Tales From The Inside: A Selection of Accounts from the Inhabitants of SuperZoo

Serafina's Story (Part One)

You are drifting in the turquoise waters of the Tetra Cove. The sun is glistening on the gentle waves, warming your scales and bleaching your hair. The fish are moving in beautiful patterns through the coral, a perfectly choreographed dance. The salt forms in clusters on the rocks, giving a slight tang to the air. From behind you, there is a burst of joyous laughter. You turn around, and there is your best friend, Arlo. His laughter sounds quieter and louder and quieter again as he soars over and under the waves. He reaches you and sprays water at you from his blowhole. You dive sideways out of the way, joining his laughter. He is forever trying to catch you with that trick. You reach out to stroke his blubber, talking to him. He sprays water again, and this time he catches you off guard, soaking your face and making you laugh. Compared to the warmth from the sun, the spray is cool. It is not unpleasant. You dive down under the waves, your hair splaying out around you, and Arlo follows you. Swimming down into the coral, you join the fish in their dance.

Serafina hit the glass wall of the tank, hard. Her eyes sprung open, and she flipped onto her back, rubbing her head where it throbbed. It seemed she had once again sunk too far into her daydream.

"You okay?" Terri asked from behind her, making her jump.

"None of us is okay," Serafina replied. "But if you are referring to my head, I'm fine. I was just sleep swimming again."

Terri's answering smile was not a happy one. Sleep swimming was a sign of stress in Merfolk, but it could also be a sign of physical illness.

"When did you last salt?" Terri asked.

Salting was a necessary practice for Merfolk. The practice of rubbing salt into their scales to sterilise themselves and keep away scale rot and other nasty infections was usually necessary only once or twice a year, owing to the high salt content of the ocean. But Serafina, Terri, and the four other Merfolk with them were not in the ocean. They were in a tank in the infamous Superzoo, the place where humans locked up what they called "Supernatural Creatures" and made displays of them so that other humans could stand and ogle.

To add insult to injury, Superzoo's owner-a mysterious human known only as The Keeper-insisted on weakening those in the zoo's display in any way possible. The Merfolk were being kept in a freshwater tank, too shallow to properly dive and too narrow to get any real swim speed. Their natural food source, kelp, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, they were tossed bits of dead fish.

After three successive tanks of Merfolk had died from scale rot, The Keeper had added a small addition to the enclosure: a saltwater puddle. In order to reach this puddle, the Merfolk had to drag themselves across a short stretch of land with the texture of sandpaper.

Serafina's silence seemed to confirm Terri's suspicions.

"You need to salt, Ser," Terri said.

"I know," Serafina replied. "I know. I just hate dragging myself over there. It's so painful."

Terri placed a gentle hand on Serafina's shoulder, and together they swam to the bank of the pool.

"On three," Terri said. "One... Two... Three!"

Serafina flipped backwards and dove. The bottom of the pool reached her far too quickly. She spun and flipped her tail as hard as she could, launching herself upwards out of the water and landing halfway across the gritty gap. She reached out and began to drag herself forward, then stopped in horror at the sight before her.

The puddle was dry.

"Terri," Serafina called. Her voice shook.

"Yeah?" Terri called back.

"We have an issue," Serafina said.

Serafina turned to see Terri using her arms to push her body up for a better view, a look of undisguised terror on her face.

"Where's the puddle?" Terri said.

"I'm so glad you asked."

The voice sent a shiver down Serafina's spine. She turned to its source, seeing the other Merfolk do the same, and noted the sickly sweet smile plastered across the malevolent face.

"I have decided to implement a new form of entertainment," said The Keeper, whose eyes were filled with a malicious twinkle. "You all are going to perform tricks, dance, put on a show for a live audience every afternoon. If you do well and follow instructions then I shall fill your salt pool each evening for one hour, before draining it again. Fail to make the show worth the price of admission, and I fear we may end up with another scale rot epidemic."

A look of mock concern crossed The Keeper's face. A jolt of red hot anger flared up in Serafina. She had half a mind to yell at The Keeper, to scream at the injustice of everything that was being done not just to the Merfolk, but to the other creatures in the Zoo as well. But it would have been breath wasted. The Keeper, having made the nauseating announcement that they would all have to perform for the entertainment of humans and gleaned what was obviously the desired reaction of upset and worry, turned and walked off.

Serafina turned to look at Terri.

"What are we going to do?" She asked.

"Dance," Terri replied.

"You're just going to do as The Keeper says?" Asked one of the other Merfolk, a teenage girl named Celia.

"If we want to survive, we'll have to," Terri said. She didn't look happy about it.

"Who's giving us the instructions we are to follow?" Serafina wondered aloud.

"I am," said another familiar voice.

Hector, one of the staff members of the Zoo's Waterhouse, was walking up to the edge of the viewing ring. Of the fourteen staff in the Waterhouse, Hector was the only one Serafina actually liked. He was kind, and genuinely seemed to care about the fates of the creatures in the Zoo. It had been Hector who convinced The Keeper to give the Merfolk the puddle, and it was he who snuck little bits of kelp to them under the radar.

"I'm sorry about all this," Hector said in an undertone. "I know it's unfair and humiliating, but you will need to play along. That threat was genuine. The Keeper will just let you die and then replace you if you don't."

The concern that was visible on Hector's face was far more genuine than the concern The Keeper had shown. Serafina nodded to him.

"So what do you want us to do?" She asked.