Monday Microfiction: "Seaweed and Sparrows"

Photo by Moustafa Neamatalla on Unsplash

This week's microfiction is a 150-word story about what it takes to catch a mermaid.

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Seaweed and Sparrow

Hidden by the shame and shadow of a new moon, I cast a net woven from seaweed and cursed by sparrows. I sang a song of fortune and waited, gentle waves rocking my rowboat like a cradle.

Splash. Splashsplash. I couldn’t see my quarry, but pictured the mermaids surfacing, heads cocked and overlarge eyes aflame. I softened my voice as a lover would to entice them closer.

Then: shadows in the dark. Shadows that bared rows of tiny, razor-sharp teeth, glowing a painful, vivid green. For many lost at sea, mermaids’ teeth shining in the dark were the last thing seen.

Into the ocean, I tossed a handful of prismfish. The waters churned; a frenzy had begun. More ‘maids swarmed and shrieked and fought.

With a yank, the net snapped shut. Caught, the ‘maids howled and wailed to no avail.

Thanks to the sparrows, I’d soon be a rich man.

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