Sink or Swim

by Sarah Mlynowski

  The Little Mermaid shakes her head. “No one underwater does. Books and ink don’t last underwater. They disintegrate.”

  That makes sense. “Well, we read. And that’s how we know who you are. And what happens to you. And it isn’t good.”

  She pulls on a lock of her hair. “What happens?”

  “You go to the sea witch and make a deal with her. She turns your tail into two legs but makes you give her your voice as payment.”

  She touches her throat. “My voice?”

  I nod.

  “Your tongue!” Jonah adds, now beside us.

  “That’s disgusting,” the Little Mermaid says.

  I agree. “That’s why we don’t want you to do it.”

  “Is your name really Little Mermaid?” Jonah asks.

  She shakes her head. “It’s Lana.”

  “I’m Jonah,” my brother says. “And my sister is Abby.”

  “Nice to meet you, Abby and Jonah. I’ve never spoken to humans before.”

  “We’ve never spoken to a mermaid before,” Jonah says. “Most people here haven’t even heard of mermaids. They’re weird. They don’t use ketchup, either. Is there ketchup where you live?”

  It’s very late, I’m very cold, and I do not feel like chatting about ketchup. “Lana, let’s get back to business. Are we all clear? You can’t trade your voice and tail for legs to make Prince Mortimer fall in love with you. It doesn’t work. He marries someone else and you end up …” My voice trails off. A wave hits me and I struggle to steady myself.

  Lana squints. “I end up what?”

  “Dead,” Jonah says matter-of-factly.

  She shivers. “I don’t want to be dead.”

  “Exactly,” I agree. “That’s why you have to learn to be happy with your life in the water. You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

  In the moonlight, I see Lana’s eyes tear up. “But I don’t want to stay where I am! I love Prince Mortimer! And I want to live on land! Where there are sunsets and flying fish!”

  “What are flying fish?” Jonah asks.

  “You know,” she says. “Fish that fly through the air. My sisters told me all about them!”

  “You mean birds?” I wonder.

  “Flying fish!” she insists. “And shoops!”

  “What are shoops?”

  “The things you put on your feet. You know — shoops.”

  “You mean shoes,” Jonah says.

  She shakes her head. “Shoops!”

  “Forget about shoops,” I say. “Didn’t you hear what I said? You’re going to lose everything! Your tongue! Your life! You can’t make a deal with the sea witch! You can’t give up everything that makes you who you are. It’s just not right.”

  Lana crosses her arms and pouts. Her tail slaps against the water. I guess that’s her way of stomping her feet. “But I love him.”

  She’s being ridiculous. “You’ve never even spoken to him!”

  “You don’t need to speak to someone to know you love him,” she insists. “You don’t know what it’s like. You’re just a kid.”

  I snort. “You’re practically a kid, too.”

  “I’m fifteen,” she huffs.

  “That’s not even old enough to vote!”

  “Vote on what?” she asks.

  “The president,” I say.

  “We don’t have presidents here. My father is the king. He runs the ocean. And I’m a princess. And I want to marry the prince.”

  Jonah floats on his back. “Maybe she could still marry the prince, without making a deal with the sea witch. Maybe they can have a long-distance relationship. Or maybe she can live in the pool. Or he can go live with her in the ocean. He can use the underwater spit potion!”

  Lana cocks her head to the side. “There’s an underwater spit potion?”

  “That’s what Carolyn said,” I say. “But she hasn’t been right about everything. She’s the chef at the palace. Apparently her great-great-grandmother met a mermaid.”

  “I’ve never heard of a potion,” Lana says, “but if it really worked, then the prince could stay with me!”

  “Carolyn said it lasted only for twelve hours,” Jonah says. “So he’d have to come back on land eventually.”

  “Maybe we could alternate,” Lana says hopefully. “He could spend some time underwater with me, I’ll spend some time in his pool …”

  “It’s doable,” I say.

  “But …” Lana hesitates. “Do you think he’ll love me even if I’m a mermaid?”

