The Seas

by Samantha Hunt

Sometimes if I am soaking in the tub or while I am trying to sleep I picture my father telling me about being a mermaid. I imagine things he might say to me if he were still around. Things like, “You might be living on dry land but you’re still subject to our laws,” and he’d mean the ocean’s laws. I would be relieved to hear this because it would give me comfort. I’d rather be subject to the ocean’s laws than the laws that apply to young girls trying to become women here on dry land.

When you are young, living in the North, sadness can make you feel like you have something to do. Sadness can be like a political cause, almost, or a religion or a drug habit. It is a lot of work to stay sad.

I park and walk down to the water. I walk along the shore a long, good distance. There are no people on the beach this far from town. I walk even farther, over the rocks, so I can be all alone and away from my bad decisions.