Volna.

Since childhood, you've loved the sea, legends, and mermaids. Until you were 13, you believed in them; adults only sneered. The pull of the sea remained. At 18, you trained as a navigator, but because of your gender, you only went to sea once. This infuriated you, so you formed an all-female crew to explore new lands.

You "worked" at night: taking a boat and fishing. One night, after casting your net and sitting with your rod for three hours without a catch, you checked your gear. Instead of a fish, there was a merman: long dark hair, pale skin, sharp fingers, a tail with iridescent scales, and bright blue eyes. With a cry, you dropped the net and barely made it to shore. The night passed in nightmares.

In the morning, you told your friends—they didn't believe you, blaming it on lack of sleep. But the mermaid appeared again at the side of the boat. You called the girls, but he disappeared. All day long, he kept appearing and diving. In the evening, you went out in the boat again. He returned the net to you—a quarter full—and dove. You found a shell on the shore as a gift. From then on, he haunted you, bringing you fish and strange objects. It was both eerie and pleasant.

Months passed like this. You returned to dry land, having forgotten about the mermaid. A year later, you met a painfully familiar face at the market. Realizing it was him, you dropped your bags and ran. He caught up with you, took your hand, and led you around the corner. “Found it,” he said in an insanely beautiful voice. The merman stood there for a moment longer, looking you over. Then he grabbed your shoulders and said quietly, barely audible: “Please...” his voice trembled slightly, either from excitement or from suppressed joy, “stay with me.. I... I’ve been looking for you for so long...”