SECRET TAIL

CHAPTER FOUR

     Everything was peaceful and we just soaked in the sun and enjoyed the quiet but as they say nothing good lasts forever. The tranquility was broken when I suddenly started feeling restless, like I was trapped in my own skin and needed to escape but I did not know what to do to stop it. I kept fidgeting on my blanket to try and get comfortable when suddenly my eyes fell on the ocean and I could not remove my gaze from it. It felt like  it had stolen my mind and captured my attention, like I had discovered what I was looking for and desperately needed. The thought ran through my head that this was probably how a man stranded in a desert for two days will feel if he suddenly stumbles on an Oasis but no single thought could stick to my mind, I was totally mesmerized by the ocean and it's song.

               I kept looking at the ocean totally enraptured and did not realize that Katie was calling my name. 'Chloe! 'Chloe!' she reached out and had to tap my shoulders to get my attention before I even realized she had called my name. 'Yeah, what's up?'

                'Are you okay? I have been calling your name for a while now but you did not answer me, it was like you could not hear me at all and your eyes looked very weird like you were in a daze and out of focus. What is going on with you? If anything is wrong you can tell us after all that's what friends are for.' she told me. 'Nothing is wrong, I was just thinking about something and forgot about my surroundings. Why where you calling me?'

                'I want you to help me apply sun screen lotion on my back and I need the both of your help this evening. Collins is taking me out on a date and he says I should dress up since it's going to be fancy, I need dress and makeup advice like asap. So, after leaving the beach you girls are coming home with me and you are not leaving until I decide on what to wear. It's going to be a complete makeover, just take it that I am your Barbie doll for today and do with me what you wish. You should be glad because I bet you guys had never had a doll this gorgeous.' Katie said with a pompous look on her face, her head lifted up and hands spread out as if to give us a perfect look at the gorgeous doll.

             Both Jane and I burst into laughter at her silliness, Jane said, 'I can't believe you could actually say that with a straight face and feel no shame, you are incredible, I dare say there is no one else like you in the world.'

         I laughed, 'Yeah, she is a specially customized one made only Barbie doll, the only one of her kind. Well her majesty, your loyal followers are at your service, we will go home with you.' 

       We relaxed to enjoy the peace and quiet and that was when it hit me, I had actually wanted to swim in the ocean. That was just weird, normally I enjoyed coming to the beach to soak up the sun and work on my tan even though I never got a tan no matter how long I stayed in the sun but I rarely ever went anywhere close to the water and even when I did it was usually at the shore and that was just playing around. If I ever felt like swimming, I did that in a pool where it was safe without any waves, jelly fish, shark, sting ray, and well a lot of other things. Let's just say, I did not usually think about swimming in the ocean ever, after all I am pretty scared of it and the creatures under it.

          This is why I felt like that was the weirdest thought that could have ever come to my mind and I could not even explain why I had that sort of idea. No matter how hard I thought about it I could not explain it or any other of the weird things happening to me lately. By four pm, we packed up our stuff and went to Katie's house to prepare for her date.

      When I got home that evening, I went to bed early because I felt pretty tired although I did nothing particularly taxing that day, I had another one of those crazy dreams again.

                 It seemed like somebody was carrying me and swimming, it was too deep and dark to be a pool so I felt like it was probably the ocean. I could tell that I was very little at the time because everything seemed huge to me even though I could not see my surroundings clearly. A sweet voice kept repeating in my head like a song on replay, 'Always know I love you.'  I felt scared although I did not know why, and I could tell that whoever was carrying me was terrified and in a hurry.
              I could feel tears falling from her eyes but I still could not wake up and was held captive in the dream. The feeling of fear and urgency increased but I could not wake up, I knew I was dreaming but I just could not wake up.
           Suddenly, it was like I was dragged from the dream and I screamed in surprise but that feeling a person normally experience when they wake up from sleep was not there at all, I was just suddenly wide awake like I was not sleeping before and that woman's words kept ringing in her mind, 'Always know I love you.' At this point I was practically weeping although I did not know why I was crying and I could not stop.
              Gradually I realized that I was not in my room, instead I was in our special spot on the beach and kneeling in the ocean. I had walked into the ocean and kneeled down in the water, the ocean was already past my shoulders almost to my head.
        It was already morning and the sun was rising on the horizon, instead of feeling scared and disoriented like I should have been when I found myself here, I was struck by the thought that the ocean looked magnificent. I did not want to leave it, I just wanted to sink into it and lose myself in it.

             This was when my legs started hurting and the pain was intense, I turned to face the shore and swam towards it in a hurry, as soon as my legs touched the beach, I fell down in pain. Looking down to see what was wrong and I saw something unbelievable. Scales had appeared on my legs and I raised my night wear to see how far it went and found out that they stopped at my waist. They were blue in color and that was when the panic set in.