“No, please! He’s going to kill me!” I begged. Ben’s eyes widened when he saw my teeth in the moonlight.
“Out of the way Ben. Now!” Marlow shouted behind us. Ben let me go and stepped aside. I made a break for it. But I lost my stride and twisted my ankle on a rock. I fell hard. Footsteps rushed behind me. Marlow stood, mouth open wide. He raised his pistol. Behind him, Ben watched transfixed.
“No,” I whimpered. “Please, please don’t!”
“Evil creature,” Marlow said pointing the gun at my face. I closed my eyes and prepared for the sound of a gun shot. But instead of an explosion I heard a sharp twang, and then a thud. My eyes flew open. Marlow lay face down in the sand and rocks, an arrow straight through his back. Ben stood white and trembling, looking at his bow in disbelief, as if unable to believe what he’d just done.
Hands shaking, Ben helped me up. Then he turned, shell-shocked and walked down the hill.
“Ben, wait!” I called out. But he kept on walking. I knelt by Marlow and put my hand to his neck. No pulse. When I took my hand away, it was sticky with blood. Bile rose in the back of my throat.
Down at smooth luck rock I washed my hands furiously in the ocean and splashed my face with water. Everything had happened so quickly.
Then I thought of Merma. I looked out to the water. Where was she? Behind me the lighthouse lamp flickered on, off, on, off. Mom and Dad were back, it looked like they were sending some type of signal.
A chill went up my spine at what I noticed next. Footprints led from the water. I want to be more like you. I remembered Merma saying. It hadn’t made any sense then. But now I realized Merma had attempted to take nearly everyone I loved. And it seemed she’d returned one last time.
I raced up to the lighthouse. Our front door hung open. The kitchen window was broken. Shards of glass were scattered across the linoleum floor. A spoon lay up against the far wall. Pea soup ran down the legs of the kitchen chair forming a green puddle.
Mom moaned and then I heard a voice. “Where is she?” Merma shouted. “Quit squirming or I’ll smash you again!”
I grabbed a cleaver off the kitchen counter and crept into the living room. Merma had Mom pinned to the floor. Mom struggled, clutching at her shirt, trying to grab something beneath it. Merma whirled around to face me.
Instead of a fin, she now had legs. Patches of scales remained, but they were normal legs. And she wore Daniel’s bathing shorts.
If only I had the ability to move as quickly as her. But back then, I didn’t. I hadn’t learned. She jumped up and slammed me against the wall knocking the breath from my lungs. Then she grabbed the cleaver.
“Ah there you are,” she snarled. “and this is just what I needed. Now will you come peaceful or will I need to knock you out?” Merma asked.
“Don’t go, Marei!” Mom shouted. “I was wrong! She needs you to translate the scroll. Without you it’s meaningless.” Merma flung the cleaver and Mom dodged just in time. It embedded itself in the wood floor. Merma smashed me across the face with her fist and I fell, head spinning. Pain raged through my scalp as I felt myself being dragged by the hair.
“Marei! Take this!” Mom screamed. She threw a small object toward me. I tried to catch it, but missed. The object rolled across the kitchen floor, humming and buzzing. It was Mom’s octopus necklace. I tried to lunge for it but the pain in my scalp blinded me with tears. Merma dragged me out.
“Stay where you are, bitch!” Merma shouted over her shoulder while she forced me up at knifepoint. We marched over the island’s spine and down to the wishing well.
Merma’s breath was foul like five-day-old fish left to decay on the sun. Her t-shirt had become more rotten and torn. One of her breasts hung out of a gap and Daniel’s shorts were filthy with seaweed and grime. She was horrifying, and I also felt a deep pity for her. We entered past the little blue picket fence, gray in the moonlight, and stood at the opening to the well.
“Jump,” Merma said.
“Into the well?” I asked, terrified. Merma smiled and pushed me closer to the edge.
“Choose…or be pushed,” she warned.
Falling. Falling. Falling. To where?
“No,” I begged. “We can figure this out.” I tried to reason with her although I didn’t have any idea as to how. She forced me back while I clutched at the stones that surrounded the yawning black hole. One crumbled off beneath my hand and fell down into the infinite, dark, silence.
