Short Stories

Twenty-Seven: Kelpie

 I stared at the item I held in my hands. Why did I buy this again? Oh yeah. Impulse. I cursed at myself for practically emptying my bank account for this item that I had no information on. I bought it because it was pretty. Seriously, come on man. Did I really have to buy this...thing?

I sighed in exasperation and flopped down onto my bed, the object flung onto the other side of the room. It looked like some sort of figurine of a kelpie. It was beautifully carved with careful woodsmanship. The detail on the mythical creature was magical. This must've taken ages to make. I rolled onto my stomach, propping my elbows to hold me up, to stare at the object I bought at the flea market.

The man who sold me the figurine was old, but he held a certain charm that would trick people otherwise. The white hair and wrinkles forming around his eyes gave him away though. When he grinned at me and handed me the figurine to inspect, he flashed his shiny teeth at me. His eyes were a dark blue that looked almost purple, and there were small white flecks in his eyes that made it look like the galaxy. I took the figurine, enthralled by its beauty.

"This is the only one of its kind. It's beautifully carved and can be helpful in certain situations and-"

"I'll buy it," I stated without a second thought. He gave me a toothy smirk and told me the price was 200 dollars. I didn't even hesitate to buy it. I pulled out all the cash I had accumulated over the years as a teen. He greedily took the money and said, "It's all yours now."

I barely heard him as I started to head home. Now, as I sit in my bed, I realized that was a really bad financial decision. I groaned into my bed. The figurine was beautiful no doubt, but it couldn't have been worth more than 100 dollars. I shifted my weight onto my left elbow and grabbed the figurine and brought it towards me. It was black with hints of blue in its tail and seaweed mane. There were stripes lining the fish tail it had and it had carefully carved fish scales into its shoulder and neck. I sighed and rubbed the Kelpie's underbelly. It felt rough and bumpy, like some sort of writing was there. I turned the kelpie over in my hands and found two lines of strange language there.

Jarr ehdg uggh njkk. The first sentence read. I said the words out loud. It felt strange and foreign against my tongue, but saying it out loud made no difference. The figurine didn't change. There were no sounds. Just the room growing a little bit colder, which was normal for the crappy house I live in. I reached down to scratch at my legs and felt slime. I hurriedly looked down and to my horror found a tail had replaced my legs. It looked exactly like the one on the figurine. I stared down at the kelpie and let out a small squeak when its tail was now replaced with horse legs, making it look like a normal horse figurine. I scrambled to turn the horse figurine over again to read the second line. Maybe it would change me back!

"Gdijsj ju beivi nyqofh lqque!" I shouted. This time the room did change. There was a swirling vortex, the bright blue and soft green surrounding me. It swirled around me so fast it lifted me up. The vortex closed in on me until I felt nothing.

I woke up to an overhead lantern. I rubbed my head with my fingers. I was surprised to see a webbed hand, pale purple skin, and long clean nails. Nails that looked like it could rip out somethings throat. I sat up in my bed thing. It was made of soft seaweed and was a dark green. Actually, everything was a dark green or gray. Wait, was I underwater?! WHat the heck did that figurine do to me?! Transport me into another galactic universe?! Pffft, yeah right. I unsteadily got up, my tail didn't rest on the floor. Instead I floated maybe a centimeter off the floor. I curled my tail to let the fin rest against my back.

"Hey! You're finally up!" Some voice exclaimed. It was bubbly and sweet. A person stood at an archway that led to the room where I stayed in. They had pale green skin, and their tail was a dark green that shimmered from the lantern's light. Their hair was a mess of curls that floated in the water.

"Y-yeah." Holy crap.

"Well, come on! Hiwashi won't spin slower for you. We got to head to the park today!" The person said before swimming off. Holy crap. I really was in a different universe. Fu-