Diary of a Mermaid

Crest on his jacket

It's the next afternoon and Nemmy and I are playing in the small front yard. Playing hide and seek. Playing tag. Playing every game we know. I'm photographing it all.

Then it happened.

He came.

He came on a bike and stared. Stared for many minutes.

Then left.

I saw the Poseidonian crest on his jacket. The recognition in his eyes as he saw me and Nemmy. As he reached for his cell phone.

I grab Nemmy and sprint inside the house. I tell Steven, the first person I see, what just happened. His face pales as he sees two cars pull up outside. 8 men hop out of each.

"Jaclyn! Angel! Get down here! Now!" he shouts. When they don't respond, I run up the stairs and tell them what's going on. Jaclyn scoops up Angel and bolts down the stairs as I dart into my room. I grab the tote bag hanging from my closet door and stuff the tank top from yesterday, the jeans Jaclyn got me this morning, and the photograph from my nightstand into the bag. Then I skid into Angel and Nemmy's room and grab a shirt and skirt for each of them, and as I'm rushing down the stairs, I stuff the hourglass charm into my top to protect it.

"Topaz! Where are you?" Steven calls.

"Right here!" I shout as I follow his voice and find him halfway out of the backdoor. He shoves me outside and locks the door behind him.

"Where is everyone?" I ask as we rush out together.

"They're in the car. Go faster,"

Steven takes me around a corner to parking lot and leads me to a black Toyota with tinted windows. He opens the door and throws me in. I take a seat between Angel and Nemmy and put my bag on the floor. Jaclyn is talking on the phone. After a few gruelling minutes, she hangs up and says, "I got us a flight to Miami in one hour."

"Miami?" I ask.

"Yes, we'll be staying with your brothers."

I'm on cloud nine. Even though we just saw them yesterday, under these circumstances, I already miss them.

Jaclyn opens the glove compartment and pulls out a bag. "Here," she says, handing it to me. "Put these on." I reach in and find 3 wigs: a short red bobbed, a curly long brown one, and a curly long red one. I put the brown one on myself, the bob on Angel, and the long red one on Nemmy. I also put the loose beige hat I'm wearing back on over the wig to hide the fake roots.

"Where did you get these?" I ask.

"We bought this car as soon as we knew you were coming for a situation just like this. It's fully stocked for any emergency that we may have." Jaclyn responds.

We drive for another twenty minutes and then Steven, who is now donning talcum powder in his hair, pulls up to Toronto Pearson Airport. We walk casually out of the car and through customs like nothing is wrong. An hour later, we're boarding the plane. As a result of our last-minute booking, we ended up with seats at the back of the plane.

The seats are in pairs so it's me and Jaclyn, Angel and Nemmy, and Steven by himself.

As the engines rev up, my anxiety grows. I reply today in my head and realize that we could've been killed.