cove moved to sunset bird a few hours ago and he hated the place. he hated being without his mother, and he hated living without her. he hated how his dad brought him to this new place, and how he was just expected to start here all over again.

he missed his old room, his old house, his hill. he missed the things that made where he used to live, home.

as he found himself on a hill covered in these white poppies, he heard a sweet melody carried by the wind. a voice singing some unknown tune, coming from the beach. wiping his tears, he got up and walked down the hill, and followed the voice, his steps light and curious.

as he got to the beach, he saw a silhouette of a someone that looked his age, but they were in the water.

“…hello?” cove said, not too loud but loud enough for the person to hear him.

the person turned around, made eye contact with cove with a smile, and dived underwater. it was dark and the moon was out but cove swore he saw a tail as the person dived.

cove knew exactly what the person was. a mermaid. a real smile finally broke through his face as he got excited and ran across the shore and into the water. he got as deep as he could do the water wouldn’t touch his cast.

“are you a mermaid..?” cove asked, looking around. “my name is cove!”

a few meters away, a head popped up from underwater, looking at cove. they made eye contact again, before the mermaid smiled.

“i’m y/n. what are you doing out here?” they said, tilting their head to the side.

“i followed your voice.” cove said quietly. y/n swam closer to cove, as their tail started to touch the sandy floor.

y/n giggled, before smiling widely. “did i sound good? it’s a song that i heard when i was exploring, and i wanted to try singing it!”

“it sounded really good! you’re a really good singer.”

cove and y/n smiled at each other, before y/n dived underwater again, and came back up holding a seashell as an offering.

“cove… can we be friends?”

cove nodded repeatedly, making y/n laugh as they tossed him the seashell. cove caught it, clutching it on his chest.

“you’re my first ever human friend! this is going to be so much fun! we can go swimming together—“

“after i get my cast off.”

“yes, after you get your cast off. we can also talk all the time, and hang out, and do what friends do! i can tell you about the people that live here too! you gotta stay away from the grumpy old people in the neighbourhood over there! they’re kinda rude, or at least, that’s what lizzie said to shiloh.”

“who’s lizzie?” cove whispered, curiously.

“she’s this girl that lives here and she always plays at the park close to the beach, a little that way.” y/n pointed before continuing. “she says it’s her park but you can’t own a park! that’s so silly!”

“i owned a hill back home.”

“oh! well then, i guess you can own stuff!”

cove and y/n laughed together before cove trailed off.

“how do you know them? i thought that i was your first human friend.”

y/n’s face fell slightly, before they sighed and a small smile came on their face. “they don’t know i exist. honestly, no one is supposed to know. i just like listening to them talk, and watching them hang out together! shiloh and lizzie are best friends and i wanted to be a part of that… you know?”

cove nodded slightly, before cracking a smile.

“well, i promise i won’t tell anyone you’re a mermaid and that i’ll be the bestest human friend ever!”

y/n giggled softly. “i promise i’ll be the best mermaid friend ever! use that shell to contact me whenever! i’ll always answer! just like, talk in it!”

cove nodded, and as he said was about to say something, he heard his father calling his name. cove sighed before turning to y/n.

“i need to get back…” cove whispered, and y/n smiled.

cove’s dad was getting closer and closer, by the way his voice was getting louder. y/n waved goodbye, before swimming to deeper waters and diving underneath the calm waves.

cove smiled, and stepped out of the water, holding onto the shell, before walking towards his dad. maybe this new place wasn’t so bad.