"Yes.  And that is excuse in itself, just as with kittens and butterflies.  But there is more to it than that... and she reminded me of Mike.  She's not quite a mermaid - see? - and she's not quite human.  She sits on land, where she has chosen to stay... and she stares eternally out to sea, homesick and forever lonely for what she left behind.  You know the story?"