When We Believed in Mermaids

by Barbara O'Neal

“There are seasons of darkness, yes? Loss and sadness all around.” He tightens his grip. “But if you are patient, the circle turns, and then there is happiness

A girl without a mother who protects her is a girl at the mercy of the world.

Simon snores softly, his big hand on my hip, anchoring me. Down the hall, my children are tucked safely into their beds. This is the family I wanted so desperately when I was a child, and I created it for myself. I’ve also transformed myself from a lost, drunken wanderer into a woman with purpose, a successful businessperson.

I escaped. Escaped the woman I became after Billy. I took myself back, made myself over, became a woman I am proud of.

“Love is not always destructive,” he says quietly, and slides a finger up my shin. “Sometimes love creates.”

Men who cheated kept cheating.

and I know he will listen. Quietly and intensely.

I can see him taking a bite of food, his hair shining under the lamps of the restaurant, then focusing on me babbling and babbling. Because that’s what I’ll do. If I start talking, it’s all going to spill out, the bad and the good, the ugly and the beautiful.

Do I want him to know me that well? No. I don’t want anyone t...

“In Spanish, we say alma gemela. Soul twin.

“Your quest is powerful. You needn’t apologize for the space it takes.”

For the first time in my entire life, she didn’t have a man, and she didn’t want one, and without the constant struggle of men and booze, she had a lot more time.