Skipping the Scales (Flipping, part 2)

Copyright © 2016 by Pete Tarsi
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author.

NOTE THAT THIS IS THE SEQUEL TO FLIPPING THE SCALES
(http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2046070-Flipping-the-Scales)

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This book is dedicated to my mother. Thanks for always believing in all of my creative endeavors, and for never skipping any of my stories.


~ Chapter One ~

“Marina, you should not be doing this!”

She didn’t have to turn around to know her best friend Lorelei was following her. Without responding, Marina flapped her orange tail even more vigorously than before. Water streamed around her as she glided through the ocean, her long blonde hair flowing behind her to halfway down her back. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before Lorelei caught up with her because while Lorelei wore only her typical seashell top, the human covering that Marina wore created too much water resistance.

As Lorelei gained on her friend, she noticed Marina’s tail sticking out from under a pink sundress, presumably taken from the sunken yacht they had borrowed human clothes from before. “I know what you are thinking, and this is not the proper way to go about it.”

“I have made up my mind.” Marina caught a glimpse of Lorelei’s red hair in her periphery and realized she was now swimming alongside her friend. “Though I appreciate your offer, this is something I must do on my own.”

“You have only been on land twice before. I go almost every cycle.”

“You forget that I spent half a moon cycle amongst the humans. In that regard, I could say that I have more experience than you.”

“You may be correct, but you did not plan it back then.” Lorelei took hold of Marina’s hand and then slowed the motion of her own green tail, thus decelerating both of them. “You must carefully consider the choice you are about to make. If the consequences are the same as others who have made that choice, then—”

“Sink or swim, Lore.” As they drifted into a vertical position, Marina used her free hand to keep the dress from floating upwards while she looked into Lorelei’s eyes. “I understand what you are trying to do, and I truly appreciate your concern, but I must not follow anyone other than myself.”

Lorelei quickly surveyed the surrounding area to ensure no one had followed them. Since they had returned to the north, Calliope, the purple-tailed daughter of their school’s leader, had been keeping careful watch on them. She had grown suspicious when the disappearance of the odd mer Meredith had coincided with Marina’s return to the school, especially because they were the only two mers with orange tails. Her father’s decision to migrate early was due to Calliope revealing that Meredith had interacted with a human-maid.

Fortunately, the early departure was the only consequence of those events, but Lorelei remained cautious when she and Marina ventured away from the school. Seeing no other mers around, Lorelei said, “I am willing to follow you, Marina. Please let me share the experience.”

Marina glanced upward and caught glimmers of faint red light dancing on the ripples of the undersides of the waves. She was not only closer to the water’s surface, but also closer to the desired time of day. “You will share it, just not the way you think you will.” She turned to Lorelei and smirked. “Remember, there are two of us, but only one on the other side.”

Dropping her arms limply by her side, Lorelei stared quizzically at Marina. During the awkward pause that followed, Marina seized the opportunity to kick her tail forcefully and thrust herself forward to her destination.

~ ~ ~

Sitting cross-legged on the private beach behind her island home, Hailey stared out at the eastern horizon and watched for the sun to rise. Awash with fiery colors, the cloudless sky was waiting to change to a beautiful light blue on that Wednesday morning. Waves rustled calmly as they rolled onto the shore, and the seagulls flying by called to each other. For the early time of day, the air was unusually humid, even for late June. Her straight dark hair frizzed a little bit, almost as if there were some static electricity around her. But she hoped that the sensation was a precursor to something much more fantastical.

There was going to be a full moon that night.

She had spent her entire senior year paying close attention to the calendar and circling the date of each and every full moon with orange magic marker. On each of those days, she had written the precise time the sun would rise—information she had easily obtained from an online almanac. She would go to bed as early as possible on the nights before so she was wide awake and outside before the sun came up. As she sat on the footbridge connecting the beach to her yard, Hailey would hope it was that day—the day that a mermaid would come back to visit.

Marina had appeared one other time during the previous summer—on the morning of the first full moon after Hailey had helped her return to the ocean—just as promised. And just as promised, Hailey had spent the two weeks researching the painting they had received, but information about it was practically non-existent. Even the strange old shopkeeper at The Mermaid’s Lagoon who had given them the print wasn’t entirely sure how or when it had ended up in her possession.

