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Bright, sunny, a dash of cloud here and there.
Greenery all around, and a rippling blue ocean far away, twinkling to remind you of its presence. Normally, a drawn back ocean would prompt you to flee to an evacuation zone, but darting down the cliff edge, using the dug out stairs, you could only feel excitement and joy.
A super low tide only happened once every few years, and you always made sure to be on the beach when it happened.
Well, coast, you should say.
The final ledge of your descent came to view, concrete stairs leading to the rocky beach. Your family had set them there generations ago, and it was your job as the summer resident of the family cabin to make sure everything stayed put.
Your sandals landed with a clatter on stones, your eyes instinctively searching for agates, jasper, or even petrified wood. The weight of your bag drove you to your true goal, the glass bottles and vials clinking against the firm material of your notebook. You adjusted the satchel, reaffirming your easel was attached, in case you decided to paint the scenery, or just paint in general.
The first tidepools were familiar to you, clumps of barnacles and anemones in their usual places, or the occasional smattering of starfish sticking to their common tidepool.
New tangles of kelp and sea grass clung over rocks, taking with them inhabitants. Sand fleas scattered as you approached, springing into water or darting away.
You grinned when you began to note new things never seen. Around you, the cove walls were beginning to draw back, hinting at your distance from the land. Only two things stood before you- a largish island that you had rowed to on occasion, and a tall spire that seagulls kept their nests on.
You had never been beyond, nor were you likely to, with the sea gently lapping around their edges. Perhaps you would climb the island to spot the sea, but last thing you want to do was inflate the emergency life-vest you kept on your person.
Or hail emergency services. But now, you could check the emergency kit on the island, and see if it needed to be replaced or fixed up.
It was too common for young ones to get stuck on the island. You yourself had, long ago.
Judging you had gone far enough, you began to explore.
A colony of sea urchins hovered on the edges of a deep pool, a mass of kelp waving and clumping on top.
You snapped a photo with your camera, a picture to paint at another time.
In another tidepool, you found a dog shark, swimming through the channels between. You managed to stroke its back as it floundered to deeper waters. In its wake, you found little mermaid purses, embryos of little sharks wiggling within.
You took vials of water, to check the plankton and water quality later, for personal records and for your grandfather. He loved comparing samples from decades ago, when he began his own personal research.
Skipping over stones, you crouched to watch an octopus crawling away, its eye regarding you as it crawled past. You grinned, following it for a short distance, snapping photos.
You even found a scallop, only noticing it in its efforts to dart away on firm sand. You tossed it into a pool to give it a hand. The sun was only noon high when you looked up, casting a glance at the sea to make sure the tide wasn't approaching. Even if you had another two hours, you didn't want to get stuck or trapped.
The island had several clumps of rocks leading up to it, with a higher shelf ocean-side, which meant more sea exposed tide pools. Despite this, you never really explored them... then again, the tide wasn't this low normally.
It always took a bit of time to get up the island, using the knotted rope to hoist yourself up the edge, onto more stable ground. But once you had, it was easy enough to get to the middle, where three trees stood unmoved by wind and sea.
You patted their trunks, checking the kit screwed tight to the largest of them, a great redwood.
"It's been a while, Salem," you whispered, grinning up at the branches. "And to you two, Uriah, Bethel." You nodded at the two others, a maple and oak. Your great grandfather had planted Uriah and Bethel long ago, when he was a kid. The redwood had been around for longer, perhaps dropped by a bird in a bygone decade.
You cast a look out at the sea, admiring its colors. Looking back, you gazed at the distance you had trekked. You whistled, admiring your own efforts.
But something caught your eye.
Odd color at the end of the cove, beyond tall rocks you hadn't thought hid anything.
You frowned, checking the distance between shore and the strange object. It seemed close enough for a good look, perhaps for an hour, and an hour to get back to the shore, for safety.
You wasted no time scrambling back down, running over rock and jumping over trickles to get closer.
A hand did go to your bag, pulling out a marine biology identification guide.
You gripped the rocks going over, pulling yourself up to peak over the edge, when you froze.
A curtain of kelp was hanging off the side of the rocks, and at first, it seemed normal.
But you had seen something shift.
And you knew that kelp didn't have a hidden under-layer of black and white stripes.
You swallowed, being extra careful and quiet, peeking over the edge.
