I reached the village. I wished ‘good morning’ to villagers that I met as I walked along the path to my house. And then finally I was there. I went round to the bedroom window. It was just big enough that a person of my size could pass through it.

Carefully I crept into the room.

My wife was asleep on the bed. Only her face was visible, the rest of her covered by a bed sheet. I noticed that beside her underneath the sheet was what seemed to be an unusually large pillow.

Something uneasy stirred in my guts. I grabbed the cloth and flung it aside.

I froze. My worst suspicion was true.

Not a pillow, but a man. They had made love. The sight of their bare bodies stabbed my eyes.

***

A great sadness was over me. It had been a very vivid dream. For a few moments I imagined what if I went to Kiara someday and found her spooning with another man on the bed. I kept staring at the ceiling, repeating the dream in my head and feeling miserable.

Wait.

Where did that ceiling come from?

Everything flooded back to my mind. I had fallen into the well of resurrection.

I realized there was a shape beside me. A siren.

“We brought you out from the well,” the siren said immediately, like she had been waiting to say that to me her whole life. There was an odd expression on her face, like I was a basket of fruits on a table. Except she wasn’t sure if the fruits were edible or made from plastic, strictly for decorative purposes. Put those in your mouth only if you are an idiot. “You were unconscious for five days. I tended and treated you as best as I could. I am the physician of this village.”

She continued drilling me with her hungry gaze. It disturbed me. Slowly I pushed myself into a sitting position. My muscles complained of weakness.

I had been unconscious for five days? Gosh, that was a long stretch. A random thought stole into my mind. Kiara wouldn’t start smooching with other men if I didn’t contact her for five days, would she?

“What are you?” the siren asked me, her eyes widening. The fruits were too irresistible, and they might not be plastic afterall.

“What do you mean?”

And suddenly, even without a reply, I knew what she was talking about.

Five days.

I hadn’t had evilese for five days. I checked my stats and what I saw struck a chord of fear in my heart. My affinity was changing so rapidly! One moment I was neutral, another moment I was a player, and after that I would be an evilun.

No wonder the siren was looking at me like that. She was in a dilemma whether she should tend to me or sink her teeth into my flesh and have a hearty meal.

Would I even mind being eaten?

The siren was definitely a very pretty one. A goddess of beauty. A biological urge called for me. The siren beckoned at me in a delightfully seductive manner. Those plump lips… how would they taste?

I wanted to embrace the siren’s elegant figure. I wanted to unite with her forever.

I was irked when a tiny voice inside me spoke. It sounded like my own, but I could barely hear it, like I was in the front yard of my mind, and the voice was speaking from the kitchen.

Run.

What?

Run.

Why? I am about to have the time of my life!

Just get the frick out of there.

For a brief moment, through the stupor of the spell that the siren was weaving around me, I glimpsed a mouth filled with dagger-like teeth. How did I see this? Perhaps some indecision on the part of the siren if she should carry on with what she was doing, because of my ever changing affinity. But one way or the other, her spell weakened just enough for a fraction of a second and I saw her true face as she opened her jaws unnaturally wide and leaned in towards me.

Before I got lost in the trance again I had to act. I scrambled backwards. My eyes fell on my resting in a corner and I grabbed it. The door was ajar and without sparing a second glance at the siren, I ran out of the hut.

I moved fast, my heart pounding in my chest. Outside, other sirens looked towards me hungrily. Where should I go? Quickly, I chose the shore and sped in that direction, even though I had no idea what I would do once I got there.

In a handful of minutes, I reached the beach. The island of the sirens was surrounded on all sides by the blue water. Swimming in that was not an option.

I spotted a boulder of considerable size not far away, located at the point where the land met the water. Was it a potential boat? It looked far from one, but stones floated in the blue liquid.

A boat was not enough, I needed an oar too. There were an abundance of palm trees on the island. My eyes fell on one of the smaller trees. With a quick sweeping movement of my trustworthy sword, I separated the stem from the roots. I brought the tree to the boulder.

A few sirens were coming towards me, their curiosity piqued by my changing affinity. I had no time to waste.

I rolled the boulder towards the water. It was easy enough because the sand was wet with the blue liquid. I had the rock floating in a couple of minutes.

The palm tree in one hand and my sword in the other, I hopped onto the boulder. The landing wasn’t smooth. My knee took a hit and my foot splashed the liquid. I quickly raised my leg, wincing.

The blue water evaporated from my skin, thankfully without burning holes in my flesh. I began to row my ‘boat’. I resolved not to look behind. I was sure there were innumerable bombshells on the beach waving at me, and I feared I would transform into an idiot if I laid eyes on them.

The sirens were a thankless bunch. I risked everything to bring them the tears and they wanted to eat me. Nice way to repay someone.

A helpful wind propelled the ‘boat’ faster than I could alone. About half an hour passed.

It was not easy at all to maintain my hold on the boulder. I had to crouch not to fall off, and if someone was watching me they probably thought I looked like a frog.

Once at a safer distance, I craned my neck and glanced at the island. It had shrunk considerably in size. The sirens had dismissed from the beach, choosing not to pursue.

The forest across the water was dense. Who knew what awaited me there. I prayed it would not be an ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ scenario. At least I would be able to stand upright. I was having a backache pretending to be a sun basking toad on a rock.

A line appeared ahead where the blue liquid met the real water. The moment the boulder crossed the line it was bound to sink.

This knowledge could not have prepared me for the suddenness with which the boulder dropped once it crossed the point. One moment I was breathing in air and the next moment I was struggling to block the water forcing into my nostrils. I swam back up to the surface, but in the process I had to let go of the palm tree, which could have aided me to remain afloat. Worst of all, I lost my sword too.

I had no option but to keep throwing stroke after stroke. It was very exhausting. I wished dearly for a health vial to replenish my strength.

It was nearly an hour later that I collapsed onto a patch of shingles, the surf roaring in the background. I was drenched and spent.

I lay still for a while, relishing the fact that I didn’t need to keep swimming any more.

After some time I parted my eyelids, the soil against my cheek, and saw little ants moving around. I turned my body to face the sky. It was past noon. The island looked like a pebble in the distance. I hoped not to return there ever again.