Soulless

Black Water Sharks

I'm powerful in the water, legs kicking and arms well muscled to keep me moving, but I'm getting tired.  I'm keeping myself afloat, ignoring a gnawing fear deep in my belly as I feel this oddly black water move around me, often a faint caress on the parts of my body obscured by the murkiness, and the exhaustion begins to weaken my determination not to allow terror to grip me.

Sharks.  I know without seeing them that sharks have surrounded me, brushed against my legs; that they're toying with me.  They can feel my weariness and know they've almost got me worn down completely.  Easy prey, a lone swimmer too far from shore. 

A fin emerges from the water nearby and I take a big gulp of air, my mind a jumble of frantic thoughts as I take off swimming as fast as I can.  Will mom remember to feed Annie, my faithful feline?  Who will Leo take to the Spring Dance?  Why do I have a mermaid tail?

What?  Wait... yes, smooth and shiny, I've grown a tailfin that's replaced my nicely toned and tanned legs.  Outswimming the sharks seems a cinch now, but how will I dance with a tail?

From a distance, I hear chiming.  The tune is familiar, though I can't place it.  Land must be near, but where? 

With my new tail, I've managed to swim far from the shark infested area where I'd felt trapped; now, I was desperate to find land.

There's that chime again.  What is that tune?

"OUCH!"  My phone alarm is going off and Mousie, my cat, has bitten my nose to wake me... her usual morning greeting.  I shoo her away and lift the blanket covering me.  Thank goodness.  Legs.  No tail.

Time to get ready for school, I guess.

Mousie follows me, her little paws a soft and quick pmph on the cold wood floor as I make my way to the bathroom.  I know she wants me to feed her, but by golly I just woke from a water dream and I've got to pee!

Great.  The bathroom door is closed.  I can hear the tinny music from mom's cell phone from inside the room.  She's taking a bath.  Of course. 

I thud on the door.  "Mo-om," I call.  "I gotta pee!"

"The door isn't locked," she replies, and I hear the shuffle scrape of the shower curtain being pulled closed.  Good thing our family's not big on modesty.

"Good morning, honey.  How'd you sleep?" Mom asks from behind the curtain when I enter.

We usually talk about whatever dreams we've had before I go to school, so I start to tell her about the sharks and my transformation into a mermaid before Mousie interrupted my sleep.  Mom giggles and says something about the power to control even our dreams, when I hear the darn cat mewling and scratching at the door.

"I better go feed the queen," I tell mom as I wash my hands.

"Okay, I'll be out in a bit," she sighs, the sound of her bathwater moving around her.

I stride into the kitchen with Miss Mousie on my heels and fill her food bowl.  Mom's boyfriend, who's twenty years younger than she is and five years older than I, is pouring water into the coffee pot.  He's an okay guy, I guess, but it's still a little weird having a stranger in the house, and I feel awkward around Mark.

"Mornin' Jordan."  He's from Kentucky and has this southern accent that annoys me for some reason.  "Coffee'll be done soon."

He's wearing a red tee shirt and his boxer shorts and had his unruly blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. 

"Thanks," I give him a half-smile and return to my room to get dressed, thinking that something about being around Mark reminds me of the feeling I had while trying to get away from those sharks in my dream.  I shrug it off and begin my morning hurricane routine of tearing through my closet in search of a suitable outfit to wear for the day.