Eyes of the Sea

Chapter 20

I took a step back and smiled up at Will. His eyes were wide and he smiled back.

"Well, that was unexpected," he said slowly.

"Learn to expect the unexpected, Willy," I said, as I giggled and walked back towards my mother and Heather, hearing Will whisper "Willy?"

My mother caught our attention and told us that she knew how to get out of here. "You just do the opposite of how you got in here. Hazel and I will imagine the place you want to go, Miracle Stream, I believe it's called?"

I nodded and she continued. "As that only works for daughters of the sea, Heather will need to think about me, and Will will need to think about Hazel-"

"That shouldn't be a problem," Will joked.

"-and hold on to us, so you'll go where we go. Once you have the image clear in your mind, jump up. Everyone understand?"

We all nodded. Heather grabbed on to my mother, and Will held my hand.

"Alright, here we go."

I closed my eyes and thought of Miracle Stream. I thought of how I felt when I first found it, and the beauty it held. I thought of the fish and the calming nature of the stream. With that image in mind, I squeezed Will's hand and jumped.

A rushing noise filled my ears as I kept my eyes shut tight. My ears popped and I felt myself moving in a weird way. The ground beneath my feet was gone and it felt as if I was floating. It went deathly silent, then the noise came rushing back and I felt ground beneath my feet again. I could smell the forest so I opened my eyes.

I was standing in Miracle Stream.

Will let go of my hand and fell to his knees. Concerned, I knelt beside him. "Will! What's wrong?"

He laid down on his back and laughed. "We're finally home!"

I laughed with him and looked back to see Heather arrive safely. She looked around confused, as if she was searching for something - or someone.

"Heather?" I asked tentatively. "Where's Mom?"

"I-I don't know. One second she was holding my hand, and the next second, she was gone." Heather burst into tears and I went to comfort her.

Will got up and went to look in the stream. "Uh, guys? You said your mother was, er, dead right?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay, so maybe she still can't come into this world as she died in this world. But, you might want to take a look at this."

Heather and I looked at each other, confused, before joining Will by the stream.

I peered in and gasped at what I saw. There was a creature that looked very much like a mermaid, and looked very much like my mother. She was tiny, smaller than a fish, but I think I understood what happened.

Though my mother couldn't return as a human, she stayed as a daughter of the sea, but she was in this world. Her home was now Miracle Stream where she could live safely, without any threats, and she could still see her family every time we came to visit Miracle Stream.

"Mom's finally home," I whispered.

***

It turns out time passes differently in the sea as we were only gone for a couple of hours in this world. So much has happened in these past few weeks that my life changed drastically.

My mother was now here, Heather and I were closer than we had ever been, and Will has become one of the best people in my life.

All that was left was my father.

On a Friday afternoon, I decided to surprise him. I asked him if he could go on a walk with me, and reluctantly, he agreed.

We had small talk on the way to the park, and I led him to Miracle Stream. He was instantly mesmerized and he started to cry.

"Dad? Are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

He nodded, and after a while, he said, "It's just that, I feel her here. Your mother. It's like she's watching over me here."

I smiled softly. "I feel that too, Dad. And you never know, maybe she is."

We stayed there for hours, talking about the good times with my mother. It was the first time my dad actually talked about her, and it was good to see the shine in his eyes again.

Heather joined us after a while, and I knew my mother was watching from the stream, listening to us talk about the happy moments.

And just like that, in some weird magical way, we became a family again.  

And there you have it, folks: the last chapter of Eyes of the Sea. It has been such an amazing experience to write this book and share it with you all, and I just wanted to say thanks. One last time, please vote and comment below. :D