The Mermaid Prophecy (On Hiatus)

Chapter 5

Arsulu

The journey is long, about half a day's time.

I travel in silence minus the bangles on my tail that chime every few seconds. Rather than stop to re-fuel myself, I push myself to continue and think about all the delicacies I will try in the human world.

Eventually, the mirror lights up signaling the end of my trip.

I swim towards the surface and peek my head out of the water. Multiple times, I check for movement, for danger, for humans. For possibly the twentieth time, my eyes scan the area.

Jeez, my Triton is showing.

I move closer inland past some large rounded rock structures. I've never been good when it came to swimming without my fins, so the closer to land that I can be, the better.

Once I'm sure that no one is nearby, my hands hover over my legs and I whisper another spell under my breath. Seaweed slithers up along my fin and tangles around me. It climbs up my torso, pulling me down into the shallow water.

Eventually it inches up around my neck and finishes around my eyes. I try not to squirm around in the seaweed. Slowly, the seaweed descends and a sickening crack accompanies a blinding light that splits my fin into two legs.

I suck in a breath between my teeth creating a hissing sound, enduring the pain. Even though I expect it each time, I'm never fully prepared for the pain that shoots through me when I gain legs. Before I'm swept away by the tide, I drag myself to shore and rest.

My pale hair clings to my face and no matter how many times I push it out of my face, it just comes back and slaps me in the face.

I growl.

You know what. I never really liked my hair anyway. Why not...

Looking around me, I find a brown seashell a few feet away. Picking it up, I kiss it and pull my long bangs back using the shell to hold them in place. As soon as the shell is in place, my blonde hair turns a deep brown.

After checking my appearance in the mirror, I make a few more minor adjustments before standing and preparing to take on the human world.

* * *

'You'll look darling' she said. 'They'll fit you like a glove' she said.

I tug at my new clothes. Not only do I feel uglier than sin, but I also can't seem to breathe in this contraption she has strapped around my torso. A corset, its called.

And what's worse is that in thirteen years of life, I have never been so covered up. I am covered from neck to feet as is custom in the human world apparently. I don't think I've ever hated a custom more in my life.

I take quick shallow breaths as I walk through the town. Every few feet, I pause on the cobblestones and pretend to look at the stores that line the sides to allow myself time to catch my breath before I continue.

A human woman outside one of the buildings chats with me briefly. She has a thick accent and my mind is already focused on not passing out so I don't follow most of the conversation as she talks.

I eye her similar contraption folded around her voluptuous curves. Jeez, how do human women breathe in these on a regular basis?

Before I realize it, the woman is shoving something in my mouth. It is like nothing I have ever tasted before. It is light and fluffy but also crunchy and sweet.

Knowingly, the woman invites me in to follow her toward other delicacies to my kind. As I step through the threshold, I almost immediately regret it. My nostrils flare and I gag on the smell of rotting flesh.

Forcing the bile crawling up my throat back down, I search the shop and identify the source of the stench. Multiple dead fish line the counter tops, some with their heads missing. Others have been ripped to shreds by the teeth of the humans it seems.

I feel my eyes widen in horror as I watch one human throw away a half eaten fish carcass.

Running back out of the shop, I feel the treat the woman had provided for me come up and watch as it colors the cobblestones beneath my feet.

Any appetite I did have has died down significantly. Well, at least I'm no longer hungry.

I travel the streets a bit, dazed and confused. The humans don't look as they did when I've seen them previously through the mirror.

Many have odd hairstyles or they have something covering their faces. Some are engaged in talking to each other or laughter. Little humans run across the cobblestones holding long shiny spears and are attacking each other with smiles on their faces.

I push through the crowd of people until I find some humans that are painting pictures. Most of the colors are vibrant and remind me of the coral reef but some pieces of art puzzle me and I decides to skip past those ones.

In the middle of the town, there are two arms holding smaller humans up in a square enclosure. They talk to each other, say terrible things to each other and one of the miniature humans beats the other with a wooden stick. All the humans watching laugh.

My head whirls. I blink several times and lean against the cool stone wall. The town square feels like it is moving. My breathing accelerates even more than before and I duck into a small alleyway.

Ugh, I can't take anymore.

And with that thought I pull the strings on the corset and shimmy around until it loosens. When I finally regain my stolen breath and my head clears, I attempt to re-wrap the corset back together. After two tries, I give up and let the strings hang from behind.

"Well well, lookey 'ere fellas," a scratchy voice says behind me. I turn to see that I am surrounded by three human men. "Looks like we gots ourselves a dame."

Author's Note: chapter was originally publish October 24, 2019 and revised November 24, 2019.