Kaleidotrope, January 2026
Jack Kersey accidentally catches a merrow (a mythical sea creature) in a fishing net while working on a trawler off the coast of his struggling Irish town. The merrow, named Cóemchuachma, recognizes something familiar in Jack’s soul—calling it similar to “the Thomas-soul,” his deceased father’s name. Despite losing his pay for releasing the catch, Jack is drawn back to the merrow, haunted by the connection to his father who died of cancer a year earlier.
Jack’s life is defined by loss and stagnation: his mother struggles with unemployment, his younger brother Gareth is headed to university, and Jack himself cycles through temporary jobs in their economically depressed town. He finds solace only in his longtime friends Trishna and Dexter, though even Trishna has moved to London. When Cóemchuachma reappears offering to repay Jack’s mercy, he demands to see the merrow’s “cages” and learn about his father.
The merrow gives Jack a magical salmonskin belt and leads him to a sunken warship on the ocean floor. There, Jack discovers Cóemchuachma’s collection: lobster pots containing the souls of the dead, transformed into lobsters. The merrow explains they gather souls “stitched with longing”—those filled with foddiaght, a Manx word for yearning for places that never were. Among them is Jack’s father’s soul.
Cóemchuachma proposes a deadly game: if Jack can identify his father’s soul, he may keep it; if not, he’ll drown. Jack instinctively recognizes a brown lobster as his father. The merrow, enchanted by Jack’s similar longing-filled soul, tries to convince him to stay beneath the waves forever. For a moment, Jack nearly succumbs—what does he have on land anyway? But remembering his friends and brother, he refuses and flees to the surface.
Jack confesses everything to Gareth, who helps him understand their father differently. While Gareth admits he doesn’t miss their difficult, absent father, Jack realizes he needs closure. Despite his friends’ protests about the danger, Jack convinces them to help him return to the wreck using Dexter’s boat. He releases all the captured souls, saving his father’s for last.
As Jack frees the souls, Cóemchuachma attacks with the fury of the ocean itself, cursing him as a traitor. The shipwreck crumbles around him. Jack holds his father’s lobster-soul, finally able to express his grief, confusion, and love. He tells the creature about his life, admits he misses him, and confesses he wants to live—even without his father in it. As the soul’s shell cracks and light emerges, Jack lets it go.
Jack wakes on the boat, saved by Gareth who dove in after him. The salmonskin belt is gone, severing his connection to the underwater world. Surrounded by his brother and friends, Jack realizes what truly matters: the living who waited for him, who chose to save him, who represent home. The story concludes with Jack heading back to shore, ready to face tomorrow—and all the tomorrows after.
