by Doe, Anna B.
Another lump forms in my throat, but I push it down. Her voice is dead serious, but so am I. “If you can help me save Taylor, I want to do it. I would do anything to help him.”
The nymph looks at me with curious eyes unblinking. It’s like she’s trying to figure me out, but she doesn’t understand me. Finally, she nods her head. “As you wish.”
In the blink of an eye she’s there, in front of me. Her eyes look even more mystical and haunting from close up, and I can’t stop looking at her.
Hypnotizing.
That’s the effect those mirror-like eyes have on me.
Her hands, soft like silk, touch my cheeks, and for a second, I forget how to breathe. They’re velvety.
Beautiful.
Nymph smiles, almost like she knows what I’m thinking.
Her hands fall on my shoulders.
She’s so close to me, I can feel her warm breath on my skin, but before I can blink she’s away again.
“What did…”
“With this, you’ll be able to find your friend. Good luck on your journey, Marissa.”
She takes me in for a few seconds longer, but then she’s gone. Just as fast as she appeared, she gets lost in the ocean.
A mirage.
I blink, hoping I’m imagining this. Just dreaming.
This whole situation? Or just the part where mermaids are real?
I’m not sure which one. My head is spinning in circles, and it’s hard to think clearly. Stories and folk tales don’t just suddenly become a reality.
“Hey! Wait!” I call after her, but she’s nowhere to be found. “Ocean nymph!”
I call her, but there is no answer. Then something occurs to me. The nymph is gone, but I can still breathe. I can still talk.
Underwater.
My eyes close shut and I take a deep breath in, scared I’ll lose the ability to breathe any second now, but I don’t.
Slowly, I open my eyes. Just enough so I can take a peek. I don’t know what I should expect. What I’m looking for, but there has to be something.
She said she’ll help me.
She’s an imaginary creature. What makes you think she would say the truth? Or anything at all for that matter?
Ignoring my distrustful subconscious and encouraged by the fact that my lungs still work normally, I open my eyes completely. I turn around, searching for what? I don’t know.
Then I see it.
The shimmer of deep green underneath me, where my legs should be, but they aren’t.
Screaming in surprise, I try to jump back, but there is no escaping a part of your body. Even if it’s a part you aren’t used to having.
Not only can I talk and breathe underwater, but I’ve got other mermaid qualities.
Qualities like a tail.
It looks shimmery and silky, but at the same time, razor sharp. The need to touch it is strong, to find out how it feels beneath my fingers. But I don’t have time to think about any of that, because a glimmer of light from beneath me catches my attention.
Blond hair.
Tanned skin.
Dark blue wetsuit.
Taylor.
Marissa
When you’re little, your parents and grandparents tell you stories. Sometimes, they read them from books, stories written long before you were born. Sometimes, they invent them based on what you want to hear or their own experiences converted into funny and educative fairytales. But for the life of me, I never imagined these stories to be real.
Yeah, parts of them are possible, but there is no reality in fantasy.
Or so I thought.
Only now, I can’t deny it.
Because I’m living proof of the realness hidden in the fairytales.
You probably think that figuring out how to use a mermaid tail would be difficult, an ability you have to learn and practice to master to perfection. Like learning how to ride a bike or how to surf. It’s not.
The moment I snap out of my shock I’m sprinting―or would the mermaid equivalent be tailing?―deeper into the heart of the dark, bottomless azure ocean.
If I thought being in the ocean was exhilarating before, it’s nothing compared to how it feels now. The speed in which I move is faster than humanly possible. And as I cut through the layers of water, I can feel it move with me, sliding against my skin, urging me forward, helping me move.
The ocean doesn’t feel salty as it once did. It feels… normal.
My vision is clear, and I can see better and farther than I did on the land. I can see everything. Every fish. Every seashell and star. Little crabs, seaweed and other marine organisms and creatures.
It’s beautiful.
The life going on underneath the water, mostly hidden from the human eye, is remarkable. Little pieces of paradise guarded by the mighty ocean from the disturbance and destruction humankind brings.
If I wasn’t a girl on a mission, I’d probably let myself investigate. Swim around and look into every corner I could find while I have the chance. It’s not every day a girl becomes a mermaid.
I love scuba diving, and I plan to go to college and study marine science. That’s how big my love for the ocean is and everything hidden in its depths.
Being a part of it in this way… it’s surreal.
But Taylor can’t wait. He’s been underneath the water for far too long.
How long has it been?
Five minutes? Ten? An hour?
I don’t have any idea. When you’re drowning time becomes irrelevant.
However long it is, it’s too long. So I hurry up.
Using every drop of energy in my body, the energy I didn’t even know I possess, I push myself to swim faster until I can see him.
His arms and legs are spread. Blond hair, just a tad too long, is floating around him. His eyes are closed and he looks pale.
“Ty…” I murmur softly, hurrying to get to him.
When he’s within arm’s reach, I curl my hands around him, pulling him close to my chest. If his sun-kissed skin didn’t look so pale, it would appear as though he’s asleep. The lines of his face are soft and relaxed.
Boyish.
I can’t help but brush the strands of hair off his face.
