The Mermaid’s Choice by Keira Viresse
A mermaid searches for her partner, who had previously left her, across the sea and on land.
First published in Pandan Weekly in January 2025.
From the author:
As we go through life, we grow, we change, we mature. Different experiences shape us; hence, our perspectives about things in life, like love, change too.
The very first version of this story was inspired by a crush at a retreat way back in high school. Then last year, I reinvented the story for an online call for submissions for romance stories, which would be discontinued.
Because I have grown from a naïve teenage girl to a wiser woman who has experienced love and heartbreak, the ending for this story noticeably changed too. Adulthood versus teenhood altered its ending in a more realistic way, so now the short story falls under a different genre, which is women’s fiction instead of romance. It has actually been funny how the genre changed because the author has changed.
In this story, I hope to “deromanticize” love and the search for Prince Charming. I hope the story will remind its readers about the realities of love: that it is not all about feelings and attraction, and it takes hard work and sacrifices. And in true love, we must not lose who we are and what matters most to us.
First of all, thank you to my workshopmates in SEA Lit Circle (SLC): Steph, Rafael, Fechia, Lilian, Nicole, Toni, MJ, Isabelle, Frank, Charlie, and Ega. Thank you for your valuable insights and feedback about my story from versions A to D since January 2024! It was fun workshopping and revising “The Mermaid’s Choice” because of you.
Thanks also to the Tonys who unknowingly inspired it and its versions—I didn’t really know I would subconsciously draw inspiration from you until after each version was written. Special thank you to N, who helped me revise it.
Listen to the author read an excerpt of the piece:
He had been gone for nearly two monsoons, which seemed like countless light-tides and dark-tides. Meryse had been searching for him, her first love, from the farthest merfolk realms to the widest coral reefs and into the deepest trenches. There had been no sign of him. She was left with only one choice and chance—to search above her home, the sea.
As light-tide turned into dark-tide, Meryse sat on her rock on the seafloor, waiting for the company of waves. When they came, she tearfully told the sea about her decision to search for him on land.
The sea reluctantly consented.
“Meryse…I permit you…Remember…you cannot…tell any landfolk…about my people…and that…you will return…before next…dark-tide…Else you…will be utterly…banished…from the merfolk realms…” the sea whispered in the slow rhythm of its waters.
“I understand.”
“Very well…take my blessings…Meryse…”
Suddenly, strong, powerful waves swept Meryse from the seafloor. In panic, she struggled, but the sea carried her away to land.
“This place is so strange,” Meryse whispered when she woke up. She looked at her surroundings. Around her were large green sea anemones.
Trees. A human word entered her mind.
From the small forest she was in, she heard faint, distant rumblings, music, and voices and felt an invisible force rush toward their source. She followed it since it felt like the currents under the sea.
Wind. That invisible force was called wind. It led her to a shore of fine and powdery white sand, caressed by crystal clear waters. As she walked farther, she found herself amidst strange creatures who were chatting, laughing, running around, playing on the sand, and enjoying loud music. They were like her people—except they did not have tails, scales, or gills. They had feet. She looked down at her body. No longer was there a tail or scales but two legs and two feet!
“Oh!” she exclaimed, bending down to touch them.
Meryse was awed. Even though she had not been familiar with the things on land, in her mind she was beginning to recognize what they were called. Legs, feet. She continued walking on the shore while speculating about the new world she was in. Walk. She looked at the people around her. Human beings. She was wearing flowers and leaves from trees.
Then she thought about him. Love.
Absent-minded, she bumped into something and stumbled. That something was a human, a man.
“Are you all right?” the man asked.
Meryse looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Here, let me help you.” He extended his right hand and helped Meryse up.
“Thank you,” she stuttered. The words tumbled out of her mouth.
Then the man turned to leave.
“Wait!”
He looked back at her. “Why, what’s the matter?”
She came closer to him and stared at his face. His slanted, dark brown eyes and his lips, with their upturned corners, looked strikingly familiar. Could it be him?
“Uh, you’re starting to freak me out. Do I know you?”
Meryse blinked, distracted from her thoughts.
She just stood there for almost a minute before realizing he was already walking away. Not wanting to be left behind, Meryse followed him.
He stopped and looked at her.
“Why are you following me?”
“I…I’m just new here…”
“Oh, you’re lost. Well, we can walk together until we reach the resorts and hotels on this beachfront. Maybe you’d find your way back to your place when we’re there already.”
Not understanding everything he said, Meryse just nodded.
“Well, come along with me then. We can just walk along this shore to get there.”
“This place is so beautiful,” Meryse said as they walked.
