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"Selena!" she called. "Selena!"

Lena struggled to sit up, then lay immobile, a small, drenched figure at the base of the rocks.

"Oh, nooo," moaned Melusina, "please don't let her be hurt."

She struggled to make her way across the rocks in the direction where Lena lay.

Then she saw a solitary figure moving across the sand, and she froze.

The man came closer to Lena and knelt down beside her. He moved her hair out of her face and spoke to her. Then he helped her sit up.

Melusina pressed her hands to her face, weeping.

The man put his arms under Lena's shoulders and knees, then lifted her off the sand. Holding her in his arms, the man looked directly at Melusina. "She's okay," he said.

He Sees me, thought Melusina. He has Seen me before. There is recognition in his eyes.

"I knew you were real," said the man softly. "She's your little girl, isn't she?"

Melusina nodded, tears and rain coursing down her face.

"I'll make sure she gets home," he said. "Goodbye."

He walked away from the rocks, cradling Lena in his arms, his long coat blown by the wind.

* * *

EPILOGUE

On a warm spring day, Lena stood at the boundary between her two worlds—where land melted into the sea.

Magic Crescent Cove sparkled like liquid jewels today—the waves small and unthreatening. But Lena knew its pretty postcard appearance hid dangerous tides. Maybe someday she would surf here again.

But not today.

"I'll just be a minute," she told her dad. She walked closer to the water's edge, looking for the sight of a head in the water—she couldn't help looking—but saw nothing but gray-green ocean. She bent down a few yards from the high-tide mark and placed the three palm-size stones she was carrying on the dry sand, their edges touching.

Then she turned away from the lure of the sea. She walked back to her father and said, "Let's go."

He nodded, and they made their way up the beach to the edge of the highway, where her dad's car was parked, two surfboards secured to the top.

"Hi, Denny," said Lena. She approached the man who sat watching the cove, ever vigilant.

He stood up, brushing sand from his long coat. "Hello, Selena."

She hugged him.

"I want to see her again," said Denny, as he always did.

"Me, too," whispered Lena.

Lena's dad walked up to them and shook Denny's hand. "Will you come for dinner tonight?" he asked.

Denny smiled and shook his head, as he always did.

"Bye, Denny. See you soon," said Lena, and she opened the passenger-sidedoor.

Her dad stood next to Denny, both of them staring out to sea ... the immortal, immeasurable sea.

"Dad, come on," called Lena from the car window. She was afraid one day he might not be able to turn away.

To her relief, he laughed and jumped into the car. "Okay, okay, keep your wetsuit on!"

"The waves won't wait," she added.

He laughed some more. "Oh, Lena ... the waves are eternal." The smile on his face fell slightly, and they looked away from one another, each thinking of a village beneath the waves and a beautiful mermaid who lived there.

Mother.

Wife.

Lena's dad started the car, releasing them from their reveries. He drove south on Highway 1, away from Magic Crescent Cove.

Ten miles farther down the road, he pulled into a spot on the side of the highway.

"Look!" said Lena, pointing. "There's Ani's Jeep! Oh, and Max is here, too. That's his car. Everyone is here!"

"Do you see Mom's car anywhere?" asked her dad.

"Not yet," said Lena. "Oh! There it is." She pointed at a green Volvo. Mom and Cole had not wanted to miss Dad's triumphant return to surfing. Lena suspected that somewhere on the beach, Mom had already been roped into a game of catch with Cole.

Lena's dad parked the car, and she jumped out to help him untie the boards.

She lifted down her brand-new custom-made Robbie Dick surfboard. The deck was sky blue with a smiling yellow sun on the nose, and the bottom was midnight blue with a bright moon in the middle and a spangling of stars across it.

Lena hurried down the verge to the sand. Her dad followed, carrying