By: Helen Gavoe

Moonbeam path beckons, offering the illusion of walking on water into infinity. Ripple waves caress the sands at my feet bouncing moonbeams to blind my eyes and they appear. They call to me from the edge of vision to follow the path…my sisters from the sea. A sirens call promising a home and freedom.

“Why have you waited so long?” They chorus…”And suffered so much at the hands of men?”
“I didn’t know you were waiting.” I murmur in reply.

As the moon rises I sink into the sand, I am old and tired I think, not strong enough to join my lovely sisters. I see them coming closer now, hair streaming out behind, red, black, and yellow, eyes glowing, as effervescent bubbles follow in their wake.

“We called to you every time you touched the sea.”

“I didn’t hear you…not till now.”

“You were distracted by life.”

“And now?”

“You are ready.”

They begin to sing to me, voices pure in harmony… And I rise. I slip my shoes and pull my dress off shedding the prerequisites of land locked life and realize I have grown flabby in body as well as mind.

“I am old and ugly and can not sing.” I cry.

“You can leave that husk behind. The waves will wash it away…”

They come closer now, I see their finny tails, their naked breasts, their hands reach out for me.

“I am afraid.” I whisper.

“You have nothing to fear. We are the sisters you never had, and we will hold you dear.”

Mesmerized, I take a step on moonbeam path, and then another and another. I have nothing left to bind me here. They reach out and draw me deeper. And then I see…sharp teeth and necklaces of bones.

“And now, at last, you will be free.”