The blue liquid gave David's legs a glassy sheen. He rubbed it in thoroughly as the bottle instructed. He
grinned as his body hair seemingly vanished completely. He had been shaving his arms, legs and chest to
minimize resistance but this liquid eliminated even the stubble. It also had a warming effect on his cold
limbs. If it's good for the legs why not the arms too, he figured, and soon he had not only coated his arms
and legs, but his face, neck, back and chest. Only the part of his body covered by his swim trunks was still
cold and shivering.
"What's the harm? This product is wonderful. It keeps the swimmer warm, and it'll act as glue to hold my
legs together," David reasoned aloud. He poured the remaining liquid on his hands and shoved them inside his
nylon training suit. It felt so good. His glutes warmed instantly as the liquid touched them, and his
shrunken man hood began to swell. As the blue liquid dried on his skin, it developed an iridescent orange
tinge. He held his legs firmly together. He discovered that it worked, he couldn't separate his legs. He
realized that he should have done this closer to the sea. He flopped like a fish out of water as he moved his
legs like a fish tail or snake's body to propel him across the sand and into the water.
He plunged head first into the water. It was no longer chilling, it was just exhilarating.
From her hiding place in the rocks, Ms. Maisar sighed. The bearded man next to her barked a short guttural
laugh, and said, "See I told you, he would do it! Now the rest of your swim team gets the salve that I
promised, and I get to keep the fish!"
"Mr. Romano, I am not proud of what I've done, but I did it for the good of the team. I trust you to your
word that you will do nothing to harm David. Now give me the salve, please."
"Ah, a pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Maisar. Here is your salve, a big case of it, more than enough
for your team. Now I'd better get my net on fishboy before he gets too far from shore. You must come to my
carnival to see the sideshow," he said handing her a golden ticket.
Then he climbed into the launch concealed behind a boulder, and set out into the water to catch his fish boy.
Ms. Maisar sniffled, and carried the heavy carton of salve back up the path to her minibus. She vowed not to
look back.'
"Ah, ah, ah; ah, ah, ah," sang a voice under the water.
David swam toward the singing.
Zander Romano had just lowered the gilded Siren's net into the water. It didn't need bait, it was the bait. No
merman or fish-boy could resist it. In less than 10 minutes, Zander pulled the golden scaled fish boy trapped
in his net out of the water and on to the floor of the launch.
David gasped for water. He didn't understand. One moment he was swimming toward the beautiful song, and the
next he was trapped in a heavy mesh metal net, and he was pulled out of the water. His lungs didn't seem to
know how to process air anymore. He flopped around violently as he struggled to escape the dark hairy
fisherman and his net. But he only seemed to snare himself tighter in the net. At last exhausted and unable to
breathe, David passed out.
As he steered the launch toward the dock where his pick up truck waited, Zander would periodically douse David
with sea water from a bucket he had on the boat. He didn't want his prize catch dying before he got him into
his new aquarium. He soon had the launch tied up, and David in the back of his pick up. He emptied the cooler
chests and covered fish boy with ice to keep him fresh on the short drive back to the carnival.