When you drown and die do you go to heaven or hell? Do you get reincarnated? Or do you just go to sleep and never wake up? Right now, it honestly doesn’t matter what you believe, because I know the truth. I drowned in the ocean. It seems fake and unexplainable; how could someone who drowned tell the story of what happened after they died? Maybe because when I died, I never actually breathed my last breath, but I took my first.

Overcast and windy days were always the best days to go to the beach in my opinion. So the day I decided to go, it was darker than one’s usual beach day therefore very few people were at the beach, let alone swimming. But I still went by myself and went swimming as I always did each miserable Sunday morning. It wasn’t any different than any of the other gloomy days I often went to the beach, but it ended up being life-altering.

As I climbed over each boulder I got closer to my favorite ledge. It was never too much of a struggle, and I always made it to the top in about six minutes. When I got to the top I pulled off my oversized tie-dyed t-shirt and distressed jean shorts. I stood there in my swimsuit for a minute, breathing in the salty air and feeling the heavy wind whip against my ribs, giving me the feeling of hollowness and fragility. I stretched my body across the ground and rested my chin on the edge of the ledge. I laid there alone, looking down and watching the waves crash up against the rocks.

When I got up I shook my hair out of the braid it was in and rummaged my fingers through it. My hair was lighter than it normally had been before summer; it was a caramel brown matching the freckles that dotted my face. I loved it, being up here alone. It gave me a sense of peacefulness, completeness, and freedom. It was always an escape from my normal life where I could just focus on the sound of each wave crashing and every bird cawing.

Whenever I’d dive off the ledge I’d get such a thrill. I’d get this rush of adrenaline and energy that nothing else could ever give me. I’d take the leap, and it would seem like such a dangerous action, but then I’d sink under the water and then rise up with bubbles surrounding me, fully safe yet breathing hard. So, like any other time, I took the leap. When my toes released their grip off the jagged rocks I spun forward and did a flip in the air before I straightened out again and dove into the water with a splash.
But I didn’t just rise up to the top of the water. I started getting pushed around by powerful waves. I was getting tugged under and I struggled to find my way to air. I fought back to the top and gasped for air. But then instead of being tugged downward I was beginning to be thrown towards a wall of rocks. I fought and fought and fought but it was no use. I was being hauled closer and closer to the rocks with every second. I ducked back under the water and opened my eyes. It stung awfully but I stayed under and jerked from one side to the other to try and swim back out away from the rocks. But the current still had me and I was pushed upwards again. This time as I came out of the water I was flung up against the rocks. I sunk back into the water, weak, and before I could react I was tossed up again. That time I felt it bruise my back tremendously. When I fell back into the water I attempted to swim downward. But once again I was thrown up and this time I was unable to protect myself. My head smashed against the rocks. I heard the crack and before I could even feel the warm blood dripping down my shattered skull, everything blacked out, and I was dead.

You always wonder what happens to you when your heart stops beating. I always assumed that you showed up at the glowing golden gates of heaven. But I never expected to still be in the water. When I woke up I was floating under the water. But I was not a lifeless body. There was no blood, no bruises, and astoundingly, I could breathe. But even wilder than that, was the fact that I no longer wore my bikini bottoms, but a fish tail. Shimmering with bluish-green scales, it was beautiful, completely stunning. I was in shock. What had happened to me? Then it hit me. I had somehow become a mermaid. I drowned in the ocean and turned into a mermaid.

My mind rushed with dozens of questions. How the crap am I alive? How am I a mermaid? Are there other mermaids in the ocean? Do all who drown like me turn into mermaids? I never even considered mermaids to be real, but I knew this wasn’t a dream. I began attempting to swim somewhere, but I wasn’t exactly sure where, since I couldn’t walk back up on land. As I swam I realized how the water no longer stung my eyes, and the water was much clearer.

After I swam for what I assumed was about twenty minutes, I saw a large fish swimming deep in the water. Not like the small fish you see scuba diving, but something almost six feet long. I then realized it was swimming my direction. I tried swimming away but I had not quite mastered being a mermaid in the past half hour, and was not nearly fast enough to outswim this creature. As it approached me I realized it wasn’t just a fish, but a merman. I guess I’m not the only one.

“Hello beautiful, you new to this part of then sea?” he said as he flashed me a grin, “I’m Dion, what’s your name pretty girl?”

I hadn’t even thought about talking under water. Was it as easy as talking on land? I didn’t want to make a fool of myself though, and as I opened my mouth the words seemed to just flow out, “I’m Mae. I don’t even now what’s going on right now, I thought I was dead but then I found a tail instead of two legs and I don’t know how to get back and…”

“Slow down there, sweetheart,” he said as he chuckled, “unfortunately you’re stuck like this. But fortunately you have me,” I wasn’t quite sure if I liked this guy yet, “Are there more mermaids and mermen other than you?” I asked. “Yes ma’am, we’ve got a whole community of drowned folks like us,” He circled around me, grasped my hand and spun me around with him. So those who drown do turn to mermaids. When I flipped around towards him our eyes met. I slowed and he picked up my other hand. His eyes were piercing green. I then realized what we were doing and quickly turned away.

“Hey let me take you back to where the rest of us live,” he offered as he followed after me. Was that a good idea? I wondered to myself. “I know we’ve just met, but what else are you going to do? Go swim until you get caught in a net? C’mon with me and I can bring you to a new home.” What was I doing? I just met a merman for goodness sake! But I couldn’t help it; I guess being caught in his net of beauty and mystery was better than a fisherman’s net. I took his hand again and trailed next to him off into the unknown depths of the seas.