Chapter 2: Lost at Sea:
Since I didn't have a place to stay, I decided to go to the beach.
Something about the ocean always pulled me towards it. The waves
never failed to calm me down, and as I really needed that sense of
comfort, paying it a visit seemed like a good idea.
It was around 8:00am in the morning, so the beach was almost
entirely empty. I sat on a large rock, waist-deep in the water, and
closed my eyes to savor the feeling. The water swirled around my
body like a giant jacuzzi, and a sense of calm enveloped me.
Had I opened my eyes just a few moments earlier, I would have
known that peace wasn't the only thing that the ocean wanted to
make me feel; at that very moment, a gigantic wave drenched me
from head to toe -unseating me from my rock- and carried me off
into the deeper waters.
I could feel my stomach start to cramp, and try as I might, I
couldn't fight the strong force of the currents. I felt something get
tangled in my legs. As I struggled to stay afloat, I could feel my
strength ebb away, and soon blacked out, sinking beneath the
waves.
* * * * *
"Amel-…she isn't…-ing…call…he'll know…do."
I could hear some voices, but they were extremely distorted, like
I was hearing them on a voice call with a bad internet connection. I
tried opening my eyes, but my lids felt really heavy.
"HEY LADY!! WAKE UP-"
"Erin, shut up! The last thing we need is for some shark to find
us. Besides, she could be dead for all we know. No use getting into
trouble for her!" A high-pitched voice snapped. It sounded like a
little girl.
I realized the voices belonged to little kids. "That's strange," I
heard myself mumble, "Why are there kids on the beach all on their
own?"
"Amelia, I think she's alive. We better take her to the city." This
voice was deeper, like it belonged to someone older, a man around
my age.
I finally forced my eyes open, getting a closer look at them. Two
tiny faces were staring down at me, a slightly older guy standing
behind them. They seemed normal, but their faces kept shifting in
and out of focus, like I was looking at them through water.
We were in a cave -not on the beach like I had initially assumedand all around us were large, moss-covered crystals. "Where are
we?" I mumbled, "I didn't know there was a cave like this on the
beach. And why am I covered in seaweed?"
"Um…I'm Miles, and these are my younger siblings, Amelia and
Erin." The man answered. "We found you in this cave while we
were playing hide and seek. And I don't know what a beach is, but
this cave isn't in it. We're in the Howling Cove right now-…"
Howling Cove? Not on the beach? I wanted to scream at him for
confusing me even more. I was tired, my head hurt, and honestly?
I was scared. The last thing I needed was for him to tell me about
whatever imaginary land he was playing in with his siblings. I
noticed Miles was still talking so I tried to refocus on his words.
"-…so, we really need to leave. The sharks will come out once
it gets darker, and it won't be safe for anyone then." He wasspeaking in a really urgent voice, and I noticed Amelia was looking
around, absolutely terrified, while Erin clung onto her hand.
"Look, how can the sharks hurt you? Sharks live in the water and
they can't get you while you're on …land…?" my voice trailed off
as I realized the problem. The rippling images of their faces, the
cave, the sharks, their distorted voices? We weren't on land; we
were underwater.
How are we breathing? I wondered. I looked at their bodies and
saw that instead of having pairs of feet, all three of the strangers had
long, colorful, scaly tails. "What are you guys?" I whispered, half
scared, half amazed.
"We're mermaids, of course," Erin beamed at me before
hesitantly adding, "like you."
What? I ripped the seaweed off my lower half, and lo and behold,
the part below my torse had miraculously transformed into a long,
golden tail. How did this happen? I could feel myself going into
panic mode, but thankfully, Miles had finally decided he wouldn't
wait any longer. He made Erin take one of my arms while he took
the other, and together, they hauled me to my feet -tail? –pulling
me out the cave into the open waters. I guess I'm going home with
them.