Mermaids - single chapter

As usual I waited until the last second to get out of bed and now I'm late... my name is Hikaru Amano and I'm 25 years old, I work as a clerk in a large pharmaceutical company in Tokyo and right now I'm running down the subway stairs, desperately trying not to miss my train... in fact I'm 2 seconds late and I see the subway leaving right in front of my eyes... now I'll have to wait for the next one.

I hate going to work, but I hate being alone with my thoughts even more... immediately I am reminded of the words my mother... "you are chasing mermaids" is the phrase she used to repeat to me.

I had become fond of mermaids as a child, thanks to my father, who used to tell me stories to put me to sleep with these mythological figures as protagonists. I think that's where my desire to be a writer was born.

Sirens are undoubtedly the most fascinating legendary creatures of all... they are normally described as being half-woman and half-fish, but in ancient Greece they were believed to be half-woman and half-bird, and according to some they could even be male. Moreover, throughout history, people have often been divided on whether to regard mermaids as evil or benevolent figures... sometimes describing them as the cause of deaths and shipwrecks and in other cases as figures engaged in soothing men's souls.

Above all, however, there is one question that everyone has asked themselves at least once... "do mermaids really exist?"

Meanwhile, the station loudspeaker announces the imminent arrival of the train that will finally take me to work, and as usual the usual recommendation not to cross the yellow line rumbles in my head.

The noise of the train begins to be heard loudly even here on the platform, and the lights begin to glimpse, it is just at this moment, when the train has not yet arrived, that I take a firm step over the yellow boundary line.

"You are chasing the sirens..." this phrase to my mother meant chasing something that does not exist... and perhaps this is how my failing life can be summed up.

The train arrives and instead of getting on it, I take a backward leap back from the yellow line and stay on the platform until the train starts again.

I am not engaged, I have no deep friendships, I have not seen my parents in years and I am stuck in a job I hate, in fact the clerk in a multinational company, but I have always dreamed of turning my passion for writing into my profession.

The train has now departed, but only now do I notice an advertising poster present right in front of me. On that poster it says, in big letters, that a writer is urgently sought for a job.

Wasting no time, the poster says to go to an address not far from here, at the Psyché Pomp Theater, and within 10 minutes I am already there. My excitement is through the roof, I walk in the door a little apprehensive, after all, I have turned my life upside down all of a sudden and went here without asking myself too many questions.

I take my first steps inside the theater, but I don't see anyone, only after approaching the stage do I catch sight of two figures, they are a boy and a girl, also about 25 years old like me. As soon as she sees me the girl jumps off the stage and approaches me quickly "Can you?" she asks immediately, without adding anything else. 

"W-what?" I answer a little hesitantly, the girl is smiling and specific "You know how to write... that's why you're here, right?"

I swallow and answer in the affirmative, the smile on this beautiful girl's face becomes even more joyful "Perfect, then let's start right away, you will work with us today."

"Don't you want to read something of mine first?" I try to ask, moved by that constant insecurity that lives inside me.

"It is not necessary, we will see right away if you are able to do this task."

I am surprised... this girl I have known for only a few seconds is giving me more confidence than anyone has ever done so far.

"I haven't introduced myself... I'm Zea and this is Ermes," she says, pointing to the boy who has stayed behind to watch us from the stage.

My two new colleagues have unusual names, but we are in the theater after all, they will be their stage names, I think it's cool and I'd like to have one too, but for the moment I'm certainly not an artist so I use my full name "I'm Hikaru Amano."

Zea wastes no further time "Now that we've introduced ourselves, I'll explain what we do here...in a nutshell our job is to stage the representation of our clients' desires... you'll write the guidelines based on the information we give you, then Ermes and I will use it to stage the whole thing."

I stay for a few moments with a confused expression plastered on my face, and Zea quickly understands "Ours is a bit of a special task... I think it's best to start with the practical part right away." Zea pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and lists the information contained on it for me "The person who is about to arrive wishes to see his feelings reciprocated by a girl with whom he has long lost contact."

"So I have to write a scene about it?" I ask.