  “A guy should love you for who you are,” I say. “If you have to change yourself, he’s not right for you.”

  We all nod. Sounds right, doesn’t it?

  “I like the potion-plus-pool plan,” I say. “That way you can still be together without trading anything with the sea witch. I think the prince has to meet you. Once he sees that you’re real, and once you tell him that you’re the one who saved him from the shipwreck, I’m sure he’ll fall in love with you.”

  “Yeah?” Lana asks.

  “Absolutely,” I say, and hope that it’s true.

  The next morning, Jonah, Prince Mortimer, and I head out to the beach, as planned.

  “Is she really going to be here?” Prince Mortimer asks.

  “Yup. She can’t wait to see you again,” I say.

  Jonah and I told him that the person who swam him to shore is here to see him. We left out the mermaid part, since he didn’t believe us the first time we told him. He’ll find out the truth soon enough.

  My plan is totally going to work. He’s going to meet Lana and fall hopelessly in love. So what if she’s a mermaid? That won’t stop true love! In a few weeks, he’ll propose, they’ll get married, and — ta-da! — happy ending. I glance at my watch. It’s only two o’clock back home. We’ll get Lana and Prince Mortimer together, and we’ll still have five days to find our way back!

  We are really getting good at this fairy tale stuff.

  As we walk down to the shore, I spot Lana already waiting in the ocean. Her upper body is above the water and her tail is underneath. From this angle, you can’t even tell she’s a mermaid.

  Prince Mortimer’s eyes light up. “That’s her?”

  “Yup,” I say.

  “She’s beautiful.” He practically skips all the way down to the water. “Hello!”

  She smiles back. “Hello!”

  “Are you really the one who saved me from the shipwreck?” he asks.

  She nods. “I did. I brought you to Crescent Beach, and then Abby and Jonah pulled you ashore.”

  “I am forever in your debt,” he says, tipping his head. “Come out of the water so we can talk.”

  “It’s so hot out,” she says, blushing. “Why don’t you come in the water?”

  Nice one, Lana!

  “I don’t have my bathing suit on yet,” he says. “Tell me more about how you saved me. You happened to be in the water that night?”

  “Yes,” she says simply.

  “I guess you were on another boat?”

  She smiles. “Something like that.”

  “You have beautiful hair.”

  “Thank you,” she says, batting her eyelashes.

  “So you brought me all the way to safety?”

  She nods.

  His eyes are all shiny and moony. “That’s amazing. You saved me, and you’re so beautiful.”

  “Thanks again,” she says.

  He clears his throat. “Will you marry me?”

  Wow, that was fast! I thought it would take a few weeks, but it only took a few minutes. Maybe it really is true love!

  Lana’s smile lights up her face. “I will!”

  “Fantastic,” he says, his eyes twinkling. “You will be my princess.”

  “I should tell you something,” she says. “I am already a princess.”

  Surprise crosses his face. “You are? Princess of where?”

  “Of the sea,” she says, and with that she dives into the water and sho
ws him her tail.

  His face turns white.

  Uh-oh.

  She reemerges, still smiling.

  “You have a t-t-tail!” he spits out.

  “I do,” she agrees. “I’m a mermaid.”

  He shakes his head repeatedly. “There is no such thing as mermaids.”

  Jonah laughs. “Prince Mortimer, she has a tail. You can’t argue with that.”

  The prince waves his hands in front of his face and takes a few steps back. “I can’t marry a half person, half fish.”

  What? No! “Why not?” I ask. “She can sleep in your pool! Or the hot tub! The hot tub is really relaxing!”

  He keeps walking back toward his palace. “I just can’t! I need a wife who can walk and dance. Someone who can live with me on land. I’m sorry, but this will never work. I take back my proposal!”

  “You can’t take back a proposal!” I yell.

  “Yeah!” Jonah hollers. “Finder’s keepers!”

  “There’s a potion,” I tell him. “A potion you can take. You’ll be able to live part-time with her under the water.”

