The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#25 The Group

[Sophia]

Apollo came back with snacks for the both of us. The Twins were skeptical about the food and refrained from trying it. After introducing Apollo to the Twins, he had this funny look on his face. They were both interested to know more about him as Apollo did with them.

We all sat down and I listened to Apollo and the Twins talk to each other for a while as I ate the snacks out of Apollo's backpack. Noon began to grow into evening.
"So there's just a whole strawberry field beyond the waterfall?" Apollo asked. I nodded.
"It's pretty cool. Some of them are huge! And there's super tiny ones too!" I said. I remembered I had a whole container of them in my bag and I went to go fetch it. As I did, the Twins asked what a strawberry was.
I brought my bag with me, the container of strawberries in my other hand. I sat down and showed it to all of them.
"I didn't get many because of how big they were. But they look really good." I said, holding the container out to them.
"Wow, those are pretty big." Apollo said as he took one of them and observed it. Each of them were no bigger than a ping pong ball. One of them was slightly larger.
"Can we eat these?" The Twins asked.
"No, we need to wash them first. Then we can eat them." Apollo told them. He put the strawberry back and I put the container away.
"You have to take me there and show me." Apollo said.

Suddenly, from the smaller pools of water near us, bubbles started appearing on the surface and we all stopped and stared. A green head burst through and the Twins and I shot back in surprise.
She wiped the water from her eyes and came closer.
"Hi Apollo!"
"Teri?"
Apollo knelt closer to say hi and the Twins and I looked at each other in confusion. I sat a distance away from the new girl and stared at her with an astounded look on my face.
"Who are you?" the Twins asked.
"Oh, my name's Teri. I saved Apollo the other day when he was being attacked in the lake."
"What?" I stammered.
"You saved him from what exactly?" the Twins asked.
"Blood sucking creatures. They almost got him, but I was able to fight them off. I don't think they'll come back." Teri said.
"There are blood sucking creatures in the lake?" I said in astonishment. My imagination started running and I saw how terrifying that would be. Not sure if it was as bad as a shark attack or worse. I began to have second thoughts about swimming in the lake again.
"It was a little strange to see them out there. Usually they're never too close to the land and I just had to check it out for myself." Teri said.
"Maybe you shouldn't go back out there." I said to Apollo.
"Yeah, no. I'm not going back."
"It's okay, they won't come back." Teri said.
"They can suck out your blood?" the Twins muttered.

From then on, it was just a whole mess of talk and eventually turned to Apollo asking questions to the Twins and me asking Teri about herself. I'll be honest, I was practically amazed at her.
"So Apollo's your friend? It's wonderful to finally meet you!" Teri said happily. I broke into a nervous smile.
"So, you're actually... a mermaid?" I asked nervously. Teri nodded.
"Yep, tail and all. That's the human term at least." Teri's pink tail popped up for a second and then back down in the water. She hoisted herself up and rested her chest against her arms.
"How did you get up here Teri?" Apollo asked.
"Well, I wanted to see if you would come back and while I was swimming, I found this small tunnel and I decided to see where it went and that's how I got here. I didn't even know the water could reach all the way up here." Teri chimed.
"There's a whole tunnel that goes from here all the way down to the lake? Wow, that must be a really long swim." I said.
More peaceful chatter ensued and I started to lose track of the time.

"Do you have wings like your friend?" Teri asked.
"Yeah, I do. But they're smaller than hers." I replied.
"Can I see?" Teri asked. I adjusted my jacket slowly and spread them out, making sure not to hit anyone. Teri's face lit up.
Wow, she's awfully cheerful, I thought.
"Wow! They really are pretty! How big are they?"
"They're twice the length of my arm." I said, extending both my right arm and wing for her to see. Teri was amazed.