“I’ll help you,” I whisper a soft promise in his ear.
Securing my arms tightly around his torso, I pull him closer and start swimming upwards. I don’t look up. Not once. I’m scared of what I’ll see if I do. Scared of the darkness surrounding me.
Carrying the dead weight of another person―twice my size, if I may add―even if it’s underwater where there is no force of gravity, is no easy feat. But I can’t allow my fear to get the best of me, so I focus all of my attention to the task at hand.
The rise to the surface is slow and hard.
Ty’s body slips from my fingers on more than one occasion, and I have to try my best to keep a strong grip on him. If he falls out of my arms and starts falling back to the bottom of the ocean, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get him back up again.
I don’t know how long it takes me.
Minutes?
Hours?
Maybe even days?
It feels like eternity before I see the light of the moon shining above us.
I squeal in delight, almost losing my grip on Taylor for the umpteenth time.
“Shit.” I grip his arms and pull him back up. “Just a bit more. We’re there. Don’t give up on me, Ty. I’m taking you home.”
Gritting my teeth, I push harder. The climb has been so long and exhausting, my feet hurt. Well, my tail hurts. My hands are sore from carrying Taylor, my breathing hard and labored. But I push through it all.
Have you ever noticed how the ocean is lighter on the surface and grows darker as you dive deeper? Through my whole climb, I can see the slow change of its color. Different shades of greens and blues and then the night air touches my face as the moonlight kisses my skin.
When I feel the cold night air touch my cheeks, I gulp for air, despite
being able to breathe underwater. Relief like I’ve never known washes over me, and tears fall down my cheeks.
“We made it.”
The night sky is filled with stars, and the full moon shines over our heads.
The storm has finally passed, leaving only a chilly breeze behind.
I want to laugh and cry in ecstasy. I’m alive, breathing the ocean air and just a few feet from land.
I’m home.
“We’re home.”
Looking down, I see Taylor’s unconscious face. My hand curls around his wrist, fingers searching for his pulse.
When I find it, weak but present, I sigh loudly in relief.
“I’ll find help for you, Ty,” I whisper, already swimming toward the quiet beach.
I pull him on the shore and lay him down on the sand. He’s motionless, and when I look over his body, I can see how the pale skin is slowly turning blue.
Somehow I manage to pull the tail underneath me to get some leverage. Being a mermaid on land is so not fun.
“You’re not dying on me, Ty. I didn’t pull you from the depths of the ocean so you could give up on me.”
I fold my hands and press them against his chest, over his heart. I’ve never performed CPR before―those few times I tried it in class with a mannequin don’t count―but I’m not going to let it stop me from trying to save his life.
Keep your arms straight, and use the strength in your shoulders to press down. Slow and easy.
I repeat the motion over and over again, trying my hardest to keep my nerves at bay. Just as I’m about to start panicking, his body stirs under my touch and water starts coming out of his mouth.
“Finally…” I whisper softly.
Ty’s eyes are still closed, and he’s fighting to throw up all the water that filled his lungs.
As I look at him, I don’t notice the waves moving slowly closer until they touch my skin.
My scales.
Suddenly, the realization that I’m still a mermaid dawns on me.
In a panic, I look between the boy I saved and my tail. Ty is coughing loudly, his eyes still closed, but he’ll open them any minute now.
Why am I not human again? Whatever the nymph did to me worked. I got the tail and saved Ty and myself from the ocean and the raging storm. From death. Why am I still a mermaid then?
Taylor’s coughing slowly starts to die down, and in a moment’s decision, I crawl back to the ocean, just enough so my tail is underneath the water level and I can swim away.
And I go just in time, because as I get back up, hidden behind a rock, I see Taylor open his eyes.
He’s disoriented and lost. Blue eyes scan the beach, but nobody is there. I watch him like a creep until he finds the strength to get up and slowly walk away. He’s still turning around, looking over his shoulder. Searching for something, someone.
Searching for me.
I want to call his name. I want to reassure him everything will be alright, but… the glimmer from beneath the ocean catches my eyes, so I look away. I can’t let him know I’m here. Not when the green scales shine even underneath the water, touched by the moonlight.
What have I done?
Marissa
Poke…
“Hey.”
Poke, poke…
“What the fuck? Are you alive?”
Poke, poke, poke…
“Hey! Wake up already.” The finger keeps jabbing me in the sensitive skin of my ribs. It’s annoying as hell, so I swat the hand away and return to my sleep. I’m not a morning person. Everybody knows it, so I don’t get why they won’t leave me alone to sleep in peace.
“She’s awake,” the annoying voice drags out slowly. It sounds fairly familiar, but my brain is so foggy I can’t place it. “Get that naked ass up, Marissa, before somebody else sees you and calls the police.”
Is it someone I know?
Dumb question. This town is so small, you even have to know the people you don’t want to. Of course it’s somebody I know.
Why won’t they let me sleep? In this moment, not even a terrorist attack could wake me from my slumber; that’s how tired I am.
Did somebody throw a party? Maybe I stayed up late last night with Noel and Ty. Wait…
Ty.
Storm.
Drowning.
Mermaid.
Naked.
