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Mercutio and Benvolio had never seen anything like it. They weren’t allowed to go to the beach alone, especially not to the shore, where the water lapped at the sand and left a trace of foam. But the sight of such a magical object was worth the risk of a real scolding. Benvolio was the first to notice that the tide had dragged in something other than the shells and seaweed that turned up on the beach every day. He went over to Mercutio during breakfast and whispered in his ear:
“Finish up quick, we’ve got something important to do.”
The twins ran down the slope that led to East Sands and stared in fascination at their extraordinary discovery. Mercutio said confidently that the gift the sea had dragged in looked like a woman. But Benvolio thought it was just an oddly shaped branch.
“It’s a girl!” said Mercutio. “See what long hair she has?”
A gentle wind shifted the threads of seaweed that were clinging to the newcomer’s skull. In the background thick sheets of flattened clouds filled the sky, hanging over the two boys. The beach was deserted.
“Look,” said Benvolio, his voice small with fear. “It’s not hair, stupid—it’s seaweed.”
“But she’s wearing a dress, see,” said Mercutio, using a stick to touch what looked like frayed lace.
Benvolio snatched the stick away from his brother and poked at the rags covering the rounded end of the mysterious object. Its muddy eyelids rose slowly to reveal two sockets, empty and deep. The twins jumped back and froze. They were almost too terrified to breathe. On the strange face a small nose twitched, and a sneeze shook the seaweed, or the hair, or whatever it was.
“It’s seaweed.”
Benvolio’s murmur was almost inaudible.
“It’s hair,” insisted Mercutio, even more quietly.
The girl pushed the locks of hair out of her face with a hand so slender it seemed to be made of twigs, exposing a starfish stuck to her temple. She turned her empty sockets toward the twins, and it shouldn’t have been possible, but they knew she was looking right at them.
“You have to help me—please!”
The voice was sweet, but there was something terrifying and unearthly about it.
“My situation is desperate, I’m begging you...”
With a great effort the thing managed to stand up, the two branches she had for legs clicking and clacking the whole time. Benvolio had moved behind Mercutio and was watching with his eyes wide. Feeling safe behind the barricade of his brother’s shoulder, he stretched out a hand to touch the visitor, but as soon as his fingers brushed against the extraordinary creature she collapsed. The sand beneath her groaned.
The boys ran, their legs blurring with speed. When they reached the top of the hill they both stopped and looked back at the same time, their curls tousled from the wind, their hearts roaring like mad drums. The wooden girl lay there, motionless. It only took an instant for the sea to reach her and swallow her up, carrying her off as easily as it had brought her. The only thing left of her was a scrap of cloth that the next wave washed away.
The twins felt the sting of fascination and horror. They could not have said whether what they had just witnessed was more beautiful or more frightening. They had hardly dared to go near the terrifying treasure the sea had brought, but they were deeply sorry it was gone. They tasted, for the first time in their lives, the bittersweet flavor of melancholy. Something settled inside them and weighed down the words they might have used to talk about what had happened, so that they never mentioned it again.
It was a sort of an omen of what would happen a few hours later, of the dreadful event that stole away a great part of their young souls.