My muscles trembled with effort, but I couldn’t compete with her strength fueled by such anger and rage. I had no idea what to do, then it came to me. My last chance. The song. I began to sing.
La dee la la dee dee…
I shut my eyes and dove into my voice. My heartsong. It was the melody that I’d sung to Ethan, Chloe and Daniel all those years ago. I allowed myself to feel love and gratitude. It poured from my heart and filled the air until I forgot where I was. When I opened my eyes a tiny rainbow orb of light floated near my chest. A terrible heaving sound wracked Merma’s throat. It sounded like guttural retching. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She was crying. Merma put her fingers to her cheeks and brought them away in astonishment. She tasted her fingers. Crying was obviously new to her.
“What have you done to me?” she screeched. “You tricked me! You cursed me.”
Behind me I detected motion. Ben stood on the ridge. She turned. Taking advantage of her distraction, I pushed her aside and scrambled away. Ben shouldered his bow. Merma shrieked in rage when she saw Ben with an arrow pointed at her heart. Meanwhile, I backed far away from her and the well. The muscles on Ben’s right arm went taut ready to fire.
“Don’t!” I shouted.
And in that moment of distraction Ben hesitated. Merma leapt into the well. The arrow shot over her head missing by fractions of an inch. I’m not sure why I shouted. I’ll always wonder.
Perhaps it was the fact that when she cried for the first time, I saw myself in her. I realized that I’d had much better luck than I gave myself credit for. After all, poor Merma, she’d had some truly bad luck. If the situation had been reversed, it could have been me facing that arrow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I lay on my bed. A light afternoon drizzle made slow, sparkling trails down the bedroom panes. It had been three weeks since Dylan left, Marlow died and Merma tried to kidnap me. I still had not recovered.
Despite my lingering depression, I’d thought life would settle somewhat, but it had not. If anything it had become even more confusing if that were possible. Yes, as the new mayor, Mom slowly made changes to the island. She was a kinder, gentler and much more open leader than Marlow. Only Ben knew about me being part mermaid…for now. Most believed that Marlow’s death had been a dreadful accident. But every day was a new struggle with emotions, and since last week, nausea. One evening two nights ago, Mom had come in and stroked my bare belly with her warm hand. She woke me with a lullaby she sung to me as a young child.
Sing mermaids, let the two tribes hear. Song for the ocean vast and clear. Atlantean twins, children of the deep. Down in Lemuria, the sacred gift sleeps.
“What is it, Mom?” I asked her. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Twins,” she’d whispered and took my hand.
“Are you sure?” I’d asked.
“Have you and Ben…?” At that question I’d shaken my head and almost laughed.
“Dylan,” I said.
There had only been Dylan. I carried his twins. Our twins. Girls, Mom had told me. Just when it had seemed life might settle into a slightly more predictable path, I found I was pregnant. I continued to watch the trails of raindrops when a buzzing noise outside caused me to bolt upright. I knew that sound. It was the sound of a seaplane was landing.
Fighting nausea, I raced up the stairs to the lighthouse. Sure enough, I saw the plane, Dylan’s plane, circle for landing and my heart kathudded. Could it be a coincidence that Dylan was arriving so soon after I found out I was pregna
nt with our daughters? No, I didn’t think so.
“Why are they back so early?” I asked Dad. I’d hoped to see Dylan in a few months. Hoped and feared. I worried he might not remember me by then. But I didn’t expect to them back this soon.
“Well, they lost half the cargo last time,” Dad said. “Marlow was furious. I’m not sure what they agreed.”
That didn't matter. I raced to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Then I hurried into my room and changed into my favorite t-shirt and nicest pair of shorts. Nothing sexy like the Outland girls wore, but they were the best I could do.
When I arrived at the dock, Ben and Cunningham stood at the edge of the dock throwing out a rope. Dylan’s father stepped out on to the pontoon and stretched. “Well, here we are again as agreed,” he said, not sounding pleased.
