The moment I met her, I knew I was looking at my future.

No one knows what the future holds. We know what our wants and desires are for our own futures but sometimes destiny has a way of changing it. That's exactly what happened to me.

I can't complain. I've had a pretty good life so far but there's things I would change if I could. Like the fact that my parents got divorced when I was fifteen.

It was a complete shock to my family and our friends. Everyone always mentioned how they were the perfect couple with the perfect kids. The perfect bubble popped when my mother came crying to us one day. Her face was red and tear stained as tried her best to explain why their marriage fell apart and that we would eventually have to choose who to live with until we graduated and were able to live on our own.

We wept along side our mother as we watched our father pack his belongings in anger and rush out the door without even a goodbye. No remorse. No love. Just anger. His last words were a threat towards my mother promising that he'd get custody of his sons and she'd never see us again.

But that never happened. Just like he did with all his promises, he failed to keep it. We didn't care since we had chosen to stay with our mother anyways.

I had to watch my mother through months of depression as she thought back trying to figure out what she did wrong. Did she not cook and clean enough? Was she unatteactive? Was she too skinny or too fat? Why did he stop loving her? How could he easily dump her and their children aside for a twenty something year old whore?

These of course were questions she never asked out loud but I'm sure she had to have asked herself some of these. Regardless, I admire her because after a couple of months, she changed.

One morning, my three brothers and I, sat at the kitchen table getting ready to eat cereal for breakfast. When she came bouncing in. No longer in her sweats and tear stained shirt. She was wearing a flowery printed summer dress with her hair curled and she even wore makeup on her brightly lit face. We stared at her in disbelief as she hummed a melody and began to cook us breakfast.

We knew better than to mention it so we just smiled and carried on with our normal routine. She kissed us all goodbye that morning but when she reached me, I stopped. I held her face in my hands and told her how beautiful she was and kissed gently on her cheek. When I pulled back she had unshed tears in her eyes. No words needed to be spoken, I knew that she needed us and she knew that we needed her and that we would always be there for each other.

Together we learned how to cope and how to move on with our lives even when my father came back to ask for our forgiveness, we handled it and moved on. Handling it meaning out of rage my brother, Mike, punched him in the face which resulted in a broken nose and my father in the hospital. And it all happened without my mom knowing a thing. We were not about to let him put her through the pain we watched her go through.

Now, six years later, my mother is happily married again to a man we all agreed was a great man and treated her the way she should be treated. He worships the ground she walks on and gives her the love and attention she needs whenever she needs it and because he truly loves her not because he feels he "has" to love her. They decided to have a beach wedding. Since we came all the way to beach from New York City, we decided to just stay here on vacation.

It was my mother and stepfather. My brothers, Mike, Matt, Mitch, and their girlfriends and then there was me with no girlfriend. It had been over two years since I'd had a serious relationship. I didn't believe in the whole "together just for the sex" thing or "let's try this out and see how things go." I only got into a relationship when I felt that that woman could possibly be the one. I had the intentions of sticking through it to the end but my girlfriend decided she wanted to sample a few other fish out there, if you know what I mean. I had found out through my older brother, Mike. He had caught in my apartment with another guy when I was at work.

I guess I was old fashion when it can to romance. I felt it was important to respect a woman. I wasn't looking to settle down with just anyone but I wasn't looking to get hurt either. Breakups take a toll on you so for me it was a big step to get into a relationship.

There was something different about that day. I'm not sure how to explain exactly. It's as if the world paused for a minute to just focus on me. Although, the sky had darkened drastically and heavy rain fell from the sky. I still felt an unexplainable need to get of my house and to walk. To where exactly? I wasn't sure, I just I needed to walk.

As I walked, I found myself walking across the sandy beach near my hotel. I took off my shirt and shoes since they were already soaked by the rain and continued to walk alongside the beach. I started think I was going crazy after what felt like hours of walking but then I saw her, lying across the sand.

She was mesmerizing. I watched as she struggled for an escape and it tortured me inside to see her like that. I could see the fear in her eyes as I neared her but I wouldn't harm her. My heart began to feel at peace as I continued to stare at her.

How could this be? Am I really seeing this? Were some of the questions I began to ask myself. I was staring at a mermaid. A real life mermaid!

