Making a Splash

A Magical Transformation

A silence passed over the cove as Lily and Marie stared at each other. Just earlier today, the two of them had chatted briefly. Marie had seemed fairly normal to Lily. Just an average transfer student. But now it was clear that she was anything but normal. Normal people couldn't transform into mermaids.

"Umm... umm... This isn't what it looks like." Marie said. She tried to sound convincing but anyone could tell that she was scrambling.

"Wh-What the heck is going on?" Lily asked. "You're a mermaid?"

"Shhhh!" Marie said in a raised whisper, clearly not wanting anyone to overhear her. "There's no one else with you, is there?"

Lily shook her head. "N-No. It's just me." She held up her arm holding Marie's backpack. "You left this at school, so I tried running after you to return it."

Marie facepalmed herself. "Ugh, I knew I forgot something."

"Forget about that." Lily said, taking a few steps closer. "How are you able to transform into a mermaid?"

A brief moment of silence passed, before Marie finally gave in and sighed. "You cannot tell ANYONE about this. Under any circumstance. Are we clear?"

"Y-Yes."

"Alright then." Marie said. "The truth is... all mermaids are able to do this. We're born being able to shift between human and mermaid."

Lily walked up to Marie and sat down on the sand. "So... there are others?"

"Yes. My mother's a mermaid too. My dad is human though."

"And does he know about... this?"

Marie nodded her head. "Yeah. My mother told him shortly after they got engaged."

"It kinda sounds like The Little Mermaid." Lily said with a giggle.

Marie giggled as well. "Yeah. A little. Merpeople marrying humans actually happens more often than you'd think. After all, merpeople are primarily female."

"Really?"

"Yeah. See, if your mother is a mermaid, you'll also be born a mermaid. But if only your father is a merperson, you end up being a normal human. So genetically, most merpeople end up as girls."

"I see..." Lily said. She looked at Marie's glistening violet tailfin. "Your tail's really pretty."

"Thank you."

"Do you... think I could feel it?"

Marie replied with a nod as she scooched over. "Sure."

Lily reached out her hand and rubbed her hand along Marie's tailfin. It was a strange sensation. Smooth, yet firm and tough.

"I never would have thought you were a mermaid when I first met you." Lily said.

"Yeah, well... I wasn't exactly honest with you before." Marie told her. "My family didn't move here because of my dad's job. It was under... difficult circumstances."

"What do you mean?"

"A mermaid got discovered near where I used to live. There's a lot of secret laws in place to deal with that sort of thing. People's memories needed to be erased. On top of that, any merpeople living in the area are forced to relocate."

"Sounds tough."

"It was." Marie nodded. "I didn't want to leave my friends behind, but mermaid laws are really strict. It's because of them that the general public doesn't know about their existence, even to this day." She looked into Lily's eyes. "Like I said, you absolutely cannot tell ANYONE about this. Got it?"