The painting depicted a baby mermaid with an orange tail being handed to outstretched arms in the ocean. The woman giving the child away, with her blue eyes and long blonde hair, bore a striking resemblance to Marina, and the painting’s title, Coral, matched Marina’s long-lost mother’s name. It wasn’t a far stretch of the imagination to assume that the baby was Marina, and the arms belonged to Lorelei’s father, who had become Marina’s adoptive guardian so long ago. The painting was enough evidence that Marina’s mother—and maybe even her father—had once been somewhere on land, but no one knew where.

Though she and Hailey spent from sunrise to sunset together, it was a bittersweet reunion. After almost eighteen years of being orphaned, Marina’s first glimmers of finding at least one of her parents had been washed away.

When the waterlogged translucent skirt transformed her legs into a single iridescent orange tail, Marina warned Hailey that she wouldn’t be returning again that summer. After rumors surfaced that the mer named Meredith had exposed herself to humans, the leader of the school decided to migrate away earlier than usual. Regardless, Hailey vowed to be sitting on her beach at sunrise on the same day of every moon cycle in case Marina ever wanted to visit.

On the marked days, Hailey awoke to witness the sunrise but sulked away when it was time to head off to school. As the months passed, and summer turned into fall, the sun rose later, and she spent less and less time waiting on those full-moon mornings.

Even through the cold winter, she’d sit outside bundled up. There were some rainy days in the spring, where she sat under an umbrella on the steps of the footbridge connecting her yard to the beach. On one occasion, the morning of the full moon coincided with a birthday slumber party at a friend’s house, and she faked being sick to drive home in time to be on her beach at sunrise.

But Marina never came back.

A full year passed. Hailey had graduated high school and received an athletic scholarship to a smaller state university on the mainland to join their swim team. Although she wasn’t sure what her major was going to be, she had accepted. Anything that kept her swimming regularly would get her one step closer to her ultimate career goal of becoming a mermaid performer at an aquarium or a water theme park. There were other wonderful developments—and a little bit of information about the painting—that Hailey wanted to share with Marina. Hopefully, that early summer morning would be the day they’d see each other again.

A warm breeze blew as Hailey watched the sun in its entirety hanging low in the sky, and some of her long hair blew into her face. She wove her fingers between the fine dark strands and stared at their colorless tips. For a long time, she had kept the last six inches or so dyed, but due to the additional time spent underwater in chlorinated pools, the color had faded away into bleached streaks.

Sighing dejectedly, Hailey stood and walked towards the wooden footbridge. When she stepped on the first stair, a voice in the distance called, “Hailey! Is that you?”

She turned, and in the distance was a girl with blonde hair wearing a pink sundress that clung to her body. She was skipping towards Hailey, one hand in the air waving and the other hand by her side with a rainbow emanating from it. Only one object could produce such vibrant colors, and Hailey immediately smiled when she realized what it was and who was carrying it.

“Marina?” Hailey took off towards her mermaid friend. “O-M-G, it’s really you!”

They met and hugged on the stretch of sand behind Hailey’s neighbor’s house. Fortunately, Mr. Dobbins wasn’t awake yet, and even if he were, Marina had legs, so all he’d do was complain about them being on his part of the private beach.

“I am sorry that I have not visited before now,” said Marina. “The school has only recently returned here.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Hailey jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “I’m just so happy to see you again.”

“So much has happened, and I—”

Before Marina could say anything further, Hailey took her hand and started leading her to the footbridge. “So much has happened here too. Let’s go inside, and we can give each other the four-one-one. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve got! And you’re gonna totally freak out when you see what I use it for!” Remembering that Marina didn’t always understand human expressions, Hailey abruptly stopped and turned to her. “And I don’t mean freak out in a be-angry kinda way. I mean freak out in an O-M-G-that’s-really-awesome kinda way, K?”

“Hailey, there is something important I must ask you first.”

“Marina!” called a voice from down the beach. “You cannot do it this way!”

Approaching them was Lorelei, her wavy red hair blowing behind her as she sprinted across the beach. Unlike Marina, who had removed the tail-skirt, Lorelei was still wearing hers around her waist and was wearing her purple seashell bikini top.

“It is the most sensible solution, Lore,” said Marina firmly. “And I have done it before.”

“That time was an accident. This is—”

“This is my choice, and it is the only way I may fulfill my dream.”

While the two mermaids continued debating in her presence, Hailey’s eyes bounced back and forth towards whichever one of them was speaking. In the brief pauses between their statements and responses, Hailey tried to interject but couldn’t time herself well enough. All that she uttered were scattered ums and ers and buts until finally she flailed her arms and exclaimed, “I-D-K what you two are even talking about! Can one of you please clue me in?”

