The Mermaid Spell

The Great Escape

"Mom!" I shouted.  She looked up and her mouth dropped open when she noticed how red and puffy my eyes were.

"What's going on with you?"  She asked, her eyebrows narrowed.

"Nothing!"  I snapped at her.  She bit her lip and tried to pull me into a hug but I pushed away.  I snatched the book form her hands and made sure the envelope was still there.  It was neatly tucked into the back of the book, good she hadn't read it.

"You've been acting so strange.  Was it something I did?  Do we need to talk?"  The edges of her lip were curved into a frown and I could tell she was about to cry.

"No!  Just leave me alone."  She didn't move, didn't even cringe at the venom in my voice.

"Elly..."

"God, leave me alone!"  I screamed at her and ran out into the hall, slamming the door behind me.

"What's going on up there?"  My dad asked.  He was pulling gum out of Dan's hair.  I just ignored him and stormed out onto the deck with my book.

"Elly!  Answer me!"  I heard him call but I kept running. 

I sprinted onto the beach and noticed a woman standing by the water.  She had long black hair and was wearing long flowing clothes.  Armeta!

"Armeta!"  I yelled.  The woman glanced around.  It surely was Armata, but a younger, more beautiful version.  She smirked and gave me a wink before stepping into the water and disappearing under the waves.

"Armeta!"  I yelled again and chased her down the beach.

"Elly!"  My dad was now running after me, my mother was crying in the doorway.  "Get back here now or you're going home!!!"  I didn't listen and ran into the water.  The second my toes touched the water, I could feel something stirring inside me.  My legs began to numb and burned.  It was happening, this was real.

"ELLY!"

I dove into the water and began swimming, kicking my legs powerfully against the current.  I needed to find her.  I needed to be normal again.

I don't know how long I swam for, it felt like minutes, but when I resurfaced, the sky was pitch black and covered in twinkling stars.

I took a seat on a rock and gasped.  Instead of a pair of pale scab-covered legs was a long irridecent blue tail.  I noticed my short hair was now down to the small of my back and in my reflection, my eyes were bluer than the sea.

"This is not happening."  I said to myself and stared at my new tail.  I couldn't swim back home though, if my parents saw I was a m-mermaid, they would freak.  I had no choice but to sit here.

After sitting there for a moment, tears began to rush down my pale cheeks.  I looked down at my tail and touched my fingers to it's scaly surface.

"Go away!"  I yelled at it and hit it with my fist.  All I felt was a quick aching pain and that was it.

"I see you have discovered that the spell and the book are real."  The youthful Armeta appeared out of nowhere.  She seemed to step out of the water and took a seat next to me, her clothes fully dry.

"Yeah, I have."  I muttered gravely.

"You probably also realized I'm a witch, but don't worry, I'm the good kind."  Armeta smiled.

"Then change me back!"  I hissed.  Armeta rested a han on my tail. 

"You will soon learn the pros of having such a thing like this.  For one thing, we're near the coast of Europe, you swam all that distance in four mere hours!"