The Enchanted Forest of Mangga

10. A lonely water sprite looking for friends...

Bea wasn't the only one screaming air bubble underneath the water. At the corner of her eye, she distinguished an uneven pattern through the water. The figure in her vision was a brighter blue than the murky water. It was big and muscular. If Bea had inserted her arm through its shaped belly, her arm would go through just like water. When she looked at its face, its mouth was open and it was screaming in fright too. Bea and the water being stared at each other for a while until Bea broke the eye contact to focus more on unlatching herself from a long plant that had sneakily wrapped itself around her.

Above the water surface, it was chaos. The brothers Sez and Ali were panicking, shouting out their older sister's name. Remember that frogs have feelings too? Well, because Kaloy has a very sensitive and soft heart started bawling. There were running tears in his eyes. Danaya was a mango fairy. She couldn't swim. She goggled helplessly at the calm, murky water and slapped the surface, causing splashes all over her body. Before Ali could dive after Bea, bubbles started rising on the surface. It looked like the lake was boiling.

"Don't jump in the water!" Danaya shouted at Ali.

"But I need to save my sister!"

Through the boiling bubbles, out bursted a big splash and a loud roar. Shielding their face with their hands from the water dropping down on them like pouring rain, Ali noticed Bea being carried on water.

"Ate!"

Bea spotted them and waved at them. After rubbing his eyes to get a clearer look and when the water went back to the lake, Ali could make out a huge, mermaid figure. It didn't look like the one like they watched on tv. This mermaid had a very watery body and was bright blue. He was at least eight feet tall.

"Whoa," Sez was amazed. He wished he could scoop out the water mermaid and put him in his pail. But how he wondered.

Coming to his senses, Ali became defensive. He pulled out his rubber band slingshot and aimed at the mermaid.

"Let go of my sister!"

The blue mermaid pivoted his neck and saw Ali aiming a stone at him. Ali was slightly shaking, mostly because he was soaked with cold water.

"I mean it!"

"Wait, Ali!" Ali heard his sister. "Don't shoot. He saved me!"

"HAR, HAR, HAR!" the blue mermaid bellowed in a deep, masculine delight. The mermaid started to shrink in size. Earlier, he was eight feet tall. In five seconds, he had shrunk into the same height as Bea, but he maintained his long beard which was still blue and liquidy.

Ali, Sez, and Kaloy raced on the flat-raised stepping stones to meet the blue mermaid and Bea. Bea was sitting cross-legged on the stone, still gaping at the water mermaid in front of her.

"T-thank you," Bea said gratefully.

The blue mermaid grinned but then looked guilty. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was only trying to catch you but I forced one of my plants to grab you too tightly and drag you down the water. Forgive me?"

Bea shivered after being drenched with cold water. The mermaid noticed this and blew a gentle warm air at her. Soon, she was dry.

"Do us too!" Sez begged.

The mermaid happily blew gentle warm air first at Sez then the frog then Ali.

"Gah, a water sprite." Danaya appeared beside Kaloy. She was frightful to look at. Her wet bangs covered her purple eyes that she flipped them up on top of her head. She pointed at the mermaid accusingly. "You almost killed me."

The water sprite nervously waved his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. Let me dry you up too."

After everyone was dry and content, the water sprite watched over the new visitors. They were an odd bunch. Three human children, a fairy, and a frog. It had been a long time to have visitors visit his Lotus Lake.