“Yes, a prime tourist destination indeed,” he answered. “I’m Tony, by the way. What’s your name?”
Meryse was stunned. After a short pause, she said Meryse, but what came out of her mouth instead was “Maia.”
“Maia. Nice to meet you. Where are you from?”
“Uh…I’m…”
“I get it. You don’t want to tell. That’s okay. I actually don’t live here either. I’m here for a short vacation for my twenty-third birthday tomorrow.”
“Congratulations,” Maia smiled.
“Huh?” Tony looked at her, puzzled.
“I mean, congratulations for living through your life and reaching another part of it,” Maia explained. This was how merfolk wished one another a happy birthday.
“That’s an interesting way to greet someone for their birthday, but thanks!” he grinned. He stretched his arms above his head until they fell to his sides. Then, raising his chin up to the clear, blue sky, Tony loudly said, “Welcome me, year 2000!”
Bangs from his short jet-black hair fell backward and waved freely in the wind.
Maia froze at the sight.
Tritone. She suddenly remembered him because of what Tony just did.
Excited to make a wish for his birthday, Tritone stretched his arms upward and arched them down his flanks. With long black hair waving in the ocean tides, eyes closed, and chin lifted upward to whatever was above the sea, Tritone made his wish.
“Congratulations, Tritone,” Meryse smiled. “You made it through another bimonsoon.”
“Yeah,” Tritone muttered, not budging from his pose. He seemed wistful.
“What did you wish for?” she asked him, a bit worried about that look on his face.
He opened his eyes, still looking upward.
“I want to see what’s above us, Meryse.”
“Tritone! We already talked about this. It’s taboo!”
He faced her. “Come on! A little adventure won’t hurt. Besides, I feel tabooed around here already.”
“Tritone…”
“Want to come? We could just sneak up. Just see…”
“Maybe next time. But not today. It’s your hatching-tide. We should celebrate it here with our neighbors and friends.”
“I have neighbors, yes, but not friends!”
“How about me? I am your friend, Tritone!”
“Yeah, you’re my only friend,” he grumbled.
Meryse inhaled sharply, her gills fluttering fast.
“Are you angry because you regret coming here to this city to be with me?”
Tritone did not answer. He just looked down at the seafloor.
“You know what? Forget it. I was supposed to take a light-tide off, but I’m going to the palace instead, if you don’t want us to celebrate your hatching-tide today.”
“Yeah? Go! Leave me here alone! Like everyone else.”
Angry and hurt, Meryse stormed out of their cove.
“You should grow up, Tritone. You can’t be like this forever!”
That was the last time she saw him. When she returned home, she intended to apologize and surprise him with the hatching-tide present she brought from the palace. But Tritone was nowhere to be found.
“We’re here!” Tony announced. He gestured toward the resorts.
Maia got startled from her recollections. She looked at the large, boxy structures, which seemed like the land counterparts of houses or even mansions.
Meanwhile, Tony was eyeing her, like he had never seen something, or perhaps someone, like her before.
“I’ve been noticing your dress since we met. Are those real flowers?”
“Yes, these are real…flowers.”
“It’s so unique!”
“You know what? This place is unique as well,” Maia continued. “Look at the sky, the sun, and the birds flying above.”
“Yeah,” Tony said. “That’s why I like it here. And the people? They are carefree. Just look at them!”
Maia observed the humans who were dancing on the beach.
“Hey, do you want to dance as well?” Tony smiled widely at her.
Her heart floundered.
She hesitated before answering, “Um, I don’t…really know how.”
“Oh, come on! Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.” Tony took her hand, pulling her toward the dancers.
Facing her, he took her other hand and said, “As I pull you to my right side, you just rock your right foot like this.”
Maia copied his step.
“And then we do the same thing to the left.”
He let her imitate him.
“There! Let’s do that again.”
Maia slowly beamed when she learned the steps. “I’m dancing!”
“Yeah! Are you enjoying?”
“Yes!”
“Great! Now let’s add more steps! Move your feet sideways like this. First to the right. Then to the left,” Tony instructed her.
“Then twirl!” He swung and twirled her around. “See, you can do it!”
Maia laughed as they danced. So did Tony.
Soon, the two were dancing and swinging freely, like the sea waves.
Dancing under the sea was quite different from this, Maia recalled. Instead of legs, the merfolk used their arms to direct their movements. They flipped their tails to propel their motion and control their speed.
Meryse enjoyed dancing ever since she was a merchild, and she gained popularity for it in her neighborhood. She always stood out when dancing at festivals and even grand balls at the Eastern Palace. When she turned twenty, the age of mermaids for their betrothal ceremony, several suitors vied to be her mate, Tritone among them.
