You're My Treasure

Chapter 2

"You... you use that to comb your hair?"

"Yes! Fantastic, right? Humans are so smart, that their inventions are just—oh! So cool," she showed what was called the 'dinglehopper' to him. As odd as it was to see a mermaid combing her hair with a fork, he couldn't help himself but to laugh at it.

"Pfft—Ariel, I'm afraid we actually have a tool, which is not that, that is used for that very purpose," Jim dug into the pockets in his jacket, while Ariel was left puzzled.

"What do you mean another tool? Why would you have two different tools for the same purpose? I don't see that being logical—" she stopped herself when Jim pulled out the tool he meant. Narrowed eyes, gaping mouth, neck tilting from one angle to another, the mermaid was certainly curious.

"May I?" She handed out her hand.

"Of course.""

Once the tool was in her possession, comparison was the first thing Ariel did; between the dinglehopper and the mysterious yet interesting tool. The mermaid really did take her time in the process, that it became silent for a few minutes, which was unbearable for Jim. She even counted the amount of teeth the mysterious tool had.

"The name of the tool is a comb, by the way."

"Comb, huh? It's very... interesting, indeed," grabbing the comb, she used it to straighten her hair, which worked fantastically.

"Oh my. It works brilliantly!" She combed and combed and combed, but it was an unusual sight for Jim. Usually, he would comb, and get stuck, and use force to continue the process. In this case, Ariel seemed to have very few tangled hairs. Jim only raised a brow, not having the desire to ask. She was going to have more examination, but then she remembered something.

"Oh, we've been here for a while, Jim. I have to go now," she looked back to the ocean, then back to him, "can we meet again?"

"Sure, tomorrow, same time?" Ariel processed the suggestion, and nodded down in confirmation.

"Tomorrow, same time. And can I keep the comb?"

"Heh—for a price, of course,"

"What's the price?"

"Hmm," he reached his hand out for hers, "friends?"

"Oh, do humans do this, too? Starting a friendship with a handshake?" She instantly returned his hand and shook it with a grin.

"Oh nah—it's just, perhaps some do, which I happened to do, which I never did before, but," at this point, Jim had run out of words to say.

"You get the point."

"I'm sure I do—and Jim," Ariel leaned in closer,

"thank you so much."

The gap between the boy and the mermaid was rather close, Jim was very sure at this point that Ariel was feeling the rising temperature of his face. However, she didn't.

"Uhh, you're welcome."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jim!"

With that, Ariel left into the depth. Still hypnotized by those goo-goo eyes, Jim walked away to his solar surfer, while having his attention in his own head, not where he was going as he tripped on a rock.

"James Hawkins!"

Her mother called from the inn above the beach, his full name, particularly. Kids know that mothers who call their children by their full name was never going to go well. Jim was very much aware of this, and hustled his phase.