Pride of the Ocean

Chapter Two

"Holy shit," Meri whispered to herself.

The tail disappeared beneath the waves again leaving Meri gawking at the ocean. It couldn't be. But what else could it be? It sure as hell wasn't a dolphin. The tale was pastel pink and it shone in the moonlight. The tale was beautiful.

The tale surfaced again. Farther away this time. And then again, farther still. Did the owner of the tale know Meri was there? Did it know Meri was watching? Maybe it was signaling to Meri.

The tale went underwater again and Meri waited. She waited for the tale to surface again, but no such luck. The tale had gone and with it the mysterious owner.

And so a disappointed Meri walked back home. She climbed up the porch railing and then up into her bedroom. She dressed for bed and then laid her head down on her pillow.

It took a while for Meri's eyes to close but eventually, they did and Meri dreamed of the pastel pink tale.

~~~~~

"Come on Meri! We won't let any sea monsters eat you up!" Oki shouted at Meri, who timidly watched the other two girls splash around in the water.

The other two girls were on an underwater rock. It was shallow enough to stand though. They waved for Meri and yelled for her to 'Come in!' and 'The water's warm!' and 'It's safe!'.

After much coaxing, they had convinced her to get into the water. The whole world was tinted pink from her goggles as she slowly walked out to meet them.

"Are you scared of sharks? Don't worry we'll protect you!" Kai laughed.

'Mermaids, actually.' Meri thought. She sure as hell wasn't telling strangers about last night, even if they did seem so nice.

Kai held out her hand and Meri grabbed it. "Ready, Meri?"

Meri nodded and then they both jumped off the rock and into the open water. Meri held her eyes closed tight as Kai held her and swam the two farther out to sea.

"Come on, Meri. I can't carry you forever." Kai coaxed. "I'm gonna bring us both under. At least open your eyes then."

Meri nodded and Kai counted to three. At three Kai went under, pulling Meri down with her. As the water washed over her head Meri opened her eyes.

It was beautiful. Fish swam around her and coral grew like flowers. It was an undersea rainbow. A turtle swam a few feet in front of the girls. The most beautiful thing Meri had ever seen. Meri swam forward with Kai and Oki at her sides. Fish swam around them in rainbow spirals. The shells shone like stars on the sea floor. To Meri's left, a beautiful pink fish swam.

Meri watched all the underwater rainbow around her until her lungs burned for air. She swam up to the surface and gasped for air. A few seconds later Kai and Oki surfaced next to her.

"What did you think?" Oki smiled.

Meri could only nod. It was amazing. Words could not describe it.

Kai laughed and splashed water at Oki who laughed and returned fire. Kai tried to splash her again but hit Meri instead. Meri laughed and splashed Kai and Oki splashed Meri. A single splash had escalated into a full fledged war.

The girls ducked under the water, swam up behind each other, and splashed each other. Kai and Oki were much better swimmers than Meri who couldn't keep her head above for long while splashing. Meri's arms and legs were sore from treading water for so long.

While the other two splashed each other Meri swam to a near by rock to catch her breath. She sat on the rock with her feet in the water. The waves lapped up on the rock and over her lap. Meri looked back at the other girls and smiled. They were too busy splashing each other to notice Meri had left.

Meri's smile quickly faded as something touched her leg. Slowly, Meri turned her head and was face to face with another girl. The two girl's brown eyes met and they stared at each other in silence. Meri lowered her eyes to the girl's legs. Or where her legs would be. Instead, the girl's lower half was a pastel pink tale.