She is absolutely breathtaking. From her tanned skin and her wavy chestnut hair. You would think that I wouldn't be able to stop looking at her fin but it was her eyes that I couldn't seem to tear mine away from.

They were bright green like a newly sprouted blade of grass on the first day of spring. They pulled me in the longer I stared at them. It was as if her soul cried out to mine through just one look.

I lifted her up into my arms, telling her that "everything is going to be okay. Just hold on a little longer." She didn't acknowledge my words she just stared up at me as I made my way closer to the edge of the water.

"Please don't leave when I let you go." I whispered in hopes that she wouldn't swim away. I wasn't sure if she spoke or understood my language.

I lowered her body into the water and saw her face change immediately from fear to serenity as she sank deeper intot he water. Her eyes roamed over my body as if examining every detail. Then her eyes took hold of mine just this simple action took my breath away. Chills ran down my spine as I watched her suck her bottom lip into her mouth. I opened my mouth to speak but she jumped backwards into the water and swam away from me. I waited for a few minutes but then realized she wasn't coming back so I started to walk back.

Have you ever felt a pull inside that kept you from moving forward?

This uncontrollable desire to go back to the seashore even if I had to wait the rest of the night, I'd do it if it gave me a chance to see her again.

I guess she started to feel the same way because when I returned, her head was swinging back and forth as if she was looking for something or rather someone. She was looking for me.

My heart started to beat rapidly against my chest. I knew that I had to try do something. The question was what? What am I supposed to do? So I did the first thing I could think. I asked her for her name.

"My name is Jade." She responded. Her voice came out a little hoarse but I could still hear the beauty behind it.

"Jade." I tried it on my tongue to hear how it sounded coming from my mouth and I realised I loved saying her name.

"It's a pleasure, Jade. My name is Malachi but you can call me Chi for short."

She smiled and repeated my name. I enjoyed the sound of her soft voice pronouncing my name.

We stayed silent for a few more moments when she suddenly spoke up again. "Would you like to go from a swim with me?" She asked and I nodded in response.

I removed my pants and waded into the water. She ducked her head into the water and I followed, letting her lead me to where she wanted to go.

We swam exploring the undersea world but I didn't last long as I signaled to her that I needed air. I began to swim upwards when she her small hand wrapped around me wrist and pulled me back towards her. She stared at me, my eyes squinting at the loss of oxygen but then she unexpectably kissed me. She started to exhale into my mouth filling my lungs with the oxygen they needed. No longer feeling the burning pain of the lack of air, I gave her a small smile to show her that I was okay.

I watched intently as we swam for a little while longer. She was mesmerizing. Her long fin was a mixture of blue and green and even a hint of purple. Some kind of leaf covered her chest as not to expose her breast. Her hair flowed down her back she gracefully swan forward amongst the sea life.

After a while, my arms and legs grew tired so I made my way to the surface knowing that she would follow. As she surfaced the water cascading down her face and she opened her eyes to look at me, I reached out to touch her face. I wanted to reassure myself that this was real. That she was real. That this siren that had captivated my heart was really here in front of me.

After that day, I came back everyday for a month. My mother and her fiancee left along with my brothers and their girlfriends a few days after I had met Jade. They couldn't understand why I wanted to stay. They knew I was hiding something but how could explain that I had fallen in love with a mermaid.

We had grown to know each other more and more everyday. My heart grew bigger every time I heard her speak especially after the first time she told me she loved me.

I had told her I'd be leaving in a week and that prompted her declaration. I wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want me to leave but I took the opportunity in making sure she really did love me.

I passionately kissed her and she returned the kiss with as much desire as I did. I held her in my arms, kiss in her plump lips and down her exposed neck as I poured all that I felt into the kisses I was giving her.

I uttered those four words that would change my life forever. "I love you, Jade."

"I love you too, Chi" she whispered into my ear. Her breath fanning over the nape of my neck as we remained in each others arms.

We laid against the rocks watching the stars twinkling and the pale moon rising higher into the sky. We held each others hand, playing with our fingers and softly running our fingers up and down each others arms when a bright light shone on us from above.

It was such a brilliance that I could not look at it, I kept my eyes on the ground until the light dimmed and a soft melodious voice spoke from the light.

"Hello, Jade and Malachi. My name is Moria. Also known as the Moon Goddess."