Undertow - A Modern Gender Bender of The Little Mermaid

Chapter 7

                                                                         *Author's Note*

Hello, Everyone! So it's been a while! I'm so sorry for the delay. I got caught up in school and when I had the time to write, I just wasn't sure how to continue the story. I know, I know. It's super early on and that really shouldn't be an issue but here we are. Anyway, I will be continuing this story over the next few months as life is a little different now.

Also, I'm sure you noticed that the first chapter featured a picture of Emily Rudd as Erika. I am having trouble finding someone who looks like Carter so if you have any ideas, let me know!

Thank you and enjoy the book!

-Rose

Erika

He had a tail. He was a person. But not the human kind. Because he had a tail. A tail as in fish-swims-in-the-sea kind of tail. He had scales and everything. I knew I wasn't going crazy though. Max saw him too and even barked as Carter had swum away. This was all almost too unreal to even process. How did no one know about this? How would it be possible for merpeople to go undetected for so long? What else was real? Faeries? Goblins? This was all so strange.

I slipped back into my flip flops and walked back up to the house, Max right behind me. Once inside, I dashed into my room and threw on a loose red blouse and some denim shorts. I didn't want Hannah to know I had been near the beach at all so I threw my suit in a quick wash and sat down at the computer.

With Max at my feet, I typed "merpeople real sightings" into the search bar. Mostly, I only came up with old stories of fishermen thinking they saw mermaids which turned out to be dolphins or manatees. Every now and then I'd find a site that seemed like it may have something helpful, but after searching more into the authors, I found they were all fiction writers or conspiracy theorists. I sighed in frustration as I cleared my search history and logged out of my account. I couldn't risk Hannah seeing anything. Heaven knows what she would do if she thought I might be entertaining fantasy creatures as a possible reality.

I jumped out of my skin as I heard her car come up the drive. Moving faster than I ever had in my life, I jumped up, ran to the washer and snatched my swim suit from it. I bounded up the stairs, brought the wet suit into my room and hung it up on a hook behind the door. I made a mental note to be sure I came back as soon as possible when it was dry, so Hannah wouldn't know I had been out. I then grabbed a book I had lying on my desk, went down the stairs so quickly that I almost fell down all of them at once, flopped on the couch, and flipped to a random page in the middle of the seventh chapter. I had barely caught my breath when Hannah came in through the back door.

"Erika! I'm back! Don't worry about carrying in the groceries, honey. I'm sure you shouldn't be lifting anything heavy," she called.

It was then that I remembered. I had just run all around the house and hadn't felt any pain at all. My ribs had been hurting a little when I walked down to the beach but they felt completely fine now. That was odd.

"Hey, Hannah!" I shouted back "I think I could help with some of the lighter things." I wanted to help her and while I could probably lift the heavier groceries, I couldn't have her become suspicious or worse, try to put me on bed rest if she thought I was straining myself.

"Are you sure dear? I should be alright."

"No, no. I don't want you to do it all on your own. Plus, I haven't really been doing much today."

What? It's not like it was a complete lie.

After we brought in and put away all the groceries, Hannah and I decided to make dinner. Because the cook was gone we would have to do it all ourselves. I wasn't really sure what to do in a kitchen but Hannah knew how to make quite a bit. She showed me how to make a pizza from scratch and we chatted as she kneaded the dough and put together a salad.

"Hannah," I started "Do you believe in magic?"

It might have been risky asking her anything near the subject of Carter but I figured I could play it off.

"What do you mean dear?"

"Oh, I don't know. Do you believe, I guess, in creatures that we read about in books. Like dragons or faeries... or mermaids?"

"Well... I suppose I believe that there is more to this world than we may ever see. And it is a fact that we are discovering new things every day... Those sorts of creatures may be a stretch though, especially for a seventeen-year-old to be asking... Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering I guess. The ideas had to come from somewhere before they were put into a book right? But I'm sure those sorts of things could have been accidentally sightings."

"And wonderful imaginations too. Could you pass the bowl?"

I passed it to her and once she had placed the dough in a bowl to rise she asked "Are you sure you're alright? You seem awfully thoughtful today."

"It must just be one of those days," I replied and laughed a little.

"I know it must be strange for you. Living in a new house with your parents farther away."

"Aw Hannah, you know I rarely see them anyway. It isn't bad at all. I have so much time to read and play with Max. Really, I'm ok."

"Well, I just don't think it's right that they leave you all alone, your mom and dad. It just isn't right," she quickly added, "I'm sorry, it's not my place to say."

"No," I responded "It's alright. I mean I do miss them, but I understand that they have so many things they need to do. I'm glad for them that their jobs are going well. It really isn't a big deal."

"If you say so, dear. Don't you be afraid to call them up if you want to see them though. It certainly couldn't hurt."

I smiled and nodded. I knew it wouldn't ever be as simple as that and Hannah knew it too. My parents had a lot on their plate. They loved me very much but they also needed to work so that we could not only pay bills but fund the charities they helped. It was hard not seeing them but I understood. Sacrifices had to be made. We would all be together for a trip at some point anyway.

"Oh darling, I'm sorry I brought it up. Here, let's chop up those carrots and put them in the salad too."

I sliced them up piece by piece and tossed them into the glass salad bowl all the while wondering what cooking was like at the bottom of the ocean.