The Mermaid's Daughter

Chapter One: Can I have this dance?

CHAPTER ONE

*Beep beep* *Beep beep* My alarm goes off. I keep slapping it until I eventually hit the off button. I lie there for a few minutes until I finally decide to get up. I lightly squeeze my little bear, Milly, and sit up. I rub the sleep out of my eyes, throw off the covers and swing my legs down to the side of the bed. I stare at the picture of my mum and me when I was born. I look at the happiness in her eyes but also the guilt. I sigh and stand up. I stretch out my back and swing open my cupboard, chuck some clothes on my bed and get changed. I look at myself in my mirror, I'm wearing denim shorts and a loose, white singlet top. I slowly brush my hair and tie it up in a high ponytail. I softly creep out to the kitchen and toast some bread. I then spread piles of strawberry jam over it and take a huge bite. As I leave the kitchen I quickly dart towards the very top cupboard and grab a jam daisy for later (who cares how early it is, it's always the right time to have a jam daisy).

Once I get outside I wander around for a bit as I munch on my toast before I skip down the path to the whale tank.

"Hi Willy!" I chirp to the huge creature floating below me. He replies with a low grumble. I sit down at the edge of the tank and dangle my bare feet in the water as I chomp on my jam daisy. Willy sways over to greet me. I stroke his smooth head and stand up. I close my eyes and start slowly waltzing with an invisible partner as I quietly sing 'Can I Have This Dance?' I guess High School Musical left a pretty big influence on me, and the songs are just so catchy.

Willy eagerly watches as I twist and glide around the edge of his tank until I hear footsteps behind me. I quickly open my eyes and spin round. My dad is standing in front of me, smiling. He is wearing his dark blue work shirt with the words 'West Town Aquarium' on the left pocket. He is also wearing a pair of lime green board shorts, as always, and a pair of black thongs. His hair is short and spiky (nearly bald) and he has a faint outline of a beard and moustache on his face. I feel my cheeks heat up. He caught me singing and dancing. Awkward much. He doesn't laugh of say anything he just simply puts out his hand and bows his head. I accept his hand and bow my head in acceptance. We both raise our heads in unison and giggle before he places his right hand around my waist and raises his left hand, with mine into the air, into a waltz position. He then takes a step forward, as I take a step back and he continues waltzing with me around the edge of the tank.

"Keep singing," he whispers into my ear. I hesitate for a moment, I think I'm horrible at singing but I continue anyway. After a few minutes Dad starts singing along with me. He actually has quite a good voice. He used to sing in the church choir until... Argh, I have to stop thinking about that. Anyway, unsurprisingly, he knows the words to the song. When I was about 8 I remember I used to watch High School Musical about every second day. Dad would always get some popcorn and we would dance around the lounge room and sing to all the songs. We memorised every single word.

***

We've probably been dancing for about 15 minutes now. Willy got bored after about 5 minutes and went back to rolling around in his tank. Dad and I slowly break away and look at each other, eye to eye. I then look at my watch.

"Wow! It's 8:45 already!? We need to get the place organised!" I say, hurriedly.

"Yeah, we do. I'm doing the Seal Show at 9," he replies as he rushes off.

And this is where my story begins.

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Dedicated to @___aimzie___ for introducing me to wattpad. (Also because she is an AMAZING writer) :)

I know this is kinda a boring chapter but it does get better, trust me ;)

Please comment on what was good and what I should improve on :)

Also, comment any ideas for a better title or cover :)

I will also add a description soon. Yay :D

Ok, I will stop now, lol :P

~ Ellie Potato ❤