The white waves of the ocean crashed gently onto the shores of the eastern coast, each wave creating a hushing whisper sound as it glided through the course sands. The sun loomed high over head, signaling by its position (not to mention its heat) that it was around noon.

There would be nobody to notice the sight, however, save one. Lying prone on the densely packed sand near the shoreline, a young woman slept peacefully. Her dark hair tossed gently among the waves as they came up and met her sleeping figure. And although her eyes were closed, her breathing stable, and her face relaxed, this was not true slumber, for she had not decided the time nor the place when she had fallen into that deep state of unconscious. Both of those had been chosen for her.

As another waved crashed into her, she awoke.

She stretch her arms slightly and yawned. It didn't immediately occur to her to question her surroundings, but within a few moments, she was.

This doesn't look familiar, she thought. Where am I?

In that moment, she began to enter into a state of panic. She didn't remember ever even coming to this beach, let alone falling asleep here in the sand amidst the rushing water. None of it seemed familiar, and she grew more and more apprehensive as she realized something was wrong. She tried to rise up off the ground, picking up her legs beneath her.

She didn't have any.

She flopped back down with a heavy thud onto the granular material beneath her. She nearly screamed in both pain and horror as she looked to see what was wrong below her waist. Her eyes opened as wide as they could as she examined herself. Somehow, overnight, her legs had been replaced by something otherworldly. In place of her legs and feet was a tail. Aquatic in form, blue in color, it managed to be both fleshy and scaly at the same time. At her waist, the scales of the fin seemingly disappeared into her skin, hiding what seemed to be an invisible seam.

Surely there had to be a seam. Because this tail couldn't possibly belong to her.

She was so far gone from the shock, it barely registered in her what was occurring. But nevertheless, her reaction was to try it. She had to make sure. She exerted her muscle and watched as the tail flicked into the air to reveal a nearly symmetrical tail fin that forked into two prongs.

What am I?

Shock and fear came flooding into her emotions as she tried to recall anything and everything she could about her life. Her name was Talenëa, her parents were Ailen and Dawn, she had lived in Lómëdor for most of her life, she was a student of religion- she was human.

She couldn't remember anything that had to do with a fish tail.

In fact, she couldn't remember anything at all that related to recent events. She couldn't remember a last night - had there ever been a last night? She could remember events that felt as if they had happened a week ago; going to the market for fresh fruits, visiting the temple. But she couldn't remember for the life of her what had transpired in that time leading up to the shocking revelation that she no longer had legs to walk on.

What did this all mean? How had this happened to her? She could think of far worse things that could have randomly happened to her, and she was thankful that she still lived, but the change was drastic and unexpected. Was she dreaming? It certainly didn't feel like a dream, but still she kept hoping that she would wake up from this nightmare and everything would return to normal.

She lie there for countless untold hours, staring into some void as she attempted to fathom all that had happened. The sun rose to its highest point and began its descent back down past the horizon before she suddenly snapped into action and realized she was famished.

She panicked. And, as expected of anyone undergoing a panic attack, she did something hasty. She retreated blindly back into the water. And she began to swim.