They met outside the city, on the outskirts of the capital. Meryse was eighteen and rebelliously exploring the world outside her city. Never did she wish to repeat it, having been caught in a benthic storm during that misadventure.
A merman rescued her from the cyclone razing the ocean floor—Tritone. Afterward, he brought her to the safety of his humble cove, nursing her wounds until completely healed. Meryse, whose heart no merman ever yet conquered, fell madly in love with Tritone.
“Where are you from?” she asked him while recovering.
“Nowhere. And everywhere.”
“You don’t have a home?”
Tritone shrugged. “I’m a nomad. I go where the currents take me. I like exploring the world.”
“You don’t get lonely? What about your family and friends? You don’t dream of a place where you belong?”
It took a while for Tritone to respond.
“I never felt I…belonged anywhere. In fact, I’ve been on my own since hatching. That’s why, maybe, wherever I go, I’ve always felt out of place, never quite fitting in with any merfolk groups I’ve encountered.”
“Whoa…you survived on your own after you came out of your egg? You’re a legend!”
Tritone shrugged again. “Yeah, maybe. But I’m not on history tablets or anything. Besides, I think there are other merfolk who’ve done it too—those who don’t live in fortified cities like yours. And wow, you’re from the capital. How’s life there, city girl?”
“It’s fine. My neighborhood’s friendly. In fact, my life there is perfect, I guess. Especially now that I’ve experienced what it’s like to be outside, I’d never want to swim outside my city again.”
Tritone’s face fell. Meryse caught his expression.
“Will you come to the city with me?” she asked earnestly.
After a long while, Tritone answered. “I’ll give it a try.”
And so Meryse returned with Tritone to the city. He took on various jobs, such as harvesting seaweed and hunting small fish, mollusks, and any sea creature edible to merfolk. Tritone tried to fit in among the city merfolk, who turned up their noses and gills when they learned he was from outside the capital. They scoffed at his rudimentary knowledge of their social graces, including singing and dancing “the merfolk way.” Meryse tried to win him some friends, but their friendships would only be shallow. Aside from her love and acceptance, Tritone’s only comfort was that he could still travel in and out of the city because of the odd jobs he took on. As a nomad, he missed traveling.
For two years, they waited for Meryse’s betrothal ceremony, where they could officially claim each other. There was no marriage in the merfolk realms, only betrothal between mates. During the betrothal ceremony, mermen sang their intentions for a mermaid one by one while engaging in a courtship dance. Then, the mermaid joins the merman of her choice in dance and song.
On the light-tide of Meryse’s betrothal ceremony in the city plaza, Tritone was the last to take his turn among her suitors. Tritone’s voice mesmerized her as he sang about their love story. However, his dancing was not as graceful as his rivals’, which made his voice quiver whenever he made a wrong move. Their neighbors laughed at each mistake. Fighting embarrassment, Tritone continued to dance and sing, promising his unending love for her. Near the end of his dance, he blundered and scraped the ocean floor.
Laughter erupted but was suddenly hushed by a female singing voice. Meryse was already singing—promising her unending love—to the merman whom she approached: Tritone. When he fell on the ocean floor, she immediately swam to him and gently lifted his face. Looking straight into his nervous eyes, she took his hands and gracefully raised them to join their palms in an upward dance. The two glided above the crowd, singing and twirling together.
They had claimed each other.
A weak applause, followed by an acceptance song, came from the crowd. Some of their neighbors hastily swam away, shaking their heads and gossiping that she should have picked a better suitor. But she chose Tritone. The awkward, unwelcome, kind, adventurous Tritone.
Yet after several monsoons together, her chosen mate left.
Maia stumbled and fell forward.
Tony caught her.
“Careful! Oh!”
He too lost his balance, falling backward.
“Aaargh!” Maia yelped. She never fell before while dancing.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in Tony’s arms, his face inches from hers.
She closed her eyes again. And kissed him.
He kissed her back.
When they broke from their kiss, Maia whispered, “Tritone.”
“Huh?”
She stared at his face.
“Um, what was that again?”
Feeling her eyes stinging, Maia shook her head and slowly got up.
“Sorry,” Maia said. “I shouldn’t have…”
“That’s totally fine,” Tony winked at her.
He then stood up.
Maia turned her back to him and faced the sea.
“Hey, sorry, did I say something wrong?”
“No.” Maia faced him.
“Was it a name you said? A name of someone you love?”
Maia looked into his eyes searchingly and answered, “He had been gone. For a very long time.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Then his face broke into a grin. “I guess he looked like me. If he did, he must be very handsome! No wonder you kissed me.”