I walked to the edge of the dock, trying not to smile like a crazy person. And when I looked up, the smile faded. A pudgy kid hopped onto the pontoon, scowling in the sunlight. Scanlon. I’d forgotten about him. Dylan’s half-brother. The boy who usually came.
After what happened I didn’t blame Dylan for not wanting to return. After all, he’d asked me to come with him and I’d refused. Looking back at it, I’d handled it badly. An enormous weight lodged in my gut nearly doubling me over with gloom.
I turned, not wanting them to see my tears. Above the docks, I sat on a rock, watching them unload. Dylan’s half-brother and father brought several boxes to the little cabin where they’d stay overnight. It seemed a long time ago that I’d passed by that shack and met Dylan. So much had happened since then.
Half-an hour later Ben came and took a break from unloading, plopping on the rock beside me. We’d had our stint together on Honey Moon Island and became friends. Beneath Ben’s rough, obnoxious exterior lay a gentle, smart kid, and I never realized. He put his arm around me and I leaned against him.
“Sorry,” he said. He knew who I’d hoped would be on the plane.
“Me too,” I said. “And guess what?” Ben looked at me, questioning. Out in the distance a pelican floated low over the water, skimming the surface. “I found out I’m pregnant.” I felt his arm tense against me.
“But we only…kissed,” he stammered.
When Ben and I stayed on Honeymoon Island together, we did kiss one night. I can’t even remember why. Perhaps curiosity. It did nothing for either of us but break us up into a fit of raucous laughter. Now I laughed again.
“No! Not from the kiss,” I slapped his leg. “Dylan. From before. My mom told me. Twins.”
“Wow,” Ben said. He was still letting it sink in when his father interrupted.
“Ben!” Cunningham shouted. “We’ve got more loading to do, get your ass down here. And I have something for Marei.”
* * *
Sitting on smooth luck rock I opened the envelope with trembling hands. Dylan’s writing was hard to read, but it expressed his personality. Large scrawls and scratched out words. There were several places where he’d started a sentence and then changed his mind. Three different colors of pen and a delicate, careful sketch of me. No one had ever drawn me before. He had talent.
Dylan wrote that he’d thought of me every day. That he’d been pathetic and couldn’t stop thinking of me, actually. And now his friends were sick of hearing about our time together and questioned whether I even existed. He also wrote that he’d begged to come back with his Dad, but his father had refused after what happened last time. How can we see each other again? I miss you. Don’t make me swim!!! Love, D. I held the letter to my chest and closed my eyes, letting the sun warm my face.
The last night I saw Dylan, he told me we made our own luck. And that good or bad…what had he said? That it was a matter of perspective. Well, it was time to make luck of my own. After all, I was the Mayor’s daughter.
On a blanket beneath the mango tree I had an emotional talk about leaving with Mom and Dad. But with Dylan and my twins coming, Mom relented. And so they gave me their blessing to go to the Outlands.
Mom told me that with the scroll stolen, we were no longer bound to the island and could leave without becoming ill. We weren’t prisoners any more. I acted surprised, but I’d already guessed as much. After the strange experience I’d had when Merma had swam with me into the open ocean, I’d wondered if the scroll wasn’t somehow involved. I wasn’t proud to admit it, but it had become a secret hope from the moment that Merma had first asked to see it. In that way we were complicit.
“Will my twins be like me….or like Dylan?” I asked.
“I'm not sure,” Mom said. “They’re Lemurian, Mer-folk and human. I don’t believe that’s ever happened before. That’s why they’ll be special.” Even she looked nervous.
Mom talked to Dylan’s father, and it took little arranging to get him to take me back. Perhaps he'd gotten sick of hearing his kid moan about me too. Or maybe he was more romantic than he appeared beneath his dirty baseball cap and three day stubble.
We went to Pelican Cave, and I told Chloe and Ethan. I’d leave the next day. Sun shone in the cave making it warm and cozy. Chloe beamed at me, cheeks flushed and glowing. Ethan and her both gave me a big, long group hug.
“Well, I guess that beats travel by box,” Ethan said.
“But I put a lot of work into that…” Chloe reminded me. “It would have been comfortable.” She’d never let me forget.
