The universe has played a macabre practical joke on me—I am not returning to New York. Instead, I am condemned to this submerged tomb. Instead of running into the arms of my fiancé, I await every mermaid’s worst nightmare: transition into a state called salt flush. I will lose all of my memories and all of my humanity. I will—over time—devolve into a primal sea creature without the ability to reason. I will lose not only my fiancé—more completely than I ever conceived possible when I ran away—I will lose myself.
