#merrows

Still wet—an old t-shirt

keeping the wind off my chest

Feet bare, carefully navigating

this abandoned stretch of the old coast road

Dodging pebbles—

sand rubbed and brushed away

except between my toes

Sycamore leaves hanging like laundry

drying from the storm

And the smell of sagebrush

warming in the morning sun

I’m reminded in this moment

of how we met:

    You, carrying a journal of words

    both arms wrapped around

    and tucked under your chin

Guarded by your almond eyes

that still drop me to my knees

When I walk north along the sand

at midnight, or unleash

and dive deep into the underwater world

it’s you I see

I’ve heard you as well, on the shore

beckoning my return one more time

My merrow—

bringing me back each and every fucking time

You alone understand my words

of muffled surf and heavy foggy air

Bless the Wind that gave you flight

and the Sea that gave me her eyes

Brain: no

Scion: But it’s due this week?

Brain: NO!

Scion: ???

Brain: what does Quinn do when he needs special Merrow-nutrients for his special healer diet?

Scion: …valid, but no. He goes to the store, obvi. Focus, plz. I have deadlines.

Brain: …which store? 😏

Scion: the one with the half-Merrow plant guy that makes potions and pines after the guy that fell into the pond in his front yard—wait.

Brain: nonono, it’s interesting. Go on.

A Warning Of The Aquatic Fey (Fae)…

Most ideas of mermaids usually come from our media and legends.

As a Scottish/Irish descent; my family has had its share of aquatic encounter stories with two races of Fae: Selkies & Merrows.

These creatures of the deep can be seen as sympathetic and even friendly towards humans (if your intentions are good). Though, those of bad intentions are faced with the horrors of the deep.

Even Selkies and Merrows can have a dark side, cursing families, bringing bad luck, even death!

A few races of Fae are far more dangerous to humans: like the Finns in the North Atlantic and the Ben Varrey of the Irish Sea.

The Finns (Finfolk) see humans as ‘lesser’ beings, enslaving them. They are even known to spirit humans away to take as lovers, especially the maids.

The Ben Varrey, though friendly with your intentions are fair; they are known to barter and steal children and young adults to live with them in the ocean.

Two stories are passed down from generation to generation about my ancestors interacting with the Fae: one was enchanted and fell in love with a lovely Merrow. The other courted a Selkie; but as legends go, she left for the sea.

A mermaid is a mythical sea-dwelling creature, often described as having the head and body of a woman and a fish's tail below the waist. Stories of mermaids have existed for thousands of years and span cultures across the world - from coastal settlements in Ireland to the landlocked Karoo desert in South Africa. The English word mermaid is a compound of "mere" (Old English for sea) and "maid" (a girl or young woman).

“In modern times, merpeople living in warmer waters take on a more beautiful appearance, while those in colder waters, such as the selkies of Scotland and the Merrows of Ireland, are less attractive.” [x]

--but that opens up the door to about a million sociopolitical issues and biological mysteries. 

For instance: can different subspecies travel to other areas? Would a merrow be treated poorly in warmer waters where the merpeople are more conventionally attractive, or would they be valued for their more fish-like qualities? Is it only humans who prefer warm water merpeople? Are merrows the paragon of attraction in the merworld? What exactly is their standard of beauty? 

Also, there’s the whole evolutionary aspect. If a selkie traveled to warmer waters, would it die because the climate is too drastically different? Can merpeople intermarry? By definition, subspecies can mate but they’re less likely to due to locational differences, so we know it works biologically, but do they have laws about it? Is it frowned upon for a warm water merperson to mate with a selkie? Is it considered a superior pairing because it generates more genetic diversity or a wicked hybrid creature?

Idk maybe they don’t do much traveling, but that still leaves a lot to wonder about. When offered being status under the 1811 revised definition, they refused, saying they didn’t want to be grouped with dark creatures like hags and vampires. This brings up the question: who did the deciding? 

They likely don’t share a collective consciousness (though that would be pretty sick), so do they have a political body? A mer-court? A democracy? Do some types of merpeople get more votes? Did the Ministry only ask the warm water merpeople since they look more human and the Ministry is made up of bigots? Was it a unanimous decision? Were there uprisings and protests? If so, are there mer-prisons to lock away the rebels?