Donal stood outside of his thatched cottage near the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in Ballinskelligs and looked up at the heavens as he had so many times before. He'd always loved to look at the stars in their own right, but they served as a convenient excuse as well. They allowed him to tell himself that it was to stargaze that he'd come outside. But he wouldn't lie to himself on this of all nights. He would be honest with himself for a change. He had come out here to listen to the voice.
    The waves were rolling in off of the ocean, invisible in the darkness but their sound washed over him, their cool caress of the beach began to mesmerize him. It seemed like a voice, an ancient and beautiful voice calling to him. He wouldn't fight it this time, he wouldn't let his fear chill him and drive him back inside where a warm fire waited.
    The soil was firm under his feet as he made his way along the path yet his knees felt weak. He could have walked the short distance to the beach blindfolded, he'd been down it so often over the ten years he'd lived here. But never at night, never at night. Growing up nearby in Waterville, his parents had warned him of the danger, warned him of the beautiful and deadly creatures who lurked in the night-darkened sea. Soon he was at the bottom of the path, the sand was soft under his feet. Maybe too soft, it made him feel uneasy, it made him feel like he was in a dream where something was pursuing him and his legs couldn't move fast enough for him to escape. But this was no dream and he was beginning to be afraid.
    He looked back toward his cottage, yellow light was streaming from the window. The warmth and safety of his home beckoned to him. But the voice from the sea beckoned as well. It was a mere whisper mingled with the soothing sound of the waves.
    "Come to me, my love. I've been waiting for you for so long."
    The sweet sound of her voice was coming from the shadow of a large rock a few yards off shore.
    "Who are you?"
    "Do you have to ask? Haven't you heard me calling for you every night?"
    "Yes."
    "Come to me and you shall see who I am."
    "It's late, I must go home."
    "There's nothing for you there but loneliness. So often have I gazed longingly at your solitary silhouette in the window. Come with me to my home beneath the waves and I'll be with you always."
    "I'll die if I go with you."
    "You'll feel no pain, can your empty home promise you as much?"
    Donal's feet felt the cold water wash over them as he edged closer to try to see her.
    "You don't know how lonely I've been all these years."
    "I do. I've been lonely too. Longer than you. Longer than you've been alive...longer than you can imagine."
    "You could come with me, you could be my wife."
    "Never! You don't know how I'd suffer out of the water, I'd be miserable and so would you at making me so."
    "Would you die as I will die if I go with you?"
    "I can never die, I'm not mortal as you."
    "Than why do you want me?"
    "To ease your pain...and mine. I told you I've been lonely too. I've been here since long before your people came. I was beginning to forget my loneliness until you built your home here."
    "My home." Donal looked back at the cottage. "I built it for my wife. How was I to know she'd never come."
    "She has come, my love. I'm here. Come to me and you'll never feel lonely again."
    Donal was up to his waist. The coldness of the water was stabbing him but he sensed warmth coming from the sound of her voice. He reached toward the shadow near the rock and a small hand took his. It was wet and soft as the sea but warm, so warm. She showed herself then. In the dark she was little more than a shadow herself but the light from his cottage sparkled like stars in her eyes. The warm cottage. The impulse to turn away from her died as she drew him closer. The sparkle in her eyes would be home now. She gently pulled him deeper, his feet no longer touched the sand. They drifted together on the waves, he ran his hands through her floating, silky hair. Her warm embrace protected him from the coldness of the ocean.
    "I'm yours now," Donal said quietly. "There's no longer any need to lie to me. Did you lure me here just to drown me as my parents said you would?"
    "No," she put her fingers over his lips. "I love you. Even now I'll bring you back to the shore if that's what you want."
    She turned him slightly so he could see the lonely glimmer of light in the dark distance. He answered by kissing her fingers. She drew her hand away and put her lips to his as she took him to her home beneath the waves.