I Have No Excuse

I didn't think I'd reach 7...

Prowl hadn't left the cove for over a week. He didn't look terrified anymore, but no matter what we did he refused to leave. No amount of m&ms could get him to even approach the mouth of the cove. He was twitchy and now preferred to lay close to the ledge we sat on instead of on his little perch to watch us. We had hoped that he would be fine given time, but so far there was no change for the better. This wing fins would twitch and flick and the low whines had all but stopped to be replaced by tense silence. The calls for his pod at night had ceased and that was the most concerning. We were struggling to figure out what had caused this. He was still eating and he didn't appear to show an signs of being sick, but then again we hardly knew anything about mers. Things had been going fine before. He seemed fine, happy even. Until we approached the construction site. What about the construction site had scared him so much? No one had been there. It was vacant of any people at the time. It was just concrete and machinery. We had passed plenty of buildings and structures on the way there.

"I really wish I could talk to ya, Prowl." I sighed as I traced the long dorsal fin that went along his tail. "Can't ya do something to give me sign? A hint? Something?"

Prowl didn't even look up this time. It really hurt to see him like this. I counted my blessings that he was still eating and listened when we whistled even if it was nothing, but nonsense to him.

"Ya know we're both really worried about ya... Come on, pal, look at me. Prowls. Prowler, please. What happened? We can't help ya if you don't give us a hint or something."

The most I got was a flick of a wing fin, but that wasn't much when that tended to happen a lot lately. I blew out a sigh through my nose as I traced the fin. There was a soft pulse at the base of it and it was a lot softer than the rest of him. Lighter. Thinner and definitely more fragile than any of his other fins. It was funny in a way. He had guarded these fins and wouldn't let us near them before and now he just let us touch them without so much as a growl or a glare.

"What are we supposed to do here, Prowl? We don't know how to help you." I spoke more to myself, my voice echoing off the walls of the once warm and friendly cove. "We don't know much about mers. Blasters the closest you've got right now and even he has very limited knowledge. Most he has is warnings of not to go too close to your nests and what not."

The sound of the water reigned for a time. Blaster had reluctantly left nearly an hour ago now and I needed to go too very soon. I had school in the morning, but I really didn't want to leave him. If I was going to ever get up in time to feed him I had to go though. I wasted several minutes just tracing the fin before I drew my hand back.

"I have to go now."

That was when he looked up at me. I felt a pang in my chest. His eyes held a deep sorrow and something else I couldn't seem to place. I wanted to just lay back down and stay and try to ease whatever pain he was feeling.

"I'm sorry, Prowl. I'll be back in the morning, ok?"

My voice seemed far too loud and I flinched a little. I stood and got a quiet whine. A plea for me not to go. To stay and not leave him alone.

"I can't stay. I really wish I could, but I can't. Just hang on until tomorrow, ok?"

Another whine followed me out as I practically fled from the cove. I didn't look back. If I did then I'd see that hurt look and I couldn't bear it. I couldn't stay. Then came the louder plea as I sped up the beach. The heartbreaking sound pierced the quiet night air like a knife and easily sent another pang ripping from my chest. I knew he was begging me to stay. He needed me and here I was just walking away. Letting him suffer alone. My pace turned into a stride and then to a run as the sounds followed after me. I swore I could still hear it when I closed the door to my bedroom. I clutched at my chest. My heart was pounding and my breathing ragged. I fell face first onto my bed. Why couldn't I help him? There had to be something I could do.

444444444444444444 The fours are attacking!Run before they get you!44444444444444

It didn't take much for me to decide on skipping school that day. One call to my father saying I was sick and I had a free pass. All I had to do was scream into my pillow a bit, lay on my back, and lean my head over the side of the bed to get the sound of having a hoarse voice and maybe a little stuffed up. A sniffle now and then and I was home free. It wasn't the first time and I was sure it wasn't going to be the last, but this time it wasn't to ditch a test or even just get a day off from school. It was so I could keep my mer company. Making sure Nat was out of the house I ate a quick breakfast, packed a lunch, and went to grab my mer his breakfast. He was in the exact same place I had left him last night. He looked up at me as I came in. I sat close to the ledge as I pulled my bag into my lap.

"I told ya I'd be back. I'll be here all day today. I promise." I gave him my best smile. "I even got ya your favorite. It was expensive as all hell, but one of the perks to being a richy is not having to worry about cash. Now if only my father didn't think I needed a part time job I'd have it all. Something about responsibility and what not."

I talked on and on as I watched him eat. It wasn't even near as eager as it used to be. He didn't even glance up at me when I talked.

"Ya know sometimes I think ya understand what I say and other times I'm not so sure. But maybe you're like the cats of the ocean. Ya just don't care what I say too much. Just want food and a place to stay. Then again at least then ya looked at me when I talked. Now ya just kinda look off into nothing." I continued on as I held another piece in the water. "If ya keep this up then we're gonna have to call the MWPA. I don't want to have to do it, but they're more fit to help ya then we probably ever will be. Well Blaster will probably be able to eventually the way he's going, but not right now. He's got a ways to go yet. So ya feel like listening to music today? I know ya usually don't seem to mind when I do it, but ya really seem... I don't know... I think ya need something to focus on and I figured maybe listening to music with me might help a little."

I spent the day like that. Leaned against the wall with music playing. I couldn't tell if it was helping at all, but it was better than silence. Then of course Blaster gave me a disapproving look when he showed up. However he took a seat next to me.

"You know you have no clue if your music could be irritating to his ears or not."

"He's never complained about it before."

He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. "So you skipped to come here."

"Ya didn't hear him last night. It was worse than normal. I couldn't just leave him alone all day. Not like this."

"I think it's time we went to the MWPA. If not to tell them then to get some information on mers. Because This," He gestured to the water. "Is not normal. Even I can tell you it's not good. He could be dying for all we know."

"Don't say that..."

There was another round of silence.

"Blaster, I'll give ya the cash to grab him dinner. I need to go before Nat gets home. I Am sick today after all."

"Yeah, yeah. Just go. I'll watch him."