In the kitchen, she found the note on the table and read it several times, as if it were in code and had to be deciphered. Finally, she left it where she had found it and went outside. She was gone a long rime. When she came back to the kitchen, she read the note again, then lit a burner on the stove, using several matches, and put water on to boil. She found a can of coffee and measured some into a pot, moving with heavy listlessness, pausing often to gaze at her hands, or at the shelf, or floor. When she had set the coffee pot on the stove, suddenly, for no apparent reason, her hands began to shake. She looked at them with a kind of wonder, then bent forward, folded her arms over her stomach and rested her head against the kitchen shelf. She remained in that position for a long time.

(cf. Dewey, Thomas B. Can a Mermaid Kill?)