The Book of Sea Monsters, Merfolk, and More.

Arlo // Part One.

Imagine...

There was something really weird about your pet.

You had adopted him only a little while ago, maybe about three months ago. Well, really a good friend of yours had adopted the little guy and had given him to you as a gift. Back then, he had just been a tiny little thing, a small muddy green fish with big black eyes swimming about in a too small, plastic fish tank.

"You said you wanted a pet, so here you go!" She said, giving you a big grin. "What are you gonna name him?"

Looking down at the little fish, his black eyes locked quickly with yours. There was a bright gleam about them, something that made you smile a little. He looked smart and sweet almost, like the perfect pet. And then perfect name popped into your mind. After thinking about it over for a moment, you decided that it fit him just right

"Arlo."

And just like that, he was home. Arlo was given a bigger, much better tank to live in. It was beautiful decorated and everything, with all the odds and ends a fish could ever want. Brightly colored sand and rocks decorated the bottom (which he liked to dig in) and you placed some plants inside too (he liked playing hide and seek in them, swimming through the leaves cheerfully), along with a big green castle that he swam through and around happily.

Before long, you found yourself becoming terribly fond of the little fish.

You actually were keeping very good care of him, giving him comfort and joy and plenty of food. So you thought that was why he started to suddenly (and rather quickly) grow. Arlo grew bigger and his tank seemed suddenly too small and, in the end, you had to buy him a bigger tank. Well, according to the internet, that was pretty normal! So you bought him a new home, promising Arlo that he would be much more comfortable soon.

"Don't worry, buddy, I won't forget the castle."

You didn't. In fact, it was the last thing you placed in his home as Arlo watched excitedly, awaiting his turn to explore the new tank. Carefully and quickly, you made the switch.

Plopping the fish inside of his new home, you watched as Arlo explored and swam about happily, gazing at the rubber duck that bobbed in the water. He was happy and healthy and now, he was just a little bit bigger. His muddy green scales darkened at little and his fins became longer and thicker, taking on a new shape. His eyes were still that deep, dark black and you caught him looking at you often.

Though...things became even stranger.

Whenever you were near the tank, Arlo would start to swim around happily in circles and would bump against the glass in excitement. Actually, he would bump against the tank for other things too, trying to get things to fall off the shelf near his tank and into the water with a splash and he...he would almost play with them.

Then there was the noises.

Sometimes Arlo would open his wide, round mouth and make these...weird noises, almost like he was talking or something. Was it just the bubbles? Was it just something that fish did? But fish can't communicate like that, can they?

A million questions raced through your mind everyday, only to be greeted with a million more the next day.

Arlo kept on growing, to the point that you had to get an even bigger tank. The weird noises kept coming too, he was still always excited to see you, bumping and spinning and swimming in a silly kind of dance. He was a really weird fish but, oh, you adored him! After all, he was your weird fish, wasn't he? So you continued to keep and care for Arlo...even when the appendages started growing.

They seemed to have come almost over night.

Waking up early one morning, you went to feed Arlo only to notice that his fins...they'd change. They looked a little more like nubs, soft and round and wide. And you could only stare at him, watching his funny new swim and he gobbled up his breakfast.

You wondered if maybe you had gotten some kind of massive frog instead of a fish. Maybe the noises were some kind of croaking? Was that it?

After all, now that you really thought about it, you actually didn't know what species of fish Arlo even was...and neither did your friend apparently.

"I just bought him from some weird guy at the docks." She said when you asked her.

Okay. That wasn't sketchy, like, at all.

In the end, it didn't matter much to you. You adored the...fish...frog...whatever! Whatever he was, Arlo was still yours.

He was absolutely spoiled at this point, now hoarding rubber ducks that floated around the tank and more bath toys that he really enjoyed. He really seemed to like them (and it kept him from trying to take your things) so he kept them. Arlo kept changing as well, he kept gurgling, and he kept growing and growing.

And now he needed another tank.

"Don't worry, buddy, we're almost done." You told him, glancing over the instructions.

Arlo gurgled happily, a stream of bubbles escaping his wide mouth. He nuzzled into the colorful rocks in the corner of his tank, his little appendages waving about happily. It was a hot, stormy night, thunder crashing and lightning flashing loudly as rain pounded down. But Arlo had not a single care in the world, swimming and spinning and bumping on the glass joyfully. You, however, were struggling a bit while trying to set up the huge tank, wondering if the company worker was finally going to come over and help you with this.

You received your answer with heavy banging on your door, a sound so sudden and loud that it caused you to jump.

"Coming!"

Running over to the door, already babbling about the set up as you opened up to great the worker...only it wasn't the worker.

Instead of some guy in a colorful company shirt and shorts, there was...a fish. Man.

A fish man.

His muddy green skin and big black eyes reminded you too much of another creature you were rather fond of. Almost as if he could read your mind, the creature pointed a webbed hand towards Arlo's tank and hissed in a deep voice,

"Mine."