SECRET TAIL

CHAPTER FOUR

Everything was peaceful, and we just soaked in the sun and enjoyed the quiet, but as they say, nothing good lasts forever. The tranquility was broken when I suddenly started feeling restless, like I was trapped in my own skin and needed to escape, but I did not know what to do to stop it. I kept fidgeting on my blanket to try and get comfortable when suddenly my eyes fell on the ocean and I could not remove my gaze from it. It felt like it had stolen my mind and captured my attention, like I had discovered what I was looking for and desperately needed. The thought ran through my head that this was probably how a man stranded in a desert for two days would feel if he suddenly stumbled on an Oasis, but no single thought could stick to my mind. I was totally mesmerized by the ocean and its song.

I kept looking at the ocean totally captivated by it and did not realize that Katie was calling my name. 'Chloe! 'Chloe!' she reached out and had to tap my shoulders to get my attention before I even realized she had called my name. 'Yeah, what's up?'

'Are you okay? I have been calling your name for a while now, but you did not answer me, it was like you could not hear me at all and your eyes looked very weird, like you were in a daze and out of focus. What is going on with you? If anything is wrong, you can confide in us after all. That's what friends are for.' she told me.

'Nothing is wrong, I was just thinking about something and forgot about my surroundings. Why were you calling me?'

I want you to help me apply sunscreen lotion to my back and I need both of your help this evening. Collins is taking me out on a date, and he says I should dress up since it's going to be fancy. I need dress and makeup advice, like asap, it's a fashion emergency. So, after leaving the beach, you girls are coming home with me, and you are not leaving until I decide on what to wear. It's going to be a complete makeover. Just take me as your own personal human Barbie doll for today, and do with me what you wish. You should be glad because I bet you guys have never had a doll this gorgeous in your life'. Katie said with a pompous look on her face, her head lifted and hands spread out as if to give us a perfect look at the gorgeous doll.

Both Jane and I burst into laughter at her silliness. Jane said, 'I can't believe you could actually say that with a straight face and feel no shame, you are incredible. I dare say there is no one else like you in the world.'

I laughed and said, 'Yeah, she is a specially customized limited edition, onetime-made Barbie doll, the only one of her kind. Well, her majesty, your loyal followers are at your service. We will go home with you.'

We relaxed to enjoy the peace and quiet and that was when it hit me, I felt the urge to swim in the ocean. That was just weird. To anybody else it would not seem strange, but for me, it was beyond strange. Normally, I enjoyed coming to the beach to soak up the sun and work on my tan even though I never got a tan no matter how long I stayed in the sun, but I rarely ever went anywhere close to the water and, even when I did, it was usually at the shore and that was just playing around. This is because I am scared of the ocean and everything in it. I know it may seem weird that I want to be a marine biologist while I am scared of the ocean, but I can't explain it. We have a love-hate relationship. I was scared of it but at the same time fascinated by it. If I ever felt like swimming, I did that in a pool where it was safe without any waves, jelly fish, sharks, sting rays, and well, a lot of other things. Let's just say, I did not usually think about swimming in the ocean ever.

This is why it seemed so strange to me, why my fear suddenly disappeared, and I had the urge to enter the ocean, like I belonged there, and I could not even explain why I had that sort of idea. No matter how hard I thought about it, I could not explain it or any of the other things happening to me lately. By four pm, we packed up our stuff and went to Katie's house to prepare for her date.

When I got home that evening, I went to bed early because I felt pretty tired, and I had another one of those crazy dreams again. It seemed like somebody was carrying me and swimming. It was too deep and dark to be a pool, so I felt like it was probably the ocean. I could tell that I was very little at the time because everything seemed huge to me, even though I could not see my surroundings clearly. A sweet voice kept repeating in my head like a song on replay, 'Always know I love you.' I felt scared, although I did not know why, and I could tell that whoever was carrying me was terrified and in a hurry.

I could feel tears falling from her eyes, but I still could not wake up and was held captive in the dream. The feeling of fear and urgency increased, but I could not wake up. I knew I was dreaming, but I just could not wake up.

Suddenly, it was like I was dragged from the dream and I screamed in surprise, but that feeling a person normally experience when they wake up from sleep was not there at all, I was just suddenly wide awake like I was not sleeping before and that woman's words kept ringing in her mind, 'Always know I love you.' At this point I was practically weeping, and I did not know why I was crying, but I could not stop.

Gradually I realized that I was not in my room, instead I was in our special spot on the beach and kneeling in the ocean. I had walked into the ocean and knelt down in the water, the ocean was already past my shoulders almost to my head.

It was already morning and the sun was rising on the horizon. Instead of feeling scared and disoriented like I should have been when I found myself here, I was struck by the thought that the ocean looked magnificent. I did not want to leave it, I just wanted to sink into it and lose myself in it.

This was when my legs started hurting and the pain was intense. I turned to face the shore and swam towards it in a hurry. As soon as my legs touched the beach, I fell down in pain. Looking down to see what was wrong, and I saw something unbelievable. Scales had appeared on my legs and I raised my nightwear to see how far it went and found out that they stopped at my waist. They were blue and that was when the panic set in.