Dryash

Evelyn ran down to the stream, the cool water inviting her. Every morning. Every single morning she would go down and feed the fish. Her mother told her not to, because she would fall in, but she never did. Evelyn knew at she couldn't.

She ran down,thought he trees, following the stream as it ran, she would beat it.

In time, the stream led to a lake where cool ebbs and ripples of water would flow.

She dipped her hand in the pool and trailed her hand in it.

"come on fishy...come on," she muttered, but something underwater rippled.

She gasped and snatched her hand up.

She looked in, curious but afraid.

"Fishy..." she muttered looking deeper in.

Her red hair got in her face and she was too fearful to pull it back.

Another ripple, a ripple made by something big, not a regular lake fish. Do sharks live in lakes? Are there crocodiles?

She bent down her nose almost touching the water when, RUSH!

Something leapt out, something big and loud. Something with big teeth and cold blood, something that ate little girls for breakfast, something that...

Someone.

Evelyn looked over to the other edge of the water, two shoulders a neck and a head. A human.

A boy.

He dipped his head under and swam to the grassy bank where Evelyn sat with her legs tucked under.

"Hullo." he said quietly.

"Hello." Evelyn replied, never one to forget her manners. "Are you lost?"

The boy shook his head, water flicking from dark curls. The boy had the darkest eyes Evelyn had ever seen, and the warm,pale-brown skin that she saw on her dance teacher from Egypt Miss Agnes. "I'm not lost." He said softly, resting his arms on the bank, placing his head on top. "I like it here."

the boy looked at this girl, she had long, dark red hair that was scarlet in some lights and caramel in others. Big hazel eyes and full lips. Her strangest feature was skin that could be seen as olive but was slightly greener.

"Mummy doesn't let me here." Evelyn sat cross legged. "She says I'd fall in."

The big laughed as if what she said was a if joke. "Water doesn't eat people" He said softly.

"I know that." Evelyn took his statement as a question upon her intelligence.

"You sounded like you didn't."

Evelyn looked to her lap and crossed her arms angrily. "Mum is the one who doesn't let me here." She huffed. "Can I tell you a secret?" her voice dropped and she waited for the boy's nod until she moved closer to his ear.

"The trees tell me she's crazy." she whispered.

The boy didn't seem confused or puzzled, he just smiled. "I've heard they talk" he shrugged.

"they do." Nodded Evelyn.

The boy looked up. ""Can I show you a secret?" he whispered to her. In agreement Evelyn sat back.

He pushed his arms down to the bank and pushed himself up.

His head was normal, as was his chest, towards his abdomen, though, small blue scales flickered occasionally, they clustered closer and closer until where his legs should've been there was a small, stubby tail just as long as any boy's legs. At the end were two fins, emerging into two, transparent tear-drop shapes.

The girl didn't seem shocked or puzzled or confused, merely smiled.

"I knew you existed." she whispered, and help out her hand in front of her.

The vein that led to her middle finger glowed green and slowly it began to surface into a shoot down her arm, the viewing crawled and melted into flesh and up her arm, to her hand it grew bigger and leaguer until her entire hand was writing with a leafy structure.

"We're both different." she said softly.