You caress your brilliant golden tail and try to move it as if you were doing a dolphin kick. However you only succeed in twitching the side fins near your hips. You then realize that your tail is just that; a tail and not your legs fused together like in so many mermaid transformation stories you’ve read on the Internet. You try again, this time treating your tail as such. It worked! You’re swimming as a mermaid!
For a few wonderful minutes, you swim with the mermaids, leaping out of the water, splashing the others with your tail, racing around the lagoon and finally, sitting upon a rock admiring your tail, and how you’re going to miss it when you go back home. However, your attention is broken by a bright flash in the distance followed by what sounded like an explosion, you look toward the source just in time to notice that a fishing boat was on fire, and sinking. You immediately leap into the water and speed toward the sinking vessel as fast as your tail can carry you, fueled by an unknown concern.
“Millie, no!” Lorelei shouted. “You mustn’t go off on your own” but you ignored her plea. As far away as you were, you could still sense someone in the water near the sinking vessel.
By the time you reach the ship, the deck was almost completely submerged. You see that the engine had been destroyed, but what you see on the side of the ship nearly made your heart stop. ‘The Sea Star’, that was the name the fishing boat owned by you and Corey, your best friend. You scan around the water trying to find any sign of the person you sensed and spot a limp human figure sinking into the depths.
You swim down to the person and, to your shock; it was indeed Corey. She was unconscious, and drowning. Without thinking, you place your hand upon her chest and recite a few words in the mermaids’ strange language. Corey immediately gasps and regains consciousness.
“Corey!” You shout as you embrace your best friend. “I’m so glad you’re still alive!”
“Thank you Millie, I…” Corey looked at her surroundings. “Are we still underwater?” A bright flash of gold then caught her eye and she noticed the long fish tail that connected to her friend’s waist. “What the… You’re a mermaid!”
“Well, only for a little while, unless I… Oh my God!” Millie’s voice started to break. “I-I did magic!”
“Do not worry, Millie,” Lorelei said as she arrived; “all you did was a simple spell of water breathing; nothing powerful enough to make the change permanent.”
“Yes,” Clarissa said, arriving along with the others; “Though, I’d refrain from using any more magic.”
“M-More mermaids!” Corey gasped.
“Oh, yes;” You say, “This is Lorelei, Polly, Clarissa, Kelly, Nina and Barbara. I asked them to turn me into a mermaid temporarily so I could swim with them.”
“Could they do the same for me?” Corey asked as she turned to the others.
“We were about to head back to our own world to sleep.” Nina said.
“We were about to tell Millie this right before your, whatchacallit, boat blew up.” Barbara added.
“Yeah, what happened, anyway?” You ask.
“I don’t know. I just remember seeing something in the water next to my boat.” Corey explained. “I couldn’t quite make out what it was before it vanished, that’s about when the ship exploded. I guess the explosion threw me into the water.”
“The engine was destroyed.” You said. “I saw it as the ship sank.”
“Well, in any case, if you don’t mind coming with us, you can sleep at our place.” Polly offered.
“Or, we could meet back here tomorrow in the cave behind the waterfall.” Kelly said. “The lagoon is too conspicuous in the daytime.”
“Wait, when you said ‘our own world’ you meant, like a parallel universe or something?” Corey asked.
“Yes.” Clarissa said. “The magical realm that exists alongside yours; full of all sorts of creatures and beings from your legends and folklore.”
“Sounds nice!” Corey said clearly still reeling from everything that’s happened so far.
“Oh, it is.” Polly said. “Our home is the mermaid city of Atlantis; and yes, it’s that Atlantis.”
“Really, Cool!” You excitedly shout.
“So, what’s your decision?” Lorelei asked. “Do you want to stay at our place, or meet at the waterfall cave tomorrow?”