  “There are sharks under the water!” he exclaims. “And I’m not giving up my palace to live in some underwater cave!”

  Hmph. What a romantic.

  And with that, he turns and storms back to the palace.

  “But, but, but …” Lana’s voice trails off. “I don’t live in a cave. My father’s palace is just as nice as this palace.”

  I hurry toward her. “Lana, I’m so sorry.”

  She winces. “I told you this wouldn’t work. I need legs to marry him. And the only way to get them is the sea witch.”

  “Lana, I don’t get it. Why are you so crazy about him? He just insulted your palace! And he’s not willing to give anything up for you! Why are you going to give everything up for him?”

  She purses her lips. “Because I love him!”

  I roll my eyes. I can’t help it. She’s hopeless. “There has to be another way.” I rub my fingers against my temples. “I need to think about it.”

  “Well, I need legs. I have to go, anyway. My dad is having a party tonight, and I said I’d be there.”

  “Good.” At least a party will keep her from visiting the sea witch. “By tomorrow I’ll have another plan. Trust me, I’m very good at planning.”

  Jonah nods. “She is very good at planning.”

  “Just whatever you do, don’t go to the sea witch. Deal?” I ask.

  “Whatever,” she says. And then, without even a good-bye, she disappears under the water, leaving me to come up with another plan. Fast.

  Once again, I toss and turn and turn and toss. I can’t sleep.

  Lana is going to come by in the morning, and I have no idea how to get her a happy ending. My only option is to convince her that her current life is super awesome without the prince.

  And it so is. She’s a princess! She has great hair! If she lived where we do, she could be in a shampoo commercial. She has five sisters — I wish I had one sister, never mind five. Legs just aren’t that great. I look down at mine. Sure, they can run and dance and stuff. But I’ve seen her swim, and she moves a lot faster than I do.

  There’s a loud noise outside the window. It sounds like, “Oooooh!” but it’s more of a moaning.

  I bet it’s quieter underwater. Land has all kinds of creepy sounds.

  “Ooooh,” I hear again.

  Wait. That sounds like a person.

  I run out to the balcony and look down at the beach.

  “Ooooooooh!” I hear a third time. I look around in the moonlight and eventually see that the sound is coming from a person. From Lana. She’s lying on the sand.

  As I try to figure out what’s going on, she starts to flop from side to side. Her tail starts to quiver. And then as I watch, her tail splits right down the middle into two.

  OH. MY. GOODNESS.

  I have seen a lot of crazy things in fairy tale worlds. But I have never seen anything like this.

  I step over the divider and pound on Jonah’s balcony door. “Wake up!” I yell. “We have to help her!”

  When I turn back to Lana, the green in her legs is slowly fading to the same light color of her skin. Her hair is the same. Her upper body is the same. But now she has legs. LEGS!

  And green bikini bottoms.

  “What’s up?” Jonah asks, opening his balcony door.

  “That’s what’s up!” I say, pointing to Lana. “She made the deal with the sea witch! Why would she do that when I told her not to?” I stomp my right foot. I am mad. So very mad.

  “Oooohhhh!” Lana moans.

  “We need to help her,” I say. “Get a towel.”

  We hurry down to the beach and find her still twisting in pain on the sand.

  “Does it hurt?” Jonah asks her.

  “Obviously, it hurts!” I exclaim. “She wouldn’t be making those sad sounds if it didn’t hurt!”

  Lana just nods.

  I put my hands on my hips. “Did you go to the sea witch?”

  She nods again.

  “Why would you do that?” I wonder. “I told you not to!”

  She opens her mouth to say something but then immediately closes it.

  I gasp in horror. Since she has legs and went to the sea witch … the sea witch has her … has her … has her tongue. “Did you give her your …?” I can’t even say the word. It’s too gross.

  Lana nods. But then she points to her legs.

  My stomach churns. She really did it. Gave away her tongue for legs. Why would she do that? Why would anyone do that?

  I take a deep breath. I take the towel from a very wide-eyed Jonah and wrap it around her wet shoulders. “Can you stand?” I ask.

