[WARNING: CRIME FICTION]
And with a flash of decision, he thought to drown her then, which was a very unpleasant thought but not nearly as unpleasant as having done it; it was not as if he was cold-hearted at all, he was not a bad man after all.
But when it was done, it was over, that was that, problem solved, put it out of his mind. And he very nearly did. And for a time he was relieved, he was wonderfully free, wonderfully unburdened.
But she did not go down easily, that was the thing, and after a while a little knot of doubt started to grow. The thing played back in his mind again and again whether he liked it or not, like his brain trying to solve a problem. He felt sure the thing was done, it had to have been done. But that feeling, as if she was watching, waiting, what did she want? As if maybe she tricked him, and then it was everything he could do to not have everything crawl up in his throat. Of course it was done! Of course it was! And after a time he just couldn’t quite get a deep enough breath, and after a time he thought maybe just a quick look, just to confirm, just a quick peak, after a while he thought he should go back, just to check, just to make sure, and so into the water he went.
The concept for the art was inspired by my daughter seeing a “Mermaid” in this shot.
The writing, however, was inspired by two things. One was something I read about mermaids:
“The Rusalki are water nymphs of Slavic mythology. While initially regarded as benevolent spirits of fertility and agriculture, Rusalki gained a more sinister description in the 1800s. They were believed to be the ghosts of women who died violent deaths by drowning. In their anger and sorrow, the Rusalki now lured men and children to their watery graves.”
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/what-mermaid.
The other was this idea that when we do something we shouldn’t, whether it’s a crime or something as simple as a lie, we’re not so good at imagining what it will really be like after we have done it, when it’s too late, and the deed has already been done and our minds must clean up the mess.
Below is a screengrab of the tank I was creating with Blender.
