" Asked the lookout touching his chest, but he still felt the warmth of his body, he looked towards the deck, but the sailors were still carrying out their task normally.

"Ha, ha, ha, of course not" the woman in the water laughed softly "You're still alive, Tomy, I'm the only one dead here… ha, ha, ha"

"But if I'm alive, and you're dead, how come we see each other!?" The lookout asked desperately, as if he feared that this could end soon and the woman in front of him would leave him for another long 20 years.

"I wonder the same too..." The woman said as a sad face appeared on her face "I think it's because of this sea, when you get out of these waters, we won't see each other again for a long time..."

Hearing that Lily would leave, the sailor's heart began to beat violently, no matter what, he couldn't afford to lose his beloved wife again.

"But I'm going to keep waiting for you, Tomy..." The woman said with tears on her face "For 20 years I stayed in these icy waters and for another 20 years I would continue to be, so that we can finally rest together"

"No… you can't leave, please don't leave me again!!" Tomy said crying "My heart can't take any more loneliness, in these 20 years I only tried to escape the pain of losing you and finally, I got it when I heard you again tonight"

"In these 20 years, I only cursed the gods for not taking me with you to the other world"

"I can't keep living like this!!" shouted the Tomy, standing on the deck

"I'm not going to continue living like this!!" Tomy yelled, throwing himself into the water...