DATE: March 2008
TITLE:
Spread
O’er the Silver Waves
AUTHOR: losingntrnslatn (LosingInTranslation, Jennifer)
DISCLAIMER: Don’t own anything associated with the show… I
just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys!
Dance!
RATING: Teen/PG
SPOILERS: Through US Aired Episodes
PAIRINGS: GSR
WORD COUNT: 1073
PROMPT: Water: Mermaid
SUMMARY: An unusual vacation spot has Grissom waxing
philosophical.
A/N: This is one of those stories that practically
wrote itself. It was done the same day I received the
prompt. Hence the reason I took two prompts. I just wasn’t satisfied in the
challenge after this one came so quickly. Much love to the betas, who are tireless and exceptionally generous with their time.
I’m just glad they don’t pull their hair out when I send them something I’ve
written. ;)
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are
enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you
found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking
the time to read.
Spread O’er the Silver Waves
The sun
bathed Grissom’s face with its tender warmth. He could still feel the gentle
breeze as it caressed his body, but with the ever rising sun he was truly
beginning to understand the reason for his visit to this place. It wasn’t the
oppressive heat of the
The sounds
and smells of the surf filled his senses and washed away all the evils of men
from his mind. He was contented in their ancient rhythms as they continued to
assault the vacant beach. Each crash of water onto the shores was another worry
lifted from his burden and carried away as the water retreated back into the
seas.
There was
a peace to this place, an unexpected benefit to the unorthodox choice for a
spring trip. Most people would seek out the blooming glory of the Mid-Atlantic
as Mother Nature brought out the flora with her delicate touch. Or perhaps somewhere tropical, to hasten the arrival of summer and
its heated breath of sizzling life. The shores of the
Warmed by
a thick bulky sweater, he sat on the lounge chair out in the sands, soaking in
all of the amenities the northern beach had to offer him. He listened to every
little sound; the gulls swooping and diving into the surf, calling to each
other to create clear territorial boundaries. The surf colored everything with
its deep and timeless rhythm, but off in the distance, he could hear something
else join in the symphony of sound all around him. As he opened his eyes to
catalog the source of the sound, he found a small harem of Northern Elephant
Seals was making their way to the beach.
“In the
Eastern Oceans, the Manatee and the Dugong were often mistaken as mermaids by
passing sailors. It is suspected that they were blinded by months alone at sea,
and the forms of these creatures breaking the through the surf resembled women
of their day.” He quickly lost himself in the well-known comfort of lecture.
“Of course, the human mind will also apply the familiar in their lives to the
unfamiliar as a way to combat their fears. So, when the manatee erupted from
their bottom dwelling habits, perhaps their silhouettes, draped in seaweed and
kelp gave the appearance of a human form upon the rocks. Regardless, the tales
of mermaids have been steady throughout time, both in the sea and on the land.”
“Many
equated the land based myths on a genetic abnormality called Sirenomelia. It is a condition that, on a scale of
rarity, parallels with conjoined twins.” His arms draped limply over the sides
of the chair, his hands dangling in the air. “The congenital disorder displays
itself with the fusing of the legs and a reduction in the genitalia. It is
almost always fatal, due to the kidney and bladder complications associated
with it, but there has been a recent report of a two year old girl with the
condition.”
Leaning
further back into the chair, he became even more relaxed as he slipped into the
role of storyteller. “Victims of Siremomelia, as well as various hoaxes from P.T. Barnum to
the wunderkammers
of
“Quite
possibly, the stories began as far back as five thousand B.C. One of the
earliest recorded stories is found in Assyrian mythology, circa one thousand
B.C.” He shifted in the chair as the words fell quietly from his mouth.
“Atargatis was the mother of the great Assyrian queen Semiramis. She was acclaimed to be a goddess who committed
the sin of falling in love with a mortal shepherd and during the course of
their courtship she killed him. Filled with shame, she jumped into a lake in
the hopes of hiding herself away by taking the form of a fish, but the waters
could do nothing to mask her celestial beauty.” His voice was wistful and
filled with all the wonder of a boy, yet tempered with the wisdom of his age.
“From
that point forward, she exhibited the form of a mermaid; a human from the torso
up, and carrying the tail of a fish below. However, the earliest depictions of Atargatis displayed her as a fish, but she possessed the
head and legs of a human, much like the Babylonian Ea.” He released a
reflective sigh at the conclusion of that story. “Every major sea-faring
civilization has developed their own mythologies with the constant between them
all being the beautiful sea creature, taking on the features of a woman and a
fish. But perhaps the most popular of these would be the story written by Hans
Christian Andersen with his fairytale depiction of ‘The Little Mermaid.’ It has
dominated all western thought of this particular myth ever since.”
Drawing
in a deep breath of the pungent sea air, Sara squeezed the hand she had been
playing with throughout his lesson and quoted the passage purely from memory,
“If his every thought and his whole heart cleaved to you so that he would let a
priest join his right hand to yours and would promise to be faithful here and
throughout all eternity, then his soul would dwell in your body, and you would
share in the happiness of mankind. He would give you a soul and yet keep his
own.”
A broad
smile spread over his face as his fingers found the gold band wrapped tightly
around her third finger. “‘Sing, siren, for thyself, and I will dote; Spread
o’er the silver waves thy brownish hairs,
And as a bed I’ll take them, and there lie.’”**
She
turned to catch his gaze and with a worried brow asked, “Isn’t that supposed to
be ‘thy golden hairs?’”
He
brought her hand up to his mouth and chastely laid his lips upon the back of it
before he said, “Not for me.”
*First Quote: Hans Christian
Andersen, “The Little Mermaid.”
**Second Quote: William
Shakespeare, “The Comedy of Errors,” act 3, sc. 2, l. 47-9.