"That's right... I will interpret you have to write down how I should act and a few phrases I might use." "Okay I understand."

"Ah... one last thing Hikaru... you have 2 minutes on the clock to get everything done, the client will be here very shortly."

Caught up in a hurry, I start to get to work, grab a paper and ballpoint pen present at the edge of the stage and lie down on the floor writing as fast as I can.

With absolute precision, at the two-minute mark, Zea joins me and begins to read what I have written on the paper... I feel my heart about to explode, and those seconds it takes for Zea to read what I have written seem to last forever.

"This is perfect, really good work... now join Ermes at the side of the stage, our client will be here any minute."

I feel relieved, my work has been appreciated, and inside I feel something different than usual, normally when I correctly carry out a delivery given to me by my boss in the office I feel relieved that I didn't mess up, but this time it's different, I feel I did something really good, something I like.

I reach Ermes to the side of the stage so that the client cannot see us, but right away I think that this guy still hasn't spoken to me since we met, he must not like me very much, and even that neutral expression on his face doesn't show any positive emotion toward me. Quite the opposite of Zea who, on the other hand, is a force of nature, always positive and sunny-I'm really curious to see her at work.

Only a few seconds pass and a young man of about 20, enters the front door and starts walking down the middle of the hallway leading to the stage, where Zea is waiting for him.

"Yui! Yui!" he shouts as he hurries his steps to catch up with Zea.

"Here I am, I'm here" Zea replies in a warm voice.

The boy takes the stage and once in front of Zea questions her "Are you really you Yui?" "Of course I am."

"It's been years since I've seen you, I was surprised to get a message from you"

"You know... I've been wanting to see you again" Zea says, breaking out an irresistible image of an inncocent and embarrassed girl.

"Y-you wanted to see me again?" asks the boy, surprised.

"Yes of course... I could never tell you, but I've always had feelings for you... ever since middle school."

The boy cannot believe what he has just heard "D-did you? I always thought you couldn't be interested in a loser like me..."

"What are you talking about? I have been in love with you from the very first moment."

Immediately after this revelation, Zea takes a step toward the boy and kisses him on the lips. Hermes, who was witnessing the scene, addresses me for the first time ever.

"Did you tell her to do that?"

The question takes me by surprise and I cannot hide that I feel intimidated by Ermes, but I manage to answer him, albeit hesitantly "Y-yes...did I make a mistake? Maybe you are a couple and you don't like her kissing someone else, a-even though this is just theater and..."

"Zea and I are simply colleagues." He says, interrupting me firmly, but then continues. "We share the same task to carry on. I was just thinking that having her make such a gesture was a good idea... look at the look on that guy's face..."

I look at him, and I can't help but notice the big smile radiating on his face, quite the opposite of the somber expression with which he had arrived at the theater.

"He looks happy to me" I say to Hermes. "Much better... he is serene" he replies.

Meanwhile on stage Zea decides to grab the boy's hand and invites him to follow her "Come on come with me" of course he doesn't object, so the two of them walk to the back of the stage, until they pass a partition placed there at the back.

"Where did they go?" I ask my new friend Ermes.

"We always get our customers out of there, Zea is accompanying him..."

I stay for a few moments staring at that partition, but I am immediately called to order by Ermes "In any case that is our task! You just stick to writing."

"C-certainly..."

Ermes pulls a slip of paper from his pocket and reads it to me.

"The next client is a guy who lives in loneliness and would like to find his best friend." "I see... leave it to me," I reply, but Ermes is keen to specify one last thing.

"This time I will be the one to go on stage."

"That's okay, I have everything I need, just give me a couple of minutes and I'll get everything to you." "Great" says Ermes, then walks away with the usual indifferent expression plastered on his face.

Meanwhile, I get to work, again with very little time to write a mini script suitable for this scene.

Despite the success earlier, I still don't feel like part of the team, especially in terms of "working together" with Ermes, although he complimented me earlier, I feel that I am under pressure to prepare this scene for him... in any case, I managed to finish this second script as well. I join Ermes at the center of the stage.

