Shimmer Tail

Chapter Five

                    ~CHAPTER FIVE~

Jeanette yawned and stretched out on the clamshell bed in her new room. She was waist-deep in thought about the day’s events. Marjorie had told her at dinner that she would arrange for her sisters’ and friends’ memories to be altered, so that they would forget all about Jeanette. The mer-Chipette was aghast at this, so Marjorie had given her a choice. She could allow her friends and family to forget her, or she could have her mermaid powers taken away. The latter seemed like the best choice to Jeanette, but Marjorie warned her that this would cut all her ties to mermaids, meaning she would never see Annalise or Ripple or Marjorie ever again.

Still, Jeanette decided that this was the best choice. Though she would be sad at the thought of losing her new friends, a life without her old friends seemed simply unbearable. She thought back to Annalise’s comment about Simon being her “love interest”. Yes, she and Simon had been friends for years. And yes, Jeanette couldn’t say she didn’t have strong feelings for him. The only thing she was scared of was if he didn’t feel the same. It was a common fear, Jeanette knew, but she worried how it would affect their friendship. With a pang of sadness, Jeanette realized they all must be worried sick. She had been gone for a full day, vanished without a trace. She wondered if they were looking for her. Even if they are, I’m in the last place they’d search, she thought sadly before dropping into a troubled sleep.

o0o

Evening had stolen over the beach rather quickly, and before long Simon was the only one sitting in the sand. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair as he stared sadly at the sea.

“Simon, do you want something to eat?” a halfhearted voice behind him said. Simon turned to see Alvin, Theodore, Brittany, and Eleanor standing there.

Simon shook his head and turned back to the sea. His friends sat down next to him. They knew he was taking Jeanette’s disappearance hard. They all were, of course, but Simon had a connection to Jeanette that the others didn’t quite have.

“Where could she be?” he said quietly.

“The police station can’t file a missing person report until they’ve been gone for 48 hours,” Brittany said sourly.

For a while, everything was quiet except for the waves lapping the shore. Then, Simon’s ear perked up. He didn’t know if it was his imagination or not, but he could hear the softest tune being carried from the west on the breeze.

“Does anyone else hear that?”

Everyone stopped and listened. It was a haunting melody, soft, hypnotic, and somewhat seductive. After a full minute, Simon felt himself nodding off. His vision became blurry, and suddenly, he was walking down the beach. However, he couldn’t feel his legs, or his feet, or anything for that matter. He tried to move his head, but nothing changed. Out the corner of his eye, he could see everyone else moving the same way. No matter how hard he tried, he had no control over his body whatsoever. He could do nothing except watch as his body walked down the beach. After a while, he saw something large and black towering over the bay.

As they reached it, Simon realized it was a cliff. There was an opening a little ways up, and before Simon knew it, he was climbing toward it, along with everyone else. They all dropped down into the cove. The second Simon’s feet hit the sand again, he snapped out of his trance. He blinked and looked around confusedly. Everyone else did the same.

“What the heck just happened? Where are we?” Alvin said.

“I never knew this cove was here…” Simon added. They all took a few steps around. There was a yelp and the crunch of breaking glass. Simon held his foot, his face contorted in pain.