Caught in a Net (book 4)

Chapter 3

I stared out at the crystal teal water. Can anything be as beautiful as Bermuda water? The turquoise waves towered high over people, trampling them.

I wonder if my tail is strong enough to cut thought those waves, I thought.

I shook my head. I can't believe I'm actually accepting this freak ability, I'm actually calling it my tail?

I wiggled my toes in the soft, pink sand. Maybe my tail will let me feel the sand at the bottom of the ocean...

I grinned at the thought of scooping the soft sand in my hands; Seaweed and seahorses tickling my arms. Maybe I could swim with mom, if she isn't an evil bloodthirsty siren like some lore says.

Then it hit me, what if there is more merpeople out there? There has to be. How did mom become a mermaid then? If she is one. I snapped out of my daydream, realizing how ridiculous this all sounds. I can't just abandon dad to live in the ocean, perhaps all alone, by myself, unaware of what's in the deep or how to survive.

It's actually been pretty easy keeping my secret from dad. I only get a tail when I'm fully submerged in water, like in a bathtub or pool. Just a spill on my shirt doesn't go anything. It's great.

"Hey Ash," a voice called from behind me. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

I turned around and saw Allison in her lifeguard gear, beaming down at me.

"Oh hey, Allison," I greeted. "Do you wanna sit?"

"Sure," Allison agreed as she plopped down next to me on my beach towel. Her hands rested in her lap and arms leaned against her stomach rolls. Despite her size and shape, she was still the quickest person in the water. She cut thought it like a torpedo. I would love to challenge her to a race with my new tail.

She looked out into the water, her bright blue eyes were nearly the same color as the ocean.

"I always love Bermuda this time of year," she said, a small smile flashing across her sunkissed face.

Can anything be as beautiful as Bermuda water?

I scoffed. "Apparently the tourists think that too-"

Allison groaned. "I absolutely despise tourists! Like, no! I don't take American money! Does it look like I have a conversion machine with me?"

"A conversion machine?"

Allison shrugged. "I don't know how they change money around here."

I laughed and looked back out to the ocean.

Ever since I got my tail, I could see much farther than usual.

I'm guessing it's because my underwater vision would be blurry with human perception.

Most of the horizon was just water. Except, there was this one huge rock, out in the middle of the ocean that I have never noticed before. It was big and flat, a perfect place to sit on. I would love to swim to it with my tail.

"When do you have your shift?" I asked, trying to make small talk through the awkward silence.

"In a couple hours," Allison said, looking at her watch. "I was actually hoping to run into you here."

I turned to her. "Why?"

Allison shrugged. "Just within the past week, you've seemed so...different-"

"Different how?" I asked. No matter what she says, you can't tell her.

Allison shrugged again. "You just seem so...distant."

If you can't tell dad, you can't tell her.

"How?" I asked.

"You have just been-"

"Yo! What are you guys doing here?"

Allison and I turned around and was faced with Timothy.

"Hey Timothy," Allison called. "Why don't you sit down?"

Timothy nodded as he plopped down next to Allison. I turned back around and stared at the now setting sun. Half of the sun disappeared behind the waves, the sky was now an array of oranges and deep purples.

I want to descend between the waves like the setting sun.