Sink or Swim: A Mirandy Mermaid Tale

Chapter 3

Miranda's clothes were dragging her under. Her dress seemed to weigh twenty pounds, and her Gucci sandals were like bricks strapped to her feet. She kicked and struggled until her head surfaced long enough to breathe. Long enough to see there were no boats for miles.

She was going to die. Fear and rage consumed her, but still she kept fighting to breathe. When her head sank under again, she fumbled for the zipper on the dress. But the zipper wouldn't budge, and she was sinking, drifting further and further from the surface. She tried to swim back up, but the weight was too much.

Suddenly, strong arms gripped her sides and pulled her upwards, toward the sunlight, until her head broke through.

Gasping, she blinked the saltwater out of her eyes until the blurry vision came into focus—it was Andrea.

Andrea was holding her up, almost like it was effortless, staring back at her with soaked hair, streaked mascara, and wide brown eyes. Her arms and shoulders were naked, except for crimson bra straps. "Miranda." She made a sound like a strangled sob. "You're alive."

"How..." Miranda was shivering. "How did you... wait." The hope she'd felt seconds ago disappeared as she realized there was no ship in sight.

Andrea had somehow seen her fall, and had jumped in after her. But nobody knew. And now they would both drown in the middle of the ocean.

"No one's coming?"

Andrea shook her head. "No, but..."

"Jesus fucking Christ, what were you thinking?" Now she was shrieking. "You idiot! It could be hours before they—before anyone even notices we're gone. You're going to die. You're so young and you're going to... oh God, Andrea."

Miranda threw her arms around Andrea. She was shaking, hyperventilating, her whole body convulsing.

Andrea hugged back, gently pressing her chest into Miranda's. "We won't die. We won't. But I need to tell you something."

"Of course we're going to die. I was dead from the moment I hit the water but you... why did you jump? Why?" Miranda pulled back to search Andrea's eyes. How could she sacrifice her life to pull Miranda above water, when there was no way back? Just so they could say goodbye before drowning together?

Andrea looked conflicted, afraid... almost guilty. Her mouth worked, but no words came.

"What?"

Andrea squeezed her eyes closed, then opened them. "I have a tail."

"What?" A tail? Someone following her?

"I'm a mermaid." Andrea held her gaze anxiously, as though waiting for some reaction.

"You..." Miranda was speechless. A mermaid? Holy Coco Chanel, the girl had lost her mind. Or she'd decided to spend her last moments on Earth fucking with Miranda for some incomprehensible reason. Soon they would both be dead, and—

Wide green fins broke through the water, fanning out a few feet behind Andrea's head. Still holding on to Miranda, Andrea dipped her head beneath the water and raised her lower half, which was... a tail. A long, green, fish tail of shimmering scales, beginning at her lower back and ending with the large, forked fins unfurled before her.

The fins waved at Miranda, almost shyly. Then Andrea's head popped back up as her tail sank into the water.

"Um, I know sea green is so last season," Andrea said sheepishly. "But otherwise it's not bad, right?"

Miranda found herself utterly unable to speak. Mermaids were real. Andrea was a mermaid. It was impossible. Yet how else could she explain Andrea somehow finding her in the vast ocean... not to mention holding her up in the water—dress, shoes and all—and not appearing even slightly out of breath?