Jurga Tumasonytė: Music in their eyes

Mermaids are discovered in a lake, drawing the attention of a scientific expedition and of a couple living nearby.

The white-hulled expedition yacht rocks on the water; on board, four scientists are waiting for the coffee to boil. It’s early morning, and the fog is starting to lift. On the deck the blond one with the snub nose breathes in the damp air deeply and gazes around: soon the shore will no longer be in view, and it will look as though they’re in the middle of someone’s dream. The man darts into the cabin again. We can only guess how they will behave in the fog. This is why the scientists all have hearing protectors slung around their necks, ready to use them immediately if there is even the slightest sign of danger. The camera they’ve lowered down to the bottom of the lake shows a static image: the first one is asleep, her tail tucked into the soft bed of the lake. The second is stretched out on her stomach, embracing a piece of wooden debris. It’s not clear where the others are or what they are doing. The camera only found those two. …

This short story  isexcerpted from the 2019 short stories collection, Undinės, by Jurga Tumasonytė. Translated from the Lithuanian by Medeinė Tribinevičius for the Vilnius Review.

This chapbook is published as part of the project “Mi-Monstre Mi-Livre,” organised by After 8 Books, Ariel Ink, Publication Studio Paris and Six Chairs Books, during a residency at Aperto, Paris, in the framework of the Lithuanian Season in France.