The first time he saw her was on a Monday.

He hadn't been living in the house very long. His grandmother just passed and he inherited the house from her, isolating himself from he world. He rather liked the peace and quiet, it was serene.

The house sat atop of a rocky cliff looking out over the ocean. There was a sandy shoreline that he could get to easily, and he often went to sit there and admire the beauty of the sea.

It was one of those days that day, so he set off for the shore. When he was near it, he didn't expect to see a woman floating in the shallow water. He didn't know how she got there since no one really knew the place existed. He went to ask her to leave since it was his property, but she looked so peaceful. So he went back towards his house on the cliff.

The second time he saw her was on a Thursday.

He'd gone to the nearest town to stock up on supplies and when he returned he looked out his window to see the woman swimming near the shore again. He exited the house and started for the beach.

When he got closer he could hear her humming a soft tune. It sounded so beautiful, and enchanting to his ears.

"Hello!" he called out to the girl with a wave of his hand. She snapped her head around to look at him and fear was evident in her eyes. He walked slowly towards her. The closer he got the more he could make out her appearance, she had golden blonde hair, a sun-kissed tan, and her eyes were a deep ocean blue. The water came up past her waist and she had on a light blue bikini top.

"My name is Gabe, I uh recently moved into the house up there on the cliff, can I ask what you're doing swimming here?"

She looked at him cautiously, "I'm Rosalyn." She spoke as if she was testing the words out on her tongue. "I was swimming. Am I not allowed here?" she asked.

He quickly shook his head, "No it's fine, I just was wondering. I'll leave you to your swimming." He waved goodbye and turned to leave.

"Wait!" she yelled from the water. He turned back around. "You don't have to leave, after all it's basically your property." she shyly suggested.

So they talked.

The third time he saw her was on a Friday, and this time it was planned.

He couldn't stop thinking about her, Rosalyn, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She talked about things with a twinkle in her eyes and a lilt in her voice.

She never once left the water when they talked, just constantly floating. They had talked for hours about different things.

He'd was very excited to see her again, so excited that doing things that were usually fun, seemed boring.

He checked his watch

12:39

They planned to meet at 1:00 and he really couldn't wait any longer. So put on some swimming clothes and headed out to the water.

At first touch the water seemed icy cold, and he jerked his foot back so quickly he almost fell over. He slowly eased into the water until it came up to his neck. When he looked back at the shore it seemed so far away. He waded through the water for awhile, just enjoying the feeling of salt water on his skin.

Before he could figure out what was happening he started getting pulled away from the shore.

Riptide

Everyone always said to stay calm in a riptide and swim parallel to the shore. He stayed as calm as he could be and started swimming, but the panic got to him and he started to freak out.

His feet no longer touched the ground and he was flailing about. The water overlapped his head making him ingest large amounts of it.

His vision was darkening more with each inhale of water.

Then something grabbed him. It pulled him up to the surface and Gabe coughed and spluttered until his lungs hurt. He looked at his savior, Rosalyn.

She was holding him up with one arm and swimming with the other. She was one heck of a swimmer. He felt something cold and slimy touch his feet and he looked down.

A tail. A tail which was attached to Rosalyn. A tail, and wow that actually made a lot more sense to him now. It explained why she would never get out of the water.

His face remained calm, except inside he was freaking out. When they finally got to shore he sat on the sand while Rosalyn waded in the water, unsure if she should leave.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked looking up at her from where he had previously been staring.

"That's not exactly the first thing you tell someone when you meet them." she said not meeting his eyes.

He suddenly understood where she was coming from. Someone could tell somebody and she'd be taken to be experimented on.

"Can I see it?" He asked softly.

She hesitated but came to where the water met the shore. He looked at her tail with awe. It was golden and shimmering with little flecks of orange and red. He'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

"It's breathtaking." he whispered, eyes still on her tail.

"Really?" she asked and he looked up to meet her eyes. Her eyes were flickering with uneasiness.

"Really." he smiled and she smiled back.

The fourth time he saw her was a Saturday.

When he'd moved into the house, some of his grandmothers things were still there and he'd moved them into the attic.

He was looking for the box of seashells he used to collect when he was a kid, when he came across an unopened letter addressed to him.

He carefully opened the flap of the letter and took out the folded paper inside it. He unfolded it and stared at his grandmother's delicate handwriting.

Dear Gabe,

You have probably met Rosalyn by now. You've probably discovered her secret too. I want you to take good care of her, okay? She deserves to be loved and so do you.

Love, Grannie

So his Grandma knew about Rosalyn and she kept her secret. Gabe headed down the stairs and out to the beach.

Rosalyn was there, almost as if she was waiting for him.

"So you knew my grandma." he stated and she nodded. "How did you guys meet?" He asked and she told him.

The fifth time he saw her was for the rest of their lives.

He would visit her everyday by the shore and they would talk and sometimes fall asleep on the beach together with the water lapping at their skin.

It didn't matter if they were from two separate worlds. He loved her and she loved him.

The end.