Behind the Glass (A Mermaid's Story)

Chapter Eight

The sound of tall grass swishing through the water awakens me. I open my eyes slowly to stare in front of me at the non-glass wall of the enclosure, blinking to clear my somewhat foggy vision. As I do so, the memories of the last few hours come crashing down upon me. Bolting upright, I swim to the spot where the shark had been tied up and peer around, making sure that it is nowhere to be seen.    
"You okay?" Leo's voice bounces around the room, and I can hear him sit down on the floor, along with the crinkle of a bag.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn around and swim towards the barred gate, leaning on the small ring of cement where the man who had tried to feed me had stood. "As okay as someone who just got chased around by a shark can be." Heaving a sigh, I look down at my folded arms, sniffling and blinking quickly to hold back a sudden onrush of tears. "What time is is, anyway?" I have to work hard to keep my voice steady.
Leo pulls his left wrist closer to his eyes and stares into his watch, reading the time. "It's only seven at night. The aquarium should be closing in half an hour." After a long silence, he picks up the bag and opens it up, taking out a seaweed salad.
I reach out for it, my stomach grumbling loudly. "What's this?" I ask, opening the lid and grabbing the fork from the wrong side.
Chuckling, Leo moves closer to the bars and reaches through them, turning the fork around in my hands. "It's a seaweed salad...I thought you might like seaweed."
Smiling brightly, I plunge the fork into a long strand of seaweed and begin to eat. "I love seaweed," I laugh, meeting Leo's eyes.
Suddenly, an announcement rumbles over the loudspeaker. "The aquarium will be closing in fifteen minutes, I repeat, fifteen minutes," a dull voice says. Another long moment of silence passes. Leo clears his throat and begins to stand up slowly, gathering up the now empty paper bag.
Surprising myself again, I shoot an arm through the bars and lay my hand on his worn out shoe. It is hot from the intense sun outside, and the canvas is beginning to fray slightly. Both of us lower our eyes to stare at my hand, and I pull it away and refold my arms quickly, embarrassed. Shaking my head, I look up at him. "I'm...I'm sorry."
He nods, a confused look on his face, but asks again, "Are you okay?"
Pausing a second to collect my thoughts, I open my mouth and begin to speak. "Honestly? I'm terrified. And I keep trying to tell myself that it'll all be okay, that my family won't worry themselves too much. But I can't..." I trail off, shaking my head again and staring into the water. A tear trickles down my cheek as the fear and sadness overwhelmed me.
Sitting back down again, Leo comes close to the bars and reaches his hand through, taking hold of one of my hands. He holds it gently and looks into my eyes. "We're going to get you out of here. I promise."