Ocean Spirit : The Story of an Undine
By Anne Spackman
Copyright 2014 by Anne Spackman
All rights reserved.
So many different kinds of people, he thought to himself as he drifted on his surfing board in the water at Del Mar Beach, San Diego, California. He was hungry and decided to come in for breakfast early that morning. He was enjoying himself tremendously, out here by the gorgeous California coastline.
Brandon Jones was his name, and he had turned 26 years old this past March. His favorite food had been hibachi grilled meats until recently, when he decided to go on a vegetable juice diet for a few weeks to get in shape for the season. He couldn’t really handle a lot of fruit—well, pineapple was all right. He lived on the beach and worked in San Diego in the IT industry, but on week-ends, he belonged to the ocean.
Brandon lived in a small apartment in San Diego—he couldn’t afford a place by the water, so it was a considerable way to the beach every week-end, but the distance didn’t deter him from going there. He had always loved the beach, the ocean, aquariums, sea food, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets by the ocean’s shore. At home, he had a huge fish tank with some blue cichlids from Africa, a small coral reef, and some tiny fiddler crabs. He liked small sharks, jellyfish, blue fish especially but many small species of colorful fish as well, and anything he could catch and eat with his grandpa in San José.
Brandon was also into hiking at times, and loved the Muir Woods, the Redwood Forest, and touring the Sonoma County vineyards. San Francisco was another favorite vacation city Brandon liked to visit. Brandon couldn’t afford to go to San Francisco very often, but he had gone to university at Berkeley, so he was familiar with northern California, even though he had been raised in San Diego.
Today it was hot and clear, and Brandon made for the shore and got some clothes on, then got into his tiny car and headed into the city for some breakfast at a local café. He ended up with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, and also got some orange juice—he would eat anything, really, at this point—and then headed back to his apartment in the city.
His apartment was a mess, and he had an even messier roommate: Joe. Brandon kept reminding himself that he was going to tidy up—but at least he kept the kitchen clean and free of insect infestations. His last girlfriend had really helped him want to keep the apartment clean, but with Joe, his roommate, keeping anything tidy was a losing battle.
Brandon got dressed for a jog and went out for a 3 mile run around the neighborhood, which was really all he had time to do today. He had to pack for a business trip to Boston. He was flying out that afternoon at 2 p.m.
“Feed my fish, will you?” Brandon said to Joe as he brought his small suitcase into the living room. “I’ll pay 50 more bucks on the rent this time, if you look after my fish.”
“Sure, ok, I know how,” returned Joe. Just don’t be gone long.”
Brandon got a taxi to the airport and was on his way. It was late that evening when he arrived in Boston, and he took another taxi to his small hotel. Brandon had decided to fly a day earlier than he needed to in order to spend a day touring Boston.
The next morning Brandon, who was used to getting up early to head to the beach, was up by 7 a.m. He got dressed, ate breakfast, and headed out to explore the city of Boston. Brandon spent the day seeing the sites, and walking a bit in Boston Common, but he wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean and took public transit and then a taxi to Constitution Beach. Walking on the beach by 3PM, he stepped on a shell and had to stop and pick it out of his skin. He then looked up and saw a girl walking on the beach, with long, dark hair and really white skin. She was pretty, and was looking directly at him.
“Who, me?” he pointed to himself, and looked over his shoulder to see if she was looking at someone past him. But, it seemed she was looking directly at him.
She took a step towards him, and stopped. He just stayed where he was. He wasn’t used to strange girls approaching him.
She wasn’t carrying a purse, he noticed, and was dressed in a strange, old-fashioned white linen dress—and though on second glance, she was actually quite lovely, a make-over and a nice, colorful outfit would help her to look more modern.
She took another step, tripped, and fell—much to his surprise. She looked young, maybe in her mid-twenties at the most. She fell straight to the sand and didn’t get back up, though she tried to a couple of times and kept slipping back down as though her legs were too weak to support her. Now he headed over towards her and tried to help her rise to her feet.
“Are you all right, miss?” he asked, being the gentleman.
“My legs are weak,” she said in a strange accent that sounded like she were possibly a foreigner—though he couldn’t place her English accent.
“Let’s go sit then,” he said. “I’ll order you a drink. But we’ll have to find a place.”
Her eyes brightened at that, and she let him help her up.
“I will go with you,” she said. “I will try to walk better.”
