My head rose out of the water, damp red curls sticking to my face.
I took a deep breath, but that was not the right thing to do as I started to cough right after.
The Sun's harsh light made it difficult for me to open my eyes. As my vision cleared, I looked all around me. I was near the seashore. In the sunlight, the sea shimmered like stars in the night sky.
It seemed a bit different than what I was used to.
This is the other world, I thought to myself.
Raucous laughter filled the air. Turning around, I saw people. Lots and lots of people. Some were basking in the sunlight like I always have dreamt about.
Human children were making sandcastles, others were digging holes on the ground and stepping into them. Then there were some, collecting seashells.
A group of six were playing with a sphere object. I have heard of it before. It was a…yes, a ball.
One human jumped into the water, swimming away.
Someone rushed past, almost knocking the object they were standing on, to my head.
“Whoops, sorry!”
“Watch out!”
Another person shouted as they dived over my head. It was some kind of board. A skating board? No, that's not right. It was a…a suit, no, a surfing boat?
No, a boat is different. It was a surfing board!
My eyes went back towards them. Those surfboards were beautiful. I had never seen anything like that before.
I glided into the water, joining in with the people. Taking a little girl's ball, I balanced it on top of my head. She laughed aloud in glee.
Another girl, a few years older than me, peered at my tail, asking,
“Where did you get that?”
I flipped my tail, the blue-green colour glistening as I replied,
“I've always had it.”
“I see, not planning on telling me. But it is so realistic!”
She ended on an enthusiastic note, but I didn't understand what she was talking about. It looked realistic because it was real. Humans, I'll never understand them.
“What's your name?”
“Ariel, yours?”
“Sadie, c'mon, I'd introduce you to my friends.”
She swam past me to where three other girls were cutting a watermelon. After being introduced, they said they wanted to click…photos? I think that was the right word.
We posed in different ways and then they pressed on a rectangular object. It looked like a hand mirror to me. Regardless, it was funny.
They proceeded to teach me how to do hairstyles and then we laid in the sun and played games until it was their time to go.
They promised to come back next week, at the same time.
Watching them go together in a group made me miss my friends. I wondered what they were doing.
And that made me face the question, How am I going to get back?
The Sun's glow was now softer as it neared its setting. It was breathtaking as always. The question of getting back kept nagging me.
I'd find a way.
The beach was less crowded now. Some people were eating those cold things. Ice cream? Yeah, that. Or those fluffy pink things.
I stared as someone threw a transparent object into the water, taking out their food.
Sadie and her friends had told me that they were quite harmful for the nature. Plank...no, plastic. That was its name.
A woman cleared her blanket and threw the clutter into the water. Then she stood, packing her things and walked away. Similar things happened, as the beach cleared. It was around dusk, I could only see silhouettes of people as they left.
A mother turtle made her way to the shore, to nest, perhaps. But then those rectangular luminescent things, artificial lights, I believe, came on, lighting the beach. That discouraged her. After multiple false crawls, she gave up, discouraged by those bright lights.
The sound of a tail flipping was heard in the distance. Turning around, I saw a baby fish. It had gotten stuck in one of those plastics thrown in the water.
Swimming to the fish, I released it.
Looking back at the beach, I saw litter. Lots and lots of litter.
A ball came floating towards me, left behind by someone.
Smoke rose out of a nearby building.
And in the midst of it all, I found that my aquatic family, the same as I, was lost.
