Aqua and Donnie

“I would like you all to meet my nieces and nephew,” Acrilla says. “They’re Dawn’s children.” Dawn introduces them to her two children, a girl named Aqua who is Emma’s age, and a boy named Donnie who is Tyler and Calem’s age. Aqua has a pink tail mixed in with gold, and light hair, and Donnie has a green tail mixed in with gold, and dark short hair. Dawn is the first of Acrilla’s siblings to have children. The mermaid children swim like it is their playground.

Tyler sticks his hand out for Donnie to say hello. Donnie looks at the hand, knowing what it is, but too scared to touch it. “I just want to shake your hand, Tyler says.” He reaches his hand out to shake Calem’s hand. “See? It’s fine.”

“Hi, I’m Aqua,” Aqua says.

“And I’m Donnie,” Donnie says. “Are you here to come live in the ocean?”

“No, we live in the human world that we need to get back to soon,” Tyler says. Aqua swims close to Tyler.

“I would still be careful,” Donnie says. “They say they’re not here to be like us.”

“It’s okay,” Aqua says. “Where do you all come from?” Emma and Calem swim close to her and Donnie.

“We live in New York,” Calem says. “Our families have beach houses upon the land.”

Donnie and Aqua shrug their shoulders at each other. “What’s a beach house?” Aqua asks.

Tyler thinks of how to describe it. “It’s a house by the shore near the beach,” he says. “Almost like you would call this your home, but it’s not underwater.”

“I see,” Aqua says. “Being a mermaid is fun because you get to swim underwater, and go up on land every once in a while.” Aqua swims in circles when she realizes that her mother overheard those words.

“You did what?” Dawn asks. Aqua and Donnie realize they’re in trouble. “How many times have we told all of you kids that going up on land is dangerous. It’s forbidden. You know what will happen to you.”

“Okay, we promise that we won’t go back up,” Donnie says, looking guilty and apologetic.

“Good, I’d rather have you both down here than worrying about you getting hurt up there,” Dawn says pointing her finger up to the surface. “Your father would not be pleased.”

“How is that different from us going in the ocean?” Tyler asks. “Did anyone hurt any mermaids besides other animals?”

“It has happened in the past,” Lola says. “Ever since, they have had strict rules about mermaids of a certain age going up alone. We were just like them. Always wanting to look at the human world. But the way we pictured it was wrong.” Acrilla and Noah swim around Emma, Tyler, and Calem. They feel Noah’s slippery skin again.

“What about those fishermen I saw near the beach?” Emma asks. “They seemed to just disappear right after we were looking at them.” Acrilla’s two strong brothers overhear and swim over fast. The oldest brother, Titan, has a red tail mixed in with gold, and dark short hair. The youngest brother, Athen, has a green tail with a mixture of gold and also has short black hair.

“Are these child humans allowed to be here?” Titan asks. As the oldest sibling in the family, he must watch over his family. Acrilla stops Titan from coming near the children.

“Uncle Titan, these are our new friends,” Aqua says. “They care about us.”

“Okay, but why are you here?” Titan says.

Athen pulls him back. “You’ll have to excuse our brother,” he says. “Titan can be overprotective. I’m Athen and your kids don’t look like a threat to us.”

“No, we’re just kids,” Calem says. “This is a cool place to live.” Titan did not expect human children to visit.

He swims back away from them. “Alright, they can stay,” he says. “Just stay together, and make sure they don’t go anywhere alone. We cannot bear to lose them. They must return to their real home soon.”

Suddenly, the area starts to shake, and all of the mermaids and mammals move around and hide until it stops.

“What was that?” Tyler asks.

“It couldn’t have been an earthquake,” Emma says, holding Tyler’s arm. “We never really get those on this coast.” Titan swims outside of the castle, watching all of the sea creatures come out from their hiding places. He, Athen, and other mermen swim up to the surface. They look around and see a boat that has the same fishermen in it that the kids had seen before. The fishermen laugh evilly as they carry a machine that can make noises and shake the ground. The mermaids swim closer to get a look before hiding behind the boat to listen.

“The test worked, and as soon as we use this device in the water, we can scare away those mermaids to capture all those animals,” one of the fishermen says. The others pack up everything to come back the following day. Titan, Athen, and the other mermaids dive back down in the water before they can be spotted. Titan stays behind to watch the fishermen when suddenly one shines a light on him. “It’s one of those mermaids.” The fishermen chase after Titan as he swims away to get back with the others. The fishermen throw a net to catch him but Titan escapes. He swims home quickly to warn everyone. All of the animals are nervous about what happened when the word gets out about the fishermen.

“What’s happening, and why are they talking about the fisherman?” Tyler asks. “Are they the ones hunting you all?” Many of the whales and dolphins swim to a shelter as the fish swim inside coral and plants.

“They are,” Athen says. “These fishermen that you saw at the beach are dangerous to us all. You all need to go home. It’s not safe for you to be in the water.” Acrilla takes Emma, Tyler, and Calem home.

But before they leave, Tyler stops to think while looking at everyone. “We want to help you stop these men,” he says.

“What can we do?” Emma asks. “As they said, we’re just kids.”

Acrilla pushes them to keep swimming away. “You children must go home quickly before the fishermen find out that you were here,” she. Acrilla pushes them to leave as they look back.

“We will be back,” Calem says. “Acrilla helped Emma. We will help you.”

Acrilla takes the kids back to the beach safely, hoping the fishermen will not come looking. “I have to get you home first,” she says.

Tyler, Emma, and Calem make it back to the beach with Acrilla, safe. The beach remains empty, thankfully, so they don’t get caught by any adults. Acrilla helps them back to shore where the bikes were left.

“That was fun,” Emma says. “When do we get to go back?”

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Tyler says. “Look at what happened down there, and we could be next.”

Calem gets on his bike first. “What do you think those fishermen will do to us?” he asks. “Tell on our parents?”

Tyler and Emma get on their bikes. “No, but they could hurt us, maybe take us far away,” he says. Acrilla leans up against the sand.

“Despite Titan telling me that you three shouldn’t be fighting the fishermen, it would be great if you could help us,” she says. “You know the land part of the shores better than we do, and you can tell us when the men are coming back.”

Tyler straightens Emma’s helmet. “The beaches are still crowded because of the summer, and tomorrow is Sunday,” he says. “What about seeing you on Monday when the beach is quieter in the morning?”

“Will there still be humans nearby?” Acrilla worries.

“Yes, there will be, but not many, which will make it easier to help you stop these fishermen,” Tyler says.

“What about in the evening or at night?” Calem asks.

“They mostly fish at night when no one is here,” Acrilla says. “Who knows if what they’re doing is legal.”

Tyler and Calem look at each other, thinking. “That could be why they hunt and harm you all at night,” Calem says.

“Tomorrow night and Monday, we’ll be here,” Emma says. “These animals need to be protected from people like those strange fishermen.”

Tyler looks at his phone, realizing what time it is. “We should head home before our parents wake up and find out we’re gone,” he says. Acrilla jumps back into the ocean and waves goodbye at them as they ride back home. They all sneak back into their homes and bedrooms without the parents' hearing.