"There... I'm done, however, I chose a slightly different setting this time."

Hermes picks up the sheets of paper and begins to read them, the pressure is eating away at me, I wonder if he will appreciate this initiative of mine or tell me I did a bad job... I stare at him for as long as he takes to read, but his face is inscrutable as always.

"All right...now go back to the side of the stage where you were before."

No emotion-this devastates me, but all I can do is go back to that small portion of the stage and observe the scene.

As soon as I reach my corner, I find Zea again, who, unlike Hermes, envelops me with her expansive and festive nature.

"Well done Hikaru! You did a very good job earlier."

"But no...I didn't do anything special, you were the one who was really good," I downplay, but I mean it.

"Don't be modest, I've been doing this job for ages... you on the other hand are a rookie, yet you have real talent."

I think she's exaggerating, but that's part of her personality, she certainly wants to make me feel welcome. "Now observe... it's Ermes' turn" she adds.

Ermes gets off the stage and takes a seat on one of the seats in the stalls. "Where is he going?" asks Zea.

"I thought of having him do this scene in a somewhat anomalous setting... offstage." "I see... very original Hikaru! I knew you were cut out for this task."

"Wait to say... we'll have to see how the scene will go..." I reply to her, voicing the thoughts that have always accompanied me even when something seemed to be going well, there is always a drawback for people like me.

A boy who is about my age enters the theater with a ticket in his hand and starts looking around. "Row 3 seat G..." he says to himself.

The boy enters the row where Ermes is also sitting and reaches for the seat right next to his. "Souta... is that you?"

"Hey... long time no see. I didn't know you liked theater." Ermes replies.

"In fact, I don't like it... but I received this complimentary ticket and had nothing else to do... as usual."

"I see..."

"It's strange to see you at such an event.... You're usually so busy all the time." Says the boy, looking at Ermes with a wistful expression.

"Yeah...between kids, wife and work I barely have time to sleep at night.. I miss the times when we used to go around doing damage." "Me too."

I have to say that Ermes is a very good actor, in the conversations we had he seemed like a callous person who was detached from everything, but now he seems instead really engaged in the dialogue with that boy.

The boy takes the floor again after a few seconds of silence. "I think I owe you an apology."

"For what?" Ermes asks.

"For the past few years I've hated you for stopping hanging out with me... every time I proposed something to do together, you refused. Maybe it's time to realize that the years when we were two carefree kids are over."

"It's true.... I have responsibilities now, but our friendship is also important to me and I don't want to lose it."

"Really?" exclaims the boy, his voice broken with emotion.

"The show has yet to start and the theater is deserted... how about we sneak backstage and play some tricks like in the old days?"

The boy finally smiles, "I couldn't ask for better."

Ermes stands up and extends his hand to the boy "Let's go."

The boy grabs the hand of Ermes, who guides him onto the stage, then disappears behind the partition. At the side of the stage Zea turns to Hikaru "Wow... really good work. however, the next client will be a bit more challenging... both Ermes and I will have to act."

"What are the details?" I ask a little intimidated.

"Here they are" says Zea, as she hands me the paper.

I read it for a few seconds, then look up at her and firmly exclaim, "I can do it." "Well... as always the client will be here in a couple of minutes."

Caught up once again in the anxiety of limited time, I throw myself on the floor and begin to write headlong, feeling that I have to accomplish something really good in order to finally get into the good graces of Zea and Ermes.

This time it is Zea who approaches me, and with her is also Ermes. "Are you done?"

"Yes, take it" I tell her as I hand her the script.

Zea reads everything and passes the script to Ermes, who in turn takes very few seconds to memorize all the information.

"What do you think?" asks Zea to Ermes.

The fact that he asked this question right in front of me causes me great agitation. "It's good writing."

I can breathe a sigh of relief... he liked it.

"I also think the scene you prepared is perfect" Zea adds.

"I thank you... I am really grateful for the opportunity you are giving me."

"Thank you! You are really simplifying our task today... now I'm going to go get ready, the client will be here any minute." Zea exclaims.

