Mermaids

Stories

I TOLD HER MY STORY SLOWLY: QUIETLY, AWKWARDLY. She listened, not stopping me throughout the entire duration. I knew she was listening, however, because she didn't zone out at all.

I finished and put the mug of steaming green tea on the table. "Your turn," I stated, and she laughed.

"I don't have all that much to say. I lived here my whole life, working and learning English. I found out about, well, you know, when I was ten or something, when my mom died. I'm guessing she was the mermaid. Mina has been jealous since I told her. That's pretty much it." Yumi took a sip of her cooled green tea, taking in the warmth in the cold restaurant.

"I see," I said, spinning the cup in a little circle.

"What's the plan for today, then?" She asked and I shrugged.

"I have no idea," I looked up at her. "Unless you happen to want to swim to America today?"

As soon as I asked her, her eyes lit up. "Would I ever!"

I grinned, happy that she agreed so eagerly. My plan was simple: meet up with Carly somewhere in the outskirts of the village, assuming she was still there. If not, I planned to go to Holly's house, apologize, then ask for her help.

Easy enough, right? Wrong. Yumi and I searched forever underwater, obviously not looking through the carnage of the city. We couldn't find Carly anywhere.

That meant I'd have to face Holly at her house, after she probably suspected I was cheating on her. Which I wasn't, obviously!

I swam closer to California, and Yumi kept up, but just barely. She stopped, so I stopped too and turned towards her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and she paused.

"Maybe I should go tell my dad some sort of lie or something."

"Can you call him when we get on land or something? We're pretty far out."

"I guess," she said, shrugging.

I smiled, and we swam on, towards sunny California. Yumi enjoyed looking at all the seaweed, coral and fish, things hard to see without staying underwater for extended periods of time.

We reached the coastline in only a few hours, the sun still up when we arrived. Perfect.

I changed our fins back to legs before swimming out on the warm sand.

"It's warm!" Yumi announced, as though she expected freezing temperatures.

I laughed. "It's California. It's this hot every day of the year."

She stared at me as if I was joking. I shook my head, laughing, and continued the barefoot trek to the edge of the sand and street.

She followed, but one time caught her foot on a rock. I ran to her side and grabbed her arm, straightening her up immediately.

"Thanks," she said, and awkwardly took her hand away from mine, which was kind of caught in the tangle of limbs.

We kept walking, and I made a left turn on some street, hoping my memory would serve me. I found a house that looked very familiar. This must be it.

I told Yumi to wait on the driveway, because they didn't know her. Cautiously, I walked up to the door, and put my hand to the wood, as if to knock.

I couldn't, though. I was too worried. What if they weren't there? What if I was such a nuisance last time? What if something happened to the family? If they were made at me?

What if Holly just didn't remember me?

But, before I could debate answers to my bottomless questions, the door opened. Holly's mom --Sarah?-- answered, and immediately recognized me.

"Ryan!" She squealed and ran over to hug me. "My, you've grown!"

I grinned at her. "How have you been?"

She opened the door, gesturing inside. I followed, enjoying the air conditioning inside.

"Pretty good," she said, and led me to a table. "How have you been? Find a good family?"

"Actually, yeah." I lied. "Just north of here."

She stood up and poured some water out of a pitcher into two glasses. Walking over, she handed one to me and sat down.

"That's good to hear," Holly's mom stated, then realized probably why I came. "Oh, you're looking for Holly, huh?"

I nodded, a little hesitant. I didn't think she was in the house right then.

"She actually now goes to a boarding school in Arizona. She left only a few months ago, you know?"

My eyebrows shot up. "Arizona?"

She nodded in confirmation. "I know, it's kind of far. We weren't sure about it at first, but since Carly and you both moved away, she hasn't been happy. Holly's happiness is what we try for."

I nodded respectfully. "That's really smart. What school did you say she went to?"

"Arizona Leadership, it's called."

I smiled a big smile, then pretended to check the time from the clock off the wall. "Oh, my parents are expecting me. I'm sorry!"

Holly's mom nodded, and left the room. I followed her to the door, and she opened it.

"Are you walking?" She asked me, concerned.

I shrugged, then came up with a lie. "A little, then they'll come pick me up at a Starbucks, or something."

"Oh, okay. Well, thanks for stopping by! I'll let Holly know you visited."

"Thanks," I happily said, before stepping out into the hot sunlight. I waited until she closed the door, then walked down the driveway to see Yumi, who was sitting down and sweating from being in the sun. She didn't look too good.

"You alright?" I asked her, and she swallowed and nodded. "You're probably dehydrated."

She nodded weakly.

"Want to walk to the water and go for a swim for a bit?"

Again, she nodded. I helped her up, and we walked--arm in arm-- to the shoreline where we didn't hesitate to dive in. Immediately, her face became a healthier shade of pink, and she lightened up dramatically, tail and all.

I kept my own legs, just to relax. It felt weird, because I couldn't swim as fast as Yumi. After gliding through the water with y powerful tail, flimsy human legs just didn't work anymore.

"Oh," Yumi started when we both surfaced. "What did Holly say?"

"She wasn't there," I kicked really hard to stay upright. "Holly is at a boarding school in Arizona, I guess."

"Well," Yumi frowned. "Want to go to Arizona, then?"