A Merman's Tail

Chapter 6

How do I explain walking to someone who can't?  I asked myself.

"Can you walk on your tail?" I asked Mitch.

"On my tail?" He said and scrunched up his nose.  "Well I have been known to play with the dolphins and sometimes I walk on the water with my tail."

"Wow! I would love to see that!  Well anyway, walking on land is like that, only one foot in front of the other." I said, and then was surprised when he slid off the board and into the water next to my legs. He grabbed one of my feet and waggled my toes.  It was funny, and he actually tickled the sole of my foot.  I won't admit it but that's the only place I'm ticklish.  I wiggled them as he gripped my big toe firmly with one hand and waggled it back and forth, then did the same thing with my other toes. 

Then he placed his palm against the sole of my foot and said, "Push."

I pushed against his palm and looked at the expression on his face as I did.  I could see curiosity in his expression, wonder at the feeling and something else I didn't recognise.  Then he looked up at me and grinned.  "Totally cool!" He said and then turned in the water and splashed me with his tail.

"Hey!" I shouted and spluttered, wiping my face dry with my hands.  I made sure my board was propped up and wouldn't move then dropped down into the water near him.  When I came up to the surface he was waiting for me and looked intently at me before bringing my face in to his again.

"I know you can dive down and then come up for air, but if we want a decent amount of time together, it will be easier if you can breathe underwater." Mitch said.

"Yes." I nodded, remembering the feel of his lips on mine that first time.  I touched my mouth with my fingers and watched as Mitch smirked and reached out to take my hand away.  Then he moved closer and his eyes focused on my mouth.  I watched as his face came nearer and then I closed my eyes as his lips pressed against mine.  Soft like I remembered, but not as I remembered.  When his tongue rubbed against my lips so he could open them and breathe into my mouth I breathed in eagerly, waiting for the breathless sensation to hit again.  Halfway into my next breath, I felt my lungs close up again and I ducked underwater to finish filling them up.  The water rushing into my mouth was familiar and yet still really frightening.  Mitch held my hand as I adjusted to the sensation of breathing a liquid and I felt the sides of my neck where my new gills had appeared.

Mitch reached out a hand to touch them.  It was something new.  Last time I had just breathed the water in and out through my mouth.  This time I didn't have to think about it, it just happened and it was so much easier this time round.  I grinned at him and he grinned back and I did a back flip in the water.  Mitch twirled around and then did the same and then he nodded down to the bottom of the bay.  I nodded back and followed him down.  His tail flicked and sent him ahead of me and I admired it again.  This time I was able to concentrate more on my surroundings, I wasn't tired, scared or thirsty.  I could really see Mitch and the things around me in the water.  He flitted through the water as easily as if he was on land and moving through the air.  I loved to watch him spin through the water and when he came back to me and smiled I grinned back and held out my hand so he could pull me along faster.

I was amazed once again at his strength as he pulled me alongside of him.  We made it down to the weed bed quicker than I anticipated and I helped him pull the fronds he indicated.  I watched carefully as he showed me the trick of twisting the stems before gathering the fronds.  We both gathered an armful each and Mitch tied them together with fronds so there were two bundles.  He smiled at me then we swam back to the wreck, each carrying one bundle.  When we got back to the wreck, Mitch used two more fronds to tie the bundles to one of the rails and then we spent the next two hours swimming and mucking around.

I began to get hungry and went back to my board.  Mitch sat next to me as I used my towel to dry my hands and then opened my sandwich bag.  I pulled out the first sandwich and offered one half to Mitch.  He too dried his hands as I had before accepting the food.  He looked at it and smelled it before asking what it was.

"It's a PB and J sandwich." I said.

At his puzzled look, I explained further.  "Peanut butter and strawberry jelly on bread." 

He took a bite and his eyes lit up with pleasure.  "Wow!"