Maia flinched at Tony’s humor, how his joke made him feel like a stranger to her. Tritone would never say something like that. She must be mistaken. Tony must have just looked like him.
“Kidding aside, do you want to talk about it?” Tony asked in a softer tone.
This caught her off guard, just as his jesting did. Maybe there was something more to him after all.
But did she want to talk about it? Could she even talk about it? Especially without knowing this person more? If she told him—a regular human and not really Tritone—she would be banished from her underwater world for naught.
She looked away. Back to the sea.
“Whatever happened—maybe it’s for the best,” Tony tried to comfort her.
She faced him again. How could it be for the best when it caused her so much pain?
But then, Tony probably wouldn’t know.
“I guess dancing’s over, and we must part ways now,” Tony scratched his head.
Maia thought about his suggestion but then her stomach rumbled.
Tony laughed. “Looks like someone’s hungry! We should eat lunch, then! Unless…you don’t want to eat with me. We can go our separate ways…”
Not knowing what to do, Maia hastily replied, “Yes, let’s eat.”
“Great! Where do you want to eat?”
She had no idea where and what to eat here on land. “Anywhere nice…”
Tony thought for a second. “Let’s just check the eateries and choose what you’d like.”
The two walked to the suburban town behind the island’s beachfront. Nipa huts lined the street. Maia eyed them curiously.
“Nice, aren’t they? It feels cool inside them, since they’re made of thatched leaves and bamboo. We don’t have many of these in the city I’m from,” Tony commented.
Maia blinked at him, suddenly remembering her city back home. “Which city?”
“Manila.” The name sounded so foreign to her. She should not hope for impossible things, like Tony actually being from her city. But still, she felt there was something about Tony that she couldn’t just shake off.
“Look, here’s a restaurant,” he pointed to one large nipa hut.
They entered and went to the counter, where several viands were displayed behind a large glass shelf.
“See anything you like?” Tony asked Maia.
She looked at the viands worriedly since she could not recognize them. But then she saw a cauldron of soup. “This one!”
The soup had papaya, ginger, chili leaves, and mussels with dark brown shells outlined with an iridescent green.
“Tinolang tahong,” Tony mentioned. “Seafood and rice for lunch then.”
When their food was served, Tony scooped the tinolang tahong into each of their soup bowls. Then he handed Maia her fork and spoon.
Maia put her utensils aside. Using only her hands, she fished a mussel out of her soup and swiftly opened it wide. Then, with her lips, she pulled out the orange shellfish and ate.
Tony did the same, as if on impulse.
Some of the diners eyed them curiously, some even with disgust.
Tony noticed them and looked at his meal.
“Oh, what am I doing? This isn’t the proper way to eat tahong!” He then got his fork and spoon and used them to open a mussel and then pick out the meat.
But Maia continued to eat in that manner.
“Where did you learn to eat mussels like that? It rubbed off on me,” he chuckled.
“Oh,” Maia stopped eating. She just realized she was eating the mussels the merfolk way. And that Tony did too.
“Why, what’s the matter?” Tony asked, seeing her anxious face.
“It’s just that I never…tried this food before,” Maia lied. “I just thought to try it out…”
“You know, trying food for the first time is also like meeting someone new and then learning more about them. Am I making sense?”
“Tony, what if…you belonged to a different world before?” Maia suddenly asked. Her thoughts still lingered on how Tony naturally ate the mussels the merfolk way and her growing suspicion about who he was.
“Huh, what do you mean? Like outer space?”
Maia’s eyebrows scrunched together, not recognizing what he said.
“What if…you lived under the sea?”
“Ha!” Tony laughed. “That’s completely absurd.”
Maia glowered. What was absurd about that? She lived under the sea. Maybe he did too before.
However, Tony did not notice it. He was now gazing outside the window, in the direction of the shore beyond the nipa huts and coconut trees.
“Like mermaids, huh? Or even the syokoy,” he answered. “Nah. I can’t imagine that. I’ve been living the life of a city boy while traveling here and there. There are still so many places I want to visit.”
Maia’s eyes started to sting again from her tears. Tony seemed like Tritone, but he also seemed like a completely different person. She was already hoping that she had found Tritone at last to convince him to go back to their home. But alas! Tony seemed to fit in more naturally on land. And if she was right that it was really him, it hurt all the more that he became indifferent to their home, and by extension, her.
His head turned back to face Maia. “Hey, are you all right?”
Maia shook her head. “It’s nothing. I just remembered…someone.”
“Your long-lost love?”
