Sea To Land

Chapter Seven-Max's Backstory

Nine Days Ago (Saturday)

I was walking along the beach, the midday sun shining against my hair and skin. My towel resting on my shoulders, the sand kicked up from my sandals, my blue swim trunks still wet from my swim when I heard a splash to my right.

I turned around, thinking I would need to jump into the ocean to save someone, when I saw something large and silver colored swim into the ocean. I was telling myself it was nothing and I should keep walking but, my curiosity got the better of me.

I threw my towel to the sand behind me and headed in. Slowly, I waded into the water, scared that the creature could, and might, attack me. The farther out I went, the more anxious I got. Getting closer to where I spotted the creature I was trending water, a bottom nowhere in sight. I looked around, but saw nothing, anywhere. Finally I got to the spot where I saw the creature swim down.

I took a deep breath and dove under the water. I stopped after just about a foot under the water and tried to make out the thing I saw with my blurry sea water vision. After 45 seconds I had to go up for air. Resting for 10 seconds, I was getting ready to head back down. This time I dove deeper than I did before.

Just then the silver thing flicked in front of me. It looked like the thing had something blonde or yellow at it's top.

Then, I was dragged down.

I tried to push myself back up, I needed air, but the creature had a hold on my legs and feet.

Lungs burning, I kept trying to push myself back up but I was just being dragged deeper. The world started to get darker on the edges of my vision. Trying to see where I was going to die, I looked around, trying to make something out in my blurry, dark, vision. Then I see I'm being dragged into a cave.

Great, I'm going to die in a cave and become an unsolved mystery.

My vision was just a blurry blue circle when I passed out.

~

Coughing, I flipped to my stomach. I was alive, and on land. After I coughed all the water from my lungs, I looked around. I looked to be in an underwater cave that had been partly filled with air. I was sitting on a small rock shore that sloped into the water. The cave was silent except for the echo of water dripping from the ceiling and hitting the water.

Then the sound of swimming broke the silence. Looking around the cave I found where I guessed the opening was and watched it. Coming from the open ocean the silver and yellow creature swam in.

I pushed my body away from the creature as it broke the surface. My pulse quickened, my body went tense, as now I could see the creature that had grabbed my attention. A mermaid. I had been chasing a mermaid, a mythical being. Then it spoke.

"You're awake, finally."

As she spoke to me I took in this being that had no scientific proof of it actually being alive, and yet, I was in front of it. She had belly button length blonde hair, accompanied with icy blue eyes and tan skin. Her silver tail flicking below her, she placed bottles, some empty and some full with things I'd never seen before, in between us. She looked to be in her late 20s to early 30s.

"Can you speak, human." she said "human" like it was cursed and filled with poison.

"Um, yeah. I'm not mute."

"Well that makes my life easier and harder."

"What're you doing? Why'd you pull me underwater?"

"Right, forgot humans are curious but annoying beings."

She messed with the bottles between us, mixing some together and filling some of the empty bottles, before speaking again.