Beauty and the Merman

Chapter 4

    He wasn't model, drop-dead gorgeous, but something about the way he carried himself and looked at me tenderly, gave him an inner beauty that shone on the outside. I stood there staring at him like an idiot for quite a while before he finally broke the silence. "Hello." He looked at me with cautious eyes. "My name is Sorelen. What is your name?"
    "Um, Marina."
    "Marina." He repeated. "What a beautiful name."
    "I don't mean to sound rude, but ... what are you doing here?"
    "Excuse me?" He seemed a bit baffled by my forward remark.
    "Well, it's just that I've never seen anyone here before. I thought no one knew about it except me and my family."
    He looked down at his feet. "Yes, I have seen you and your family here before."
    "What? You have? How? I've never seen anyone here before. At least not when I've been here."
    Now he looked directly at me. "You could not have seen me."
    When I looked at his eyes, his stunning light brown eyes that reminded me of earth on a warm day, when the sun is out, I saw amusement and sadness in them. I tilted my head as I became lost in his eyes and his demeanor. His statement confused me. Then I realized that if he was here, whoever I was supposed to meet might not show up. He might have already gone to my house to get my father instead. I needed to get rid of this guy right now. "Um, I was actually meeting someone here and it's kind of important. So if you don't mind, could you leave? Please?" I looked at him with a small smile, hoping he would leave.
    "I can't."
    "Why not?"
    "Because I am the one whom you are meeting."
What? That threw me off. Didn't Dad say that I was supposed to meet a mermaid--merman? "Excuse me. I don't think you could be him. You're not a-a--."
    "A merman?"
    "How would you know?"
    "Because I am a merman. I can use legs when I am on land and a tail when I am in the water. I am the one who told your father to send you."
    At first, I was shocked, but then I was furious. Here I was, awe-struck over this boy, who I have hated for the past week. I didn't care how he looked anymore. I hated him for threatening my father. I hated him for taking away my life from me. I had plans before all this. I was going to go to college. I had worked hard for scholarships, until the mythical creature from fairy tales all of a sudden turned my life upside-down and took me away from the only family I have. How dare he treat me this way. "YOU!" I shrieked. "You are the one who ruined my life. I hate you."
    "I know you hate me. And I don't expect anything less from you. But if we are to get to my home today, we must head there now. You can yell at me more, later." Then he jumped in the water without even giving me change to reply or yell at him some more.
    But when I walked to the edge and stared down into the water, I forgot what I was going to say anyway. It was amazing. I could see through the crystal clear blue and see his legs turning into one sinuous tail. His tail was a deep, deep blue that almost looked black or purple. It's the sort of blue that glows deeply and mesmerizingly. Then he looked up at me, and came back to the surface. He looked at me bewilderingly. "Come on in, I will show you the way."
    "Are you kidding me? I can't swim."
    He looked at me questioningly, as though this had never occurred to him as a possibility. "I'll teach you."
    "No."
    "But me must. My home is underwater."
    "Are you insane? I'm not a mermaid. I'll drown."    "As long as you're with me, you will not drown."    "No."       
    "Why are you being so stubborn?"   
    "Because I'm scared!"
    That made him pause. I probably should have considered the possibility of having to go in the water, considering I was meeting a merman. But I never thought of it. I just knew, standing there, that I still could not go in there. I looked past his expectant face, and stared at my mortal enemy. Water. Thinking of the possibility of going in there made my stomach squeeze in fear. There were flocks of butterflies swarming in synchronicity, performing an aerial show of acrobatics. Every muscle in my body was tense, not letting me take a step forward, not letting me take a step back.
    With a sigh, Sorelen pulled himself up to sit on the edge and patted his hand next to him. That, at least, I could do. I sit down and begin shaking all over. Sorelen begins rubbing my back, trying to comfort me. He speaks softly, as if to a frightened kitten stuck in a tree. "Did you come here of your own free will?"
    I looked at my trembling hands instead of at him and said "Yes."
    "Then, I know that you are scared, but you came in place of your father as he promised. In return, I will make sure you are safe, as I promised. You will not drown." I looked up at him, and a tear rolled down my cheek. That made me angry, I hate crying in front of people. How dare my eye produce a tear. But he was right, to keep Dad safe, I had to go with him. For the first time in my life, I had to go in the water. "Okay."
    "I will help you." He reassured me and once again he slid into the pool. But this time, he came back up and offered me his hand. I must have been momentarily overcome with insanity, because I grabbed his hand and let him pull me down into the pool. My first thought was that the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. But my second thought was that I was going to drown. I had never swum before and began sinking. Without a second thought, I began to flail my arms, desperately trying to climb back out again. But Sorelen still had my hand and would not let me get out of the water now that he finally got me in. That made me panic even more. But he helped me stay afloat above the water.
    In five minutes, Sorelen had accomplished what my parents could not in my whole lifetime. I was in the water.
    After he held me like that for a while, I calmed down enough to realize he was able to keep me afloat, althought I wasn't. I looked into his eyes again and began to breath a little. He gave me his first smile. "Good. Now that you're in the water. We need to go under." He cautiously gauged my reaction this time.
    "Ha. No way. You got me in, now let's swim."
    "My home cannot be reached above the water and I cannot swim above the water. Nor can I drag you above the water the whole time. We'll have to swim underwater. I know, as a human, it will be against your every instinct to do this. But with me, you will be able to breathe underwater. You will need to let your lungs fill with water. You can do it."
    "No, I can'--" But before I could finish my protest, he jerked me underwater. I sucked in what air I could and held my breath. Sorelen looked at me impatiently. "Let go of the air and let the water in." I just shook my head. I didn't have a death wish. I was going to hold this important air in my lungs until I could get to the surface again or die trying. I think Sorelen could see my willingness to die trying, so he tried again more urgently. "Breath out!" I could feeling myself losing consciousness. I had to breathe. He quickly swam around me and squeezed my stomach so hard, I was forced to let go of my breathe.
    I panicked so hard I began to move my arms as hard as I could to go back up, but stupid Sorelen wouldn't let go of me. I was going to die. Water would finally triumph over me.