“What the…” I jump to my feet instantly. My brain is still drowsy from sleep, but the memories of last night slowly start replaying in my head.
I thought it was just a dream…
Suddenly, my body starts sending impulses to my brain and I’m aware of my surroundings. Aware of myself.
My damp, awfully messy and sticky hair. The sand underneath my feet and covering my body.
My naked body.
I squeal so loudly that I probably wake the whole island. With my hands, I try to cover myself as best I can, which isn’t much, and run into hiding.
Thank God we’re in one of the small coves, surrounded by rocks. The island is full of them. Small, hidden hideouts. Places for a romantic getaway or late-night drinking and sharing secrets between friends.
How did I get here?
As soon as the question arises in my head, another memory returns.
Me swimming without a goal in mind after Taylor finally got up and went home. The full moon shining over my head, illuminating the almost perfectly still surface of the ocean. The tiredness that assaulted my body so I had to find a safe place to stay overnight. Someplace where I wouldn’t risk exposure. There is no way I could explain how I suddenly became half a fish.
The obnoxiously loud, deep laugh assaults my ears. “You don’t have to hide. It’s not like I haven’t seen it all already. Close up, I might add.”
“You’re a jerk, Caleb!” I yell loudly so he can hear me clearly through his still present snickering.
My cheeks flush bright red in embarrassment, and I can feel the heat spread all over my body. I drop to the ground, behind the safety of the rock, and pull my knees to my chest. Still, regardless of my embarrassment, I can’t help but sneak a peek around the edge of the rock to look at him.
Caleb Lawrence.
Sinfully handsome, manwhore, bad boy.
His big, ripped body is standing in the way of the morning sun. His messy, rich brown curls are damp, most likely from running. One lone strand is falling over his forehead, almost in a boyish manner. But there is nothing boyish about this guy.
Not his toned and muscled body covered in shorts and a damp T-shirt that clings to his skin. Not his strong, square jaw and surely not the dark stubble covering his cheeks. His cheekbones are high. His nose straight and commanding. And his lips… those wickedly plump lips that call you, enchant you, into thinking about them whether you want to or not. Thinking how they’d taste, how they’d feel…
I shake my head slightly, breaking from the spell I was under. My eyes meet his.
Shit! He caught me staring at his lips.
One side of his mouth tugs upward, like he knows exactly what’s been going through my mind as he nibbles at the metal ring in his lip. Yes, the guy has a pierced lip, and it looks totally badass on him.
“Among other things.”
I frown. It takes me a few seconds longer to remember what we were talking about.
“Don’t you have any decency?”
“Decency?!” He chuckles again. “Coming from a girl who is sleeping on the beach in the middle of the morning naked.”
I hide behind the rock again, away from the powerful stare of his green-brown eyes. My body turns an even deeper shade of red, all the way to the tips of my toes.
Wait a minute…
Toes.
I wiggle my legs in front of me in wonder.
“I have legs again…” I whisper in awe, looking at the naked skin of my legs. My fingers trace it slowly, savoring the smoothness of it. The complete opposite of the rough scales that covered the mermaid tail.
I should know, since I
traced it a dozen times last night while I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was indeed a mermaid.
Tail, scales and all.
“Of course you have legs. What else would you have?” Caleb asks in his deep voice. I can almost feel it touch my skin.
Looking over my shoulder, I yelp when I find him right behind me, propped against the rock and looking down at me with interest.
“Nothing,” I answer fast, pulling my legs close to my chest and hiding my body from him. “Would you please stop staring already?”
“Maybe you should put something on so I wouldn’t have to stare.”
“Maybe I would if I had some clothes around.”
Caleb stops for a second, staring at me dumbfounded. His eyes scan the small cove, hand rising to scratch the nape of his neck.
“Where the fuck are your clothes, Marissa?”
“I wish I knew…” I mutter quietly.
I look at my sand-covered toes, and the need to cry is strong. My lower lip starts to wobble, and suddenly I’m drained. I can’t take it anymore.
Caleb’s intense stare and curiosity. His endless questions and teasing.
It’s all too much.
The storm. Almost drowning. Trying to save Ty. Becoming a mermaid. Trying to return to my human body unsuccessfully, which resulted in me swimming around for hours.
It’s all so… overwhelming.
My skin is itchy from salt and sand. Muscles I didn’t even know existed hurt so much I’m surprised my body isn’t covered in bruises. And I’m plain tired.
Last night was hard for my body, but also mind-boggling and emotionally draining.
Caleb sighs, and I hear the rustling of fabric before the gray cotton appears in my peripheral vision.
“I won’t pretend like I know what the hell is going on here, but put this on before someone sees you.”
His feet move a bit before the only sound is the swishing of waves colliding softly on the sand. I wait for a heartbeat or two before I peek over my shoulder.
Caleb’s broad back is turned toward me.
I pull the cotton shirt over my head quickly. It’s as soft against my skin as I imagined it would be, falling to my knees. It smells like him. I couldn’t help notice it as it fell over my head. Musky and male.
Taking a deep breath, I stand to my feet, dusting the sand off my legs. “I probably sleepwalked.”