𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 | 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

🌹 Deep Blue Underworld

Author's Note: Dated "August 13, 2013", this one was likely inspired by H2O: Just Add Water LOL I've been fascinated by mermaids since I was a child so, of course, this story happened! I hope y'all enjoy it <3

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The waves were choppy, thunder sounding in the distance as the sky darkened to an ominous gray. The cool, smooth surface of my neon yellow surfboard tucked under my arm was a comfort, despite the hairs on my arms raising at the nearing lightning streaks in the sky. I knew I shouldn't be out here. I had been surfing since I was a small child and knew the risks I was taking with my own life. And yet...yet I couldn't seem to resist the pull of the ocean, the salty tang of it in my nose, the magnetic draw I felt just to simply be near the water...

My best friend, Lydia, would tell me I was insane to go out in weather like this. But truthfully...it wouldn't be my first time out in the water on a dangerous night like tonight. No, I had snuck out of the house on many occasions just as storms began to roll in. It was like living on the edge - or at least, that's what I told myself. Maybe I should have just stayed at home where I was safe and warm. Not that my current foster home gave me warm and fuzzy feelings but still - it was a roof over my head.

Shaking these thoughts loose, I strode closer to the water's edge where it was frothing on the shore. My feet sank into the wet sand, squishing between my toes before I began to wade in. The water was lukewarm as it hit my skin, skimming the surface of my board as I paddled out farther.

A streak of lightning shot across the sky, a jagged white bolt that lit up the night. A grin tugged at the corners of my lips. There was something so exciting about a thunderstorm. Maybe it was just the danger of it all that gave me that adrenaline rush.

Deeming myself far enough out, I waited for an incoming swell and when it came, I took it head on. Standing up with only slightly wobbly feet from the rush of the ocean, I took the wave in stride. As the water rushed over me and my board slid through the tunnel it created, I could feel my heart speed up with the intensity of it all. Now THIS was what it was all about! Lydia would say it was a waste of time and effort as a sport but for me, it was my life. It was the only constant I had as I bounced from foster home to foster home.

Perhaps, I was just too far out. Perhaps, I never should have gone out in a mega storm such as this one. Or maybe my mind wasn't near as focused as it should have been. Because before I knew it, the next wave had crashed over me like a tsunami, seemingly out of nowhere. Thinking fast, I gulped a pocket of air before it dragged me under. The salt water stung my eyes like it always did and I immediately began to move my arms, trying to propel myself forward.

The water all around me was dark and forbidding, the temperature dropping as the storm had set in. All around me, I could see nothing. But I barely could focus on any of this as the churning water threatened to sap my strength, my legs kicking out in an attempt to return to the surface. The current was just too strong, though, and forced me back down.

I knew it was getting bad when black spots began to appear in my peripheral vision. Likely, I only had seconds left before I'd lose all of my air supply completely. Drowning was not the way I thought I'd go. In all honesty, I expected something more like "death by nuclear explosion", "death by lightning strike", or maybe even "death by chocolate". Something more dramatic, you know? But we don't choose the way we leave so I guess this was as good as it gets. Briefly, I wondered if my foster parents would continue to receive the monthly check for my care once I bit it. Or if Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett would actually get back together.

All of these last thoughts swirled in my head as I prepared for the darkness to overtake me. But just before it did, I could promise that I saw...a shape come out of the inky black water. A shape that looked like a guy...with a tail...and then I faded out...

My lungs felt like they were on fire as I finally came to, instinctively flipping over to heave out the excess water that had culminated in my chest. Vaguely, I registered I was back on the beach as my eyes blinked open to scan my surroundings. Yes, I was on the beach. I could feel the wet sand clumping between my toes, the sticky grains clinging to my soaking clothes. I had almost drowned out there. And I would have if it wasn't for...

Bolting upright, I looked from one side to the other, strands of my wet brown hair sticking to my skin as I did. The guy! Where was the guy I had seen, the one who had rescued me? But he was nowhere to be found. It was only me sitting there in the wet sand on the beach in the middle of the storm.

Somewhere outside myself, I wondered if it had truly happened. Maybe I had imagined this mysterious rescuer? But no, if I had hallucinated him then how could one explain my miraculous return to the living? And what about the...tail I had seen on him? Maybe this was some kind of freaky Creature from the Black Lagoon moment I was having.

It wasn't impossible to think that the ocean had finally spit me back up onto shore. Yes, that must be it. But as I gathered my wits about me and stood up on shaking legs, ready to head back home, I couldn't help but look over my shoulder once more at the choppy waves.

And despite myself, a gasp ripped free from my throat. Because gazing back at me through the inky darkness of the storm was a face in the ocean. No...no, it couldn't be...

I screamed out to warn him to come back to shore with me, to save himself. He must be a lifeguard or something, right? But he returned my concern with a smile that I could just make out from where I stood and then he dived below the waves.

Now this doesn't make sense. I'm a practical girl. I believe in science and facts, not fiction or fantasy but...but as he left, I promise you...that boy had a tail.

Had I just been saved by a merman?

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