Maia said nothing.
Tony reached out and gently held her hand.
“You deserve someone who stays.”
Maia closed her eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to fall because of what he said. That was true.
When she opened her eyes again, she nodded and said, “You’re right.”
After lunch, Tony and Maia toured the rest of the street. They entered some of the nipa huts that housed boutiques and souvenir shops. In one souvenir shop, there were maps of Boracay and the Philippines.
“See this map? I’m from here,” Tony showed Maia a map of the Philippines and pointed to Manila. He then bought the map and gave it to Maia.
“For me? Why?” Maia asked.
“So you’ll know where to find me,” Tony teased.
The two went back to the beachfront in the late afternoon.
“Do you want to swim?” Tony asked.
“No,” Maia answered. “Let’s just sit here by the sea.”
“Okay.”
Tony sat down next to her.
The view of the sea was amazing. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, painting the sky and calm sea with strokes of gold, red, and orange.
“I love this…” Tony uttered.
“I do too…But…” Maia muttered, then stood up. She started to walk away.
“Maia? Hey!” Tony hurried after her. He took and squeezed her hand. “What’s wrong? You’re…crying?”
“I’ve got to go home now…” Her time on land was almost up.
“Oh,” Tony said, astounded. “Let me walk you home, then.”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“I insist.”
“I’d like to be alone now. To think about things…”
“You won’t get lost again?” Tony half-joked to make things light-hearted.
Maia chuckled. “No, I now recognize my way home, thanks to you.”
“Okay then. But will I see you tomorrow, on my birthday?”
“I’m not sure, maybe not.” She wiped off her tears.
“Don’t be sad,” she gently told him when she saw his downcast face.
Then Tony spoke quietly, “You know what? I was right about what I said during lunch. Like how you didn’t know what to expect before trying new food, I also did not know what life would bring me. Meeting you is a gift.”
Silence.
Finally, Maia spoke up. “Whether we meet again someday or not, I’ll always remember you…I promise…”
“And I, you,” Tony forced a smile. “Here, take this with you.” He fumbled with something under his polo shirt’s collar.
It was a shell necklace. He handed it to her.
Maia’s wet eyes widened.
“A remembrance,” Tony murmured, then embraced her for a moment. “Farewell.”
Meryse returned to the small forest. She sat on the shore, watching the waters change colors in the sunset.
“I found him…” Meryse told the sea. “Tritone.”
She recalled the rumors about her sweetheart. When Tritone had disappeared, his neighbors surmised he had gone up above the sea to dwell on land and never return.
She had never believed those speculations and searched all the merfolk realms instead.
But they turned out to be true.
“I actually found him,” Meryse said again. She opened her palm and peered at the shell necklace he gave her. It was the necklace she had given him the day after their betrothal.
“But he’s so…different now. Tony. And he doesn’t…remember me at all.”
Once in a blue moon, a mermaid or a merman can turn into a human. If they chose to stay on land after sunset passes, they would forget the underwater world they left behind.
“I am sorry…” the sea quietly told Meryse.
“No, he made his choice,” she answered. “He left for land and didn’t return after his day here was up. He might really have wanted to stay here forever then. Even if it meant leaving me behind.”
Everything stilled except for waves sweeping back and forth.
She recalled the whole day. For Meryse, everything she and Tritone had, including today, was enough. At last, she found him. At last, she knew how he was. And at last, he seemed to belong in his new world.
“He seems happy and content already,” she murmured. “That is good.”
“Why not…stay with him there…forever then?” the sea wondered.
“I deserve someone who stays.” Meryse left the map that Tony gave her on the shore.
“And who knows? Even if I stay here, he might leave me again for a new adventure he’d fancy later on.”
Carrying only Tritone’s necklace with her, she entered the waters.
“Don’t worry. He is not my world. Home is.”
Keira Viresse is a multi-genre author, an avid reader, a music enthusiast, and a mathematics teacher. She pursues her love for words by writing stories and poems.
She is the author of Her Best Friend’s Birthmark and My Girlfriend Is a Manananggal, books that reflect daily realities of ordinary Filipino citizens with a touch of magic, mystery, and romance. Her other published works include short stories, a poetry collection, and essays in print and e-book anthologies.
She has been enjoying the challenging but fulfilling life of being a teacher and still finds time to write whenever possible.
Website: linktr.ee/keira_viresse
Instagram: @keira_viresse
Facebook: @KeiraViresse
Wattpad: @Keira_Viresse
If you’d like to support the author, you can purchase her books Her Best Friend’s Birthmark and My Girlfriend Is a Manananggal here.
Thank you for reading!
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