Sink Or Swim

Krystal Shell (Kalissa Heart)

Mermaid.

Mermaid.

Mermaid.

I always believed in them. They were a very important part of my childhood. My mom would tell me stories of her adventures under the sea. And I always believed her. Now at the age of 12, I knew that she was just lying to me. But today I saw a real mermaid. That mermaid was Lynne Lo. 

Everything hit me like a wall. I realized everything my mom told me was correct. I realized that I was a half-mermaid. The thing was that I couldn't transform. I had no ability to sprout a beautiful tail.

Mom told me wonderful stories about magic in the underwater world. She explained that their was a monarchy of the royal family and that the king was a great ruler. She told me about the food there and the shops. She made me laugh with her childhood stories with her siblings. Last of all, she talked about how the names worked in the mermaid world. She said that in the underwater world, you need a specific mermaid name. She said that human names didn't work in the kingdom and the requirements of a name were complicated.

I didn't know exactly what happened with my mom's tail. I asked her one day and she just sighed sadly and said that she gave it up for me. That's why I never saw my mother's tail.

My mother said my sea name was Krystal Shell. I wished I could meet the people of the mermaid world, and have a graceful tail. I wished that there was more "mermaid" genes in me. But no. Not everything you wish for comes true.

Now, about how I found out about Lynne..

After coming back from Lynne's party, I thought about her. Lynne was acting really weird, and her hair was wet for some reason. I asked her what was was wrong, but she said that she was perfectly fine. I didn't think so. However, I didn't push her on it. I went about my day normally.

But the next day, I saw Lynne and her dad drive up to the beach, early in the morning. I live in a beach house, so I saw everything. I saw an unfamiliar figure in the water. It swam closer and closer to shore. It dragged itself halfway out of the water. I looked at it carefully. It was a person! I could clearly see her long, dark hair and slender arms. Why was a person in the water at this time?

The person ran up to Lynne after staying in the water for a minute longer. Were they friends? Why were they meeting so early in the morning? I watched them talk for a while. Nothing really seemed to be happening. Things started to escalate when Lynne's dad gave her a suitcase. I was tempted to go outside to meet Lynne myself. Why was Lynne leaving? Where was she going?

I watched carefully as Lynne and the other girl walked together to the edge of the water. They stepped in carefully. That was when I snapped. I had to know what was going on. I put on my shoes and ran towards them. 

"Lynne-" I stopped in my tracks. Before my eyes, I saw Lynne and the other girl turn into mermaids and swim away. I couldn't breathe for a while. I looked around the area. Did anyone else see? Lynne's dad already drove away. I took deep breaths and started running again. I ran to the water, where Lynne left. She was nowhere in sight. She was gone.

That was when I decided to do something to make me become a mermaid.

I ran back to my house and looked up on Google, 'mermaid potion'.

There were many sites about mermaid potion breaking, but I found one that would surely break my spell from becoming a mermaid. I knew that it would work because the word 'Aperanta' was in the link. My mom told me that Aperanta was the name of the other world.

I needed to find these items:

1. Clam Pearl

2. Seaweed

3. 1\2 Cup of dry sand

4. 6 Tablespoons of ocean water

Hmph. Sounded easy enough, let's see... I needed to say these words while stirring the potion, "Sea shell, under the sea, where Aperanta is."

Was that like some sort of code or something? Whatever, I hoped this works so I could finally become a mermaid! I squealed with excitement. Then I wondered, what will my mom say about this? It's just me and her in the house, so she'll wonder where I've gone if I go to Aperanta. I'm 12 years old, I'll just say I'm at a friends! She would understand. A least I hoped.

A bolded text catches my eye, and it read, "When mermaids become 13, they have a choice to become full mermaid, or human. They cannot become both...choose wisely."

I sat there, stunned. My mom never told me about this. What would I choose when I'm 13? Human, or mermaid? I couldn't just leave my mom... But then, she could become a mermaid too! I would choose to be a mermaid.

I ran downstairs and burst open our wooden door, jumping up and down looking where to find a clam pearl.

"What's the big rush, Kalissa?" I heard a familiar voice behind me ask.

Oh great, my mom's here. I turned around and faced my mom. "Oh! I'm just going to take one last walk in the dark because... I.. I can't sleep." I said while giving a weak smile. I hated lying to my mom.

"Well, don't be out too late, have fun dear," my mother kissed me on the forehead then walked in the house. She shut the door gently.

I waited a few moments before running again. I quickly obtained the sand, seaweed and water. All I needed was the pearl. 

I ran to the ocean shore and whispered, "I'm going to be a mermaid."

:)

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edited on 11/18/15 and 3/12/17