  She shrugs, which I take to mean I don’t know. Communicating with someone with no tongue is not going to be easy. She holds my hands, and I gently lift her up.

  She’s shaky on her feet, but it seems to work. At the same time, she grimaces, so I guess it hurts. After a few seconds, she is able to walk on her own.

  We take her back to the palace.

  I want to yell at her. To tell her that she made a huge mistake.

  But by the pained look on her face, I think she already knows it.

  “Come sleep in my suite,” I tell her. “We’ll deal with this in the morning.”

  She looks like she wants to say something, but then just nods. Without a word, she follows me to my room.

  Lana is up before I am. She’s sitting on the floor of my room, examining her toes.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask.

  She gives me a big smile and a thumbs-up.

  She motions to her body. I have no idea what she’s trying to say.

  She motions again.

  “You’re cold?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Hot?”

  She tugs on the yellow nightie I lent her last night. Maybe she’s saying thank you.

  “You’re welcome,” I tell her.

  She shakes her head again and then makes a waving motion with her hands.

  “You want to go swimming?”

  Her cheeks turn red and she stomps her foot. She pulls at the nightie again and grunts.

  “Oh, you want to get dressed!”

  She gives me a big nod. Then she makes a show of patting down her hair.

  “You want to wash your hair and then get dressed and then see Prince Mortimer?”

  She claps. I guess I got it.

  The door bursts open. “Who are you?” Vivian looks at Lana and demands.

  Lana’s eyes widen in fear. She opens her mouth to answer but then seems to remember she can’t say anything.

  “She’s a mermaid!” I say. “Remember I told you I was looking for a half fish, half human?”

  Vivian clucks her tongue. “She doesn’t look like she’s half fish. She has legs.”

  Good point. “Well, she used to be half fish,” I say.

  “I don’t approve of lying, Miss Abby,” Viv
ian says. “Does your friend with legs have any clothes, or did she lose her luggage, too?”

  I shake my head. “No luggage.”

  “I’ll call the tailor,” Vivian barks.

  Twenty minutes later, Lana has been measured and has showered and is wearing a brand-new sleeveless yellow sundress. She still smells a little salty, but I guess that’s what happens when you live most of your life in the ocean.

  “Now get outside, both of you, so I can clean,” Vivian orders.

  Through the balcony window, we spot Prince Mortimer already out on the beach, standing by the royal boathouse. Jonah is up, too — he and Russell are building sandcastles.

  Prince Mortimer looks up, and Lana waves at him.

  Prince Mortimer waves back and gives Lana a slightly quizzical look.

  Lana curtsies. Then she pulls my hand and hurries me outside.

  Prince Mortimer watches us as we approach.

  “Hi,” I say. “Do you remember Lana? She gave up her tail to be with you, so I hope you’re happy.” I don’t mean to sound as grumpy as I do, but I guess I can’t help it. I feel grumpy.

  “You have legs!” the prince exclaims.

  She blushes and nods.

  “She gave up her voice for those legs,” I say.

  Lana gives me a sour look.

  What? She did! Lana should be thanking me. In the original story, the Little Mermaid had no translator, and the prince never knew that she was the one who saved him and he ended up marrying someone else. The only reason he knows what’s going on here is because of me.

  And maybe Jonah. My brother who is currently making snow angels in the sand.

  Mostly me.

  “Who cares about your voice?” the prince exclaims. “You look gorgeous.”

  I have no choice but to roll my eyes.

  He takes Lana’s hand and twirls her around. Then he drops to one knee. “I will honor my earlier proposal. Will you marry me?”

  She nods happily.

  Lana and the prince embrace. Everyone on the beach — the king, queen, Jonah, Russell, and the guy manning the royal boathouse — claps and cheers.

  And me? Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel. On the one hand, I’m happy that Lana got what she wanted. She wanted to marry the prince, and now she will. She’s getting her happy ending.

  But on the other hand, she:

  Lost her tail!