Marina took Hailey by the hands and answered, “I have learned more about the disappearance of my parents, so I am going to the mainland to do whatever it takes to find my mother.”

Hailey’s face beamed. “That’s awesome news! I’ve got a folder with printouts of everything I found out about the painting. It’s not a lot, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I truly appreciate your help.”

“I’m sure Jill and Meredith—and maybe even Jeff—will help too. Whatever you need me to do, Marina, I’ll do it. You can count on me.”

“That is reassuring to hear. My search may take some time, and I do not know how long I will need legs. I do not wish my tail to disappear like it almost did last time.” Marina withdrew her hands, leaving the translucent object in Hailey’s grasp. “So will you keep it safe until the next full moon?”

~ Chapter Two ~

Meredith stood with the other two interns around the stingray touch-tank at the aquarium, listening to the information of the marine biologist to which they had been assigned. Only three high school students had been selected from a pool of a few hundred applicants nationwide. She felt honored to have been one of them, and it enhanced her applications to several colleges, particularly the prestigious one—the country’s best for marine biology—that she had chosen to attend.

They also liked her diverse resume of athletics and other extracurricular activities. After field hockey season in the fall, she tried out for the girls’ swim team in the winter and quickly rose through the ranks as one of the team’s fastest swimmers. She earned second place in the girls’ five-hundred-yard freestyle at a regional meet but would have easily finished first in Marina’s tail.

“To protect our human visitors from injury, the barbs of these rays have been humanely removed,” lectured Dr. Hatcher. “No harm came to our aquatic friends, as they are significant to the global ecosystem as well.”

A tall, broad-shouldered man in his early fifties, he still had a full head of thick but short dark hair, except for the first signs of grey at his temples. Employees wore the standard uniform of khaki shorts or pants and a navy polo shirt, the aquarium’s logo embroidered in green and white on the top left, but Dr. Hatcher always wore a stark white lab coat over it, making him look much more distinguished and official.

“I assume that you all have read up on the proper handling and petting procedures for the rays,” he continued. “So which one of you would like to dive in first? Figuratively, that is.”

Without hesitation, Meredith raised her hand. Appreciating her eagerness, Dr. Hatcher called on her, so she stepped closer to the tank, not seeing the reactions of her fellow interns.

Popping her bubblegum in her mouth as Meredith’s hand went up, Brittany went to fold her arms across her chest, but then stopped to check her fingernails. They were painted black, just like her lipstick and her obviously dyed hair, and Meredith what the girls’ parents thought of her dark fashion choices.

On the other side of Dr. Hatcher stood Will, who sidled out of sight at the request for a volunteer. For someone so tall—just over six feet—it puzzled Meredith how he could so easily blend into the background. He had short, almost spiky blond hair and pale skin that was a sunburn waiting to happen in some of the outdoor parts of the aquarium complex. Fortunately for him, the ray touch-tank was shaded under a tent.

As Meredith stepped closer to the edge of the tank, six-inch thick concrete about waist high, she smiled in anticipation of what was going to happen. Her fingers broke through the surface of the water, and several of the rays immediately started swimming in her direction. Their tails were vibrating subtly, almost like the wagging tails of puppies seeking affection. And that’s exactly what the rays were looking for, so Meredith gently stroked them near the backs of their heads. She willingly and gladly petted each and every ray that swam her way, sensing that her touch soothed them.

“That’s excellent, Meredith.” Dr. Hatcher then turned to the other two—Will watched intently while Brittany thought she had hidden her phone at the last moment before it could be spotted—and added, “Looks like someone knows how to apply the assigned reading.”

Since it was easy reading with simple facts and instructions, Meredith had only skimmed through the section about handling the rays. Instead, she spent most of her study time reading ahead on some of the advanced projects and facilities of the aquarium that she hoped to experience. But that morning at the tank, she knew exactly what the rays wanted her to do as soon as she was in contact with their water, as if a telepathic link existed between her and them.

The super-rational part of her mind had struggled even to attempt a scientific explanation of the phenomenon, so she stopped looking for one and merely accepted it as one of a few residual instincts from when she was a mermaid. As she sensed the others watching the rays interact with her, she knew she couldn’t keep that skill a secret, but she would downplay it if necessary.

