Heather swam up the tunnel of what use to be a part of the New York City subway. She had been up these lines many times. Hell, this is the line that the unexpected change in her life happened. New York City, now underwater, like most coastal cities on the North and South American Continents, was abandoned by the 'normal' human beings. A year ago the sea levels unexpectedly rose, engulfing most modern cities on the coast of their respected continents within hours. However, that was not the most shocking part of the day. For reasons unknown, many thousands across the globe suddenly turned into mermaids or mermen once the water rushed inland and overtook them. About 1% of the population changed.
Heather was no different. She changed into a mermaid like others did. She was ashamed to be a mermaid for the first several months of being a mermaid, since it wasn't a part of her upbringing to think about life outside of the box. Yet, once she found that being a mermaid was useful to feeling free and gaining a sense of her own self, she accepted her life as a mermaid. She began to enjoy life in the sea. Swimming through the subway lines for nearly a mile before she made it to an abandoned railcar, Heather stopped, several dozen feet away from the car, and looked at the car for a long moment. It was the subway car that she was riding in the day she turned into a mermaid. Today happened to be the day that it happened, a year ago today. Surprisingly, power to the car was still live and the lights within the car were still on.
Swimming into the car, Heather looked around. Sea life seemed to have taken over the car. Fish swam by; various other life forms had latched onto the bottom of the car, sucking in every bit of the light that the light had to offer. She was glad that she had grown gills, allowing her to breathe underwater for as long as she wanted.
Closing her eyes, Heather thought back to how it all started. That fatefully day in which she was turned into a mermaid for life, a life that she couldn't imagine without a tail.
Last Year
Heather, who was a successful young defense lawyer, stepped onto the train bound for downtown New York. She headed a case that could promote her to partner. In the case, the defendant was a billionaire who was accused of sexually harassing six different employees. To Heather it didn't matter if he was guilty or not. What was important was that she won the case. Winning the case would be just another step in her career to becoming the top partner in the law firm.
The doors closed and the train moved on towards the next station. Heather grabbed a hold of the metal bar as the train gained speed. Lost in thought, Heather didn't pay attention to anything or anyone around her. Today was the first day of trial and she is nervous about how the trial would go. She couldn't fail, she just couldn't.
A few minutes later the train stopped, letting more people on and others off. The train sped up a moment later.
Putting down her suitcase, Heather adjusted her bra. Suddenly, Heather was knocked over. Confused, heather looked up to see who pushed her over, only to be overtaken by water. Breathing in a mouth full of water, Heather tried to scream to no avail.
Coughing up water, Heather closed her eyes in the water, noticing that the water tasted salty. Flaying around Heather was shoved into the back part of the train violently, knocking her out.
Groggily, Heather opened her eyes. She was drifting near the ceiling of the train. She didn't know how long she was out for but she found that it was easier for her to see under water. What happened to her came rushing back into her consciousness, causing her to panic and try to swim away. A second later, Heather felt the need to breath or she would die. So she did, only to find that she felt a funny sensation in her neck, as water rushed through openings there. Oxygen filled her lungs and her consciousness fully came back to her. Perplexed, Heather put her hands up to her neck, finding that there were gills there.
Heather unexpectedly felt her legs pull together. Looking down she noticed that her high heel shoes fell off as her pantyhose ripped apart as her legs collided together. Within several seconds both of her legs were now one fleshy stump. Heather breathed in again, this time the gills felt like they were more normal. She opened her mouth in surprise. She felt the changes like they were an itch.
Then Heather saw was her flesh start to change, as her feet, which faced outwards. Within thirty seconds her skin went from a human pink color to a Bluish-Green color. Looking at the change, Heather realized that her skin changed from human skin to scales. She wanted to scream but she knew she couldn't.
Her feet stretched outwards, and thinned. Ten seconds after her legs changed into a tail, her feet changed completely into a tail. As if to add insult to injury, several fins appeared about at mid-tail and on her hips, ripping through her nice dress. All Heather could think to do was to swim as fast as she could away from the scene.
Today
Sighing, Heather thought about that moment for several minutes. How her life changed in an unexpected way. As a little girl she always had a fascination with mermaids, but by the time she made it to college she had long lost the thought that she would like to be a mermaid one day. Now, as an adult, she would be able to live out the rest of her life as one. Although, for the first few months of being a mermaid, Heather was frightened and scared for what others might think, she tried to make the best of it. In the end she found that she enjoyed her time under the sea. It wasn't like she didn't have company, there were many others other there that are mermaids and mermen. She even started to enjoy spending time with this one merman that she met about a month ago.
Smiling, Heather realized that she was lucky enough to become a mermaid. Opening her eyes up, Heather gave thanks to her surroundings and swam off, thinking of coming back next year to give thanks once again.
