***
When I woke up, my legs replaced my tail again and I was in an uncomfortable gown and bed. The bed had railings on it with white sheets and blankets. The gown only covered the front of my body, allowing anyone behind me to sneak a peek if I got up.
The room was mostly white, white the exception of tan furniture, and smelled of some sort of chemical. I looked over to where a tan chair was and saw Ben smiling at me. I smiled back.
"Your awake?" He said more like a question.
"No, I'm sleep talking with my eyes open," I replied sarcastically.
"Whatever," Ben chuckled. Then he looked around and whispered, "Do you realize that anyone could have walked into the house and saw you? What would they think of me if they saw a beautiful mermaid knocked unconscious in my bathroom tub? What would they do to you? Anything could've happened! You are lucky I found you before anyone else."
I looked down at my twiddling thumbs. I got really red in the face and started blushing. "Y- you mean you brought me here? You found me in the tub, changed me back to my human form, an-and saw me naked?" I blushed.
"Yeah...so?" Ben also began to get red in the face. He looked down at his feet. Then he looked back up with sudden courage. "But...that's... that's not the point. Just be lucky no one else found you or who knows what else could've happened to you besides a minor concussion."
I rolled my eyes and Ben walked out of the room. "I'd better go see if we can leave yet." He said.
Soon he came back with another person. "This is the nurse. She's here to check on you before we go."
"That's right peaches!" The nurse was a blonde and was chewing gum noisily. She was what you'd expect to be the typical diner waitress. Not a nurse. "Now, you feeling light headed? Any drowsiness? Nauseous?"
I sat up. "No...but, my head and back hurt. I am a bit sleepy. Other than that I'm good."
"Oh, you poor thing. I'll go get you something quick as a snipped snipe." Then the nurse went out of the room.
I looked at Ben and cocked my eyebrow. "I know...just deal with it though...okay?" He threw a bag at me. "Here are some clothes to put on."
I started to get up then stopped. "Don't look," I warned Ben.
"I won't," He promised. I started to get up and I was halfway to the bathroom when I caught him looking at my behind.
"Turn Around!" I half yelled, half laughed. "Stupid gowns. Where is some extra dignity when you need it?"
Ben snickered and turned around. "Nice butt," He called to me.
I grabbed a pillow off the hospital bed and threw it at him.
"Of course you'd say that; you saw me naked!" I teased.
When I got to the bathroom, I quickly changed and went back to sitting on the bed. The nurse came back in with a clipboard for Ben to sign something and gave me a bottle and icepack. "Ice for your head and antibiotics for your back." She told me, them turned to Ben. "Sign here," She handed him the clipboard. "If she complains about being lightheaded or anything like that, bring her back. Good luck with your Father And Daughter Day." She waved and was gone in a minute.
Ben signed something on the clipboard and set it on a table. "What?" He asked when he saw me looking at him funny.
"Father And Daughter Day?" I returned the question with a question.
Ben sighed. "Well...I had to have some excuse as to what happened to you, so I said you were my daughter and you fell at a water park. What else was I supposed to say? The truth and have you taken away?"
"Well...no!" I said frustrated. "But you could've said I was your girlfriend or something! If I was your daughter...well... you'd have to be like five years old when you brought me into the world."
"Not if I was your stepfather." Ben smiled.
"Ewww! Your pretend wife is such a cougar!" I squealed as we left and got into Ben's pickup truck.
"Why were you even trying to take a shower?" Ben asked. "I told you, you turn into a mermaid when you get wet."
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. "I jist temporarily forgot and wanted to feel water on my legs." I sighed and turned to the window with my back to Ben. "It's no big deal to you because you've had legs all your life, but for me it's new. So of course I'm going to do a few dumb things! Okay?"
"I know!" Ben argued. "I know it's all new to you. But...you gotta just stop and think before you do something like that!"
"You know what! I'm tired of arguing!" I started to cry. "I do one little thing go and you yell and scream at me nonstop? I won't let you treat me like this! What I did was far better than what I could have done!" I unlocked the truck door manually and opened the door. At soon as we got to a stop light, I jumped out of the vehicle and bolted.
"What? Little thing? What you did wasn't just some little thi-" Ben stopped in disbelief when he heard the trick door open and shut. "Hey!" He called for me, but I kept running until I saw a pond. It was in the middle of a community park, but I jumped in anyway. Soon my scaly tail and matching seashell bra replaced my legs and clothing once again.
