Ann picked up the jar of the "Mer Ointment" and decided to purchase it for her 19 year old daughter as a gag gift. She had always had an interest in mythological creatures and thought it would be good for a laugh. She paid the nice Chinese man for the ointment and left the store, unaware of what she had really purchased.
When her daughter, Natalie, unwrapped the present later on that night, she let out a good chuckle and unscrewed the top. She took a whiff of the stuff.
"It smells like my Ocean Mist shampoo," Natalie remarked with a smile. "Thanks Mom."
As her Mom and brother cleaned up the dishes, she read the label.
"To Use the Mer Ointment: Gently rub ointment into entire lower body region and allow to soak in.
When immersed in salt water, user will transform into a mer person and remain as such until they leave the salt water and dry off again to return to normal."
"What a cool gag gift," she thought. Still, the what if gnawed at her brain. What if this was real. She had to know.
Natalie went into the kitchen and grabbed the large, yellow jar of sea salt from the pantry and jammed it into her pocket.
She grabbed the ointment from the table and went into the main bathroom. She turned on the bath and put the plug down.
As the tub filled with water, she liberally poured the sea salt into the water and set the container on the tiled rim.
Next she removed her pants, underpants and bra and then rubbed the ointment all over her lower half up to the mid waist.
She also rubbed some into her hands and forearms, just to see what would happen.
After waiting a few moments for the ointment to soak in, she slowly slid herself into the warm bath water. When nothing happened right away, she felt like a huge idiot.
Suddenly, a tingling sensation started running up and down her legs.
She looked down and watched in awe as small, royal blue scales pushed out of her skin, covering both legs as her feet stretched out into two fins.
Natalie let out a gasp as her two legs slowly fused into one long tail. She was even more shocked to watch as her tummy pulled in tight, exposing six well defined abs, with pecs and biceps to match.
She reached down under the water to feel her new tail when she saw the ointment have an effect on her arms as well.
A thin patch of webbing grew between Natalies fingers as two small matching fins grew from her forearms. She pulled her arms out of the water to get a good look at them.
"Oh boy..." she whispered taking it all in. "This is so cool!"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, snapping Natealie out of her daze.
"Honey? How long are you going to be?" it was her mother.
"Umm...not long," Natalie replied as she moved her tail around. Just the sensation seemed weird and foreign to her.
After a little more playing around, Natalie decided it was time to get out. She pulled herself out of the tub and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.
"Honey? Are you okay?" asked her Mom, walking towards the bathroom.
"I'm fine," she replied, grabbing a couple towels off the rack and started drying herself off.
"Are you sure? Let me come in..." she replied.
Natalie watched in horror as the door knob turned and she quickly cursed herself for not locking the door. She desperately started trying to dry off her lower half as the door opened.