There was a concert
People were crowding to get in
On the side, a broken large pipe
With a trail of roots 
dipping into it
People edged carefully over 
them to get to their destination;
the sound of music in the distance
A boy and a girl were there, 
among the crowd carefully 
moving around the tree
People were afraid of the
water in the pipe,
a murky brown water
It felt dangerous, somehow, 
as if touching it would burn
There was an old hanging
wooden platform dangling 
over the water
The girl leant out and 
pulled it close, 
then carefully sat on it
It wobbled a bit,
and she nearly fell
The boy held out his hand
to pull her back to the tree roots
Just then, a giant creature
leapt out of the water
The boy took one glance, and fled
just as the girl reached out to him
Everyone fled, as the creature 
bounded after them
And she slipped into the murk
It pulled her down
She wanted to get away
But her body wouldn't respond
She looked up at the fading sky
through the water
She could see her hands
but, they were changing
The skin became ivory white
Her feet began to shift together
She looked down as her legs 
became a tail
and she knew she was different
and yet, she didn't feel afraid
or regretful, or alone
She swept into the deep.
A thousand years passed
and another concert was playing
The mermaid heard the music
Over time, plants had grown
in her pipe, in her home
Slowly draining the water away
She crawled to the edge of her 
remaining water
and heard the happy people calling
She felt their joy
and smiled to herself
She knew her friends
had abandoned her...
She knew the world
had forgotten her...
but she also knew,
that she had forgiven them
She looked up at the sky
one more time
closed her eyes, her head
drooped onto her chest
and she died, with no remorse

- with a smile on her face.