The big oak trees creaked and rustled in the cold wind when he walked down the path towards the big iron gates of the local graveyard. He buried his hands in the pockets of his jacket and shivered. It was autumn and the leaves were falling from the trees. Soon he found himself in front of the gates; the iron beautifully twisted and twirled to replicate a kind of image of the believed “Gates to heaven” but he just shook his head and pushed them open enough to pass through and closed them behind again. It was as if the temperature had dropped another few degrees but at least the wind had died down a bit. He smiled into the frosty silence and walked on. He had almost reached the grave he’d come for when he noticed a figure sitting on one of the benches. It was a pretty girl, he realized as he looked closer. She seemed engrossed in scribbling something down in the notebook that lie on her knees. He walked up to her, curious as to what she was writing. When he’d almost reached her, he head shot up and her piercing eyes stared right at him.

“Umm… Hi?” He waved awkwardly and the girl’s face relaxed and she chuckled.

“Hi” she said.

“Um… I’m Chanyeol” He broke the awkward silence that had been growing between them.

“I’m Blue” She said and smiled. She had a stunning smile; he thought and sat down next to her.

“So… What are you doing here?” His deep voice seemed almost too loud for the silence that rested over the graveyard like a cozy blanket.

“Writing” She said.

“You don’t talk much do you?” He prompted.

“No” She laughed. “I’m not good with spoken words” Silence fell as she uttered those words until he broke it yet again.

“So what do you write about?” He asked, curious what one would write about while sitting on a bench in a graveyard in the middle of autumn.

“You’d laugh if you knew” She sighed.

“No I wouldn’t”

“You say that now. Everyone else does” She didn’t look up at him, just kept her gaze stuck on the muddy ground.

“I’m not everyone else” He whispered. She looked up at him and then pointed at the grave in front of them. It was an impressive stone memorial with flowers and Celtic knots winding their way up the sides out of seemingly swirling sea.

“This is A.E Waterstone” Her voice suddenly sounded out of place; strange and yet familiar as if she was telling a story. He couldn’t take his eyes off the stone.

“He was a sailor and fisherman, who loved the land. He wasn’t from here though. He came over from Ireland. He loved the sea; the waves crashing against the shore and the air that never stayed still and tasted of salt. But he also loved the green grass and all the colorful flowers and warm breezes. Most of all he loved his family; his beautiful wife and five children”

“Five?” He interrupted.

“Yes. Five: Four boys and a girl. Her brothers were very protective and she grew up sheltered from the outside world. I would say she grew up without violence and fights, but that would be a lie. She did play with her brothers after all and they counted her as one of them, since she wasn’t the youngest but the middle child as well. The problem was though that the wife was very unhappy. The other women in the little town in Ireland’s west coast made fun of her and never invited her over or anything. To them she was a freak and even though Mr. Waterstone tried his best to tell her the truth that she was the most beautiful and smartest of them all, the wife couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with her. The problem soon became clear: She wasn’t human; she was a mermaid”

“Mermaids don’t exist!” He interrupted again.

“Shut up and listen, will you? Don’t interrupt me again” She hissed. He looked at her with wide eyes but didn’t say anything.

“She was a stranded mermaid, doomed to live with the humans until the day she died. Her eyes were the clearest blue anyone had ever seen and her hair the deepest of blacks. The other women were scared because she was different. One day when Waterstone came back from the sea, he found his wife crying the purest of pearls that fell to the ground with a soft clink and left an echoing sound vibrating through the house. All their children were gathered around their mother with desperate looks on their faces as they turned to their father, who immediately dropped his bags and hurried to her side. He ushered his children out of the room and searched his wife’s body until he found the little shell stuck to the back of her head that was slowly draining her life. He tried to pry it off but his wife’s magic was too strong and desperate. And that is how his wife, his beautiful mermaid, died in his arms. He blamed the people in the little town, packed all his bags that very same day and took his children on the boat. That’s how they arrived here. They lived here in peace, their mother never forgotten and Waterstone never went to sea again” She finished. He looked at her with a questioning look on his face.

“That’s what I write” She explained. “I make up stories: weird and wonderful, impossible stories about the people in these graves. Sometimes I put them down at the graves as well. Maybe someone reads them and smiles at the weird stories I make up about these people” She smiled up at him, an unsure smile as if she didn’t know how he’d react. He swallowed.

“Have you ever written a story about K.Park?” She shook her head.

“Is that who you’re here for?” She whispered again and he nodded.

“He was my grandpa”

“Well maybe I’ll write one for him next” She wondered and he nodded his head slowly. Every day for 2 months he went to the graveyard to sit on the same bench and listened to her while she was telling stories. One day he went to the graveyard and she wasn’t there. He felt upset because he was already getting attached to her. He went looking for her. It was a small town so it couldn’t be that hard or at least that what he thought. For days he searched for her and finally he found her at the park but she didn’t look the same anymore. She looked lost; she looked like she had been awake for eternity. She sat on a bench, staring at the same spot. He walked to her and said “Hey… Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” He knew that she was lying.

“Are you really okay?” He asked again. That’s when she broke down and started crying. He kneeled down and hugged her. She tried to calm down so she could tell him what’s wrong. “M-my p-parents d-died in a c-car crash couple d-days ago. For years I’ve been going to the graveyard to write stories b-but I-I never thought that someone close t-to me would d-die. The odd thing is that a day before their car accident they told me that I have a big brother. I only know his name, I have no idea where he lives but I must find him. He’s the only family I have left. I know that we’ve only known eachother for 2 months but could you help me find him?” He looked at her eyes which were full of sadness and emptiness.

“Of course I’ll help you, anything you need. I promise I’ll be here for you no matter what”