Mermaid’s Regret
By Toshiya Kamei
As my body dissolved into the sea, regret seized me. All my sacrifices: my family, my tail, my voice. I gave up all. All for nothing!
“I don’t want to be sea foam!”
I screamed and salt water filled my lungs.
In the distance, light. The prince’s wedding ship. Regret became anger and boiled inside me. Another wave struck, and I was pulled under. Deeper. In the dark of the sea, I could imagine them. The prince and the imposter. He treated me like dirt. He traded me for her. They danced! They kissed.
I broke the surface with a ragged yell, lifted my arms above my head, and conjured a storm.
Dark clouds gathered overhead, and lightning split the sky into two.
Rain lashed us, and I crackled as the ship whirled like a wind-swept leaf. Another lightning strike, and the ship was sinking. I savored their screams.
A wave dragged me down.
When I opened my eyes, past the salt burn, I saw him. Delight visited one final time.
I swam to where fish fed on the prince’s body. Clinging to him like regret, I let the sea take us both.
Toshiya Kamei (she/they) is a queer Asian writer who takes inspiration from fairy tales, folklore, and mythology. Her short stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Galaxy’s Edge, and elsewhere. Her piece “Hungry Moon” won Apex Magazine’s October 2022 Microfiction Contest.
John Tracy is a self-taught photographer who worked as a photojournalist for the New York Daily News for seven years before becoming an attorney. He has recently been published in F-Stop Magazine, Birmingham Arts Journal and Dipity. His work can be viewed at www.jtracy.com.