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The boy smiles.
While his top teeth are normal,
the bottom jaw is set in a long line of jagged points.
Arrowheads.
Eyes closed in pain,
for which Emmeline is relieved;
he doesn’t see her flinch.
She studies him
for a moment supporting his head
above the waves while he reclines in her arms.
He is beautiful,
that much is true.
Dark
hair with heavy curls,
water logged from the sea and
thick eyebrows that draw together
with each labored breath.
He has a sweet face,
and breathing through his mouth
from the pain
she can see the smile lines around his lips.
He opens his eyes,
black as midnight
and shiny like a fish.
He smiles.
At her.
Shakes his head ashamed,
pleading with those sad, dark eyes for her to stay.
She skims her fingers over his bare stomach,
he doesn’t flinch beneath her touch
allowing her fingers
to search him.
She blushes when she can’t find any wounds.
He had let her touch him,
half naked,
when he knew there was nothing to find
no physical ailments to add to his pain.
Only the thrumming,
the great shuddering gasps
of a broken soul.
She is grateful only when he closes his eyes.
Again.
She places her hands hesitantly on his hip
where smooth flesh meets scales.
His skin melts away to reveal a tail.
A fish tail,
twisting and
writhing
in the cold November moonlight.