That next day, after my strenuous day of learning the horrendous subject called math, Jonah grabbed my arm and practically dragged me to the beach because he was so eager to explore the mystical waters where the stone was supposed to land but came back. I, being the ignorant sister that I was, told him to bring a little wooden boat to go out into the sea and explore.  So him, being the gullible and extremely happy little boy because it would be his first big adventure, readily hopped into the rickety wooden boat. Then again, I, being the reckless older sister, told him that I wouldn’t be joining him in this fantastical adventure because he’d have to get used to going without me. In reality, I was just not in the mood and feeling a bit lazy, so as he excitedly paddled away, I laid down on the golden sand and closed my eyes for a bit. Eventually sleep beckoned me invitingly and I let myself go into the realm of dreams, where the impossible was possible.

   But then, a loud splash woke me up from my peaceful rest, and I was slowly brought back to reality as I steadily opened my eyes. I felt the rough particles of sand underneath me and I noticed that I wasn’t in my bed, but that I was at the beach and suddenly it struck me that I was here with Jonah. Then the hairs at the back of my neck started to rise as this mysterious silvery fog started to engulf the beach and blind my view of the bay. I couldn’t catch a glimpse of my brother, so began to endlessly search for my brother along the shore and with every passing minute my pulse quickened and my breathing shortened. After what seemed like hours of searching, I saw shadows of figures in the water through the mist and a weight lifted off my chest when I could make out my brother and his little boat. 

   My relief, however, vanished as quickly as the mist had appeared, for right next to the boat was another figure. This figure rose out of the water and began to say something to my brother, and my brother just gazed at it and gradually began to lower his head to meet the figure’s head. An unsettling feeling started to creep up in me so I called out my brother's name and tried to get his attention. His gaze was unwavering and he gradually began to lower his head towards the creature. My desperation at getting his attention increased, so I called out his name more aggressively, but then the thing in the water sharply turned and looked at me. The creature had a glorious shade of blonde hair, and it’s face was like that of a porcelain doll and had a luminous glow. In addition, the creature's eyes were otherworldly for they were big and had a fantastic mixture of dark blue and green. My awe quickly turned to horror as the thing hissed at me with its sharp teeth tinted in scarlet red and it’s eyes turned as black as a raven. Then I figured out what it was, what that thing in the water was. It was a Siren. I rapidly regained my senses and began to yell “Siren” at my brother, but my warning was too late. The creature had already gotten a tight grip on my brother’s neck and violently yanked him down under the blue water. I screamed and staggered around completely traumatized by the events that just happened, and I sprinted to my house. Upon entering I screamed and said that Jonah was attacked, but I was too terrified to say by what. We ran to the beach only to find no sign of Jonah’s body. All we could find was shredded clothing and bloodied water.

After this tragedy, my once happy family was just a memory. The tragedy ripped an irreconcilable hole in our family. Our family was shattered into pieces. We all became strangers living under the same roof, and our trust in each other was completely severed. Well, their trust in me anyways, since I was the one who let Jonah go by himself. They couldn’t trust me with anything anymore. Then one day, they finally mustered the courage to ask me what happened to their son. And I told them the truth. The entire truth. And they didn’t believe me one bit. They thought that the death had caused me to lose my marbles, and they said they were going to send me to a mental institution the next day. So that night, I ran away from my house, not my home because that place lost all the love that qualified it to be home. And from there to the next 2 years, I lived on the streets.

  On the streets, I learned that the world was not as kind to a young lady as it was to a young man, especially in 1800’s English society. Well, maybe it was just me that everybody had looked down on. Somehow, news had gotten out that I’d seen a Siren, and that’s when all the onslaught of brutal name-calling began. Sometimes, a passerby on the street would yell “Murderer” at me and throw pebbles until my skin would bleed or others would call me crazy and say that the circus was missing one of its freaks. Every time I was called an awful word my heart would heavy and sink to the very pits of the earth. Me being attached to all these negative connotations would reward me with being rejected for a job I asked for. I was told that they didn’t need extra work. But I knew the real hideous reason. But something I had unearthed while living on the streets is that whenever a boy asked for a job they’d hand it over to him eagerly. Now usually, I’d hated the idea of being a boy but one job popped up that I couldn’t miss the opportunity. The job was being part of a Captain’s crew, and If that job could take me out to sea and possibly solidify my truth of what happened that day, my mind would finally be at peace. In addition, after two years of being rejected, homeless, and starving, I was desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures. So I dropped my name of Lucy in exchange for Nathaniel, stole boy clothing from someone’s outside laundry, and cut my long brunette hair short. Then I bravely went up to the Captain, and in my manliest voice possible I asked, “Can I be a part of your crew?”

  To my surprise, the Captain said yes, and now I’ve spent the last five years of my life working for him and with the other crew members. We truly have gone through our ups and downs together, and I was truly grateful for this new family. I could see them now hugging each other and singing in different keys which was very painful to my ears, but I didn’t mind it. It reminded me of the old times with my parents before my brother's death. Seeing these guys be so happy even after all their personal hardships taught me that no matter what happens, life is too short to spend it by dwelling in the past and you just have to move on… so that’s what I decided to do. I decided to break the strong chains that my brother's death had created. I was never able to find that wicked monster that had snatched my brother’s life away, so I had to move on. . I let go and let myself be happy and get carried away with the music of the night by joining in the festivities with my brothers. 

   We spent hours and hours laughing, dancing, and drinking rum. My feet were beginning to get sore and I was beginning to get a tad bit tired, so I excused myself and went to the edge of the ship. I looked out across the majestic sea to get some fresh air when I noticed it. A very familiar cloud of silvery fog began to rapidly crawl on top of the sea towards the ship. Then before I could react, the heavy gray fog overtook the ship. Suddenly, the liveliness of the crew members had been blown out as quickly as a candle, and everyone stared around with wide curious eyes. The ship and its crew got so quiet we could hear a pin drop. But that’s not the next sound we heard. Instead, we heard beautiful hypnotizing singing...