Flash Fiction: The Mermaid

"I could really use a cigarette," the mermaid said, wiggling her scaly butt on the barstool.

"I told you," Eddy said. "Smoking ain't allowed. Take it up with Bloomberg."

Except for the mermaid sitting near the entrance, it was an ordinary Tuesday in Eddy's Waterfront Bar. No one had seen the mermaid come in, but with those two fluorescent strips being burnt out for weeks, it was a miracle you could see anything at all in the room.

Eddy grabbed the towel and wiped the bar where the mermaid's hair had been dripping. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Margo," she said. "Margo the Mermaid." She sighed. "So when did this smoking ban happen?"

"Oh, it was years ago," Eddy said. "I guess you haven't been in the city for a while, huh?"

"Do I look like someone who takes the train down for the weekend?" She rolled her eyes. "Hey, c'mon, just one cigarette. No one will know."

Steve was staring at Margo, the way he stared at any female unlucky enough to come within range of the barstool where he sat every evening till closing time. "Are there more, um, more who are like you?"

"Yeah, there's about a dozen of us." She turned to Eddy. "So what do you say? One cigarette?"

"Sorry. No can do. That's just how it is now. Unless you can turn back the clock."

Thump, thump, thump. Her tail beat against the metal of the barstool pole. "Wouldn't that be nice," she said. "To turn back the clock. I used to be normal, you know."

"You're lovely just the way you are," Steve said, staring. Margo and Eddy ignored him.

"So what happened?" Eddy said.

"Well, you know, one day I went swimming in the river. I went in with legs, and I came out like this."

"No kidding," Eddie said.

"Yeah. Sure wish I could turn back the clock. If I could, I never would have gone in the water."

"Where you from?" Steve said. "Where can I find the other mermaids?"

She gave him a disgusted look. "Up north. Three Mile Island."

"I'll see if I can find you a cigarette," Eddy said.