The First Swim ; A Mermaids Story

Part 8

"Make sure you are confident, and you actually want it to happen, otherwise it won't work! You need to want it!" I was teaching Nitesha how to cast a spell. I wanted her to know how in case something went wrong at the ceremony.

"How did you know this!?" Nitesha says in awe.

"Well, I saw a piece of dry kelp float past, and I say the instructions engraved on it. As soon as I finished reading it floated away," I fibbed. There was no way I wanted her to know about my meeting of the stormy water queen.

"Ok, now that you know how, try making a spell," I encourage her.

I want a dolphin, here and now

Give me one, my path to plow!

All of a sudden, a dolphin comes swimming towards us! It worked!

"Wow! I think I want to keep him. Mya, do you want one?" Without waiting for a response, she says the spell again. Another dolphin, a bottlenose, just like Nitesha's swims over. I gently stroke its stomach, and it nickers slightly in appreciation.

"One more thing," I say quietly to Nitesha so as not to spook the Dolphins. "You can cast a spell to make one, but there is an easier way."

"To make what?" Nitesha whispers impatiently.

"A water Vortex! Imagine making one, then swirl one upright finger in a circle." I demonstrate, and this one is my biggest yet! Almost as big as the queen's!

"Ok, I'll give it a try," she says calmly. Soon a miniature vortex was starting to form.

"Try Bigger!" I yell over the wind. It gently grows in size. She squeals with excitement and let's it go. The Dolphins, in fright, swim away.

"We'll get them later, when we need them," I say. She nods.

"Excuse me ladies." We turn around to see a young man dressed very

professionally. "Your ceremony is starting soon, and you are needed now. If you follow me, I'll show you where the ceremony is taking place." With that he sped off. I jerked my head in the direction of him signifying that we should follow. Me and Nitesha quickly caught up to him and swam right behind.

"Um, do you mind telling me what will all happen in the ceremony?" I ask the man.

"Of course. First, you will be dressed, and fancied up. After that you will get your chosen mermaid name. Then, you will be assigned a job. Next, your responsibilities will be read. You might already know them. Last but not least, your skill and willingness. Your skill will be tested by seeing how well you fight or do magic. You are not judged on this, since you don't have any practice." Me and Nitesha glance at each other. "And the willingness is if you are accepting your name and job. Good luck," he finished. At that point I realized we had arrived at a big stadium shaped building. My mouth fell open in awe.

"Greetings ladies," said a perfectly dressed Oceana.

"Your highness," me and Nitesha said simultaneously, bowing deeply.

"Please," she started. "Come with me. We must get you dressed and perfected before the ceremony." I followed her into the permanently open doorway, down a long corridor, and into a room. The room was pink. Literally everything was pink. The walls, ceiling, curtains, the inside of the door, and everything else was pink. Even the mermaids swimming around had pink tails. The only thing that wasn't pink was the clothes on a long rack. Even the rack was pink. A mermaid swam over to me, and another swam over to Tesh.

"Good evening, welcome to the dressing room. Here, I will get you all ready for the ceremony. I'm Trish," said the pink mermaid.

"Ok, I'm alright with you fixing me up, but I don't really like pink," I say, not wanting to become a pink princess mermaid.