Zero to Piano

A Friend, a Coconut, and a Conversation

"Do you want to change the scenery? I know an island not far from here, perhaps you'll like it."

Jim shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Leave those items here, no need to bring them," Ariel commanded. Her command left the male puzzled, as the items were the ones she was interested in the most. However, he did as she said.

"Which direction is the island?" Jim asked.

"You'll know soon enough."

With that, the mermaid grabbed the human by the wrist, and jumped into the water with him. Of course, the male was taken by surprise. Other than the fact that she did it out of the blue, swimming was not one of his skills.

Ariel's fins paddled through the water seamlessly, while Jim was desperately trying to keep up by paddling his feet. While panicking, he tried his best to keep his head above the water. It wasn't a vain effort, but Jim found himself swallowing some seawaters.

What seemed to be an eternity, which only lasted for around twenty seconds, the two reached an island filled with nothing but some palm trees. The other side of the island was visible if seen carefully through the trees, since it was a very small island.

Jim crawled his way to the dry sands, coughing out some water, and laid himself under the sun. Afterwards, he heard laughter.

"Hahaha... Oops?"

Jim looked down at the mermaid, smiling playfully.

"You will never do that again," he giggled, "mermaid."

Ariel turned grumpy in a playful way. "Oh, really now, human? I don't see that happening anytime... soon."

He turned around to the content of the island behind him. "This island will keep me alive for a few weeks, I think."

"And I can make you feel alive for a few minutes," Ariel snapped a finger. "If you'd let me teach you how to swim."

"You're telling me that swimming can be fun?" Jim fixed his hair, "I'm not sure if it's as fun as... you know, flying."

She found herself a little cornered with the conversation, not having something that could be used a great comeback. But then, a light bulb appeared.

"You can fly if you have your solar surfer around. But to swim, you just need your feet! Come on, Jim! Sure, I'm a mermaid, but I can still teach you a thing or two about swimming. Besides... we swim, not walk."

Her explanation did convince the boy a little, and it was enough. "Fine, but later. Not today."

"Alright!"

Jim halted the conversation by squeezing multiple spots on his shirt to dry it. He didn't have the bravery to strip himself off in front of the mermaid, so he thought it'd be wiser just to do it while it's on. While doing so, he looked at the island, and spotted objects at the other side of the island. There were a bench, a small table, and a canopy.

"Oh no..." he turned around. "This is a private island, isn't it?"

"What do you mean by private island?" Ariel asked, surely not familiar with the term.

"It's an island owned by a certain person or group of people, we're not allowed to be here without authority."

"Oh, well, it wouldn't hurt if we borrow a piece of it for a while, right?" She gestured to the 'amount' of area that they used. Not seeing himself swimming again anytime soon, Jim forced himself to agree for now.