The Mermaid Spell

The Special Guest

I raced up the beach occasionally tripping in the sand.   I found the police interrogating my mom on the back porch.  She was crying.

"Mom!"  I yelled and sprinted towards her.  The police were skeptical and scratched their heads in confusion.

"Is this her?"  The one with a gray bushy mustache asked.  I figured he was the chief.

"Yes."  My father said through tears and hugs.  The chief gave a half-hearted smile and returned back to the flashing cars in the driveway.

"I'm so sorry."  My mother squeaked.  She held me tighter and stroked my now long dark blond hair.

"I'm sorry too.  I shouldn't have stormed off."  I choked back tears. 

"Where were you all night?"  My dad finally asked.  I bit my lip.  I hadn't thought about my excuse of where I would have been, so I thought fast.

"I slept a couple miles away on the beach, it was freezing."

"Should we get you checked for Hypothermia?"  My mom asked after quickly telling my dad to go make me some herbal tea.  I shook my head.

"I'm fine."  I sighed.  I hated lying to them.

Half an hour later, I was sitting alone on the back porch with a teacup warming my chilled hands and a blanket draped around my shoulders.  There would be the occasional call from my mom to see if I was okay, and the sound of a reporter telling my story.  If only they knew what I really had done.  I wondered if this happened to other kids, like when I would watch the news on my mom's computer while indulging myself with frosted flakes on school morning back in New York.  New York.  I couldn't go back.  I needed the sea, and I lived in a high-rise in Manhattan.  There was no kind of water like the sea for a while, and fresh water just wouldn't do.

"Elly Moss, the girl who escaped, and returned!"  My brother Jake said in front of Dan who was wielding my Nokia.  Jake was wearing a black fedora, and a clip-on bow tie, with a microphone from some karaoke machine.

"What are you doing?"  I asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Reporting.  Since we're your brothers, we get an all access pass to 'The girl who escaped...and returned."  Jake said with a wave of his hands to add affect.  I rolled my eyes and turned away from the camera.

"Hey come on!  One question!"

"No."  I stared at the sea, and remembered I was to meet Adrian at the secret cove at midnight.  Did he know I was just under a spell?  That I had legs when on land?  I pressed my lips and pondered it until my mom came out and told me someone was here to see me.

I looked down to see I was still in my pajamas.

"I'm barely dressed!"  I exclaimed.

"Then hurry!  They're waiting."

I hurried upstairs and slipped on a pair of denim shorts, a pink plaid halter top over a navy blue camisole and dark blue flip flops.  I stared at myself in the mirror.

"You look nice, what's the occasion?"  I shot around to see Armeta staring at me from the doorway.

"Leave me alone.  We have guests!"  I snapped.  She smirked and drew closer to me.

"Shouldn't you be worried?  Even the tiniest drop of water could change you."  She warned.  Before I could say anything, she grabbed my wrist, placed it under the faucet, and turned on the water.

I immediately felt the same tingly, melting sensation in my legs, and soon enough, my legs were replaced by the same cerulean blue tail from before.

"Elly!  What's taking so long!?"  my mother knocked on my door.  I struggled to move and when I glanced back to glare at Armeta, she was gone.

"I'm sorry, I may be a little while."  I called.

"Why?  Is everything okay?"  She called and began to turn the doorknob.

"I'm not well!  You don't want to come in here!  I'll be down in a second!"  I scrambled to find the correct words.  Why had Armeta done this?  I didn't know how long it took for my legs to return, so I grabbed the hairdryer from the cabinet and turned it on cold.

I watched as I slowly transformed back into a human and wiggled my still tingling toes.  After giving myself another quick glance in the mirror, I slipped downstairs and into the living room.

There, sitting on the couch while being offered something to eat from my mother, was Ian Fields.  Ian, my hottie crush who had barely managed to notice me back in New York, was wearing a pair of board shorts, a V-neck tee and his brown hair was tousled to perfection and brushed perfectly over his violet eyes.

"What is he doing here."  I sneered almost like I didn't want him, when I truly was melting inside.

"I invited them after you returned this morning, I had seen his name come up A LOT in your Biology notebook doodles."

"Mom!"  I snapped.  She chuckled and dragged Ian's mom, Natalie, into the kitchen.

"You won't believe how worried everyone was when we heard you went missing last night."  I blushed.  He patted the seat next to him and I plopped down.

"I bet it wasn't that many people."  I sighed and glanced at a click glass of water.  The way the ice bobbed up and down and little water droplets dripped down the edges made me nauseous.

"You okay?"  Ian asked.

"Uh yeah.  So, how long are you staying here?"  I asked.

"I dunno, your mom said whenever we wanted to go home..."  He paused and cocked his head to the side.  'Did you always have blue eyes."  I felt like bursting.  He was looking at my eyes!  But I quickly shot back to reality.

"Uh yeah, and I'm growing my hair out too."  I added.  I smiled and leaned in like we were about kiss.  I puckered my leans and began to lean forward as well, when the ice water spilt all over me and Ian.

"Oh my god."  I bellowed and began racing to outside.

"Hey!  I'm sorry, it was an accident!"  Ian shouted as I ran.  My legs began morphing once I was halfway down the beach, and had to body slam into the water.  The rippling waves hit my goosebump covered arms.  I needed to get deeper.  My legs were melting together and I had to drag myself through the water until my tail was no longer visable.

"Elly!  Where are you going!"  My mom yelled.

"I uh forgot something from last night!  I'll be back in an hour!"  I yelled before ducking under the water and swimming away.