Coils.
Black and white coils, striped-
A tail, paddle like, wide and broad.
And all together more thicker than your own body, tapered and lean though it was. It was long too, curving around the edges of a deep pool of water.
Whatever it was, didn't notice your presence- You crept a bit a farther, looking for a head- but whatever it possessed as a head didn't want it to be seen...
Or maybe it doesn't have a head, and that's why it's here, you screamed internally. What could eat the head of something so big!!
Intrigued, yet cautious, you pulled yourself over on the rocks, only 2 ft from the closest coil. Tweezers revealed itself from a pocket, gently pulling a loose scale from the monster, putting it in a vial. The body didn't even twitch, assuring you that whatever this was was probably dead.
Looking at the flow of coils, you could identify what this thing used to be. The familiar coloring and shape of the tail only proved its species, a sea snake. And it had scales, unlike an eel. Of the specific type, you had no clue, but you wondered how something so exotic looking ended up in your cove.
The rise and fall of the coils reminding you of the sea, black and white stripes like sun patterns on the surface...
You pulled out your sketchbook, deciding to sketch the odd scene.
Soon, all that was heard was the scratch of your pencil, quick glances at the creature and then at the sea, your internal clock ticking down time.
You popped out one of your colored pencils, intending too color in the important bits and finish it when you got home. Watercolors would make your scene interesting, but you had to remember to take pictures before you le-
A drop of water landed on your sketch.
You frowned.
Water? A splash from a creature? Rain?
It did get colder a bit ago, but you doubted rain would fall.
Another drop. And another.
Annoyed, you looked up to see if the weather had changed so drastically.
And froze.
White pinpricks stared into your eyes, in two black pits. They had a wispy edge of blue around them, a hint of yellow near the pupil...
Your eyes flickered outward.
White bone, wet, slimy appearing, trailing down into a skeleton, an alive skeleton. How that was even possible could barely be comprehended at this moment, as your body screamed danger at you.
And on its skull, an eerie grin rested, fangs sharp.
It leaned over you, threatening you with its size and looks.
You couldn't help but look down, expecting some prank- but at the hips of the skeleton, a seamless connection to the sea snake tail.
You had only heard legends of the siren folk, how they would pretend to be capsized to capture and eat people, or sing to lure people into the water.
Your hands gripped your sketchbook, bringing it to your chest as you curled into yourself, eyes snapping back to make eye contact with the monster, a small whimper escaping your chest.
It leaned close, eyes slitting as it tasted the air. If it could sense your fear tainting the air, it certainly was taking advantage of it, eyes not leaving for a moment as it bared its fangs.
Your mind immediately darted to facts about sea snakes, at least, the ones you had researched here on your coast; venom potent enough to kill a human in minutes- and those were the ones as long as your leg. Who knew how deadly the venom of the giant sea monster in front of you possessed?
Eyes darting from side to side, you looked for quick escape...
SLAM
Rock cracked under the impact of the hands that slammed on either side of your head, a loud hiss demanding your attention.
You looked back into its eyes, praying it wasn't going to try to hypnotize you, or kill you slowly.
Please, please, just let me live. I want to see my family- I had so much I wanted to do!
Tears filled your eyes as you pressed yourself defensively into the rock, staring at the snake.
It glared back at you, eyes flickering as it began to bare its teeth.
In terror, you threw your arms over your head, holding up your sketchbook like a shield, useless as the effort was. You squeezed your eyes shut, hoping that death would come swiftly.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then a soft hiss.
Pressure on your sketchpad. You cracked an eye open, blinking when you saw a hand missing on the side you had turned your face towards.
Something on your sketchpad traced lines, scratching noises coming from above. There was another soft hiss, and you turned your head to peer above the sketchbook's edge.
The skeleton creature was staring at the paper, eyes large, fuzzy at the edges; like a cat that had discovered a new toy.
Belatedly, you realized that the sketch of the sea naga had been turned towards the snake, so it saw that as it leaned forward to assuredly kill you.
In the midst of your fear, your brain screamed at the thought of someone or something seeing your art, self-conscious thoughts forcing a spiral deeper into your stress of potentially dying in the next fwe minutes.
You hadn't even captured its upper body, before it was upon you. And now it scrutinized your work with a keen eye, as you peered above the edge of your notebook, trying to keep your whimpers of fear muted.
