Andy was standing by the pier where he loved to lower his personal watercraft into the water. He was a 20 year-old student who had been living in Miami all his life, and the news of this mysterious island was intriguing. He decided to skip classes at the University of Miami, and to head on out to the pier, with his trailer fastened to the tow bar, which was attached to the back of his pickup truck.
Andy was young and muscular, standing about 5 foot 8 inches tall. He wasn’t tall for his age, but many years on the gymnastics team has made him seem muscular enough, to turn heads of plenty of onlookers. He was also an excellent swimmer and an avid surfer, and the news of some island that was slowly rising up from the ocean floor, was an once-in-a-lifetime even t that he did not want to miss. This was worth skipping financial accounting class for!
After he had backed his pickup truck on the ramp, he removed the straps and cables, which held his Sea-Doo personal watercraft on to the small, aluminum trailer. The watercraft slid in the water, and he immediately pulled the trailer out of the water and parked the car. After he locked his Nissan Frontier pickup, he ran back to the bottom of the concrete ramp, where his watercraft was waiting. Then he placed the plastic key over the switch, and pressed the start button, which made the impeller come to life. He pressed the throttle on the handlebar, and the watercraft immediately flew across the water at speeds of about 45 miles per hour.
The waves got higher and the sea was pushing oncoming watercraft away. Even though the island was only 20 miles away, it took Andy about 25 minutes to get there. He jumped over the waves as he sped towards the rising island. Curiosity had the best of him. Was this truly the rising of the legendary island nation called Atlantis?
When he was close enough to the island he saw several ruins of ancient buildings. There were weeds everywhere, and the island appeared to be deserted. No wonder, it must have been underwater for several thousands of years, and no human could survive that! Still, as a lover of history and mythology, he had set out to be among the first to set foot on the new island, which was receiving the first rays of sunlight in many millennia.
When Andy arrived at the beach, he slowly allowed the watercraft to slide on to the soft sand of the coastal shore, before he pulled his key off the switch, and started to walk towards the large jungle of vegetation which was before him. There was a large jungle of bushes and trees, and even some corrals which had now come to the surface. With the island having been under water for so long, it was no strange thing to see that the large part of the island was like a jungle. Giant trees and plants were everywhere, and Andy had to struggle to make his way through the seaweed, the corrals, and the bushes. He had seen the tops of white columns from far away, indicating that there was some man-made structure on the island. He continued to walk through the massive jungle, feeling extremely happy that he was wearing his water sandals on his feet.
Suddenly there appeared a large, stone structure before him. There were four tall columns which were standing on a square platform. Each column was exactly at the corner of the square. In the middle there was a blue cloud, which was floating over the platform like a dense morning for. Although he seemed rather scared at the strange site, something was calling him to come closer, to walk nearer, and to carefully walk the steps which led to the platform.
For the moment, Andy looked back and wondered if he should just turn back and run towards the beach? Should he go back to Miami and report on what he had found? He had no camera with him, and he had no way of proving what he had seen just now. Should he turn back now, or just move forward?
After having thought about it for a moment, he decided that he had already come too far in order to look back, before investigating the strange fog that was hovering over the white, square platform. Maybe he would discover something, which could make him rich. Or maybe the fog would hold the key to what could have happened to the inhabitants of the mythological island?
Andy slowly walked up the steps, and he was now standing at the same level as the fog. Then, he began to hear voices. Voices of people were coming from the strange, blue mist. It seemed as if they were calling out to him, singing to him, and crying out to him. Feeling like he was about to make a significant discover, Andy took a deep breath and then closed his eyes, before walking straight into the dense mist.
For the moment, he felt at peace. His skin began to change. His lungs were changing. He was feeling a strange, soothing feeling all over his body, as the singing of the fog intensified. The voices grew louder and louder, and suddenly it seemed to be shouting something to him.
“Sea… Get into the sea! Run to the sea! You must get back into the sea!” the voices shouted in his mind!
It became harder for him to breathe as well! Then, on the other side of the platform, he saw a small lagoon. There was the sea! He had to get in, for he was beginning to choke. His skin looked different, and green scales were forming on his legs!
“Run! Get into the water, before your feet will join, and then you will no longer be capable of walking over the dry land!” the female voice shouted.
Andy then ran towards the edge of the platform and closed his eyes, as he extended his arms straight in front of him. He then leaped off the edge of the stone platform, plunging head first into the pool of water, which was part of the small lagoon.
Once he was in the water, he suddenly felt no need to swim to the surface. His legs began to fuse together, and his feet now began to transform into a large tailfin. He had changed into a merman!
Could this be true? Was this just a strange dream? Andy decided to swim to the surface anyway, but what he felt when he opened his mouth, was about to choke him. Air! He could no longer breathe the outside air! He immediately dove back underwater. This was where he belonged. This was his home. This was now his life. He no longer belonged to the world above the ocean, but he belonged to the world of the deep.
At first, he felt scared, lonely, lost. Reality set in. He could no longer go back. Where would he go? Where would he live?
“Greetings….” A female voice said.
Andy turned around and faced the beautiful young mermaid, who swam up to him. She had long, blond hair, blue eyes, and she was tall and slender. She had a blue tailfin, in the place where her legs would be, and she had a beautiful smile.
The mermaid then extended her right hand to him, and he grabbed hold. She started swimming in another direction, signaling him to follow her. This couldn’t be that bad, after all, and Andy continued to swim farther away, while holding the hand of the young mermaid.
In the meantime, the Coast Guard had reached the beach, where Andy had left his Sea-Doo. They called in the call sign, which was printed on the side of the small watercraft. The skipper, a young man in his twenties, then looked up and saw the large mass of vegetation before him. But, it seemed like there were some ancient ruins hiding behind the plants. He walked through them, until he came up to the square platform, where he saw the strange, blue mist of Atlantis, as it was hovering over the center of the stone platform, waiting to accept the next citizen of the deep….