Sink Or Swim

Lynne Lo

PRESENT TIME

Daphne nodded to me, and I nodded back. It's time to do this.

I gripped the 'pub tightly. This 'pub was going to make me a human for a limited time. Once I'm human, I swim under and get stuck to some seaweed. All I have to do is pretend I'm drowning, and hopefully Daphne will save me if Kalissa doesn't.

I set the 'pub on. I took a deep breath. I was risking my life for this even if the chances of something going wrong was extremely low if I stuck to Willow's direct steps. I  went under. I do the set up. I could only hold my breath for six minutes. My chest is already feeling pressured. Remember that I cannot breathe water without my tail and right now, I'm human. All for the plan, all for the plan.

I wanted to breathe so bad. I wanted to go to the surface so bad.

It's called the Manual way. The steps are simple. Keep your legs together and open your eyes.  

I closed my eyes. I squeezed my legs together. I tried to visualize a tail so I wouldn't freak out.

But it's really painful. Stick with the spell.  

I wondered how painful would it be. That thing Willow spoke about, the Manual way to transform was my only way out if something goes wrong. If anything goes wrong.

I felt like an hour passes. I just waited until one of two people save me. I knew if I opened my eyes the transformation would start. My legs were already together so all I had to do
was
open
my
eyes.

And that's what I did.

Nothing happened. My mind went blank and it seemed like the waves stopped moving for a second. But the human body's nerves take just a second to react and send the pain signals to the brain. And that second passed.

Needles pricked my whole body. I could almost hear my leg bones crack. Pain raced through my veins as my whole figure became something else entirely. My body crumbled, but I still needed oxygen. Still need air. My head was pounding, as if this whole thing was a malfunction.

I could't even scream. I was nauseous, and I couldn't move. I could feel the transformation. I tried to claw my way up to the surface, but I was stuck.

Black and pink spots danced in my vision.

Am I gonna die here?

I had to fight it. I couldn't pass out. It'll be over soon. My only hope now is that Kalissa or Daphne saved me. And even that might be a false hope. 

Just when I thought that, I saw Kalissa, waving and motioning to me. Her face was wide and she looked like she was about to pee in her pants... which she had none because she had a tail. Kalissa Heart, my neighbor, was a mermaid.

"I'M COMING!" She yelled. "HOLD ON!"

I nodded

slowly

and

faded.

<<*>>

I woke up to see the woman with the red-orange tail.

"Oh," I sigh. "Where's my friends?"

Right on cue, Willow, Coco, Daphne and Kalissa swim to me.

"Hey," Willow gasps. "Sorry."

"Where am I?" I ask. "What happened?"

They eye each other for a while. Then Daphne speaks up. "We're in your mom's apartment. Do you remember the plan?"

I wince. My head is still throbbing from the- "The plan! The transformation! The princess! The drowning.." I cried out.

"You're alive. That's what matters." Kalissa says sternly.

"Yeah," I smiled weakly.

"I had no idea that would happen and I'm sorry and we'll never do something like that again and we didn't tell Kalissa about the princess plan thing yet." Coco confessed.

"What Kalissa princess plan thing?" Kalissa inquired. She looked genuinely confused. 

Willow corrected her. "Well since now you're a mermaid, your name is Krystal, not Kalissa. When you're human you are Kalissa,"

"Yeah, yeah," she pushed. "What's this plan?"

"Well..." Coco chuckled nervously. "That's the hard part..."