It gazed mutely at your work, eye lights flickering back to you on occasion. Coils still covered your body, effectively pinning you down. If it wasn't pleased, it could keep you here till the tide swept in and drowned you.
You tried to wiggle free, alarm sparking when you realized the time.
A loud hiss warned you of making that mistake. Once again it bent down, the tongue tasting the air again.
It looked at you, tilting its head. A hand gently pried your sketchbook from your hands, the other pointing hand to the image of its lower half. Eyelights asked you a question.
You nodded, pointing shakily at the painting, and then back at yourself.
Eyelights expanded again, eager, inquisitive.
Its skull came down, to nuzzle inquisitively at your hair, sniffing. The hard bone nudged your skull, soft hisses keeping you aware of its proximity. You felt the air from its breath ruffle your hair, traveling down as it sniffed your neck. It nuzzled your neck, the chill of bone making you shiver it hovered there- only to squirm when you felt the tip of the tongue brush against your skin, cold, tickling. You bit back a giggle at the tickling sensation, noting already how your fear had dyed at the docile gesture of the sea creature.
It drew back, seemingly satisfied with whatever it was searching for.
Then, the snake yawned, opening a mouth of fangs and teeth. It sank down, skull resting on your chest, ribcage rising and falling in a slow, natural pattern.
It had fallen asleep on top of you.
Perhaps, it hadn't ever felt threatened by you, and was just putting a show to terrify you.
The rock uncomfortable against your back and the threat of the tide kept you from thinking too much about it. You wiggled, getting an arm free, preparing to move yourself. An irritated huff drew your attention back, the snake glaring at you, before reaching out with an arm.
Its hand reached behind to gently grip your neck, holding you in place as it adjusted. You felt scales move underneath, coils under and over your body, till you were in a semi sitting position, the snake coiled snugly around you. The skeletal part came against to rest against your body, skull position itself between neck and shoulder.
It made a pleased noise, rubbing against the exposed skin. Belated, you realized your arms were free, and that you had the ability to push the snake away.
But you didn't, instead reaching out to pat the skull of the snake, fingers brushing gently over the skin.
It was smooth, yet slightly grainy, like a stone worn by the sea.
A groan-like noise rumbled from the creature, its arms reaching up to wrap around your waist, holding you like a pillow. You looked out at the sea, realizing that the tide had come in long ago, already filling the area between beach and ocean.
But you were just high enough to wear even a rogue wave could barely sweep you out.
You sighed, the adrenaline of the day draining from your body, leaving exhaustion in its wake. You wrapped your arms around the skeleton, your mind too tired to admit the absurdity of the situation. Besides, it was warmer here.
The sun twinkled above, casting shadows on the cliff, preparing its evening descent into the sea. Clouds still danced above, the seagulls playing in the wisps as they cried to each other.
The sound of waves crashing beyond the cave and water trickling through rocks was strangely comforting, dimming slightly as you focused back again on your dilemma. Your free hand came up to brush against your face, muting another hysterical giggle. Your other hand stilled, resting on the neck of the snake.
A hand came up to grip the one on your face, pulling it away to reveal the gaze of the snake, a single eyelight burning at you. With deliberate slowness, it pulled your hand to its teeth, pressed the back of your hand against its smile, a slow wink accompanying it.
You gazed in disbelief, a flush rising along your cheeks
It smiled, working fingers between yours as your hands fell onto your stomach.
""รɭєєק," it hummed, speaking out as it made itself comfortable. The voice was low, gravely, and undeniably male.
You flushed deeper, nodding as you sank back.
""ﻮ๏๏๔ ɭเՇՇɭє ๓เภภ๏ฬ," he murmured, reaching out to brush hair from your face with his other hand.
Eyes widened as he fell back asleep again, wondering how you ever got here, to this point. But now, as the adrenaline drained from your body, you felt weariness take over, your eyes fluttering shut. You nestled deeper into the embrace of the sea creature, falling asleep quickly.
But, it almost seemed like you heard a soft lullaby playing before you sank into darkness, warm and inviting, safe and sound... like a lullaby you had been yearning to hear all your life.
In the back of your mind, you recalled the warning of sirens again- but it was too late to do anything as you fell unconscious, held protectively in the grasp of a sea snake.