The mother lathers sweet seed oil onto the girl with her rough hands and then dresses her in ceremonial robes. The girl is about to turn thirteen. She then joins the other women in the temple’s hallways: her mother’s sisters, priestesses, aunties. Afterward, they send her off to the group of other children her age, though they ignore her. Soon, they all join the ceremony where people chant, reciting the rites. She stands in the far back, as usual. She thinks about how she has always faced neglect in the village. She hears whispers from the blessed girl, who is likely to get her scales and gills first, as she had grown her claws at age six and told all the other girls to not talk to the girl. From then on, all the children and parents ignore the girl, and the blessed girl continues to jab at her. Now, the aunties sprinkle holy water and mark the girls with seaweed paste.

The children go to the water. Every fifty years, children are born in the water and brought to land, though every generation, the children must return to the sea, during which one will be taken back. The girl knows that it’s likely her, that everyone else will likely offer her up, while the others turn into mer. One by one, the children head to the ceremonial dock, and everyone dives, starting with the blessed girl, who dives in perfectly. Eventually, it’s the girl’s turn. She dives, swims, and tries to resurface, but the blessed girl grabs her by the ankle and drags her down, while the other children, in the midst of transforming, watch with apathy. Soon enough, the girl runs out of air and passes out.

The girl wakes. She is warm, and she feels no fear. She is underwater, but a different kind of it. She sees Her, the one whom everyone prays to and worships. She is massive, colorful, emanating with seaweed. The girl says that she must be being offered up to Her right now, to which She says that she is not the weakest and that She will take someone else as offering: the blessed girl. The girl asks what happens to those who are taken, to which She explains the origin of everything: how she created children in the sea, who became humans, and those humans became cruel, after which she takes the cruel ones every generation, and tries to adjust them to be better, hence why she is taking the blessed girl now. The girl then asks why she’s not like everyone else, to which She explains that she is still one of her children and in fact the daughter of one of her most loyal children. The girl complains that she hasn’t transformed yet, to which She says that she is denying herself life by neglecting herself. The girl says that was what she was raised into. Now, however, she imagines rising past the surface, living for once. She starts to transform. She thanks Her.

The girl is transformed and swims in the water. She surfaces and sees the blessed girl’s parents, as well as her own mother, who weeps at the sight of her. She embraces her mother at the shore, who is excited to bring her back to her aunties and have a feast. To the blessed girl’s parents, the girl peels off her anklet, which the blessed girl once yanked at underwater, and gives it to them. Now, they leave them alone, to grieve.