Waves slammed against the rocks; dumping frothing, foaming water on the smoothed, flattened surfaces. When the ocean pulled back, traces of foam bubbled and gurgled on the rocky shore as it slipped back to the thundering depths below.
The hurricane had ravaged the bottom of the sea, dragging what was long forgotten back to the surface.
Isla swam against the current, flipping her tail, aiming to go deeper where the swirling waves couldn’t touch her. A powerful shift in the current swept her up. Isla flailed her arms and twisted in the powerful force of the ocean.
The wave thrust her out of the water and slapped her against a rock, cascading down on top of her before retreating into the sea.
Her head spun; vision blurred. Blinking again and again, Isla attempted to clear her field of view and the dull aching darkness that crept into the edges of her mind. The hard surface of the rock was grainy and scratchy against her supple, moist skin, like pebbles grinding into her flesh.
Isla sat up. She sucked in a sharp breath, swaying back and forth. She grabbed he sides of her head, attempting to steady the rapid spinning inside her skull.
Slowly, the dizziness subsided and she caught her breath.
Waves continued to hammer against the rocks, bringing more water around her, but not enough to carry he back out to sea. The salt water seeped into her tailfins and Isla hissed, pulling herself further from the water.
Frowning, she examined the cause for the sudden onset of sharp pain. Her tailfin had a hairline tear, glistening, silver blood pooling on the edges.
“Great!” she muttered to herself.
Isla knew she couldn’t swim away with a tear in her tailfin, especially not in a storm like this. She needed to get to higher ground and wait out the storm, let her tail heal enough that it wouldn’t rip the moment she tried to swim.
Glancing around, she saw a lighthouse rising above the rocky shore, a tall, phallic symbol for safety and security. A large light beam cut through the dense rain and darkness, warding off anyone caught in the storm.
Isla pulled herself along the rocks with her arms, her tail scraping along the grainy surface, scales dislodging and leaving a flittering trail behind her. The fragile, elastic skin beneath the scales chafed on the rocks.
She clenched her teeth through the pain. All she had to do was find a tidal pool undisturbed by the storm and she’d be good as new.
Rain pelted down and the sky crackled with thunder and lightning. Each flash obscured the protective beam from the lighthouse. The raging waves sent tremors through the coastline. Isla’s arms shook against the shockwaves, her biceps wavering against her weight.
Finally, she hauled herself to a higher surface with a tidal pool. The water at the edges of the pool quivered and rippled with each pounding wave.
Isla rolled into the tidal pool. Kelp and algae tickled her sides. The cool, soothing salt water soothed her raw tail and soaked into her inflamed skin.
“Ahhh….”
Isla spread her arms out on the lip of the tidal pool. She swayed her tail back and forth until drops of silver blood stopped seeping from the cut and mixing with the water.
A fog horn blared in the distance for a moment before it was overtaken by a harsh clap of thunder.
Closing her eyes, Isla yawned. Her head lolled to the side, tendrils of her long, dark hair falling to the surface of the healing waters.
The sounds of the storm faded into the distance. Isla thought it was because she was falling asleep but the time between the ground shaking thunder and the blinding flashes of lightning grew longer and longer.
Each flash was softer and further away, the thunder becoming low, soft growls. Even the sounds of the waves began to soften. The water in the tidal pool stood still and the rocks stopped trembling and shivering from the oceanic assault.
The pelting bullets of rain had turned to a gentle, soft mist.
Isla opened her eyes. She saw lightning flashes buried in the clouds, miles out to see. The following thunder was nothing more than a distant rumble that hardly inspired terror.
She tipped her head back, resting it on the rocky lip of the tidal pool. Dark clouds swirled in the sky, breaking into smaller clouds and separating from the larger, angry storm clouds.
Isla pulled her tail to her chest and examined the side she’d rubbed raw on the rocks.
Fresh, glittering scales had grown in, providing a protective armor for her tender, fragile skin beneath.
Isla nodded and stretched her tail out long. She swayed it back and forth, the stinging from her tailfin cut completely gone.
As soon as the side came in and covered the harsh, damaging rocks, she could return to the comforting depths of her home beneath the waves.
Sighing, Isla sank into the tidal pool up to her eyes. She blew bubbles in the water, exhaling sharply through her nose.
Light washed over her and Isla flicked her eyes toward the light house. It still flashed its beam out in the same direction as before.
Where was the new light coming from?
Isla tipped her eyes up to the sky again. The clouds had receded, opening up the vast expanse of the sky.
“Oh,” she gasped.
Millions of glittering, sparkling, blinking stars stretched across the sky from horizon to horizon.
Stars, everywhere. She’d never seen so many and they’d never looked so bright. The aftermath of the storm didn’t just bring destruction. It brought beauty.
Isla felt like she was floating in a sea of diamonds.
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