Fish Tails

Chapter Ten

+Music video added for effect, enjoy :)

K

The cut on my arm tingled and burned. I sighed and rolled over, digging my arm into the sand. I squeezed my eyes closed and begged for sleep to come. 

It's unsettling to sleep underwater. I constantly float up- or away from the group. Everyone else is able to stay right where they are; it's some sort of magic trick I have yet to figure out. And when everything is silent, I hear everything. The hermit crab making its way across the sand, the large fish swishing its tail as it swims by, the waves up above and the current down below. Mira and the twins are able to close their eyes and fall asleep immediately but I can't. Instead, I lay awake for hours with only my thoughts to keep me company.

That's another thing about living underwater, there's no way to distract yourself. Up above, I could play music or watch a movie or play video games or even take a midnight trip to the gas station and buy candy but I can't do that here. I can't eat ice cream or drink orange juice or eat pizza- all I get is salt water, raw fish, and seaweed. And the fish can't even be marinated- it's just salty! 

I sighed and rolled over again. 

I hate being homesick. I had it when I left Montana, I had it whenever I went to church camp or slept over at Riley's or with my other friends. I had it whenever I went to visit my dad's uncle and aunt and they took me to Maine and we got caught in a blizzard and had to spend the night at a pizzeria. Maybe my homesickness would have gone away if I spoke to my mom- that usually never happened though. 

When I was growing up and I would sneak out of my friend's houses to avoid sleepovers and their parents eventually caught me, they would ask if I wanted to call my mom. I never wanted to call my mom though, I wanted my bed, the privacy of my room and the sound of Chester snoring on the patio and the squeaky fan I always failed to fix. I thought it was a bit pathetic, especially since I'm now eighteen and can't be away from home.

But I feel like I should be exempted from this one. I am a merman, after all, I feel like I should be allowed to be homesick. 

I turned on my back and looked at the night sky, the way the moonlight filtered through the water and changed. It was beautiful. I wish Riley could see this. She always swam to the bottom of the pool and looked up with her goggles on so she could see the world the way fish see. She would like being a mermaid although I doubt she would believe any minute of it. 

I closed my eyes again and thought about home.

It wasn't until I started dreaming that I realized I finally achieved sleep. 

+

I was in the ocean, an island of green forest in front of me and the sun setting behind. It was the same place I had dreamt about in the weeks before I became a mermaid. I looked around and involuntarily, I moved my torso to swim. I flopped down in the water and when I looked back, my legs were there instead of my tail. A smile crept on my face as I examined my dark, hairy legs. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see something as mundane as my legs. 

I stood up in the water and started to walk around- feeling the freedom of having two appendages to walk around with. I was almost to the shore when I decided to wait. In all my dreams, I've never gone ashore and in all of them, a woman always appeared. I sat down in the water, reveling in the fact that I wasn't afraid to feel the waves slosh against my chest. It was quite peaceful. And now I wait.

"Kane?" My ears perked up at the sound of a woman's voice. I wonder what she had to tell me this time. "Kane, is that you?" 

Strange... the woman always knew I who I was and this time, the voice didn't come from in front of me- it came from behind. I turned around and there she stood.