December

Challenge: Water

December 28, 2019

I sat on the couch in the condo reading a book when the door burst open and my three friends, their boyfriends, and my boyfriend walk inside. They are all soaking wet and have either a towel or a large beach bag with them. I glance away from my book and see everyone standing there, letting the floor get wetter and wetter. I make eye contact with my boyfriend and look back at my book immediately. I look away from my book again when I feel someone sit next to me. I look next to me to see my boyfriend who is wiping his hand on his towel, once he is done he puts his hand on my arm but takes it back once he makes contact with my skin.

"Woah, are you okay? You are extremely hot." I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"Oh please, I already know that. You don't have to tell me anything." My smile fades when I see his worried look.

"No, seriously you're burning up." He then put his hand on my head and moves it around my face. "Okay, yeah you are going back to bed." He then pulls me up from the couch and into your bedroom.

"Ben, you are making a big deal out of nothing, I am fine." Ben turns around and gives me a stern look before pointing to the bed. I roll my eyes and climb back into bed without any argument.

"I'll see if I can get everyone out of the condo again okay?" I nod my head and turn away from the door. I wait until I hear zero noise in the condo before I get out of bed. Once I get out of bed I walk over to my suitcase and unzip it. I try to dig through my suitcase but the heat is increasing rapidly and everything is starting to spin. I finally grab a book from the depths of my suitcase and throw it towards the bathroom door. I start to crawl towards the bathroom but I am engulfed in the darkness before I can get there.

***

The first thing I notice when I wake up is that I am surrounded by water. The second is that I transformed back into my mermaid form. The final thing I noticed was my boyfriend sitting on the toilet seat holding a book and staring right at me. We make eye contact but I look away and hope that he doesn't say anything.

"So, what are you exactly?" I turn to look at Ben again before letting out a loud sigh.

"I'm a half mermaid and half siren, I have the form of a mermaid and the powers of a siren."

"And why are you here?" Hearing someone else say that I don't belong makes my eyes fill up with tears.

"There was a siren and mermaid war because of my existence so my parents sent me to live with humans." He then holds up the book and looks at me.

"And this?"

"My spellbook, the only power I have is my voice so I needed to learn singing spells. It contains my human transformation spell."

"This is why you don't like swimming? Do you turn into this?" He points towards my blue tail.

"No, I can swim in my human form, it just reminds me too much of home."

"What about us? Your friends? Is it real or just fake so you can blend in?"

"Everything that I have ever said or done is just as real as you and me, I've never faked anything in my entire life." He gives a simple nod before standing up and walking towards the door.

"Wait! What are you going to do to me? Are you going to tell everyone? Are you going to kill me?" Ben turns back around to face me and walks towards me. He kneels so we are at eye level and he kisses me.

"I am going to let you perform your spell and then we are ending this trip early. I am not telling anyone nor would I ever want to kill you. We need alone time to talk about this but I love you, I am never leaving your side." He then walks out of the bathroom, leaving me in the tub to ponder what he said. I perform the spell and look down at the water that I am in. I then get out and dry myself off before looking at the water again. 'God, I hate water.' I think to myself before walking out of the bathroom and joining everyone else.