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I know who I am. I think I know who I am anyway. I was certain who I was until strange things began happening to me, things I couldn't explain. It was like, when you have a dream, it's quite clear during the dream what events are unfolding. But when you wake up, you're not sure of the details, you can't quite remember exactly what happened.
Sometimes my dreams are euphoric, especially when I fly in them, and often, they are wicked or humiliating, I have to try to wake myself up. Does walking around in your underwear sound familiar? Quick, wake me up.
But I keep having this one recurring dream that seems so real that, when I wake up, I feel I've actually been to those places, I've actually been that person. I try to wake myself up but, in these dreams, I can't, I'm stuck in them. And the odd thing is, I don't even believe in what they are. Greek Mythology, Greek Gods, you know, like Zeus, Apollo, Herod, Gods like that. Sounds crazy but, they talk to me, both as I was back then and who I am now.
I'm a doctor, more like a healer, in the dreams. I cure people with magic herbs and blood, I even bring the dead back to life. But it never ends well with me, I have to die over and over in the dreams. Well, not really die, just stuck in a cosmic form and I can't get out. But then it starts all over and I'm back to healing.
Do they mean anything? After all they're just a dream, right? We all have dreams. But these seem to mean something, seem to point me in a direction I don't want to go in. But I always have to remind myself, it's just a dream. Or is it?
It started when I was twelve years old.
1988 GULF COAST OF FLORIDA
An empty thirty-foot boat rolls on the waves of the open sea. Underwater, Brandon, a semi-chubby, short hair, nerdy looking twelve-year old, scuba dives with his father in a clouded sea, his dad swimming only three feet away. The murky sea clouds their vision from anything more than fifteen feet in front of them. His father taps him on the shoulder and points to the surface. Brandon nods his head as his father swims upward. Brandon starts to swim but jerks as a large fish shoots toward him from the side. Brandon stops as the fish quickly disappears.
In front of him, a bit blurred, he spots a large, dolphin like tail. Intrigued, he swims toward the tail, but it stays far enough in front of him that he can only see it flap. He kicks his feet harder, tries to catch up to see more of the tail but, it again disappears.
Brandon tires and slows down to rest. Suddenly, the hazy, murky type water starts to clear, somewhat like the fog lifting to expose San Francisco. As he watches, he sees the tail gently sway with the current.
Slow, as the water clears, he sees a pair of hands, then flowing blond hair, and as the water completely clears, it reveals a horrendous looking merman. His lower torso from his waist down is a dirty green, scaly covered fish tail. From the waist up he's a man, not quite a normal man, but with a man's features. From his forehead to near the back of his head, he's bald, but that area is covered with round, shell like spots scattered around his scalp to his ears. His thick, blond hair starts near the back of his head and is shoulder length. His ears are large and pointed, his nose wide and flat. His webbed hands have long, thin fingers with razor sharp claws.
As they stare at each other, the merman, with no movement, appears instantly, floating in front of Brandon.
He yanks Brandon's mask and breathing device off his face, then throws it through the water. Brandon just stares at him, doesn't move. He has no trouble holding his breath or seeing clearly. He inspects the sea around him, shoots a slight grin as he realizes he can see and hold his breath so well.
The merman snaps his full mouth of razor sharp teeth at Brandon in a threatening manner. Brandon remains motionless, unafraid. The merman roars and shoots waves of water which toss and jerk Brandon around, but he regains his composure instead of being gripped by fear. He again stays in one spot, eye to eye with the merman.
The merman inspects Brandon, head to toe, with his coal black eyes.
He moves his head close to Brandon, sniffs his chest area, swims to his back, sniffs more. He swims around to the front of Brandon, stops, curls his lips so his teeth are exposed. He snarls, then shoots through the water like a torpedo and disappears.
Brandon slowly swims to the surface. His head emerges from the water as he scans the area.
"Brandon, over here." shouts his father from the boat, about twenty yards away. Once he reaches the back, his father extends his hand and helps pull him onto the back-landing area.
"What happened to you son, I was ready to come down and hunt for you. Where's your mask and mouthpiece?" he asks as he inspects Brandon's equipment.
Brandon, short of breath, blurts out, "A mermaid dad, I saw a mermaid, only it was a man. He had long blond hair and teeth, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth...he scared the crap out of..."
His father cuts him off. "Easy son, it was murky down there, a lot of weird looking fish could have looked..."
"No dad, the water cleared, he was all fish tail below his waist. He was a man from the waist up, only ten feet in front of me. He tore off my mask and mouthpiece."
"Then I'm curious, how did you breathe...and see?"
"I, I don't know dad, it was weird. I held my breath and could see fine, like...like, I didn't need any of that gear."
"Son, look at the water, it's still cloudy. How can you say it cleared?"
Brandon glances into a still murky sea, nods his head sideways. "I, I don't know, it was clear down there. But I sensed something. I sensed he waited for me, almost like he was hunting me."
"I think you're letting your imagination get the better of your common sense. Let's get you changed and get some food into that empty belly."
"Whatever dad, I know what I saw."