I kicked and pushed myself off the seabed, swimming to my house. My auburn hair floated behind my back and my fin kicked behind me. “Allisa! Allisa!” I heard a voice calling, behind me. Ellie, my little sister, was swimming at a rapid pace behind me with an extremely worried expression on her face. I stopped and turned around, sweeping my fin on the sand of the ocean floor, “Goodness, what’s the matter, Ellie?” I said, smiling,
“They,” Ellie stopped to take a breath, “They are coming, mermen soldiers! Lots of them! They think you stole the Lord Poseidon’s statue piece!” she exclaimed, and I gasped, “What? I wouldn’t dare!”. I cried, my stomach flipping at the thought of thousands of mermen charging after me.
“Th–Then what I do, Ellie?” I choked. “We need a plan, quickly!” she declared, and I nodded.
I quickly swam across the small village, and headed for the small hiding place underneath the coral that I usually shared with Ellie. When we were little, we used to store our little belongings that we had underneath the coral, and climb in there to hide in and play games. I squeezed in the gap, and breathed a sigh of relief, I was safe… hopefully… I thought,
“You’ll never be safe in here!” A voice behind me said, and I jumped in shock, bumping my head onto the coral above me, “Argh!” I groaned in pain, and rubbed my eyes to see if I was dreaming. Nope. Before me sat a lady wearing a hood. She was old and had crinkles around her eyes. Although she didn’t quite make the best first impression on me, I felt as if I trusted her already. “I said, if you heard me, you’re not safe here.” she said, once again, and I stared at her.
“Allisa, right?” The woman said, and I nodded, “Yes. I know that you didn’t steal the piece, and so I want to help you.” she said, and I smiled, “Oh, thank you so much!” I cried, grabbing her arm, “So, what do I do?!” I urged, giving her a pleading look. “Right, so if you really want to stay safe, you have to follow my instructions.” she said, and I nodded, “Okay, what?” I whispered, hearing the soldiers crying and yelling, as they got closer.
“Well, I have to turn you into a human, if you want to be safe, do you give me permission to?” she asked. and my eyes widened. A human, I’ll be a human, I thought. “Is… is that the only way?” I stuttered, my stomach flipping, a lump forming in my throat. “Yes, dear, I’m terribly sorry, but this is the only way,” she responded, and my skin prickled. “Okay, do it.” I said, squeezing my eyes shut tightly, and biting my lip. “All right, put your arms behind your back, dear, and curl your fin shut. This will be the last time you will ever be a mermaid, remember,” she said, and I shivered.
“One, two, three,” The lady said, and I thought to myself of my past life, thinking about the good and bad times, I had gone through. I’m sorry, Ellie… I thought, praying that she was all right. Suddenly there was a flash, and I felt a strange feeling go through my body, “Don’t worry, dear, just don’t move or open your eyes,” The lady said, and I did as she said. In a moment, I felt all go quiet, and a strange feeling around me. I opened my eyes, and to my absolute shock, I found myself in a strange place.
I looked around me in astonishment at a strange sight. I remembered this, when I used to read books in my childhood about humans. This was a beach. I looked around, and smelt the strange scent that was described as ‘salty’ in the human world.
I turned around, and saw I was in a cave, very similar to the ones back in the sea town.
I let out a sigh, and to my surprise, I heard a noise come out my mouth. “Ah, ah, hello?!” I murmured and when I heard my voice, I cried out in surprise. I decided that I would also try to ‘stand’ up, as humans said in the books. I crawled onto my new ‘feet’ that I had spent some time examining. I tried some ‘steps’ and to my delight, I saw that I could sort of walk like a human!
I’m a human, I thought, smiling, Ha! I’m not a human!!! I thought, and walked around in a circle.
After a while, I saw a house that looked strange. It was made out of strange things, and it looked very odd compared to our little sea houses in the ocean. I decided to go explore.
Before I left the ocean, I gave a small wave to the horizon. “Well, I suppose this is goodbye … Bye Ellie, Goodbye everyone!” I whispered, and turned around to the building.
A new start, a new life….