Except with her best friend Jill, who often referred to Meredith’s new abilities as her “superpowers.” She always shushed Jill when the word came up, but it wasn't an inaccurate comparison. From spending those two weeks doing practically nothing other than swimming, she had improved considerably, especially when she swam beneath the surface. She was able to hold her breath underwater for almost two minutes on average, and on one occasion came close to three minutes. Even if she could have taken first place at the regional competition, she probably wouldn’t have allowed herself to do so, as it wouldn’t have been fair to win using any fantastical gifts.

Dr. Hatcher turned his head from Will to Brittany and then back to Will again. “Would either of you like to try?”

Will hesitantly held his hand over the tank. It quivered when he turned to Meredith and mumbled, “I did the reading, but how’d you know exactly what to do?”

“I just did it,” replied Meredith. “And so can you. Watch.”

She took hold of his wrist and dunked his hand into the water. Squirming, he shouted, “Cold, cold, wow that’s cold!”

He tried to pull his hand out of the water, but Meredith leaned towards him and held his arm steady with her dry hand. “Just stay calm and follow my lead.”

When one of the rays glided underneath their hands, Meredith gently guided Will's fingers onto the ray's skin behind its head. She could feel the muscles in his arm tense up, and he seemed to grow taller as he stood on his toes. His eyes, at first closed, opened one by one, and the grimace on his face turned into a grin. “They’re kind of soft,” he said. “But squishy too. I didn’t expect that.”

Dr. Hatcher asked Brittany if she wanted a turn, but she quickly answered, “They’re not dangerous, so what’s the point? Bring on the sharks.” And then she popped her gum again.

A couple of aquarium employees entered the tent. One of them started feeding the rays while the other started fiddling around with his headset microphone and the tent’s speaker system. Dr. Hatcher glanced at his watch and said, “They’ll be opening up to the public in about fifteen minutes. I’ve got a few things to check on, so why don’t you enjoy some of the exhibits for a bit, and we’ll meet in my office at about half past nine.” He took a few steps away but then came back and whispered to Brittany, “Make sure the gum ends up in the trash. It would be dangerous to our aquatic friends.”

As soon as he left, Brittany grumbled and took out her phone, texting as she walked away towards the seal and sea lion tanks.

While Meredith walked to the main gates, Will followed. “I thought I was smart at all this—Rhinoptera bonasus, that’s the scientific name of those cownose rays—but what you did back there? Wow. I can tell you’re going to be Dr. Hatcher’s star, and I mean that as a compliment.”

“That’s nice of you to say.” Smiling politely, Meredith then turned her gaze away. “But all three of us must have been the best candidates, so I know you’ll do fine.”

“To work with Dr. Hatcher, that’s wow. He’s brilliant and well-respected in the field, and I consider myself lucky to get the chance to work with him.”

“Agreed. I hope we spend a lot of time in the rehabilitation complex.”

“I hear they’re nursing a Trichechus manatus back to full health. They found one offshore, and that's rare because—”

“Because West Indian manatees aren’t indigenous to these colder northern waters.” Though Meredith had interrupted him, she wasn’t trying to be rude. The mention of manatees set off a warning bell inside her head. Long-ago sailors supposedly mistook manatees for mermaids, resulting in their folklore, but she wondered if back then the sailors were actually seeing what they thought they were seeing.

“You know so much, Meredith. It was amazing what you did with the stingrays, like they knew you were friendly.”

Her internal alarm blaring, Meredith turned to him and rapidly said, “Sorry Will, but I’m meeting a friend of mine at the main gates, so I’ll catch up with you at Dr. Hatcher’s office.” And then she picked up her pace, quickly taking a glance behind her to make sure he wasn’t following.

People had already gathered beyond the gates awaiting entry. Open from nine to five every day in the summer, the aquarium was one of the biggest attractions in the area. It was a collection of indoor and outdoor structures sprawling over a few acres of land. Outside were several tanks of water large enough to house seals, sea lions, a few small whales, along with the stingray touch-tank. A few buildings were also part of the complex: the main gallery that housed thousands of fish, sharks, eels, and other aquatic animals including an octopus; the sea lion performance theater; a smaller building for penguins; and finally, the aquatic observation and rehabilitation complex.

As she scanned the faces in the crowd, Meredith felt a nudge from behind. When she turned, she saw the tall, plush-covered mascot of the aquarium: Sandy the Sea Lion. Also wearing a navy polo over her dark grey fake fur, Sandy was ready to greet the patrons as they entered. Some children outside were already pointing and waving.

