Kendra's dad advanced on April, who backpedaled toward the front door.
"What have you done to my daughter???" he angrily demanded of April.
"Nothing!"
"Dad, stop! Please!" Kendra begged, grabbing his ankle to hold him from getting any closer to April.
"We'll get you help, Kendra. I don't know...I've never seen anything like this..."
"There's nothing wrong with me!" Kendra screamed. "I'm not sick. I'm not hurt. I'm just a mermaid! It's not April's fault - please don't hurt her!"
Just then her mother stagged uneasily into the room, still dizzy from her faint. "It's...oh dear...I wasn't imagining things...I need to sit down..." Then she slumped into a living room chair.
Kendra began crying. The sight of his daughter desperately clinging to his leg and sobbing finally brought Kendra's father to his senses. He picked Kendra up and carried her to the couch. April started to move toward the couch, but an angry glare from Kendra's father stopped her in her tracks. She stood there by the door, afraid to move, worried what would happen.
"It's going to be alright, Kendra. It's alright. Daddy's going to keep you safe. Just tell your mother and I what's going on."
Kendra slowly stopped sobbing. She looked from her father's angry and worried face to her mother trying to remain calm in the nearby chair to April standing by the door and at last back to her father.
"I'm a mermaid. Really. I've been transforming for awhile, mostly when I get wet. I need to transform daily. I transform back - normally after I've dried off. It doesn't hurt. Nobody else knows. Except April and a friend of hers. I was sure one of you is or was a mer. Please don't take me to the hospital; I don't want to be studied like a lab specimin by doctors and scientists."
As she finished her explanation, Kendra noticed her tail fading back into legs.