Each night he comes to the mermaid, drawn to the stories of her nightmares.
He feels she is nothing like the sea at all — her eyes speak instead of bathtub drains and sewer pipes, and her hair unfurls in black waves of oil.
What crowns her head is not seaweed or shells, but the refuse of the shore.
It is a tale of death without the word "death", of mortal men in love with mermaids, and of heroes — even if just for one day.