Her family could say a lot of things about her, that she was too curious, too restless, or that she spent too many hours day dreaming and off by herself. Her brother maybe even insisted that she kept too many secrets and needed them to keep two sets of eyes on her. But nobody, not her parents, her brother, or any of her grandparents, could ever say that Mara was not careful. 

She always had been curious about everything. The reefs, the trenches, the tunnels and caves that she often found, even sunken ships, all of them had offered some soft of mystery for her. She needed to go to them, see everything for herself, experience the unknown. But she was just as cautious as she was curious, and she always made an extra effort to make herself, and her family, feel more secure before she went exploring. Mara wasn't foolish, at least not completely, and she knew all of the cautionary tales and took them into account before taking any sort of risk. She had always been this way. This caution had never left her, not even when her curiosity began to outgrow the miles and miles of ocean that covered the globe and became fixed upon the surface world. Dry land. Where the humans lived.

There wasn't a little mergirl or boy alive who hadn't heard the stories of hundreds of merfolk being captured and killed, or put on display like some sort of freak, by the humans. Children went to sleep terrified that a vessel carrying humans would come along and capture them all if they didn't behave. Mara had been one of those children, but years had passed since her last nightmare and the mysteries of the surface had grown too enticing for her. She had made her fist secret trip up to the surface when she had been fourteen. It had been a quick one. She had simply broken the surface and had taken in a breath of air, just as easily as she did while under water. She had looked up into the sky, the light from the sun nearly blinding her after years spent in the depths, and felt the warmth and heard the songs of birds. It had lasted maybe half a minute, then she had ducked down under the water again and started descending towards home again. She had felt elated about the forbidden trip, and she knew it wouldn't be long before she went back.

For four years Mara had been traveling back and forth, from her underwater home to the surface, but she had always been careful about it. She made sure she was as far from human habitation as possible, never staying too long, and was always mindful of predators and the human vessels with their nets. She didn't want to end up like her great-grandmother, Una. Caught and never seen again. No one ever found out where she spent her free time, not even Aron and Zale, who for so long were under the believe that their little sister needed their protection. She could hardly believe it herself, since Mara was part of the Elder's family, and the only daughter of the next Elder in line. But some how, with a great deal of care and a little luck, her fascination with the surface had never been found out.

It had become even easier since she had turned eighteen. Over the past couple of months Mara had been allowed more freedom than ever, and her brothers had begun to admit that she was good at taking care of herself. That was why she had started taking more risks. Staying at the surface longer, venturing a little bit further away from home each day, and even allowing herself to get close and closer to humans. In particularly an island with a human village. It was quiet, for a human home, and beautiful to look at. The only thing she needed to be careful of were the vessels and nets that seemed to surround it. It wasn't too hard, though. It was actually sort of fun, in a dangerous sort of way. There were a patch of not too far away where she liked to lay out in the sun and watch the island. 

That is where Mara had spent that afternoon, eyes closed as she felt the heat of the sun soaked rock against her bare back and the warmth of the sun against her cheeks and stomach. Her long red hair was fanned around her head and she could feel them drying into their natural loose curls while she flicked her fin lazily through the water it was still submerged in. There were several seals lounging on the rocks around her, and she reached out to stroke on ling next to her. The animals didn't mind her company. Sea animals were rarely afraid of merfolk. She would have stayed a bit longer if she hadn't felt the storm brewing in the air, and the seals hadn't started to vacate the rocks. Mara's eyes opened and she pushed herself into a sitting position and shivered slightly. No one, not even a mermaid, wanted to be caught in the middle of a storm.

She lowered herself down into the water and dove back beneath the depths, preparing herself for her swim back home, when she heard a terrified chattering not too far off. She turned, unable to stop her curiosity, and it didn't take long for her to find the source. A young dolphin was caught in a human net, crying for help, while her mother hovered about in distress. Mara knew she needed to go home, that she couldn't linger, that nets were dangerous. But she wasn't heartless. She couldn't leave and allow the mother to loose her child. She darted forward and began to coax the young dolphin into calmness as she set about unraveling her from the net. It didn't take as long as she feared it would, and the mother and child were soon darting away to safety. Smiling and satisfied, Mara flicked her fin to start her journey home.

The motion that had always been so natural and graceful was stiff, clumsy, and painful. And she didn't move an inch. Mara looked back and down and felt a cold panic fill her. She had been trying to be so careful as she had untangled the dolphin from the net, but she saw that her fin had become tangled in the material instead. She had always been told not to panic if she found herself caught in a net, to remain calm and make no sudden movements. It was easier said than done. She couldn't stop herself from making sudden movements. Mara foolishly began to try to jerk and pull herself away from the net, then tried to yank it off of her tail, but it only made it worse. Soon her arms were caught and rendered motionless, and as she twisted she felt the net begin to wrap around her and weigh her down until she was hopelessly trapped. If she could cry underwater she would be, and she knew that there was no way her parents or brothers would be able to find her.

Then the storm began. She could feel the water around her beginning to churn as she wind and rain beat against in, and the currents started growing stronger, as did the push and pull of the waves. The net was thrown backwards ad forwards, with Mara caught inside. She couldn't move, couldn't do anything to brace herself against the pain, and couldn't even scream. Then, after what felt like hours, she felt and heard the ropes keeping the net in place snap.

As the storm currents pulled the freed net through the water, Mara was dragged along with it. She felt herself being painfully thrown around, thrashed, and beaten, horribly awake for all of it. Then she felt her body strike something hard and all she knew was pain and the thought that she was going to die an instant before she fell unconscious. 

The morning after a storm was always so beautiful and calm, and the waves flowed gently in and out around the limp, but miraculously alive, figure of an unconscious Mara. She was still tangled in the fishing net, and her back was pressed against the damp sand of an isolated cove. Her wet hair was sticking to the pale skin of her neck, shoulder, and cheeks, and when she woke her entire body was going to ache from the beating the storm had given her. But she was still deeply unconscious, with her eyes closed and her breathing steady.