Waterkin: The Swim-Through Survey: Waterkin

By Olivette Devaux

WATERKIN: shape-shifters dwelling in our rivers, living in our midst. European names: Rusalka, Vila, Vodnik, water nymph.

Half-human and half-Waterkin, Stella helps her Waterkin clan rescue dry-landers during disastrous flooding following a hurricane. Navigating flooded streets, detecting fallen power lines in her shifted state, she avoids hazards and offers invisible help.

She must pass for human, lest her kin be discovered.

But then she finds a child.

A little girl, stranded in a house. The electrified waters would surely kill her.

To save her, she'd have to shift - and shifting in front of humans breaks all the rules.   

The girls's safety - or that of her clan?

The fate of a life - and of a people - hangs on the thread of Stella's wisdom.

"Swimthrough Survey," an Olivette Devaux story set in the Waterkin world, was recognized with an Honorable Mention by the Writers of the Future Contest. Find more Waterkin stories at www.mugenpress.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mugen Press
• Release date: Jun 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223836377

Olivette Devaux

Olivette Devaux focuses on writing stories of love, where adventure is always an element. Whether contemporary or paranormal, and regardless of sexual orientation, she likes to leave both her characters and her readers with a happy ending. Olivette writes thrillers and speculative fiction as Kate Pavelle, and YA science fiction and fantasy as K.S.Pavelle. She's hard to reach, because she believes her readers would rather read her books than her social media posts. If you ever need to bribe her, try either orange peel dipped in dark chocolate, or chardonnay.

Book preview

Waterkin: The Swim-through Survey

A Speculative Shorts Story

Olivette Devaux

"Waterkin: The Swim-Through Survey

Copyright © 2019 by Olivette Devaux

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

Preface

WATERKIN: The Swim-Through Survey

Also By

About Olivette Devaux

In my native Czech Republic, mythical creatures populate all bodies of water. Rivers and lakes are often ruled by a vodnik, a male water-spirit who drowns the unwary and captures their souls. Story has it, vodniks from various rivers compete in the size and quality of their collection of drowned souls. Story also has it that they keep them captive under an upside-down, porcelain tea cup.

The fabled rusalkas are female spirits who lure swimmers to where danger lurks – but, often, they act as benevolent guides. They are known to dance in dewy meadows and dart into the water if a stranger happens nearby. Many a young man had found his watery grave by joining a group of lovely young women clad only in flowers and their long, flowing hair in hope of an exciting swim.

I chose to interpret these ancient spirits as shifters of various potentials, and for the sake of English, I call them Waterkin. The old rules still apply: If they stay out of the water for too long, they run a danger of drying out. If they dry out, they die. Being practically immortal, this means dying with most of their lives unlived – a terrible fate indeed. When heavy industry polluted the rivers of Europe, Waterkin sought better life in the clean rivers of the pristine New World. They soon found that they had to fight pollution in Pittsburgh as well, but by then they have figured out how to better coexist with the human society. They found ways to live near water, and they always find jobs where water is their main concern.

Stella has a human father she never met, and a Waterkin mother who died when Stella was a baby. Raised by her aunt and uncle's family and by the rest of their clan, she has certain advantages full Waterkin lack. She cannot dry out – but shifting from her land shape to her water shape is hard, and it came to her years later than it should have. Her adventurous spirits leads her to explore both water and the dry-lander society with a foreigner's eye, bringing valuable service and insights to both.

This story is one of many Waterkin stories I have written. Expect to see a Waterkin short story collection in the future!

~Olivette Devaux

A SWIM-THROUGH SURVEY

It had rained all night again, a steady and even downpour that drummed on the roof of her houseboat, on the decks, against the little round windows which Stella had