Ocean Spirit : The Story of an Undine, Page 2

  * * * * *

  It took a day getting Una an online plane ticket next to his that would bring her to San Diego. The main problem was that she didn’t have any ID, so they had to find a shady way of acquiring her a fake driver’s license, which Brandon had never done and didn’t like doing, but there was no other way to get Una back to San Diego with him. He didn’t know what else to do, because she simply didn’t exist on record anywhere in the world.

  Two days later, they finally reached his San Diego apartment, where Joe hadn’t taken care of the fish, and they looked as though they were dying, swimming about listlessly.

  “Who’s this?” Joe asked looking at Una.

  “My new girlfriend,” said Brandon.

  “Is she moving in?”

  “Did you feed my fish?” Joe shrugged and went to his room and shut the door.

  Brandon turned around and saw that Una had gone to the fish tank. Suddenly, within, the fish were livening up, and she raised a hand as though to touch them, and they moved around in excitement. She got some food and fed them. Brandon wondered if they would survive now, after all.

  * * * * *

  In time, Brandon taught Una to surf. He got her a job as a beach café waitress, and they moved out of the apartment with Joe and got their own, which stayed clean and tidy, and Una was a fantastic cook, but she wouldn’t cook certain fish, and it took her a long time to learn to eat fish without occasionally crying a bit first.

  “What do you eat at home?” he had once asked her.

  “Seaweed,” she replied in delight. “Tasty seaweed.”

  Brandon spit out his mouthful with a laugh. “We’ll get some sushi tomorrow, then.”

  Seven years passed, during which time Brandon asked Una to marry him. They were married after two years at Martha’s Vineyard with the family gathered there. A year later, they had a boy named Dylan who had really dark hair and green eyes. Dylan loved swimming and could hold his breath longer than any other child at the local swimming pool.

  But, when Dylan was nearly four years old, it was time for Una to return to the sea forever. Brandon hadn’t remembered that she had to go back to the sea, and wasn’t really ready or willing to let her go in the end, after he had fallen in love with her and married her! But, he remembered in the end what she had told him, and he was really angry to remember it. How could she leave him and Dylan, her son!?

  Una’s face was streaming with tears, the day she knew she must leave. The had all gone to the beach that morning and she was watching her son wading in the water a bit further up the shore. She ran to him, easily after all these years, and swept him up in her arms. For a moment, it seemed as though she would take him with her, and Brandon’s heart skipped a beat.

  Then, sadly, she put him down, as tears streamed down her face.

  “What’s wrong, mommy?” asked Dylan, getting scared and upset. Una stopped crying and dried her eyes. “Mommy wants you to go run and catch Daddy.” She said, and then Dylan turned around with a happy laugh and ran to Brandon on the beach. When the two of them looked back, no one was there. The waves seemed to sigh in sorrow.

  Brandon didn’t cry, for Dylan’s sake, but he was devastated.

  He scooped Dylan up in his arms.

  “Where’s mommy?” cried Dylan suddenly.

  “Mommy had to leave us. She didn’t want to, but she had to go somewhere.” Dylan started to cry. “Where?”

  Later, Brandon told Dylan that Una had died, to make it easier for his son to take the news that his mother wasn’t coming home. Even if somehow Dylan knew she wasn’t dead, it was easier for the child to think Una was dead, since she wasn’t coming home.

  Brandon didn’t date for three years. Dylan was seven when he met a widow at his son’s birthday party, and started to date her. Within another year, he had married Kate and they moved with Dylan to another house. Dylan now had a step-sister, Kylie, who was six and a half. They all got along well, and the kids grew up happy, with excursions to the beach every Saturday.

  In time, Dylan was the fastest swimmer at school, and joined the swim team. He came in first at school swim meets every time. Brandon couldn’t have been more proud of Dylan, but when he thought of Una, instead of getting angry, he felt a pang of love for her still and acceptance that she had been obliged to leave him. She couldn’t have stayed on dry land forever, even if she had wanted to, no matter how much she had loved him, that was what she had told him. And Brandon wondered if she could see her son, as he swam in the waters of Del Mar Beach, and if she, too, was proud of him and would always be there for him in spirit.

  He didn’t know, but he and Dylan shared quiet mornings in the water on their surfboards together. There was nothing like an ocean sunrise.