The nymph, for surely that is what it was, lay on the patio by the pool. Its naked form was draped almost as an afterthought on the red stones. Amanda did not appreciate a nymph on her patio, let alone a naked one.
"But Love," her husband protested while his eyes were fixed intently on the nymph. "All nymphs are naked. They're creatures of nature, they have no need for clothes." Amanda frowned at him. Since when had he become an expert on the magical?
"I still don't like it. They're nasty creatures that carry disease. Poor Deloris Carpenter's son got bit by a wood fey and he had to have twenty shots to stop the fever. It's worse than rabies." She turned from the kitchen window and took the broom from the closet.
"Now, Dear, there's no need to chase it off." He came up behind her and wrapped his arms about her waist. "I think it's pretty."
She made a face at him and shrugged out of his grasp. "What? And let you ogle it all day long?"
Jim laughed and kissed her cheek. "I'd rather ogle you. Nymphs only tease, but I get the whole kit and caboodle with you." He winked at her and caressed her back.
She was somewhat mollified by his attentions. Still, it didn't escape her notice that his eyes never left the svelte form of the nymph. A flare of jealousy leapt up into her chest, threatening to suffocate her. It's just glamour, she told herself. He can't help himself, he's charmed. The realization did nothing to ease the green-eyed monster that noted the difference between her 30-year-old body and the nymph's compact form. Shaking her head, she decided that running the creature off was the only way she'd get any peace the rest of the day.
"It's not like they're dangerous or anything," Jim said as she reached for the kitchen door. "The government has said that they are harmless if left alone."
"Have you forgotten what those gnomes did to Alice Miller's cat?" They both shuddered at the memory. Amanda slipped on her sandals. "Are you coming with me?"
"No, I think I'll stay inside like a good husband and let you take care of business," he mocked.
A note of disappointment in his voice firmed her conviction. The nymph had to go!
Amanda grabbed the broom from the closet and left her husband staring out the kitchen window. She peered around the corner at the nymph. Come on girl, she told herself. It's just like the badger. At that thought, she wondered if a broom was enough. She thought about going back for a can of pepper spray, but didn't want Jim to think that she had chickened out. I'd think that, here in the suburbs, I'd be free from such invasions.
That was before those pesky fairy folk started to show up. Suddenly elves, gnomes, trolls and other fantastical creatures had overrun the urban area. Amanda snorted when she thought of explanations that the "experts" had given for the emergence of these mythical monsters. Most agreed that they had been pushed by human expansion to the deepest parts of forests and swamps and mountains. But now that the last of the undeveloped country was being turned into planned communities, the critters were adapting to city life.
And I felt bad for those people in Florida who found 'gators in their backyards, she thought. Now people had to deal with pixies enchanting children and bogies eating house pets. Amanda decided that if there was any sanity in the government, there would be hunting licenses for the fantastic beasts. The government had tagged the new creatures as "endangered". Beside, no one wanted to shoot something that looked so human.
Amanda approached the nymph with trepidation. She had never dealt with one before, and she was unsure how to chase it away. Her hands strangled the broom handle as she thought of her husband, standing in the kitchen, staring transfixed at the spectacle out back.
"Love, come and look at the nymph sunning herself on the patio." He had made it sound as if they had a lizard in their backyard or a swan in their pool.
Now, standing a few feet from it, she wasn't so sure. For all she knew, it could be dangerous. Amanda thought of the badger again.
A few years ago when Jim had gone golfing and she came across a badger in the garden. Amanda had tried to chase it out of the cabbage with a pitchfork. In the end she found herself scrambling on top of the tool shed to escape the hissing furry ball. For three hours she sat there until Jim came home and scared the badger away with some leftover fireworks. That night she had treated him as her hero.
At that moment she thought of calling Jim for help.
The nymph looked harmless, though. It lay, as if posing, on its back. Its body was that of a prepubescent girl and oozed sexuality. Its skin was olive colored and glistened with sweat. An odor of green things growing hung about it like an aura.
Her legs are nicer, Amanda thought. And she has a flatter stomach, and lovely hair. Amanda shook her head, dismissing such thoughts. I'm not here to do a comparison, Jim loves me no matter what, we've been married for ten years, and he's just enchanted. Then why don't you take him someplace else and show him how you feel about him until the nymph goes away, a more rational part of her suggested. No, she decided, she had started this and she had to finish it, else she might as well leave the nymph be and let Jim ogle it until the sun set.
