Pearl and Pale: The Mermaids

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Pale's POV

When I was feeling better and my eyes turned back to their normal color and the puffiness receded, I went downstairs to the kitchen.

I found my mom in the same spot she was before I went up to my room. She was cutting up potatoes and threw them into a large pot.

"Mom," I asked. "Have your family ever had a history of heart attacks?"

"No," my mom said as she still cut up red potatoes.

I thought for a moment. "How about dad?"

My mom stopped cutting and put down the knife on the glass cutting board.

"Your dad?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yeah...dad, you know, the one who went away to sea and never came back," I said.

"Your dad?" My mom still asked. "No."

I nodded.

I turned around and began to walk away.

"Pale wait," my mother called out.

I turned.

"Don't go in the water. But can you look for Matthew one more time on the beach," mom said.

"Okay," I said as I grabbed my black flip-flops and raced out the door.

I ran down the green lawn and on to the street. I didn't worry about cars. Not many people drive down this street anymore.

It was ten minutes till the beach closed. I could get there in five.

I ran through the empty parking lot and on to the sand.

No one was here. Good. I collapsed and began to cough.

I had ran as fast as I could. It was 8:55 I had give minutes to look.

"Matthew!" I cried as I ran along the shore line. "Matthew! Matthew! Matthew!"

It was 8:58

"Time to go miss," a voice yelled behind me.

I turned around. A black man with a tan jacket on stood behind me. He was some kind of beach police person.

"The beach isn't closed yet. There is still two minutes till the beach closes," I said.

"Yeah well it's close enough," he said. "Time to go."

"Wait!" I said. "My brother is somewhere on this beach or in the water and I need to find him. I don't know where he is."

"We'll report the missing child to the police," the cop said.

"Your the police!" I cried. "I let you know now go find him!"

"Whatever game you think your playing I don't like it miss," the cop said.

"I'll report it to the other police down at the south shore station. Now, what's his name?"

The cop took out a notepad and a pen.

"Matthew Atlanta. He's eleven years old."

"Do you have any picture of him?" The ranger asked.

"Yeah," I said. I took out my phone from my pocket and flipped through my camera roll. I found a picture of him, his closely cropped black hair was neat around the eyes and his sea green eyes sparkled.

"Okay, thank you ma'am, have a good night," the ranger said.

"Thank you."

And I took off.

When I got home, my mom greeted me.

"Did you find him?" Mom asked.

"No, but I let a cop know he was missing."

"I don't think that the police can help find someone in this case," my mom muttered under her breath. I almost couldn't make out the words. I know my mom good enough to realize anything she said anything, anything at all under her breath, it's not worth mentioning.

"Dinners ready," mom said.

I looked up at my moms auburn colored hair, Amber eyes and dark skin. "What for dinner?"

"Lamb chops and potato stew."

We both walked down the hallway and sat down to dig in. For once I didn't feel depressed inside.

"Can Allie and I go to the beach tomorrow?" I asked. Allie was my best friend.

"I don't think so. Tomorrow the water is supposed to be rough. A large sea storm is going to happen."

I have never seen a sea storm before. It's basically where the waves are really high and the waters are rough and it usually rains. But it only happens for one day.

"After the storm can I go search for Matthew again?" I asked.

There it was, that sinking feeling.

"Matthew should be fine on his own now but okay," mom replied.

This statement confused me.

I pushed my plate to the center of the dinner table.

"I'm finished," I said.

Matthew always did this.

"Just trying to copy Matthew and make me feel warm right?" My mother said with a smile.