Mermaid Tales

3

i opened my eyes as i felt warm hands touching me. i have never felt hands as warm as that before. merfolk tend to have cold skin. i opened my eyes and came face to face with a human. i screamed and tried to move away from him before he could kill me. 

"whoa, calm down. you almost drowned." the guy said. mermaids dont drown. is he blind?

"im a mermaid." i said, as if he couldnt see my tail. the guy chuckled and shook his head, making his long brown hair fall into his face, "how much sea water did you swallow?"

I sat up and rubbed my face. how long have i been out of the water? i could die. a large blanket was wrapped around me. the sand was stuck all around on my body and my long dark brown, almost black hair was still wet and stuck to my face and back. a scream erupted when i saw my tail was gone and replaced with human legs. i poked at my new parts just to be sure. the guy stared at me, "do i need to get you to a hospitol or something?"

i looked back up at him and stared into his deep blue eyes. ive never heard of a hospitol. "whats a hospitol?"

the guy sighed, "ok, lets start easy. im alex. whats your name?"

"olivia" i replied and tried to stand up. my new legs didn't like me and i fell back to the sand. "what did they do to me?"

alex raised an eyebrow, "who is they? what are you talking about? are you ok?"

"the siren sisters. they turned me human." i stammered. i wanted to get out of marrying zachariah but turning into a human was a whole new thing. i didnt know if i could handle this. i started to cry. alex scratched the back of his head, "you really think your a mermaid, dont you? where are you from, olivia?"

"coral city. my father is a body guard for king triton. he will spear you if you try to kill me." i said through my sobs.i was terrified he was going to kill me, the way humans killed my mom. alex held his hands up, "murder is illegal and i wouldnt even think about it."

i put my head in my hands as i cried. alex sighed, "do you need a ride somewhere or something? i can take you home."

"humans cant get to my home." i said. alex rolled his eyes, "you are human."

"no, im not. the siren sisters just cursed me." i said.

alex looked at me and didnt say another word. we sat in silence for a while, while i cried. i knew the sirens were bad, but i didnt expect they would do something like this. i didnt know they were capable of something like this. i looked out to the ocean as the sun started to rise. i didnt see any signs of them anywhere. i wished i had never went to them in the first place. i could be at home, about to marry zachariah. at least then i would be miserable in my own environment instead of miserable in a new environment. i wanted to be home.

"lets say you really are a mermaid. why dont you just get those sisters to turn you back?" alex said as he stood up and dusted the sand off of his black shorts. he walked to the waves, letting them roll over his bare feet. i wipoed at my eyes and looked at him. "i would if they were here."

as the sun rose, it casted light and such pretty colors all around. i stared out at the ocean. this was my first time to actually see it. sure i lived in it but i only ever saw coral city. i saw something pop up in the water. it was a merperson, for sure. they went back under as soon as they came up. it had to be one of the sirens. i tried to stand up but fell back down and continued that process to get back into the water. these human legs were useless but i kept myself up as i went through the waves towards where i saw the siren. alex was yelling from behind me. i wasnt letting a human stop me from getting back home.

as i got deeper i went underwater. i screamed as loud as i could, but nothing came out of me. i couldnt talk underwater. i felt a hand grab me and pull me up. i gasped for air and looked over at an annoyed alex, "what the hell is your problem?"

"get your hands off of her!" the sweet voice of zachariah said as he rose up from the water in front of us. i had never been more happy in my life to see him. i swam towards him and wrapped my arms around him. alex stared at zachariah in awe, "am i being punkd or something?"

"olivia, you know you arent allowd to leave the city limits." zachariah scolded me. i nodded, "i know, just please turn me back."

"i dont know how." zachariah said as he held me tightly and sent glares at alex. alex shook his head, "look i dont know whats going on but im out."

alex swam back to shore. i looked into zacharias brown eyes. i could see the hurt in his eyes. "olivia, i dont think there is a way you can be changed back."

i shok my head as i started to cry more. zachariah swam me to the shore and stared at alex as he flopped up on the sand beside me. alex looked around the beach before looking back at us, "holy shit you really are-"

"shut up human." zachariah growled. i looked over at him. he was risking exposure and death because i became human. i looked at him, "what are you doing?! get back in the water before someone sees you!"

zachariah tucked some of my wet hair behind my ear, "i will meet you back here once i talk to the sirens, but i have no hope."

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the guy on the side is alex