“I see you ditched your shadow,” said Sandy, the voice muffled by the thick costume. “You know he’s totally crushing on you, right?”

“No, he's not,” Meredith spoke through tightly closed lips so no one other than Sandy would hear her. “And I thought you weren't supposed to speak when you were in character.”

“I’m also not supposed to sweat this much when I’m in character. I’ve got to get this thing off.”

Sandy reached out a hand to take hold of Meredith's hand, but since the costume included fingerless flippers that didn't bend very well, all Sandy could do was jerk her flipper to the side, whacking Meredith’s arm as she gestured for her to follow.

When they got to a secluded corner near a restroom pavilion, Sandy reached up to remove the head of the sea lion costume. Tucking the head under a flipper, the performer inside shook her head, letting her mane of uncontrollable dark hair loose in all directions. “That’s better,” said Jill. “I can breathe again. All those drama classes for this?”

“No small parts, Jill. Only small actors.” Meredith smirked. “At least it’s a job.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I think I’m gonna spend most of the day in the main exhibit hall where there’s air conditioning.”

Meredith giggled at how much of a drama queen her best friend was being, but she was grateful that she had coerced Jill to apply for a job at the aquarium so they could spend time together over the summer. In the fall, they were going to different colleges: Meredith to study marine biology and Jill to study theatre. Even though Jill was commuting home every afternoon while Meredith was staying in the dormitory housing provided to the three interns, it was great seeing her daily. They both had Sundays and Mondays free from the aquarium.

Brittany appeared from the women’s bathroom, gave them a snide look, and then popped her chewing gum and strutted away.

“So, Miss Super-Intern, what animals did you meld minds with today?” Wearing a white tank top and denim short-shorts underneath, Jill had wriggled out of her costume enough that she could tie her hair into a ponytail.

“Quiet, Jill!” Meredith reached up to block Jill’s mouth while quickly surveying the area to make sure Brittany hadn’t overheard. “We don’t say that out loud in public!” Satisfied that they were alone, Meredith smiled and answered, “Stingrays. They gathered around my hand, Jill. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had.”

“More surreal than when you were a—?” Jill ended her sentence and chuckled, seeing the look of panic in Meredith's eyes. She had no intention of saying the M-word, but she loved watching Meredith's reactions whenever she teasingly almost said it.

While Meredith whispered a rant about hating when Jill did that, Jill reached into her pocket and took out her phone. Since she couldn't use it at work, she kept it in silent mode and often forgot to turn the ringer back on. At least without it ringing or vibrating, she wouldn’t have the desire to grab it from her pocket, where she couldn’t even reach when she was in costume.

She noticed that since about six-thirty that morning, she had several missed calls and texts from Hailey. She rolled her eyes, wondering what was so important. Before she could reply, the phone showed her she had an incoming call from her cousin, so she answered.

“Jill! W-T-H took you so long?” shrieked Hailey, loud enough that Meredith could hear her.

“I’m at work; we open soon.” Jill shook her head. “The kids won’t greet themselves.”

“We’ve got a mermaid nine-one-one here!”

The mention of the word caused Meredith’s eyes to bulge. She looked around—the coast was still clear—so she nodded at Jill, who understood to put the phone on speaker.

“You need to pick Marina up from the ferry later. She’s gonna look for her mother, so she needs your help.”

Meredith knew it was the day of the full moon, but with no contact from the mers in a year, it had never dawned on her that they’d return. “What about Marina’s tail?” Meredith spoke into the phone. “She can’t just leave it.”

“She wants me to watch it!” Hailey giggled. “I’m gonna be a real mermaid!”

Jill and Meredith locked eyes, their jaws dropping.

“You haven’t put it on and gotten it wet yet, have you?” asked Jill.

“G-M-A-B, Jill! I still gotta drive Marina across the island to the ferry, and then—”

While Hailey continued babbling about her plans, Jill muted her phone to talk privately with Meredith. “The sun sets about what time? I can make it all the way there by then, right?”

Meredith replied, “Yes, we can.”

Jill put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Merri, that’s sweet of you, but I don’t want you to miss a day of your internship. It’s too wonderful an opportunity for you. On the other hand, I can afford to take a day off from being a fish.”

“Aquatic mammal,” said Meredith, as if by reflex.

