One of the worst natural disasters that can befall any adolescent girl is a catfight.
Add superhuman powers and, yeah: that's going to leave a mark.
Then again, egos often bruise easier than faces. Moreover, angry words or misunderstandings can lead to emotional catfights.
• And now:
• Because absolutely nobody (who's sane) asked for it:
¡-In this corner, the statuesque, the hyperpigmented... OLEANDER LEO-!
¡-In (um) some other corner... That vermillion paragon of posies... SAUREN LEO-!
¡¡¡¡-Yes, fight fans, it's the battle of the polymorphs-!!!!
Ok! Ok! Not THAT dramatic! (But definitely that peculiar.) Besides, I haven't figured out yet how to count up to vermillion. 😶🙄
~•~
Ever have an irreversible urge to turn into a fish whilst sitting on a desert dune? Furthermore, ever wonder why mermaids don't wear pants, trousers or body suits? How about sox or pantyhose? Sure! Pantyhose make for impromptu bank robber masks! Which...
Which is something even leggy mermaids don't usually worry about.
With quaking hands, Oleander Leo removed her turban and her veil. Then she immediately dropped them onto her lap, as if they had scalded both of her hands. Mortified, she frantically looked around at the desolate wasteland!
Nobody. Nowhere.
She still felt nauseated and ashamed and horribly exposed. And. And. And. Mermaids have tails.
She gaped at her bare feet with dread.
O... K... A whisper. A childish plea. "-oleander to leo?-"
••Designation "Leo" recognized // transmit request••
Oleander cautiously took a deep, ragged breath. And why was Wolfy's callsign "Leo" instead of "Lea?"
Focus! "Leo, please isolate mermaid mode water retention. Why can't we adhere to any moisture in the air? In a few hours, well, maybe we could launch a gill flush?"
••scanning... scanning... scanning... scanning...
*sigh* "It'd be lovely iffing we had some music to listen to whilst we wait. Silly, I know."
Oleander Leo suddenly twitched. She shuddered. Wide and wild eyed, her opaque, white, nictitating membranes violently slammed shut. She was now blind!
With an audible jerk, her head snapped back. Her black lips stretched apart, thusly revealing her deadly, sharkish teeth.
A long, anguished howl convulsed through her body, starting in her now webbed toes. The following, mournful howls became progressively more natural...
• but no less unstoppable!
"Oleander" suddenly felt like "Leo's" walking tombstone:
A teenaged sarcophagus full of her dead sister's bones!
The. Girl. Wept.
Her. Thoracic. Gills. Shuttered.
(but her thirsty, hyperpigmented, gunmetal blue skin drank her falling tears)
Wolfy...
*
Scene:
YOU ARE READING
Bright Shadows 2: A Hinterlands Anthology
Science FictionI want my second anthology to be more user-friendly on Wattpad (TM). Hence, I'm reorganizing material from my first anthology and exploring some creative gaps. The front material is almost a writers and directors guide. While I'm launching a quality...
