Tyler, Mary, Harper, and Adrian were four kids, no older than six years old, splashing around the beach. They were trying to make the most of their trip to the beach while their families were out having a barbecue out in the distance.
The group of four were elementary school friends and lived in a town just close enough to the beach.
"Hey, no fair, Ty!" Mary whined as she was directly in the aim of Tyler's Super Soaker - He got it from his parents for not getting any Ds or Fs in his last report card.
Tyler couldn't help but laugh mockingly. "Nah-nah, nah-nah-nah! Whatcha' you gonna' do about it?"
Harper came to the aid of Mary by blocking Tyler's aim. "Ty, if you keep this up, you're gonna pay for it!"
Tyler laid his toy down in the water, letting his plastic Nerf-eque weapon recharge by collecting water. "Oh yeah? Well prove it!"
Just as Tyler was about to aim his Super Soaker at the girls, his back was suddenly hit with a blast of cold water.
"Ahhh!" Tyler screamed as he fell in the water. When he quickly rose up to face his friends, his wet blonde hair almost covered his face.
"Who did that?!" He whined.
The boy looked to see that Mary, Harper, and Adrian staring at something behind him. Tyler turned and gasped at what he saw.
It was a woman, a beautiful one at that. She looked as old as one of the "big kids" that his older brother James would hang out with.
Whatever the case, Tyler didn't want to embarrass himself in front of this pretty-looking lady, she even wore a tiara for crying out loud!
The woman giggled. "I'm sorry. was that a little too rough?"
"Uh… No!" Tyler stammered, blushing and trying to play it cool. "T-That was totally fair. I deserved that."
Mary soon butted into the conversation. "Oooooh! You're so pretty!" She said with sparkling eyes.
"Yeah!" Harper agreed. "You're… You're…"
"A mermaid. Yes, they're real." The woman smiled as she finished the girl's sentence.
Harper and Mary squealed in excitement as they couldn't believe a real life mermaid was on their beach. It was like a Mermaid Barbie movie come to life!
"What a minute." Adrian spoke up. "I don't think you're a mermaid at all."
"Adrian, please-" Tyler was soon hushed by Adrian's hand.
"Tyler, shut up, dude." Adrian squinted his eyes at the woman. "I've watched a lot of Mythbusters. I know what to do."
"Oh?" The woman cocked her head. "Well, if you're so sure. How about you touch my tail?"
The woman flipped on her back, letting her fishy body float on the water.
Adrian slowly approached the woman, ignoring the scowls she got from Mary and Harper - The woman, however, kept her smile. Amused by her little critic.
The boy took a deep breath as his fingers slowly made contact with her scales. Adrian cringed at the feeling of the slime but tried to be brave. He used the memory of his last doctor's visit to feel any bones. If she had any knees - The girl is busted!
However, Adrian's eyes soon widened as he realized he couldn't feel any knee bones at all.
Adrian turned to face his friends, looking like he saw a ghost. "Guys… That's not a costume."
The woman grinned and rewarded her little skeptic with a kiss on the head. "Right on, little guy. I knew you'd come around." She said as she ruffled Adrian's hair.
Mary and Harper squealed as they both rushed to give the mermaid a hug.
"So you really are a mermaid." Tyler gasped. "But what are you doing here?"
"I'm glad you asked. I saw that you kids were all alone, no parents in sight. So I decided to join in." The woman warmly smiled. "Hopefully, I didn't spoil the fun."
"No, Miss Mermaid! I promise we'll let you play!" Mary cried out in wonder.
"Miss Mermaid..." Sarah repeated silently to herself. She was surprised at the quick, and rather authoritative, nickname but she soon grew to love how it rolled off her tongue. "Don't worry, you four. Miss Mermaid always loves new friends."
Tyler still couldn't believe how there was a real mermaid literally right in front of him. "C-can you do magic?" He blurted out.
"Oh!" Sarah snapped her fingers at the reminder, her magic book! "Yes, I can do magic." She said sheepishly. "But I'm new at it. Mermaids aren't exactly like fairy godparents, you know."
"Oh, we can help!" Harper replied. "It's like Dora The Explorer, we help you by saying the spell too!"
"Dora? That's for babies!" Tyler stuck out his tounge.
Sarah couldn't help but find this adorable. She had more than a few instances where an episode of a show would give the kids at home a chance to "participate."
Going along with the wonder of the kids, Sarah opened up her new spellbook and flipped over to one of the first pages. "Alright, children. I found a good spell."
Sarah eyed at the Super Soaker that's been left out of Tyler's hands.
"But I need your help. Repeat after me. Oh Miss Ocean, I have a wish. Please make this object a fish."
Of course, the book's spells were more complicated than a silly rhyme, but she could get away with it by secretly whispering the real spell under her breath.
"Oh Miss Ocean, I have a wish. Please make this object a fish!" Mary and Harper eagerly repeated. Adrian was silent as he looked at Tyler with a "what the heck's going on?" look.
Before Tyler could reply, the gem on Sarah's tiara began to glow and shoot a beam at the Super Soaker.
After the resulting smoke cleared up, both Sarah and kids were surprised to see a large Koi fish in the place of the water toy.
"You ruined my Super Soaker!" Tyler whined. He opened his mouth to complain some more before he felt the fish nudge on his leg.
"Oh?" Tyler questioned.
Tyler lowered his hand and was surprised to see that the koi fish was quite responsive to head pats.
"Oooooooooh!" Harper and Mary said in unison.
"Hah!" Tyler smiled. "It's like a dog! A dogfish!"
Sarah chuckled. "I thought you might appreciate a new fish friend. I love fish, if you couldn't tell." She said as she raised her tail fins from underwater.
"Oh! Can you make my toy, Lamby, into a real little lamb?" Mary said in awe.
Sarah smiled as she looked over her magic book. Sure enough, there was a section dedicated to stuffed animals.
"I'll see what I can do. Why don't you go and get Lamby for me?"
"Okay!" Mary said as she ran to her family to get her toy.
"Do mermaids grant wishes like genies?" Harper asked.
"Only if you ask nicely." Sarah said as she pointed to her tiara.
Harper nodded her head and tried to think of a good wish.
"Miss Mermaid?" Adrian tapped Sarah on the shoulder.
"What's up?" She asked.
Adrian wiped away a tear. "I'm so sorry if I was mean to you!" He whimpered as he began to cry.
"Oh, it's okay!" Sarah went and gave Adrian a big hug. "Everyone has questions to everything, even mermaids."
Adrian sniffed. "Really?"
"Really." Sarah nodded and gave Adrian a kiss on the forehead. "We'll be friends here."
Adrian sniffed again. "Forever and ever?"
Sarah froze for a bit, knowing full well what will happen to her once the end of the third day comes. Yet, she would rather not break this kid's heart. If only there was a way to remain a mermaid and avoid Alora.
Could a spell of hers defeat the sea witch? Maybe if Sarah practiced enough...
Nevertheless, she replied to Adrian in the most tender tone.
"Forever and ever."