“Whatever.” Jill unmuted the phone. Her cousin was still speaking until Jill interrupted by saying, “Hailey, don’t you dare do anything—or transform into anything—until I get there.”

~ Chapter Three ~

Though Marina had been inside Hailey’s convertible before, this was Lorelei’s first time riding in a car so open to the air. Sitting in Hailey’s short pink party dress and a pair of flip-flops on her feet, she spread her arms across the backseat and let the breeze blow through her red hair. The two tail-skirts were safely hidden in Hailey’s bedroom, its walls and shelves fully loaded with mermaid paraphernalia as she imagined. A day on land was always an enjoyable experience, and she smiled for the entire ride. “This flows so fast!” she exclaimed, much calmer than she was just after sunrise. “No other experience like it.”

When they had left their school that morning, Marina hadn’t told Lorelei the full extent of her plan, so Lorelei had assumed Marina was deliberately choosing to abandon her tail to remain on land to reunite with her mother. Learning of Marina’s offer to Hailey, Lorelei tolerated the idea, and she thought back to her swimming race the previous summer with the human-maid. Knowing that their concealed tails could transform humans to mers, Hailey seemed the most logical choice to preserve Marina’s tail in the water. And having done so once before with Meredith, Lorelei was the most logical choice to protect Hailey in the water.

“Are you sure you can convince Jill to help me?” asked Marina. “She and I did not always get along.”

Hailey waved her hand towards Marina. “Leave Jill to me. And if she doesn’t willingly help you, I’ll call her brother. Jeff will definitely help you.”

Smirking, Lorelei leaned forward into the space between the front seats and asked Marina, “Is Jeff the human-man who you—?”

“Yes.” Marina sighed and smiled as she glanced at the quaint brightly colored houses they passed. “We went on a date. And we kissed. Several times.” She sighed again.

Hailey’s mouth dropped open. “O-M-G, Marina, look at you, kissing and telling! And about my cousin!”

“You showed me, Hailey, that best friends tell each other everything.” Marina switched her gaze from Hailey to Lorelei. “And the two of you are my best friends.”

Grimacing after she spoke, Marina turned away to view the scenery and to avoid looking at them. She felt guilty for saying how best friends told each other everything when that wasn’t the case. The information she had learned about her parents, she hadn’t yet shared with anyone else. Especially not Lorelei.

It took them a half hour to cross the island and find a parking spot near the ferry terminal. Jill had an hour drive from the aquarium to the mainland terminal and then an hour-long boat trip to the island, so it would still be awhile until she arrived. To pass some of the time, Hailey led Marina and Lorelei across the street to The Mermaid’s Lagoon.

The little bell above the door rang when they entered, and the old woman behind the counter looked up and smiled. “Why if it isn’t my favorite customer! What brings you here, dearie?” Clothed in her usual black robe of a dress with its flared sleeves, the grey-haired shopkeeper tottered over to Hailey and hugged her. “I’m afraid I haven’t got any new information about that painting since the last time you were here.”

“That’s okay, Isabel. We’re just chilling here till…” Hailey’s voice trailed off as she watched the woman hover away from her as if she were on roller skates hidden under her dress.

“It’s you, dearie, isn’t it? The face from the picture?” She stopped before Marina and reached up to squeeze her cheeks in a grandmotherly way. “The girl with the ocean blue eyes. Only they’re not blue with sadness this time. They’re a more turbulent blue, like a tidal wave of mixed emotions inside you.”

Unsure of what was happening, Lorelei stepped forward, hoping to remove the strange human’s hands from her friend’s face.

Sensing the movement, Isabel turned to Lorelei and gazed at her. “But you, dearie, your green eyes are also like the ocean. An ocean that’s filled with life but clouded by something you can’t fully see. Interesting.”

The old woman stood motionless, fixated on Lorelei’s eyes. The shop fell silent except for the muted sound of traffic and tourists outside until Hailey bounced up and down with her hand raised like a precocious student, calling, “My turn, my turn!”

Snapping out of her trance, Isabel glanced at Hailey and chuckled. “I don’t need to look into your eyes to tell that you’ll soon be living out your wildest dreams.”

As she waddled back to the counter, Lorelei and Marina felt their bodies tense up as they exchanged worried glances at each other, wondering how the human figured out their secret identities. Not catching the mers’ reactions but wanting to protect them, Hailey blurted, “I-D-K what you’re talking about.”

“You must have another party today, don’t you, dearie? Here to buy more stickers for the little girls?”

