Opposites Attract

Part 1

When I was little, I thought the sea was the breath of the Earth. The cold, hard ground is her body, and without the moon pumping and dragging the rhythm of her waves, there would be no life.
I used to sit on the beach for hours and imagine this. The warm sun beamed down on me and the sand felt like a nice, comfy pillow. There, I would think of all the critters and beings and how it was all one life cycle. I'd get whatever book I could find, whether it was in the library or trying to snatch one from a shop in town. Then I would learn about the ocean and all of its animals.
I read about pirates, too. Some people said they would try to capture mermaids like me, so they could make profits selling our shiny tails. Others say that pirates and mermaids are true love.
I had my mixed feelings on these pirates. Sometimes I was scared, but sometimes I ached for the chance to meet one and I'd imagine that ships near the port were pirates. I knew that they came to visit, but I never really thought about going to the side of town where they drink and recruit crews for their boats, and maybe even have fun. Were pirates even aloud to have fun?

Not much has changed since being five years old; I still think the same way about most things, really. But not myself. I grew older and bigger, but somehow I feel smaller. Now that I am actually a part of the big wide world, I feel like its the same as I thought it would be. Its simply a lot bigger. I looked outside of our bay to see the horizon stretching far from north to south. Its like the entire ocean is spread in front of my eyes.

I looked down at my feet. A short, foamy wave washed over my ankles. The cold water sent a tingle up my lower legs that made want to giggle. It trickled back down into the ocean as a short stream of crystal clear water and sand. I took a step in and slowly walked in deeper. My toes sunk into the sand with every step. I kept stepping in deeper. I was up to my knees, then my thighs, and then my waist.
I was now down to my stomach. The water was chilly, yet not too cold. It felt refreshing after sitting in the sun for an hour.

Once I got to my neck, I ducked my head under. I heard the usual splash, and I was underwater. Finally, I thought, freedom. My hair rushed forward as if it was a flame dancing over a fire. Everything moves slowly but gracefully. I felt heavy, but I wasn't sinking. I was right at home.
I'd been in the water for a minute or two, so I was prepared for my legs to change to my golden-orange tail at any second. It always started out in the very tips of my toes, with a tingling, warm sensation; like someone is tickling my feet. It began traveling up to my ankles, up through my shins, and to my knees. I looked down to see my legs turning from their usual light tan hue to a grayish yellow. It got harder and harder to pull my legs apart, as they felt like two magnets. My whole body felt loose and stiff at the same time, as if I were a rag doll and someone was playing with me.
For a human, the pain of having your bones fuze together would be unbearable. But I was so used to it. In fact, I don't even remember the first time it happened. It's something I've known my whole life.
By now my legs had changed into my long, silky tail. I swished it around the water a couple times, and prepared to set out into the sea.
When I reached the sharp rocks that guarded my small cove, I decided to go North and began swimming towards the horizon. It was in my blood to have good navigation skills; even if I were in the middle of the Pacific and were surrounded by nothing but blue depth I would have a faint idea of how to get home.
I went on my way, going up the coast. I passed the large, rocky cliffs with trees branches hanging over the red, crumbled boulders. The wind was howling but the sky was flawless. No cloud was there to block out the sunshine. I kept making my way up towards the North, going under and frequently coming up to see what surrounded me.
Then I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure. A ship. It was massive with its decks and ropes and big, stained glass windows. It didn't look tidy though, like a sailor's ship, but it was the most beautiful one I'd ever seen.
I knew right away this ship was unique. I read somewhere that pirate ships often had black sails. Could this be a pirate ship? It sure seemed like one.

It was like I had two voices in my head, with one telling me to swim for my life and the other saying that I should explore. I'm not going to lie, I was scared. I did want to swim back home and stay out of the water. But I had never seen a pirate ship. I'd wanted to my whole life, and here was one right in front of me. Maybe I would never see one again and this was my only chance. With the few seconds I had to decide, I went towards the ship.
I kept my head under, careful that nobody would see me. The closer I got, the more my heart sped up. It was racing out of my chest and into the open water. By now, it was probably beating loud enough for the people on board to hear it.
Am I too close?, I thought. Maybe just a little. I stopped about ten feet away from it, far enough so I could just barely see overboard. I wondered what it was like to live on there. To feel the rocking of the boat at morning and night, to be yelled at and take captain's orders, and to be surrounded by endless ocean. The part about being by the sea forever sounded nice.
I looked up at the beautiful boat. I heard a man with a stiff voice yelling at people to tie ropes, along with a dog barking and a guy singing off key.
"The sea, and me, forever we'll be, if she is my one true bride!" He sang loud and clear. I smiled at his strange, funny happiness. It actually seemed pretty fun up there.
I should have paid attention to time, though, because if I had then I would not have been spotted. Before I was about to go back under, I saw a boy walking across the lower deck. He had black hair and tan skin. He seemed tall and a little skinny, but strong. Then I saw his eyes. They were two black orbs that reflected the sun beautifully. I never thought a pirate could look as pretty as him.
If only I hadn't stared too long, because when I was least expecting it he looked down at me. For a second, our eyes met. Then I looked down, ducked under, and swam away. It was no use trying to hide my tail. If I was going to get away, he was bound to see it. It was way too hard to go under without moving it towards the surface. So I swam faster than I ever had. I felt the water and the currents zoom past me. It was time to go home. Now.