"THE DROP" by Michael Boatman

Now, this story is SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL, ladies.

It comes from a happy little book of short stories called God Laughs When You Die, by TV and movie actor Michael Boatman (chuckle). The stories all have separate copyright dates; this one is copyrighted 2004 to the author, published in October 2007 by Dybbuk Press in New York.

What a story it is! Two men in a boat, talking about this and that. Their conversation roams casually past the fact that this spot is supposed to be frequented by a black Mermaid who was once seen killing the father of one of the men. The other man actually sees her himself, as she steals a Catfish off the first man's hook (YOU GO, GIRL -- you know I like to see my operatives working together on projects like these). The men are, remarkably, not very interested in this subject, and they move on to other matters. Next thing you know, petty human drama has the two of them trying to kill each other.

Just an aside here: WHY HUMANS CAN'T MANAGE TO HAVE A SIMPLE CONVERSATION WITHOUT PRODUCING WEAPONS AND TRYING TO ELIMINATE EACH OTHER IS BEYOND ME. I used to be one of them myself, and I still don't understand it. Never did, never will. I agree it doesn't happen every time, but often enough to make me wonder how they've gotten this far without wiping out their own species. (WHICH WOULD HAVE SAVED ME A LOT OF WORK.) It's a major reason we are re-absorbing them into the aquatic gene pool, so somebody else can have a turn at being the dominant species.

The ending is a happy one. Rescue of two desperate men by a Mermaid -- how old-fashioned is that! -- SAVES THE DAY, not only for the two men but for others in the story as well.

What I like about it is that EVERYTHING GETS BETTER as soon as the Mermaid arrives. Instantly. She just takes matters in hand, and the problem is GONE. MUCH AS IN REAL LIFE.

One touch I especially like is that this Mermaid, like the one in She Creature, has a family to feed. A little touch of otherworldly wonder can be nice in a story like this, but humans need to grasp the hard fact that WE HAVE OUR LIVES TO LIVE, TOO. We kill YOU for the same reason you kill US: to feed the kids.

Anyway, the whole book is delightful, and this story is a corker.