The two mers simultaneously sighed in relief, and Hailey quickly purchased a few packets of mermaid stickers so they could leave without further predictions being made.

They sat at the beach for the next few hours, watching the people and eventually eating. Now and then, attractive and shirtless boys would pass and by and smile at them. Some even stopped to talk. Since tourist season had recently started, Hailey didn’t know every guy that approached. For no other reason but to pass the time, they occasionally chatted with them and then laughed at their reactions when Lorelei playfully told them that they weren’t from anywhere nearby.

Jill’s ferry arrived around half past noon. Before leaving the aquarium, she had limped to her supervisor—one hand clutching her side—and claimed terrible stomach cramps. Her acting performance was award-worthy, and as she keeled over and covered her mouth while heaving, she was immediately granted the day off and any subsequent days she needed to recover. She figured that her supervisor didn’t want her to vomit into the costume or onto any visitors.

Weaving around other passengers as she stomped off the gangplank and through the exit gate, Jill went straight to Hailey, only giving Marina and Lorelei a quick but civil hello. Pointing her index finger at her cousin’s face, Jill commanded, “You’re not going to do this.”

“It’s already a done deal.” Hailey smiled and shrugged. “I touched Marina’s tail-skirt-thingy, and I can feel it pulling me to the ocean. B-T-dubs, it feels totally awesome! I wanna go right now.”

“But it’s for a whole month. Do you remember what happened to Meredith? And she was only there for two weeks!” On the ferry ride over, Jill recollected everything Meredith had told her about the experience, and Jill chose to focus on how she had been chased by some vindictive mermaids out to exile her and was knocked unconscious on the beach by violent waves in the storm. “It’s too dangerous.”

Lorelei stepped forward and said, “I will guide and protect her. Unlike Meredith, Hailey clearly wants to experience being a mer, so I doubt similar events will occur.”

“Jill, I appreciate that you are looking out for your family.” As Marina spoke calmly, Lorelei and Hailey moved aside. “Please give me the opportunity to look for my family. I do not wish to sacrifice my tail, and Hailey wants—”

“Wants to be a mermaid more than anything else in the world, yeah, yeah, yeah.” Jill closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, thinking back to the complicated ruse they developed the previous summer to pass off Marina as Meredith. When she opened her eyes, she turned to Hailey and asked, “What are we going to tell your mom this time?”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Hailey leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Jill. “That’s why I need your help. You kick butt at improv!”

Jill groaned. After Hailey had told the complete truth about the previous summer to a skeptical Aunt Susan, Jill stepped in and quickly fabricated a story: Marina was a runaway they had met on the ferry who eventually decided to go back home, while Meredith stayed home to study until her parents returned from their vacation. Though Aunt Susan sensed that the girls believed they had a strong enough reason to hide something from her, she didn’t seem to believe either story. More importantly, she certainly didn’t appreciate being lied to, so she had grounded them for the rest of the week.

The four girls got into Hailey’s convertible, and she drove to her two-o’clock appointment at a big yellow house on the east side of the island. When Hailey arrived and was greeted at the door by a pretty woman in her thirties, she explained that the other three were her nautical helpers for the day. The mother smiled at them all and said, “There’s plenty of cake. Welcome aboard.”

The woman directed them around the side of the house so they could get to the back without being spotted by her daughter. Surrounded by a concrete patio, their in-ground pool was a large rectangle, twice as long as it was wide. Sixteen by thirty-two, estimated Hailey, who had been in a variety of pools in her lifetime, especially that summer. Stairs led into it at one corner of the shallow end, and a diving board was at the deep end. A small bath house was at the far end of the patio, so the girls went inside.

“Wait till you see this.” Grinning at Marina, Hailey unzipped the opaque garment bag she had brought with her—just another precaution to preserve the illusion.

When Marina first saw what was inside, her eyes widened. Though her steps were tentative, she couldn’t resist being drawn to it. Hailey held it out for Marina to touch, and Marina ran her fingers over the rubbery bumps of the scale pattern. Definitely not the same texture as a real tail, she thought, but from a distance, the difference wouldn’t be noticeable. Expecting the costume tail to have been pink, Marina smiled up at Hailey, joyous tears pooling in her eyes, and said, “An orange tail?”

Nodding, Hailey said, “This way you’re not the only one.”

