There’s an old rumor that I have heard over the years, one that I am only aware of because of my many dealings with mermaids and other water creatures. Never, EVER swim in the water on a Sunday in December. You might think, “Who would want to swim?” “The water is freezing in December!” but you would be surprised. One unfortunate twin sister pair found this out the hard way. And so comes our missing person case.
Jenn and Jess Jacobs were sisters of the most inseparable kind. They were identical twins and they shared literally everything. It took a very trained eye to tell them apart. I know this because they were my very best friends as a teenager. Each day we would go to the sea and swim. We loved letting the waves crash over us. We’d wrap up in a big beach towel to get warm when the wind made our wet skin cold. The girls’ parents were as fond of me as my own parents.
One day Mr. Jacobs out of the blue said to us, “You know, girls, it is getting colder, and I don’t mind you going to the beach but it’s time now that you stay out of the water.”
“Why!” we all cried.
We loved the water and wanted access to it each and every day. We didn't care how cold it got.
“The creatures of the sea have laid claim to all who enter the water in the month of December, particularly on Sundays,” replied Mr. Jacobs.
We were confused. Creatures of the sea? He must be toying with us in order to keep us out of the cold water. We didn’t pay any attention and each day we continued to go to the beach. With our lips blue we would scramble home each day and again we would hear Mr. Jacobs’ warning.
“Stay out of the water in the month of December!”
We continued to ignore his warnings. One day, none of us had realized that it was Sunday and December. The very things that the girls’ father had been warning us about.
We headed to the water when all of a sudden, for some unknown reason, I stopped. I had an eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach and I couldn’t bear to go any further. The girls, already at the water’s edge, called to me. They called me a chicken and laughed and joked that all of a sudden I was a “scaredy cat." I contented myself to sit on the beach and watch. It still hadn’t hit me the day or the month that it was. The girls resurfaced and Jenn came out of the water. Both of us were confused when Jess simply stayed put.
"Why wouldn't she come out?" I thought.
Jenn called to her sister but she didn’t answer. She just waded there… watching… Jess ran to her sister and there was an exchange that I couldn’t hear. Jess returned to the beach and was crying. She sat down next to me and I couldn’t believe what she said next.
“Dad was right all along,” she said. “The creatures of the sea have taken Jenn. I am only free because they never saw both of us and didn’t realize there was two of us. Jenn’s only request is that I go forth and be the land version of our soul and she’ll be the water version.”
Mr. and Mrs Jacobs were devastated. They have since passed away, as this was some two hundred and twenty some-odd years ago. Jenn still lives though, as young and vivacious as she was then. Her body is still as though she were still sixteen, as if yesterday was the day that her sister was taken by the sea. She is still my dear friend and it kills me to see such pain behind her eyes. Every Sunday each December she goes and sits on the beach hoping to catch a glimpse of her water soul. Some days I go with her, if I’m not working a big case. Other months of the year you wouldn’t think anything of her and me. Just two young girls wandering the streets, but we aren’t young, and we both have very dark secrets that have hardened our hearts as we walk this earth for eternity.
Lost mermaid
Source: Deviant art
Author’s note: I wanted to continue with drama and case files. I did, however, feel like no CSI storybook would be complete without a missing person story. I also wanted to tie back in to my detective Marietta’s character and shed some light on her childhood. In the original story, the day that is taboo to go swimming on is Easter Sunday. My character was not in the original story it was the two sisters. I felt like inserting my narrator into this story would tie back into her immortal presence and remind the reader of her pain as the fourth and final story comes to a close. At least she has a friend to share in her pain. I think to go through something as devastating as either Marietta or Jenn went through would cause extreme anxiety. Then to have to live forever on top of it, one would quite probably turn into a blob of nothing just waiting to die, if not for each other. They at least have a friend from the time that they were actually teenagers to lean on. Each December they both hope against all odds that this will be the year that Jess shows back up. In a way they cling to this hope so they can eventually have an ending to their story, instead of wandering around aimlessly day by day. They are both bored with their immortal lives simply completing the necessary to make it through the day. This hopefully reminds the reader of how vulnerable our fearless detective is capable of being.
Bibliography:
Title: The Mermaid's Twin Sister
Author: Lynn Joseph
Year: 1994
Source: Humanity.org