She of the Sea

36 of 53 - A Sponge Contest

A little over a month passed since Cassie went through her metamorphosis and the Florida weather also morphed from pleasant spring temperatures into the sweltering heat and humidity of summer. Cassie considered harvesting of sponges to be the best job in the world.  She loved her work.

It was noon, their day was done, and Cassie sat against the gunwale of Ofelia's boat munching on some pistachios while Corky and Mick counted the harvest of sponges. During this downtime, she grew introspective and her mind wandered.

Cassie had been relieved to discover she could control her ability to transform. She could avoid singing the songs used to bend men into doing her will. While entombed in the cocoon, Cassie absorbed a wealth of knowledge about her kind.  One of her revelations was the songs did not work on human women. Based on the history revealed to her, Cassie guessed the reason was until recently, women did not go to sea as fishermen or warriors. Mostly, it was only men who were in peril during storms. If women were aboard, the boats were sailed by men.

Also, her kind required human men to procreate. Could that be another reason for the spell working only on men? Was it some evolutionary adaptation necessary to lure men into perpetuating her species? An interesting thought, but her sisters throughout history were gifted with beauty. They didn't need special abilities to attract the opposite sex.

She recalled the vision about her mother not using her gift, even to the point of allowing her husband to go to his doom. Cassie's father. She wasn't sure if she would be that principled, but Cassie vowed to never use a song to charm a man into her bed.

Thinking about how hard Rafe had been working to seduce her lately brought a smile to Cassie's face. He wanted her as she was. No magic required.

Not yet, Rafe, but soon. Maybe very soon.

Ofelia, Corky, and Mick completely accepted her now as part of their crew. She hadn't caused them any further moments of anxiety like she did those first few days when she broke the rules, disappeared beneath the water, and oh, yeah, drowned. She behaved like a little angel and pulled her weight.

Corky and Mick teased her relentlessly. She loved working with the two jokers and the attention they showered on her. Ofelia was the most reserved of the crew probably because she had to set an example as boss. Cassie wondered if Ofelia's reticence was also due to knowing her secret and because she was dating her son.

Miss Gracie would be proud of her using a vocab word like reticence.

The morning had been super productive. They found a new bed rich with sponges which caused them to decide on a friendly wager. It had been Corky's idea. Whichever of them harvested the largest sponge, the other three had to buy that person dinner when they got back into port.

The two guys got her attention while measuring the largest of each of their sponges. They argued like little boys.

"No question about it," Mick said, "Mine is longer than yours."

Corky blew a raspberry. "Dream on."

Mick studied the tape measure. "Cassie's is longer than yours too."

"Cassie doesn't have one. Hers can't be longer."

"What she doesn't have down below she makes up for up top."

"Hey," Ofelia spoke in a warning tone.

Cassie enjoyed their teasing and didn't mind when the guys got a bit crude, because she knew how to throw their remarks right back at them. Knowing she was slight built made her comeback all the more appropriate. "Mick, I admit what I have up top can't possibly compare to the size of your man boobs, especially given the way yours sag."