Reader, it’s not often we get to talk about fantastical beasts. Well, those that aren’t the gang member type… Today though, here at the Observer, we were sent a very strange report from one of Hathian’s local fishermen about something they saw out in the seas around our parish.
Our source, who has asked that we call them ‘Nemo’ (and yes, we do get the Pixar reference here at the Observer) gave us the following report. What sets it apart from other drug or alcohol fuelled raving are the photos. Some of them do… well, don’t actually look that natural… So in the spirit of spooky season and taking the small chance that this newspaper is first to break real evidence of ‘Mermaids’ or ‘Sirens’, we are happy to give ‘Nemo’ their place in the spotlight.
Nemo’s Tale
“I am a local fishmonger and fisherman, I work on my father’s fishing crew, ’bout 13 of us in total. The night of the autumnal equinox, September 23rd, I saw something crazy. I tried to tell the crew about it and they all laughed at me, told me it was a malformed alligator. But I ain’t ever seen one with fins or colors like this.. I ain’t ever seen one move like this.“
“When I showed My father, threatened to throw me overboard if I ever spoke of… ‘it’ again. But what I seen was no “it”. It was a she. I swear I heard her, she was calling out to me with a voice unlike anything I ever heard before. A lady, half-human and half-fish, laying on the dock of one of the local businesses. It was dead of night, the rest of the crew aboard our fishing boat was tucked away in the cabin.”
“We was coming in from a night fish trawl ’bout quarter past 3AM when I saw her behind some of the dock furniture. By the time our boat rounded the other side of the dock, she was gone. I managed to get a few snaps of her before she disappeared into the depths, I apologize for their poor quality and graininess, I don’t have the best cell phone camera, we was at a distance and the darkness is heavy ’round these parts at night.”
“It’s been said for centuries that the swamps of Laveau demand sacrifices in order to remain benevolent and unviolent. But I know now that it ain’t the swamps. It’s her.
It’s the Laveau Siren.
She is the reason why Laveau reeks of death. I’m sure of it.
I have included the photos I took in this same envelope, please take a look and warn the people. The water is not safe.”
Our Response
The Hathian Observer is pleased to give you this story from ‘Nemo’, perhaps you see in these photos something unusual. Something that in this spooky season calls to you? If you have any more sightings of this ‘Siren’ or any other mysterious Hathian creatures, do let the Observer know!
((Photo Credit kit.absinthe))