Zea and Ermes walk away, while I position myself in the usual corner at the side of the stage, where I can follow the scene without being noticed by the client.

Within a few seconds, a young man with his head down enters through the front door, walking slowly to a stop under the stage, where Zea and Ermes are standing instead.

"I came as you asked... what do you want from me?" "We don't want anything dear..." says Zea in a soft voice. "Then why did you contact me to bring me here?"

Ermes intervenes, also in a very quiet tone "We just wanted to see you... you haven't been home in years." The boy hesitates and looks very tried "I know... I know... but..."

Zea and Ermes continue to take turns in their dialogue with the boy. "We are your parents... you can tell us anything."

"However..."

"Really... ever since you left, we've been thinking about you every single moment."

"But I... I left without telling you anything and never thanked you for everything you did for me. I thought you hated me for that..."

Zea smiles. "Hate you? We could never do that. You will always be our child."

Hermes also smiles. "That's right--no matter how many mistakes you make in your life again... we will always love you."

The boy finally raises his head and, with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face, sets his gaze toward Zea and Hermes, who both crouch down and extend a hand toward him. The boy grasps the outstretched hands from Zea and Ermes, who help him up onto the stage with them. When all three are finally reunited on stage, they hug each other intensely for several seconds as the boy continues to cry. "I love you mom... I love you dad..."

"We love you too" Zea says, wiping away her son's tears. "More than anyone else" adds Ermes.

The three break away from the embrace.

Zea looks the boy in the eyes. "Come on... now let's go."

"Let's go home together" says Ermes

"Yes!"

Zea and Ermes grasp the boy's hands again, always taking one each. The three disappear behind the partition at the back of the stage. Suddenly I find myself alone, observing the partition that conceals the backstage area. In this absolute silence, I begin to hear vague noises coming from behind the partition... moved by curiosity I begin to walk toward it, hearing these noises become louder and louder, it almost sounds like a melody... by now I am only a few inches from the partition, I reach out my arm to find out what is behind it, but just at that instant it is suddenly opened by Zea, behind whom Ermes is also standing. Out of fright I take a step back.

"Oh ... you're already here" exclaims Zea, surprised.

"Yes sorry... not seeing you coming back I was coming to look for you" I reply. 

"Don't worry, we're done now."

"You mean the guy from before was the last customer?" I ask. 

"The second to last actually...but the last one is already here." she replies

Panic. I am immediately seized with agitation and start looking around. I can't believe I'm so late to write the last script.

"I have to get to work right away, I swear I'll do everything in less than a minute!" 

"Don't worry Hikaru...you don't need to do anything..." Zea says very calmly.

I immediately get discouraged. "Was I not good enough maybe?"

"On the contrary, you were perfect. Neither I nor Ermes would have been able to do better..." 

I am relieved that my work was appreciated, but now I am confused.

"So what's the problem?"

Ermes interjects, "The problem is that our last customer today is you Hikaru." 

"I-I?" I say... remaining a bit interjected.

Zea takes the floor again "You still don't get it... do you?" I nod my head no.

"Hermes and I ferry the souls of the dead to the afterlife, but before we do so, we have the task of soothing their souls."

Ermes resumes the floor to continue the explanation. "Our clients have unfinished business with the world they are leaving behind, and we try to ease their suffering before accompanying them to the afterlife."

"Normally people don't see us for who we are... instead they see the girl they were in love with, the friend they couldn't see again, the parents they lost." Zea resumes before having Hermes conclude.

"In thousands of years you are the first to see us for who we really are." I have only one question.

"S-so am I dead?"

The answer comes immediately from Zea. "You threw yourself under a subway train. You were dissatisfied with your love life... of your relationship with your friends... of your relationship with your parents... and you felt stuck in a job you hated."

"Among all these things we also struggled to understand what you were really looking for, but then we understood and decided to let you stay here for a while." Ermes adds.

"That's right-we hope your time with us will be a good last memory for you." Zea concludes, with a loving smile.

I finally smile... it hasn't happened in a long time now-but now I am smiling. "Yes now I'm fine. I finally reached the mermaids."