After he had finished eating, Oliver swam all over his pool. He dipped up and down, moving side to side, delighting in the feeling the water made as it brushed against his gills. As the sky began to get dark, Oliver's father came up to the pool and stuck his hand in. Oliver instinctual impulses made him shoot up to the surface of the pool like a bullet, when he realized that it was his father splashing.
"Dad, you keep making me think that there's more food." said Oliver once he broke the surface. "It's very confusing."
Oliver's father began to say something, then paused. He cleared his throat and then began to speak to his son.
"Oliver, it's 9:30. it's time to come inside." said his father. "You've been in the pool since 5:30. We'll watch a movie together once you get dried off."
"But dad, it's Saturday night! Can't I keep swimming?" asked Oliver, making the nicest face he could make up at his father.
"Oliver," said his father, his voice faltering a bit, "I would like you to come out of the pool for the night."
Although he didn't want to, Oliver climbed out of the pool. His gills sealed themselves up.
"Now Oliver," said his father sternly once they were walking down the stairs to the house. "We need to set a few rules. Your mother and I know that you are changing into some sort of fish, possibly a shark. But-"
"Sharks aren't fish, Dad." said Oliver. "We're sharks."
"Now that's what I wanted to talk about." said his father. "You may be turning into a shark, but you aren't one yet."
"I know, Dad." said Oliver.
"Yes. So, your mother and I would like you to not spend as much time as you have been in your pool. You need to run around, play with toys, hang out with your friends. You're still just a boy."
"Can a boy do this?" asked Oliver, biting his teeth together. His eyes rolled over white. He stopped biting and his eyes rolled back to normal.
"No..- but…" his father said. "Y-You need to be spending your time wisely. You're only going to be human for so much longer and you'll regret it when you're older if you don't do other things with the time you've got."
"But this is so exciting!" said Oliver. "You have no idea what this is like."
"Actually, I do." said his father. "Every boy and girl goes through this at around your age. It may not be as extreme as you, but it still counts. Now, I don't want you to spend anymore time in your pool tonight or tomorrow. You need to do some normal things."
"You can't keep me out of my pool like this!" yelled Oliver. "That's how I keep changing!"
"And another thing." said his father. "I talked to one of the doctors here, and he said that you're moving too fast. We have to slow this down anyways. Now, are you going to come and watch something with your me and your mother or are you going to go up to bed early?"
"No." said Oliver. "You're the ones who decided to change me in the first place. Now you're changing your minds, aren't you?"
Oliver ran inside and upstairs to his room. He slammed the door shut and locked it. He sat there fuming for a long time, and then he heard the sounds of his parents talking. He put his head on the door and listened. His hearing was sharper, so he could make out what they were saying.
"We have to stop this." said his mother, between tears. "He's not our little boy any more."
"I realize now that this was a mistake." said his father. "We have to get him out of here. Maybe the changes will stop once we get him out of here."
"He's becoming some sort of monster." said his mother. "We have to do something about him."
"We'll go see the doctor ourselves tomorrow." said his father. "We can see if they have some way to reverse the changes, or at least stop them from changing him anymore. He's still mostly human. He can still pass for human as long as he doesn't go in the water."
Oliver ran back to his bed and jumped on it. He tried to keep the tears back, but in the end he gave up and began to cry. Why did they do this to me? thought Oliver. Why is this happening to me? I'm not trying to be different, I didn't even want to be changed like this in the first place. It was all their decision and I had no input on it whatsoever. And now they want to take me away from here, to reverse the changes that I've gone through. I can't explain to them what it's like, they'd never understand. A few days ago I wouldn't have understood. They'll never know what it's like to get these uncontrollable impulses or instincts or whatever they're called. They'll never know what it's like to look in the mirror and see something else staring back at you.
He laid in bed for hours, thinking strange thoughts, trying to get to sleep. But whenever he closed his eyes, he could see the water, feel it on his gills, moving through his hair. He tried to think of other things, but he couldn't get the water out of his head. By 3:00 in the morning he realized that he was never going to get to sleep at this rate. Maybe, if he went in the pool again for just 10 minutes he'd be able to sleep better. It was the only thing he could think of. His father had told him not to, but that seemed like an irrelevant detail. He had to go in the water, it was as simple as that.
Oliver got up and looked out his window at the pool in the backyard. It looked so calm, so peaceful, so nice and cool and inviting. He could think of nothing else except for the thought of swimming in his pool, in a state of bliss. It was a feeling like Oliver had never felt before. He put his still damp bathing suit back on (lately it was always damp, it never had a chance to dry anymore) and slowly opened the lock on the door and then slowly opened the door itself. He then began to, as slowly as he could walk down the hallway. He slowly came down the stairs, taking extra care to skip the stair that squeaked. He crossed over through the living room and into the kitchen. Not even bothering to put his shoes on, he slowly opened the patio door and ran across the grass towards his pool. He bolted up the stairs and dived into the pool. His gills opened and he was immediately calm. He began to slowly, gently move up and down, side to side throughout his pool. He was so calm, so serene, so happy, that he didn't notice as he slowly drifted off to sleep.