Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap. Rapid tapping woke me from my deep slumber. Suddenly I bumped into something with a soft Pang. My eyes fluttered open gently to the wide eyes of a small child. I shot back from the glass, the child giggled. I couldn't hear it, but I could see the joy in her expression. People were taking pictures of me and I felt an idea creep into my mind.
I could put on a show!
Back flips, twists, spins, you name it, I did it. I gently swam under the bellies of sharks, stroking them with the softest touch. I swam down to the child, sitting in front of her. She waved, I waved and put my hands on the glass. I smiled broadly at the young girl. Her golden curls danced around her head as she laughed at my fishy faces. I looked up, the top of the glass ended about eight feet above me. I held up one finger to the growing crowd of children, signaling for them to wait a moment.
I swam up to the top, finding a giant metal floor with fish in small containers. All around the room were bags, next to those bags were erasable markers. If I could just get those to the children, they could right to me. On what though? On the glass it would be backwards...
I hoisted myself up out of the water, wondering where in the world Leon and Zander were. I sat there for a few seconds, my tail drying surprisingly quick, and I ran around the room, gathering markers and what ever paper I could find. I went towards the door, surely this led somewhere. Hopefully to the curious children. When the door swung open before I could get a hand on the handle, I screamed; jumped back.
"So you found your way to the top." A woman stood there, a deep green polo shirt with khaki's and a name tag that read Owner. "Uhm....I can explain. You see, I got lost-"
"I'd say you did."
"What do you want?"
"You to work here, under my protection of course."
"Where are the fellows I came in with?"
"Getting fitted for a tail to go over theirs, and so are you." She smiled and tool my arm, causing me to drop the markers and paper. I broke free from her grasp in my tug. My bare feet made little Ting noises as I dashed into the aquarium. "Those two did the same thing!" I heard, 'Owner' call out as the water rushed around my body. Had they given into her already? What had possessed them to make such a decision without me?
The group of children had left to visit other attractions besides the little blond girl. She was being tugged away roughly by a man, a woman looking disgusted at her. This enraged me, only adding gas to the fire. I slammed into the glass, catching the frightened attention of nearly every person standing there. The little girl brightened up, dashing towards me. I wanted to hug her tightly, say that everything would be alright. More for me than her, but she looked really hurt when her father, I presume, had dragged her away.
I wonder if mermaids could send humans thoughts, and them reply. "What's wrong?"
"They didn't believe me that you existed. They said I needed more medicine, more pills. The other children pleaded with me, but they yelled at them. None of the other parents would say anything to mine. My dad's a Nasty Mayor. That's what everyone I know calls him, well they call him something else. I'm not allowed to say bad words though."
"The Mayor you say? Ask him to clean up the bay!" She shook her head, "He hates that bay with a very bad mind. He hopes that all the pollution in the water catches fire and it all burns away. I heard him tell mommy that."
"But why! It's such a beautiful place when it's clean, I should know, I use to live there. Say, how would you like to be a Mermaid for a day?" She nearly screamed with excitement, "I'd love it! But how?"
