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

Serafina's Story (Part Two)

The next afternoon at two o'clock, an audience filed into the Waterhouse and took seats on bleachers that had been set up that morning. Serafina watched from the bottom of the pool as children licked ice creams and pointed and squealed, while parents looked on with varying degrees of indifference. Hector entered the viewing ring, a microphone attached around his ear, and played the crowd.

The day before, Hector had briefly explained that before humans had destroyed their own planet, there had been zoos there too. In those zoos there had been displays put on by animals, and one of the most popular had been dolphin shows. As Hector had explained the various tricks that the dolphins had been made to perform, Serafina had pictured Arlo in a tank jumping through hoops. The idea of him being trapped like this, trapped like she was now, made her nauseous.

Hector had then walked around the viewing ring and 'tripped', spilling some salt water onto Serafina from the bucket he carried. He had given her a wink and dropped a small piece of paper as he got himself back up. The saltwater had not been nearly enough, but Serafina had appreciated the gesture all the same. The piece of paper had contained four words- 'there's a bigger plan'. Serafina had nodded once and immediately eaten the piece of paper.

There was a huge roar from the audience, and Serafina recognised her cue. Beating her tail as hard as she could, she shot through the surface of the water and soared through the hoop that dangled on a string. The dive back into the tank almost had her hitting her head on the bottom.

Another cheer erupted, and Terri made her leap. Then two of the others took their turns. Finally, it was Celia's turn. In her nerves, the young mermaid overshot and landed too hard in the water. Serafina watched as she came in at a hard angle, and her head thwacked on the bottom of the tank. Her neck gave way, and she went limp.

The water drowned Serafina's scream. All five of the Merfolk shot over to Celia. The water was slowly turning red around her as blood poured from her nose.

There were shouts from the crowd gathered around the viewing area, loud enough to cut through the water. Things began plummeting into the water around Serafina. They did not matter. All that mattered now was the young mermaid drifting gently towards the surface, blood now trickling from her ears as well as her nose. The merfolk broke the surface with her as one.

"Don't touch her!" Terri said sharply as the tank's only merman, Thello, reached out. "If anything serious is damaged and you move her, you could make it worse."

The effort that it took for Thello to draw back his arm was visible in every muscle of his body. Serafina felt a jolt of pity for him- Celia was his little sister.

"Be alive," Thello begged, his voice barely above a whisper. "Please be alive."

One of the objects that were falling into the pool narrowly missed hitting him in the head, and as Serafina watched it sink, she realised what it was: a ball of salt. The crowd were turning their pool into salt water. If she weren't so worried about Celia, she would be leaping with joy.

"We need to get her out of the water," Terri said.

"Without touching her?" Serafina asked. How would that even be possible? Terri's face said it all—she had no idea either.

"Can we make gentle waves that will push her?" Thello asked.

"I think we will have to," said Terri. "It's still risky, but less so than if we moved her ourselves."

Serafina nodded lay on her back. In a series of smooth yet swift movements, she used her tail to imitate a current running through the water. Terri did the same from a slightly different angle, and steadily, so, so steadily, Celia began drifting towards the edge of the pool.

When the unconscious mermaid reached the shore, Serafina stopped manipulating the water and turned to Terri.

"Now what?" She asked.

A loud crack answered her question, echoing through the aquarium and setting her ears ringing furiously. She spun around, searching for the source of the noise, and saw The Keeper standing on the platform holding a gun.

Thello's scream confirmed her suspicions before she could even begin to turn back to Celia.

"A kindness," The Keeper announced to the still-present audience. "There would have been no saving the poor mermaid in that condition."

The crowd began shouting. The echo in the room was enough that Serafina couldn't make out what they were saying, but the tone of their voices was clear enough: they were not happy. It gave her a jolt of savage pleasure to watch The Keeper try to smooth over the rabble. Rarely had she felt such hate towards anyone as she did towards that murderer right now.

A few more balls were lobbed into the tank, smaller and with pieces dangling from them this time. Serafina did not move. She told herself she was there to defend Thello in case more danger presented, but in reality, she was terrified of what she would see if she turned around to look at the merman.

"Serafina," Terri said. "Serafina?"

Serafina remained firmly in place between The Keeper and Thello. One of the balls now being thrown into the tank hit her across the back of the head, but still she did not turn.

"Serafina, we need to help Thello," Terri said. "He has to let go of her, we have to get her body out of the water before it infects the tank."

There was something in those words, something that stirred Serafina. Merfolk had a poison defence in their scales that they could release only once. Much like a bee using its sting, the act killed the merman or mermaid who used it. Unlike a bee, the poison released automatically when the merman or mermaid dies. In the vast ocean, this meant very little. In this tiny tank...

Serafina whipped around to see gaseous yellow clouds puffing from Celia's tail.