“All right,” he said. “Miss—
She stopped for a second and looked across the way. “Una.”
“Hmmm.” He said. “Never heard that name before. Ok, Una, take my arm and we’ll go back to the city a bit and find a place to drink—or eat, if you’re hungry.”
He thought to himself that he didn’t mind her company but that eventually they would have to part ways as he had a busy day ahead tomorrow. She was pretty enough, but he wasn’t interested in dating someone who lived halfway across the country.
“Thanks,” she said.
They found a nice restaurant with a bar and went in for a drink. He ordered for her, something fruity, and he had a beer.
“So Una, do you live around here?” he asked, as she took a sip of her drink and puckered her lips. She screwed up her face, as though she’d never had an alcoholic drink before.
“I just got here,” she said vaguely.
“Really? So did I. I’m here from San Diego, just here for 2 days, actually, on business.”
“Oh,” she said. “I just saw you and knew.”
“Knew?”
“That you were the man I was looking for.”
His face went blank. “I don’t know you from somewhere, do I?”
She smiled. “You were visiting near here, four years ago. On the beach at Martha’s Vineyard.”
“Oh, that time! I came for a family wedding. But—Una, how did you know that?”
“I was there.” She said quietly.
“Really?” he was incredulous. “I don’t remember meeting you. One of Uncle Mark’s family? Or the groom’s family—um, Jason Taylor…”
“No, I was in the water that day.” She said. “You came out into the water early for a swim on your machine.”
He started laughing. “A surfboard.” He laughed again. “Who are you?”
She turned very serious, and looked like she might cry. “I came a long way to find you,” was all she said.
“Una, how did you know I’d be here now? You know Uncle Mark, who lives in Martha’s vineyard, right? But I don’t keep in touch with him.”
She took another sip of her drink, and started choking. He slapped her on the back to help her to breathe.
“I would tell you the truth, Brandon, if you would believe me. But I do not know what you will feel then.”
“Try me.”
“I am an undine,” she said.
“A what?”
“I am not like you, I am an undine. And the day I was swimming and met you, I knew you were the one I wanted to be with. I loved you when I sa
w you smile and shake your head to get the water out of it. I can’t say how I knew you were coming back to this area—but when I felt you coming, I swam here.”
“You swam here,” he said, in a dubious tone. “From Martha’s Vineyard. You know how far— ”
“I told you, I am an undine.”
“What’s an undine?” he said.
“I am not a mortal human being, but a creature of the sea. A mermaid, some have called us, but we are spirits of the sea. I had not been to land in a hundred years when I saw you last time, four years ago.”
Brandon was laughing and looking for an appropriate exit.
“Believe me. I will show you if you like.”
Now this was too weird for him, but he was a fair guy and decided to let her attempt to “show him”.
“All right, but I don’t really believe you,” he said.
“I know.”
They finished their drinks and got up. And then she said, “Let’s go back to the beach, and there I will show you.”
So, they returned to Constitution Beach and got out near the water.
“Follow me,” she said.
He rolled up his pants, took off his shoes, and let her lead him near the water.
She smiled and waded in a bit, splashing him playfully as he waded in, too.
“Oooh, I’ll get you for that, wench,” he laughed. Then he stopped. And stared. Even in the dim water, he could see something strange was happening. Her skin was changing texture to something a little scaly—and her entire body’s skin was turning a pale shade of green.
He gasped and thought about scrambling back. But with the change in her skin color, her eyes looked so sad and deep, like his might have when he felt that way, on one of those quiet mornings when he was out in the water at Del Mar and felt at one with the ocean. She looked even more beautiful than she had at first.
Then, she arched back and got her hair wet in the water. Her hair turned black as the darkest seaweed, and she pulled off her dress and got in the water naked.
He looked around to make sure no one else was watching.
“What was he going to do?” he kept wondering.
“Do you want to come to San Diego?” he asked suddenly, wondering at himself for suggesting it. She was something really strange. He should have just turned and walked away. But, he couldn’t. He was starting to like her. “Can you live on dry land for long?”
“I can live on dry land for seven years, and no more.” She said sadly.
“Sounds fair,” he said with a smile. “I’ll show you San Diego.”
She brightened. “I don’t scare you?”
“Well, I’ve seen some pretty worse things in the water to be afraid of,” returned Brandon. “But no, for some reason, no, you don’t scare me at all.”