"You there, shoo." She hissed at it, waving the broom. At first the nymph didn't seem to hear her. "I mean it now. Away from my pool and back into the forest with you." Amanda paused, embarrassed. There weren't any forests for miles around. Perhaps she could chase it into the yard next to them. Let the Bakers deal with it. "C'mon now, off with you." The broom's bristles touched the nymph's side and it started.
Amanda watched the creature scoot away from her and into the pool. It ducked under the crystal blue water and came up sputtering. The pool boy had been by just yesterday so the chlorine level was fairly high. Even as Amanda watched it slip into the water she thought of just walking off. Let the little bugger die, she thought.
The creature started crying, uttering a piercing sound. Amanda covered her ears for a second, startled into dropping the broom. A wrenching in her stomach forced her to jump into the pool. She didn't think twice about getting the nymph out of the water, she just acted. Whether it was some enchantment on the part of the nymph or a newly emerging sense of guilt, she didn't know.
Jim came running to them. "What did you do?" he cried, horrified. He took the nymph from her and laid it out on the cement.
Its green skin was mottled now with blue sores.
"It dropped into the pool on its own," she said, trying to pull herself out of the pool. Her dress was soaked through and she couldn't get her leg up.
Jim helped her out of the pool and then bent down over the nymph where it lay convulsing. Water gurgled out of its mouth and a thin, green liquid trickled out of its nose.
"Well don't just stand there," she said, rolling into a sitting position. The wet, heavy fabric made moving around difficult. "Go call the paramedics, or a vet. I don't want it dying here."
While Jim raced into the house, Amanda pulled herself up and went to the faucet set into the side of the house. Tap water wouldn't be too much better, chemical-wise. But she remembered Alice Miller throwing a bucket of water on the gnomes and that had done nothing to them, except make them wet. She filled a plastic bucket and returned to the nymph.
With cupped hands, she dribbled water over its body, trying to wash away the droplets of pool water.
"There now, it's all right," she whispered to the nymph. "Didn't mean to hurt you, just wanted you to go away." She washed its face and breastless chest. "You need to be where there aren't any dangers, like wives with brooms." She felt silly, talking to it like that and actually crying over it. "Not your fault," she whispered.
There was the scream of a siren and her husband had come out to join her. They both continued to wash it until the paramedics came running up to them and took over.
There was a report to be filed, of course. No blame was assessed. These things happen, they were told. What with the encroachment of man and all, there were bound to be mishaps. Amanda told the police officer the nymph jumped into the pool as she watched from her kitchen window. Jim nodded and corroborated the lie. When the officer wasn't looking, she smiled over at him weakly and took his hand in her own.
The nymph would survive, though. It was on its way to a preserve for just such magical creatures. A bit of weight lifted off of Amanda's shoulders at that news. She still felt stupid for her reaction earlier. If the nymph had died, her guilt would have tormented her for weeks.
It wasn't until dark that night that everyone left. Someone had called a camera crew and so they had to give their account of what happened. The Bakers promised to tape the news broadcast. Amanda just wanted all of them gone. She was tired and feeling more than a little uncomfortable under the glare of the police lights. When they started to leave, Jim went into the house to mix some drinks. She walked around to the backyard.
When the pool had been built, they had invested in high hedges and fences. They had giggled that now they could go skinny dipping without fear. That had been three years ago, however. And they had yet to swim around in the buff. Looking about, Amanda took off her still damp dress. She molted her slip and bra and panties and stood naked before the calm waters. With each article of clothing, she let go of the feelings of guilt and shame that had built up inside of her since that afternoon.
A breeze brought out gooseflesh on her skin. Carefully she walked down the steps into the pool, its cool waters climbing up her body a few inches at a time. At last she was enveloped. Turning over on her back, she floated, staring up at the moon.
"Amanda what are you doing?" Jim stood on the patio staring at her as if she were mad. All because of a little jealousy, she thought. She shook the last bit of guilt free. Of all the encounters she had heard about between human and myth, this one had turned out relatively harmless.
"I'm not Amanda. I'm a nymph," she said with a sly smile. She flipped over onto her front and swam under the water to the far end of the pool. There she surfaced and beckoned to Jim. Grinning, he put down the drinks and rushed into the pool fully clothed. Under the full moon their laughter wove into something magical of its own.
Raechel Henderson roach@mindless.com is the editor of Jackhammer E-zine on top of being a writer, student, wage slave and various other personas. Unlike other fantasy writers, she doesn't have a cat, or even a dog. Instead she puts all of her caretaking efforts in keeping her small collection of plants alive.