The pond was surprisingly deep so it took a minute or two to get to the surface. Which was no big deal to me because mermaid and mermen can breath under water (we grow gills inside our noses), but apparently it isn't the same for humans. When my head popped out of the water, a few people stood far off but staring at me in shock. Ben soon appeared on foot, looking for me
I hunkered down into the water and watched as he ran like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to find me. "Sirena! Come back here! You won't survive long without my guidance! You'll expose yourself!"
I rolled my eyes. Good thing no one knew what he was talking about. Ben came near the pond with his back turned. I dove into the water, splashing him with my tail. I swam all the way to the bottom and sat there. I looked up and saw Ben staring down into the water and wringing out the edges of his shirt. At first I was worried he would see me, but I decided that he couldn't. The water is way too murky for anyone without a mermaid's keen eyesight to see in. Mermaids have specialized eyes, designed to see perfectly in the darkest and muddiest waters.
***
For over half an hour I sat at the bottom of that pond watching Ben run around aimlessly. I made fun by mocking him. After a while, mocking Ben seemed mean rather than entertaining so I moved on to planning out how to get our of the pond and dry off with out anyone seeing me. The sun was beginning to set so I decided to just lay low and then get out when it was dark and everyone left or it was too dark for anyone to see me.
Before long, the sun was down and the moon was up. I swam to the surface and heard no one except for Ben. Ben was still yelling for me. I rolled my eyes, but then gained interest when Ben started arguing with someone. I looked up and saw him having a disagreement with an officer.
"Sir. The park closes after dark. Please, let me escort you to your vehicle calmly." The policeman was saying.
"No. No, no! Please. I'm looking for somebody. She's hiding here and I have to find her. She has no idea what the real world is like and she won't last two seconds without me." Ben was explaining.
I popped my head out of the water. "Ben! I'm over here!" I waved.
Both Ben and the officer froze as I lifted myself up onto land with my arms. I left my fin resting in the water, but you could still see my tail.
Bother Ben and the officer stepped closer. "D-does she have a t-tail? Sh-she h-has a tail!" The officer gasped. Ben narrowed his eyes and glared at me.
I didn't care if Ben disapproved or not. I had my own plan. I used to watch Niana do this trick before and it works on every guy.
I positioned all my hair to one side, pulled my shoulders back, and puffed out my breasts a little bit. I grabbed the officer's hand and motioned for him to sit by me. "Please officer. Don't tell anyone about me? It's supposed to be a secret. I don't want to get experimented on," I pleaded as I batted my eyes, bit my lower lip, and played with my fin.
The officer ran his hand along my tail. Then he held my chin in his hand. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone or breathe a word about such a beautiful creature as you."
"Oh thank you!" I squealed and through my arms around him. The officer went to his patrol car after the hug and threw a towel to Ben and left.
I dried off and all my human clothes covered my body and my legs reappeared. Ben led me to his truck, which was parked a mile away.
"That was even worse than what you did earlier!" Ben threw his hands in the air. "What were you thinking? Anyone could have saw you! It's a public park!"
I rolled my eyes. "I got us out of it, didn't I?" I snapped.
"Oh no, that wasn't us that was you!" Ben unlocked his truck and we both got in. "Even though you did get yourself out of that problem, beauty and persuasion doesn't work on everyone."
"It did on the reef..." I mumbled. I turned my back against Ben and looked out the window.
"Well, this isn't the reef! This is nothing like the reef or another park of the sea! This is land...a whole other world!" Ben steamed.
"See! Here we are arguing again, Ben! I don't want to argue! I don't want to be yelled at! Yes, I made a couple stupid things. Yes, I endangered myself. But you shouldn't be mad! These things endanger me and don't concern you! Why do you even care!?" I yelled.
"Oh! So it doesn't concern me when your knocked out in my bathtub? It doesn't concern me? I am trying to help you!"
"Oh whatever! You're just helping me for some free booty! Yeah! I know all about you humans and how you act when it all comes down to things below the waist!"
Ben looked insulted and I was glad. I (once again) manually unlocked the door and opened it. "This time, I'm not coming back to you!" I promised Ben and I jumped out of the vehicle even though it was still moving. I jumped and fell. I began to roll down a hill. I screamed, but no one was around.
I kept rolling and rolling until I smashed into a boulder rock.