Phoebe turned around. Behind her was... a mermaid. The mermaid had long brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a beautiful blue tail. The mermaid looked like she was about fifteen years old. Phoebe took a few steps back. The mermaid also seemed confused, and started examining Phoebe. The mermaid was the first to speak. "You do not live underwater, do you?" she asked curiously. "No, I don't." Phoebe replied, a little less scared. "My name is Ashley." the mermaid told her. "I'm Phoebe." she replied back. "Where are you from?" Ashley asked. "I'm from Gestlia." Phoebe told her. "Where is that?" Ashley asked curiously. Phoebe told Ashley all about Gestlia, and how she got here.
Suddenly, someone called, "Ashley, where are you?" There appeared a tall male mermaid with short black hair and a short black mustache. "Why is there a human here?" he asked, pointing to Phoebe. Before Phoebe and Ashley could reply he said angrily, "Ashley, don't you know to stay away from them!" "But dad, she's just a child." Ashley argued. "It does not matter!" her father shouted at her. Phoebe started backing away. "You are to NEVER come near again!"He told her. "Now let's go to eat." Ashley looked at Phoebe one last time and then followed her father. Phoebe was too tired to deal with this problem. She lay down, and quickly fell asleep.
When she woke up, she found that she was surrounded by mermaid children. When they saw that she woke up, they all quickly ran away. All except one. It was a young girl, who looked kind of like Ashley, except that her tail was purple. She looked like she was eleven or twelve. "My sister Ashley saw you, didn't she?" she asked. "You shouldn't be here, your father will get mad at you." Phoebe replied rather harshly. "I know," replied the mermaid, "but I feel bad for you, and I want to help. Phoebe looked at her, but did not say anything. "Come, let me show you around." the young mermaid said, and without waiting for a reply, took Phoebe by the hand, and started leading her somewhere. "By the way, I'm Jamie." she said. "And I'm..." "Yes, I know, Phoebe." Jamie interrupted her.
Jamie soon led Phoebe to an underwater cave. "This cave is called the endless cave, because nobody has ever gotten to the end of it." Jamie explained to Phoebe. "Wow," Phoebe replied, "can we go in?" "Sure." Jamie agreed. When they walked into the cave, they were surrounded by bright blue light. "It will dim out if we get far in." Jamie told Phoebe. As they got farther in, Phoebe noticed portraits on the walls of the cave. "Who are these mermaids?" Phoebe asked. "These are mermaids of the past, who have done great deeds for the mermaids." Jamie told her. "This mermaid," she said pointing to a portrait, "was my great-grandfather." Phoebe looked at the portrait and it showed an old mermaid, with a long white beard, dark brown eyes, and long white hair. "Did he actually have white hair?" she asked curiously. "Yes." Jamie replied. "Why is that so surprising? Don't humans have white hair." she asked. "No." Phoebe told her.
After walking a little further, Jamie suddenly asked, "What's that on your back?" Then, Phoebe remembered that she still had her backpack on her back! "It's my backpack." she said. "Can I see what's inside?" Jamie asked. "Alright." Phoebe agreed.She put down her backpack and Jamie started taking things out. When she got to the purple gemstone, she gasped. "Wow." she said. "Why?" Phoebe asked. "This gemstone is the only way to get out of these waters." she explained to Phoebe. "So now I can get back to my friends!" Phoebe said happily. "Let's go." she said to Jamie, and raced out of the cave. Jamie followed her.
When they finally got to where Phoebe slept, Phoebe stopped. "How do I do it?" she asked. "Can I come with you?" Jamie asked. "How could you?" Phoebe asked, a bit puzzled. "When a mermaid gets out of this river, they turn into a human." she explained. "But what about your parents?" Phoebe asked. Jamie was quiet for a few seconds. Then she said, "I've always longed for an adventure like this. I can't let go of this opportunity." "Okay." Phoebe agreed. "The way you do it, is you face the gemstone towards the sun, and then an opening appears for thirty seconds." Jamie told her. Phoebe did as she was told, and there appeared an opening. Phoebe went through the hole first. Then, when Jamie was about to go, they heard someone yell, "Jamie!" "Quick," Phoebe said, "before they find you!" Jamie swam to the top as fast as she could, but before she could get out, a young boy appeared. "Mathew, I'll be back!" Jamie said to him, and swam out. But before the hole closed, Mathew also swam to the top, and got out of the hole. "Mathew, this is dangerous go back!" Jamie told him, but it was too late, because the hole closed. "My backpack!" Phoebe yelled. Phoebe forgot to put her backpack on, so it was left underwater. "There is nothing we can do about it now." Jamie told her. Since they were in the middle of the river, Phoebe could see the other side. " Let's swim to the bank,'' she said, and started swimming.
When they got to the other side Mathew said, "Wow, I can't believe I have legs!" "Mathew, you should not have gone with us." Jamie scolded him. "But I wanted to go on an adventure!" he said. Jamie sighed. "I'm so hungry!" Phoebe said suddenly. Luckily for her, there was a cherry tree very near, so the three of them went and ate cherries. When they were full, Phoebe said, "Let's go find my friends."
The children started walking. "What do humans do?" Mathew asked Phoebe. "Well, they go to school." Phoebe answered. "What is that?" Jamie asked. "School is where you learn things." Phoebe explained. "Can I go to school?" Mathew asked. "Maybe at some point." Phoebe told him. Phoebe looked at her watch. She had been in the river for eighteen hours. Soon, they got to the place where Bella and Maggie had slept, but they did not know that, because Bella and Maggie were long gone. "I need to rest." Mathew complained. Jamie rolled her eyes. "Okay, we'll rest here for ten minutes." Phoebe said. Suddenly, Phoebe remembered that Maggie and Bella could have flown, and then there would be no way to catch up to them Phoebe sat down. She had now lost all hope.
YOU ARE READING
Maggie Groaz and her friends
FantasyIn a kingdom far away, in the middle of time, lived a girl named Maggie Groaz. One day, she hears a knock at her door... a knock that will change her life forever.