“I’ll always be grateful!” I said kissing her hard. “And I’ll miss you guys so much.”
Afterward, I found Ben near the docks. We stood alone not far from the place we’d fought after our first dance together. I was ready to tell him my plans, but he stopped me.
“About the twins,” he said, his voice rough. “If it’s easier, we can say they’re ours.” A flash of fear crossed his face. Easier for who? I wondered.
I felt his pain and though we’d been arch-enemies once, now I wished I could take that pain away from him. For a moment I had doubts. Should I stay? It would be so easy. Pretend. Stay with the familiar rather than venture to the unknown. But it was a brief thought.
I’d played safe plenty. It was time to test my luck. And whenever Ben felt ready, I think it was time for him too. I almost told him that he should be open about his love for Carlson. That my Mom would understand and the island too, I hoped. Then I thought of my teeth.
Truthfully, I wasn’t ready to show everyone my mermaid side. For now I’d keep it private. Not completely hidden anymore, at least not from myself. That was enough for now. Different was hard. Who was I to tell him what to do?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The night before I left, Mom hung her octopus pendant around my neck. “Take this,” she said.
“What is it?” I asked. I knew this was more than just a piece of beautiful jewelry.
“It’s called an orient,” she explained. “It will help show you were you need to go.”
Other than the pendant, Mom didn’t give me much advice. “I haven’t lived in the Outlands for twenty years, but there’s plenty to enjoy,” she explained. The only real advice she gave was a request, and it was strange.
“Donate blood,” she said.
“My blood?” I asked.
“Yes, Dylan will explain where to go,” she assured me. “The night before Merma took the scroll, I’d started a translation. I might be wrong, but it could be important and won’t do you any harm.”
Next morning, the entire island saw me off on my journey. Mom and Dad pulled together a huge, impromptu celebration. The lighthouse stood tall, white and proud. Multiple sets of hands waved from below and I waved back frantically while the plane took to the sky.
As the plane circled over the island, my home for seventeen years, I spotted smooth luck rock and the remains of the boat. I’d forgotten to visit smooth luck rock to touch her one last time. But I let that go. She’d be okay. I’d be okay.
And I noticed something I’d never realized. All the tiny depressions in the rocks, full with rain from the day bef
ore, glinted in the sun and formed a pattern; a constellation. I recognized it from somewhere. It linked to the scroll although I didn’t understand how. Closing my eyes as the plane headed over the Big Ocean, I allowed that constellation to burn itself in my mind. Perhaps one day it would come in handy.
* * *
Back when we were on Alabaster Island, Dylan confessed that he was a trouble magnet. He said he was irresponsible. At least according to his dad. But when I showed up in the Outlands unannounced that day, he threw himself into my arms, tears in his eyes. That didn't surprise me too much. In his letter he'd admitted how much he missed me. But it did send a warm bloom of happiness through my heart.
Days later, after I'd settled in, I worked up the courage to tell him. “Dylan. I'm not sure how to say this, so I'll just start: I’m pregnant. Twin girls. Ours.”
That seventeen-year-old boy was barely fazed.
“Twins, wow,” he said, eyes wide. Surprised, yes, but neither doubting nor questioning how I found out this soon. “Sweet, we need our own place then.”
My adventures on the island prepared me for a lot, but not for the experience of birthing two unusually large and healthy baby girls. When you twins were born and your teeth came in, I saw they were human. Perfect, smooth, white, human teeth. Dylan got bewildered when I laughed and cried and tugged on them.
“Wow, you like their teeth,” he said.
“They have your smile!” I said, kissing him on the mouth. Meanwhile, I kept my secret. Honestly, I would have been fine with mermaid teeth, but having Dylan’s avoided the need for a lot of explanation. I still hadn’t told him everything.
Dylan became a wonderful father. Not once did he get high again. In fact I didn’t even see him drink. I felt happy in my new life and relieved to find that the Outlands weren’t as awful as people said. Money was scarce though, and I took a job to help pay the bills. But there was plenty of fun to be had too. A lifetime of movies and television shows I’d never watched. Shopping malls, clothes of every color and description and new friends to enjoy them with.
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