The Mermaid of Santa Monica

Chapter 5

Back at the ocean, Adrianna and Tommy continued their exploration. They soon stumbled upon a sunken ship. Not just any ship, however. It was a large ocean liner that had split in two as it sunk.

"Wow!" Tommy remarked, "Is that the Titanic?"

"No," replied Adrianna, "The Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean. This is in the Pacific Ocean. What we're seeing here is a typical ocean liner. Let's go inside and see if we can find anything interesting."

Tommy began to swim ahead of Adrianna, only for the latter to grab him by the arm and stop him.

"Stay with me and do not swim off," the mermaid sternly warned him.

Tommy nodded and with his hand in hers, the duo began to explore the ship. They were fascinated by the interior. It was very elegant and classy in design. They assumed they were in a dining room, as they noticed a wide variety of tables and chairs, many of which were knocked over. They passed by to see two staircases, decomposed and reduced to rubble from years of being submerged. Soon, they found their way in what turned out to be the gym. They saw a wide assortment of weights, bench presses, punching bags, and other types of exercise equipment.

"Wow..." Adrianna remarked, "if Adrien was here, he'd be all over this."

"He likes to work out?" asked Tommy.

"He does like to find ways to keep himself in shape."

"Maybe I'll take a couple of the smaller ones and give them to him as gifts."

Tommy swam over to grab a couple of dumbbells. Unfortunately, he learned that they were too heavy for his small body to pick up. Didn't stop him from trying, however. Adrianna swam over to him.

"Let me get that, bud," she quipped as she effortlessly picked up the two dumbbells, much to Tommy's awe, as he never would have believed a woman of Adrianna's build could be capable of lifting something so heavy so effortlessly.

"C'mon. Let's head over to my cave."

The two began heading out of the ship and made their way to Adrianna's home. Soon, they arrived there, where they were greeted by Anastasia, who was carrying another undersea dish on a plate. Meanwhile, Adrien was sitting on the couch, turning his head away from Tommy.

"Oh! Adrianna! Tommy! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hi, Annie," Tommy greeted in return, "What's that you got there?"

"Just a dish I prepared. Sea sponge cakes. Wanna try one?"

"Don't mind if I do, Mom," replied Adrianna.

Adrianna and Tommy each grabbed a sponge cake of the plate and took a bite out of it. Unlike the chalky-tasting coral bite he tried during his last visit, the sea sponge cake was considerably more tasty, and he made that thought known.

"I like this more than the coral bites," Tommy stated, "These are really good. Can I take a few home with me?"

"Sure! I'll go get you a baggie to put them in."

Anastasia swam away into the kitchen. Adrianna and Tommy noticed Adrien on the couch and began swimming over to him.

"Hey, bro," Adrianna greeted Adrien.

"What do you two want?" Adrien grumbled, still not pleased with Tommy's presence.

"Tommy and I visited a sunken ship. He saw something that you might like."

Adrianna put down the dumbbells in front of her brother. Adrien looked at them in surprise before turning his attention to Tommy.

"You...got these for me?"