H2O: Just Add A New Tail

The Curse is Back

Later that day, I was back home. I was up in my room reading more of the book. Apparently, the goal of a natural born mermaid is to earn something called a 'moon ring'. It held great power, but the moon ring was almost useless against the trident. I also learned that the mermaids live in pods all over the world and that there are only a handful of natural born mermen left in the world. The thing that still puzzled me was why my mom had the book. I mean, I've seen her wash her hands and swim before, and she hasn't popped a tail.

I was also worried about the curse coming back. But then I remembered back to when Denman almost captured the girls. While under the influence of the curse, I almost killed Denman, but stopped myself. Maybe this meant that I was able to control the curse to some extent. As I was reading on in the book, I had barely heard my dad walk into the room. "Hey Will, I was just wondering if..." he trailed off when his eyes met the book.

"Is everything okay Dad?" I asked.

"Y...yeah," he said finally. "Where did you find that book?"

"What this?" I asked as I held up the book. "I just found it on Mom's bookshelf," I said truthfully. "Why would she have a book like this anyway?"

"I have no idea," my dad said as he swallowed hard. My dad then came over to my desk and placed down a glass of water that he had been holding. I never realized he had one until now. "It seems pretty old," he said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," I agreed.

"Well, I'll be downstairs if you need me," my dad said as he reached for his glass. His hand slipped and he knocked the glass all over me. I began to frantically look around. My dad had closed the door and he was standing over me. I had nowhere to run. If I ran now, he would know something was up.

I looked up at my dad. "Dad, please don't freak out," I said. The world felt like it was in slow motion.

"Why would I freak out?" my dad asked skeptically. Before I could answer, I felt the familiar tingling sensation. Before I knew it, my legs were replaced with my long blue tail. That's when the realization of what had just happened finally hit me. My dad now had a full view of my tail. My dad finally found out, after six years of lies, that I was a merman. I looked up at my dad cautiously. He just stared in awe at my tail. The first word out of his mouth was a word that I would've never expected, not even in a million years.

"Again?" my dad whispered breathlessly.

I froze for a moment, and then I spoke. "What do you mean 'again'?"

"Umm, that's just something you're going to have to ask your mother," my dad replied. "Why don't you dry off?" I hesitated for a bit, then held my hand over my tail and clenched it into a fist. Once my legs came back, I grabbed the book, got up and walked with my dad downstairs. Right as we entered the kitchen, my mom walked in.

"Hey Mom," I said. "I found this book yesterday," I said as I held up the book. "Where did you get it?"

My mom froze for a moment, and then spoke. "Oh, that silly old thing?" she laughed nervously. "I found it at the book store when I was younger. I guess you found it."

"Is the stuff in this book true?" I asked curiously.

"Oh my goodness, no! Mermaids are just a myth," my mom waved off.

"Uh, Kristen," my dad began. "He won't fall for it. He knows that they are real."

"You're just being silly Michael!" my mom started to waver. Well, since my dad already found out, I figured my mom was gonna find out sooner or later so I just decided to get it over with now.

"No Mom," I said. "I know they're real because..." I took a deep breath. "I'm a merman." My mom just looked at me in disbelief. I decided to prove it, so I stuck out my hand towards the faucet and twisted it. The water immediately turned on and was flowing out in a long coil. I then clenched my fist and the water evaporated into thin air.