Hidden Valley (D. SWING)

XIV. Marine

"No, it's too cold to swim!"

The clock had just struck six o'clock roughly fifteen minutes ago. Due to the fall weather, the sky is slowly darkening above their heads. It was not meant to be a party when it began. It all started as a meeting of three friends, and a little sister, beneath the whistling of the large oak trees. One friend was late, that friend would be Cynthia. Cynthia tardiness left an empty spot that was soon to be filled with the attendance of Dalvin, Johnny, Tasha and later, Marlene. As the group if friends lounged by the lake in the seventy degree weather, enjoying the mild winds, Dalvin announced that Cynthia was not planning to show up. He did not to say it aloud when it came to why she was not showing up because he and Don already knew.

She's still mad.

With that being said, Don stripped himself of his shirt. When he unbuckled and dropped his jeans, a pair of swim trunks were revealed. He placed them next to his socks and shoes. He, then, began to simply swim away his hidden anger.

Evelyn questions, "Why does Don get to swim?"

"Don's not my little sister."

An abrupt splash brings Don's body rising above the water's surface. A bright grin plastered among his lips, his right hand swipes any excess water from his face before he shakes his head for an extra emphasis. The hazel in his eyes are tinted a subtle glowing green beneath the moonlight. As she stares, Marlene's jaw nearly drops. They'd gone on two official dates now and she still was not adjusted to his attractive nature.

Little Evelyn skipped to the edge of the dock. She sat directly before Don with her legs swinging over the edge. "D, how come you get to swim and I don't?"

"You know why," replies Don with a wink.

Evelyn sighs with the nodding of her head. She leans closer to the edge of the dock, speaking in a discreet voice so that the words being released from the tip of her tongue would only be heard by her and her friend. "How'd you get your powers?" Her strong believing in Don being a descendant of a mermaid had always been a good laugh for Don. For this reason, he'd often play along just to see her smile.

Don whispers, "I was born like this." The frown that forms along her lips pushing him into a motivational mindset. "But," He says with her attention all his and only his. "I didn't know until I was about... about seven, I think."

"I'm seven!"

Swimming back just enough to get a full glimpse of the wide eyed child, Don nods in complete satisfaction as he continues his playful role of shock. "That's right... you are, aren't you?" Evelyn intensely watches Don swim around the dock. Her heart pounding as she feels that she's being introduced to her destiny and her true self. "You want to know what I did?"

"Yes!"

Holding his finger to his lips, Don hushes her to a silence. "Shhh, it's a secret. Okay?" Evelyn rapidly nods her head in a eager motion as a way to hurry along the process. "I like the water and I know you like it just as much as me." As her swim instructor, he knows that he is being truthful to his fullest extent. "So, whenever I was around water. As long as it was okay with everybody, I jumped in! I swam as much I could and for a long time too. Then, when I was... about thirteen. We went to the lake."

"This one?"

Don shakes his head. "No, the one over by the cottages. It was me, Cyn, Dalvin, everybody... except Marlene, Tasha, and your sister. We all went swimming and I stood on top of the dock. It was one just like this." Don taps the wood that holds onto Evelyn's body. "I was scared but, I jumped. I did the biggest dive I ever did and that's the day I knew that I was a swimm– merman."