I had found my way through meadows and sand to a rocky part of the beach. Some larger boulders rested further out in the singing ocean. I waded through the salty, cold water to find a seat where I would be undisturbed. I had a small bag with me. A seat pad to sit on, some water to drink and a bottle of bubbles. The latter I had attained rather curiously. A man I’d never seen before had handed it to me outside the supermarket.
”Make sure you’re close to water,” he’d said. Then he was gone. I thought it would be a nice relaxing exercise just to sit here, listen to the tiny waves and blow soap bubbles. For it to be so I had to get away from the crowd. The water made a clucking noise against the rocks and hummed pleasantly through my body. The air had a crisp feel to it that made everything clearer and quickened my senses to notice even the tiniest change in the ocean and the wind. I loved it. I sat there for quite a while before I opened the bottle of soap bubbles. The liquid had an interesting perfume. It didn’t smell like soap. More like the scent of the beach and the ocean.
”Here we go,” I thought, and blew the first bubbles. They formed and drifted in the wind just before my eyes. That’s when I noticed something peculiar. Inside every bubble there was a tiny little mer-person, swimming. As soon as a bubble touched the ocean and popped these mer-people grew to full size and dived into the water. They were laughing and playing, delighted to be finally set free. I wondered if they were born like this or if they had actually been trapped inside the little bottle. They looked at me expectantly and carefully followed the freshly blown bubbles. So many bubbles and so many mer-people inside! I couldn’t stop blowing. Their tails had different shimmering colours. One was a mixed shade of blue, another went from yellow gold to a deep orange and yet another had a touch of rainbow in hers. Their skins glowed with different colours too, but not like humans. These colours ranged from the palest white to red, purple, emerald green and sky blue. I was amazed by their unusual looks and their mesmerising eyes.
That’s when another bubble caught my attention. My breath hastened. What was that? I caught the bubble on the tool . I was pretty sure it was a she. She had the looks of a beautiful monster, with tentacles and sharp features. She looked at me sternly. I hesitated. I didn’t want to release this darkness amongst the others. She would hurt some of them, for sure. That’s when I realised it wasn’t my choice. I had no right to choose who was welcome or not. Her path was just as important as anyone else’s. Maybe even more so. Her path would be difficult, very difficult. It would take a long time and a lot of pain to unlock her closed heart. I sighed.
”Take care,” I said. ”And find your heart”. I let her go. My own heart felt heavy.
”Free will,” I thought. ”They all have free will”. Just like me. Just as I have to make my own choices and follow my path, they had to make theirs.
I heard the others gasp in the water as the last one slipped out. They were already playing their part, without knowing. The one with darkness didn’t stay. Immediately she swam off. In a way I was relieved, but I knew she’d soon be up to some mischief.
I was down to the last bubble. The mer-person inside looked blind. I caught her curiously with the tool.
”Are you blind?” I asked. Then her eyes shifted and she looked at me. Her irises had expanded to reveal her pupils.
”No, but I see inside,” she said.
”Of course, the mer-people need light-workers as well,” I thought out loud.
”Yes,” she replied. I heard the weight of years and wisdom in her young voice and realised that she was one who had embraced the light.
”Your path will be the hardest of all,” I said. ”But many times more rewarding.” I let her go and her mer-people received her. They were puzzled by her. They noticed at once that she was different. They felt at once intrigued and provoked by her.
”A mirror,” I thought. ”She’s their mirror.”

From my book Evanescere.