Hailey sprang into action. First, she went into the bathroom stall to change into her bathing suit: a pink string bikini bottom and a white plastic clamshell top. She also styled her hair, accessorized with a starfish hair clip, and applied her make-up while she could still stand. While readying herself, she explained how she became a kids’ birthday party entertainer.

By her eighteenth birthday the previous fall, she had finally saved up enough money to order a swimmable mermaid costume, custom-made to her measurements and optional design choices—color, fluke shape, and so on. Her parents prohibited her from using it in the ocean, but her mother suggested some other creative reasons to wear it. They had been looking for interesting children’s programming at the library, so one evening a month, Hailey would read stories dressed in her mermaid tail. She built up a following, and when the weather got warmer, the mother of an overly enthusiastic little girl offered to pay Hailey to perform at her daughter’s birthday pool party. Hailey dove at the opportunity, and before she knew it, she had several similar bookings.

Once out of her flip-flops, she plopped onto the floor and started rolling the stretchable material of the tail down to the single two-footed flipper built into the fluke. After putting her feet inside, she started rolling the costume up over her legs, occasionally adjusting it and smoothening it out. She had to lie down, arch her back, and suck in her stomach to pull the waistline of the costume over her hips as if she was trying to fit into a pair of extra tight jeans.

Releasing the material which snapped against her skin, Hailey audibly exhaled and sprawled flat with her arms stretched to her side. Her flipper-fluke loudly smacked on the floor. “Will someone bring me to the pool, please?” she asked, propping her “human” half up with her arms.

Without hesitation, Marina and Lorelei each stood on a side of her and lifted her off the floor. They each had an arm placed under Hailey’s knees and one across the back of her waist, and Hailey had her arms around their necks.

“Does this seem to flow upstream to anyone?” asked Lorelei.

“I get it!” giggled Hailey, swinging her fluke back and forth. “L-O-L! I’m a girl dressed like a mermaid being carried by mermaids dressed like girls!”

They sat Hailey down near the steps so she could dip her tail into the pool. The vertical blinds on the inside of the house’s sliding doors were drawn closed to keep the birthday guests contained until the big reveal. One little girl was peeking through the blinds, and when Hailey noticed, she grinned and waved, eliciting a wide smile from the girl.

The doors opened shortly after that, followed by a stampede of eight-year-old girls, wearing a rainbow of brightly colored one-piece bathing suits. Stay-at-home moms for many of the children followed closely behind, carefully watching their children near the swimming pool while enjoying how they interacted with the mermaid performer.

First, she let the girls come close to her, either sitting beside her or standing in the shallow end. They were all fascinated by her tail, which she swished around in the water, and some of them eagerly asked if they could touch it. Then she took the birthday girl for a swim on her back before giving the others rides.

She had to be lifted out of the water by her helpers and deposited onto the bench of a long picnic table for individual photographs, a story, art—pages from a mermaid-themed coloring book—and then presents and birthday cake. “This really flows,” mumbled Lorelei, globs of chewed chocolate cake in her mouth.

After the cake, the young party guests wanted to watch Mermaid Hailey swim. Happily, she dove under the water and swam all the way across the pool without coming up for air, her hands by her side as her undulating tail propelled her forward. When she finally popped her head back up to tread water with her tail dangling below her in the deep end, all the girls clapped and cheered.

“Your cousin is a natural at this,” said Lorelei to Jill.

“It seems she is.” Jill stood straight, hoping her height advantage would intimidate Lorelei, but when she looked into the mer’s green eyes, Jill relaxed her shoulders. “Promise me you won’t let anything happen to her down there.”

“You have my word.”

The remaining time was unstructured, so all of the party guests were in the water with Hailey. Marina and Lorelei sat on the pool’s edge at the shallow side to dip their feet into the water, but it didn’t smell or feel right to them. The youngest girl there, wearing inflatable floaties around her arms, made her way over to them and asked, “Are you mermaids too?”

Marina and Lorelei glanced at each other until Marina replied, “Not today.”

The child pulled herself out of the pool and then skipped away and into her mother’s outstretched arms. The mother kissed the girl’s cheek while the girl pointed at the other children gathered around the mermaid. Hailey sat on the other edge of the pool, smacking her fluke onto the water’s surface and splashing all the girls around her. They were all laughing and egging her on to do it again.

“So you are going on this adventure, Marina?” asked Lorelei. “Sink or swim?”

Marina’s gaze remained on the little girl and her mother, their arms happily embracing each other. “I have never wanted anything more.”

- - - - -

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