Mermaid Pirate Dispatch

I could tell he was nervous from the moment he had walked into my bedroom.

“Keep your eyes on the watch,” he said. He gulped and began gently swinging his pocket watch left and right a few inches from my eyes.

In the fifteen years I’d known him I’d never seen him so tense. He was sweaty and stiff, his voice tight and short of air. My heart was pounding but I doubted it compared to how his chest must be thumping. I smiled and folded my hands on the skirt of my dress, taking a slow, deep breath.

“Good,” he whispered, watching my pupils bounce back and forth. “Now close your eyes.”

I did. I had seen a hypnosis demonstration live before, and while I felt a little giddy, I also doubted it would work on me. Still, I listened carefully and followed all of his instructions, unsure of what silliness he had planned. In all our time as friends, he had always been trying his little tricks and illusions on me. He was constantly fumbling card tricks, dropping flowers out of his sleeves, and trying to read my thoughts. He said he wanted to be a stage performer, and I thought it a grand idea, but he was going to need a lot of practice. So I was his test subject, his audience of one, his patient childhood friend.

But now we were very nearly adults, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he had a more serious career in mind for the future.

“In a moment,” he began, “I will snap my fingers. When you hear me snap my fingers, you…” he choked and cleared his throat. “When you hear me snap my fingers you will fall deeply in love with me. You will desire me and no one else. You will wish to be married, to live a long and happy life together. We will kiss and hold hands and enjoy each other’s warmth and companionship for the rest of our lives.”

I could almost hear his heart exploding out of his chest, but perhaps it was mine. I felt as though the wind had been pulled from my lungs. A cold sweat burst from my forehead and I felt a buzzing in my fingertips. Love. We had always been friends. I had helped him pursue and court my girlfriends in grade school. Now he was talking of love, between us. And marriage.

Despite my closed eyes I felt as though the grand finale of a royal fireworks display was illuminating the inside of my head. Brilliant flashes and sparkling streaks of crackling fire splashed against my eyelids. I felt lightheaded, ready to faint.

I was drawn back to the long silence that had consumed my friend. I heard his deep, labored breaths. I was not breathing. Had it worked? Was I under his spell? The question flashed briefly in my mind, but obviously I was not. I had full control of my own faculties of thought and purpose. But also… Yes. Excitement bubbled up from the depths of my gut and consumed my whole body. I was indeed enchanted and in love. I suppressed a smile with much difficulty. The smile lit up my soul and warmed me like a raging bonfire.

When he snapped his fingers I jumped, startled. I let my eyes flutter open innocently, but my muscles tensed and I prepared to lunge at him from where I sat at the edge of my bed.

“How do you feel?” he asked. He looked pained. A streak of sweat was running down his temple and onto his jaw.

I gazed at him with new eyes. I saw him with my heart. Suddenly his goofy lips looked soft and delicious. His kind eyes were deeper and full of mystery. His dark hair was more than just the top of his head, I wanted to run my fingers through it and hold him close.

“Do you…” he began slowly, tucking the pocket watch into his coat pocket.

I pounced, throwing my arms around him.

He stumbled back but caught me firmly. For a moment we stood in a tight embrace, our chests heaving and pounding against one another. Then I pulled back and grinned before pulling his face into mine for a long, passionate kiss.

After a moment he pulled free and gasped. There was horror and shock in his eyes. “It worked?” He nearly shrieked the words, his voice cracking.

I leaned into him and rested my head against his chest, pulling my body into his with all my strength. I could hear his heart clearly now, thrum-thumping in the rushed cadence of a charging war horse.

His body was tense still. For a moment he seemed to melt into me before firmly peeling me away from him. In a panic he snapped once, twice, three times. “Wake up,” he said. “Wake up!”

I shook my head and smiled, stepping toward him. “I love you,” I said.

He backed away, his knees shaking. “I… I…” he hit the wall and slid up onto the toes of his shoes. “It was just a joke,” he whimpered.

I scowled and leaned my body into his. “A joke?” He was trembling.

“I…” he kept choking on the thought, unable to get it out.

“You what,” I said, reaching a hand up to his face. I cupped his cheek and lifted onto my toes. I stretched my neck out and barely managed to kiss his chin.

He sighed and stepped to the side.

I stayed with him.

“I shouldn’t have hypnotized you into loving me,” he said, the words tumbling out clumsily. He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “I just didn’t have the courage to…”

I laughed and put my hands on his shoulders to pull him down onto his heels so I could reach his ear with my lips. “I’m not hypnotized,” I whispered. I kissed him on the cheek.

“I mean, it’s not right of me to…” He stopped and looked down at me with wide eyes. “Wait, what did you say?”

I giggled and moved my face to the other side of his head to breathe into the other ear, “I’m not hypnotized.”

He frowned and suddenly snapped his fingers again. “You’re released,” he said.

“Seriously, you didn’t hypnotize me,” I chuckled.

He grabbed my face and positioned it so he could search my eyes. He examined them like a scientist peering at a new specimen under a microscope. After a long moment his stern face relaxed and he cracked half an embarrassed smile. “You… love me?”

“That depends,” I said softly, putting my hands on his cheeks. “Do you love me?”

We kissed again, but this time for much, much longer.

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