distance.
I watched the northern right until it was out of sight. I found my heart rate had finally slowed and I focused on my gills until my breaths calmed. I twirled around ballerina style, momentarily losing myself, totally into the freedom I was now enjoying underwater. I found myself dancing in new-found giddy joy with my recent mermaid-ness. Laughing underwater produced a wave of happy bubbles, which made me want to laugh even more.
Then I finally snapped out of my world of awe.
I needed to find Tor and tell him that he was right. I was a mermaid . The strangest thing was, I knew how to find him. Instinct was awesome!
I shut off my mind to logic and just swam, allowing myself to rise to just below the surface. It took a while, but eventually I neared the cove. For the first time since I’d gotten my gills, I surfaced, sticking my face above the water. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but I sucked in air and my lungs kicked in like normal.
I had to know; could I still breathe underwater, then? I dipped my head under and held my breath. Within seconds my gills activated.
Once I stopped playing, lungs/gills/lungs/gills, I refocused on the task at hand. Find Tor. I saw the tall dark jagged rocks near shore with an almost invisible vertical crevice in the middle. The tide was low and I was thankful there was still enough water in the bay to get me to the cave entrance.
Also, because the tide was low, the rock Tor had used to hoist himself out of the water was out of reach. There were several more flat, human-sized rocks at various levels, and I had a feeling that it wasn’t accidental. Tor and his uncle had worked hard to make this cave work. We just had to keep its existence from discovery.
I hopped on the rock, and for the first time got a full out-of-water view of my new body. I had to admit that my tail was a beautiful, deep seaweed green, with glistening pinks, blues and purples swirling throughout.
I still wore my long tank top, but I could see the tattoo-like markings that now covered both of my shoulders and part way down my biceps. I wasn’t sure how I’d explain those to my parents.
I gasped with the first jolt of pain. Oh, yeah, the painful tail-to-leg part. Ow—another jolt, stronger this time; I cried out for Tor.
More knife-like searing. This must be what it felt like to be shot with a Taser gun, or subjected to some kind of ancient torture, like when they pulled on your legs and squeezed you in a compressor at the same time.
I heard myself wailing, tears falling off my face onto the drying rock.
“Tor!”
“Dori?”
I cried out again. “Tor? Help?”
Instead of coming to my side, Tor disappeared. I breathed deeply through my nose and out slowly through my mouth, like you see those women do on TV when they’re in labor.
Tor came back with a blanket. He lay down beside me, covering my tail. I didn’t know why he did that. It wasn’t like I was cold. Then I remembered the satellites.
Another jab of pain. I sobbed into Tor’s shoulder.
He stroked my hair. “It’ll be over soon.”
I held onto his chest hoping he was right. One last stab, less intense than the others and then it was over.
I lifted the blanket to check. The tail was gone. I had legs. I was also naked. I assumed my shorts were shredded and lying at the bottom of the ocean.
“Dori, are you all right?”
I was breathing through my lungs now, obviously, but I panted like a dog. I feared I would succumb to shock.
“I don’t know,” I said weakly.
Tor wrapped the blanket around me, taking in my tattoos, and checking out the back of my ears.
“I told you not to swim alone,” he said, but I didn’t have a chance to defend myself. Tor swooped me into his arms and climbed the rocks back to the caves.
It was in that strange moment—with Tor’s strong arms around my limp body, my hair dripping in wild, clumpy strands down my back, hanging on the best I could to his neck as he deftly climbed the rocks—that I
I watched the northern right until it was out of sight. I found my heart rate had finally slowed and I focused on my gills until my breaths calmed. I twirled around ballerina style, momentarily losing myself, totally into the freedom I was now enjoying underwater. I found myself dancing in new-found giddy joy with my recent mermaid-ness. Laughing underwater produced a wave of happy bubbles, which made me want to laugh even more.
Then I finally snapped out of my world of awe.
I needed to find Tor and tell him that he was right. I was a mermaid . The strangest thing was, I knew how to find him. Instinct was awesome!
I shut off my mind to logic and just swam, allowing myself to rise to just below the surface. It took a while, but eventually I neared the cove. For the first time since I’d gotten my gills, I surfaced, sticking my face above the water. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but I sucked in air and my lungs kicked in like normal.
I had to know; could I still breathe underwater, then? I dipped my head under and held my breath. Within seconds my gills activated.
Once I stopped playing, lungs/gills/lungs/gills, I refocused on the task at hand. Find Tor. I saw the tall dark jagged rocks near shore with an almost invisible vertical crevice in the middle. The tide was low and I was thankful there was still enough water in the bay to get me to the cave entrance.
Also, because the tide was low, the rock Tor had used to hoist himself out of the water was out of reach. There were several more flat, human-sized rocks at various levels, and I had a feeling that it wasn’t accidental. Tor and his uncle had worked hard to make this cave work. We just had to keep its existence from discovery.
I hopped on the rock, and for the first time got a full out-of-water view of my new body. I had to admit that my tail was a beautiful, deep seaweed green, with glistening pinks, blues and purples swirling throughout.
I still wore my long tank top, but I could see the tattoo-like markings that now covered both of my shoulders and part way down my biceps. I wasn’t sure how I’d explain those to my parents.
I gasped with the first jolt of pain. Oh, yeah, the painful tail-to-leg part. Ow—another jolt, stronger this time; I cried out for Tor.
More knife-like searing. This must be what it felt like to be shot with a Taser gun, or subjected to some kind of ancient torture, like when they pulled on your legs and squeezed you in a compressor at the same time.
I heard myself wailing, tears falling off my face onto the drying rock.
“Tor!”
“Dori?”
I cried out again. “Tor? Help?”
Instead of coming to my side, Tor disappeared. I breathed deeply through my nose and out slowly through my mouth, like you see those women do on TV when they’re in labor.
Tor came back with a blanket. He lay down beside me, covering my tail. I didn’t know why he did that. It wasn’t like I was cold. Then I remembered the satellites.
Another jab of pain. I sobbed into Tor’s shoulder.
He stroked my hair. “It’ll be over soon.”
I held onto his chest hoping he was right. One last stab, less intense than the others and then it was over.
I lifted the blanket to check. The tail was gone. I had legs. I was also naked. I assumed my shorts were shredded and lying at the bottom of the ocean.
“Dori, are you all right?”
I was breathing through my lungs now, obviously, but I panted like a dog. I feared I would succumb to shock.
“I don’t know,” I said weakly.
Tor wrapped the blanket around me, taking in my tattoos, and checking out the back of my ears.
“I told you not to swim alone,” he said, but I didn’t have a chance to defend myself. Tor swooped me into his arms and climbed the rocks back to the caves.
It was in that strange moment—with Tor’s strong arms around my limp body, my hair dripping in wild, clumpy strands down my back, hanging on the best I could to his neck as he deftly climbed the rocks—that I
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