Samantha knew of a cave behind a waterfall near a beach. She found it a couple weeks ago, just after they ordered the mermaid tails and thought it would be the perfect place to try them on. There was a pool near the back that led straight into the ocean and the waterfall would guarantee privacy. Samantha and Ruby entered, Samantha, carrying a large blue duffel bag, was in a yellow two-piece bikini, and Ruby in a bright pink one-piece bathing suit.
“Wow, this IS a good place to change!” Ruby commented.
“If this works out, we could do a photo shoot here.” Samantha added.
Samantha set the duffel bag down and removed the seashell bikinis and tails. The two girls slipped off their sandals, removed their bathing suits and put their seashell bikinis on. After putting their bathing suits and sandals in the duffel bag, they took their tails to the edge of the pool and slid them on.
“Wow,” Ruby exclaimed, turning her legs to the side, “for how snug they are, I’m surprised how easily they slip on.”
“Yeah,” Samantha said, posing her legs similarly, “they hug tight, but they don’t feel binding at all.”
“Well,” Ruby said, shifting onto her belly, “let’s see how they swim.” Samantha shifted onto her own belly and the two girls slid into the water and began to swim toward the waterfall threshold to the ocean.
They barely got a few dolphin kicks in before both their bodies seized up and they sank beneath the surface. As if they were punched in the gut, the girls spat out all the air in their lungs. Their legs felt like they were on fire as their tails fused into their skin, the openings migrating to a forward facing position. Leg bones dissolved as new bones grew from their hips, filling in the pelvic fins. The tail muscles rearranged as their spines grew down the length of their tails before branching off to fill in the caudal fin.
When the process finished, they sharply gasped, filling their lungs with ocean water. Nearly hyperventilating, Samantha and Ruby turned to each other and Ruby asked, “What just happened to us?”
One look at each other’s tails, then at their own and Samantha answered, “We’ve become mermaids!”