A Merman’s Place

Chapter 5

My vision was blurred for a bit, but later started to slowly clear. This room was not my own. My walls were dark blue, not beige or made of stone. My room smelled like the sea, not woodsy. And my bed was not this soft, though I’m not complaining. Probably should replace that old thing anyway.

I let out a yawn and stretched out my arms. I practically slept like the dead. That’s what traveling for half a day to a place with a big time difference will do to you. I took a couple naps throughout the day and finally succumb to a real sleep around 7 pm.

As I started climbing out of bed, I could smell food coming from the kitchen. I checked the digital clock on my nightstand. 8: 46 am. Definitely time to get up and eat.

After changing and freshening up, I arrived downstairs where I saw everyone already there. Alice, Kenneth, and Max were sitting at the dining table, while Tia, Frankie, and Oliver were cooking in the kitchen. From what I see and smell, they were whipping up scrambled eggs, pancakes, and toast.

Kenneth was the one who spotted me first. “Hey, looks whose up,” he exclaimed. Everyone looked up at me when they heard him.

From his place at the oven cooking the eggs, Frankie said, “Good morning, Lucas. Have a seat, the food is almost done.”

I did as he said and sat on a corner of the table where I was facing the kitchen. Max was sitting on the other side in front of me, Alice was in the middle next to him, and Kenneth was next to me. As the food cooked, the three at the table engaged me into a conversation.

“I was wondering,” said Kenneth, “Are you the only one in your family that’s human with the merpeople gene?”

I was taken aback. Of all the ways to start a conversation, I didn’t think it start with this. “Oh, um,” I paused for a second gathering my composure, “I don’t really know.” They all had a confused face when they heard my response.

“You don’t know?” asked Alice in a small voice.

I shook my head and said, “I never met my biological family. I was put up for adoption when I was a baby.”

“Sorry man, I had no idea,” Kenneth apologized.

“It’s no big deal. Why ask me that question?”

“Oh, just curious. Never met someone like you before. It’s a rarity that a child of a human and merperson is born human. It’s almost like a birth defect. The merpeople gene is actually a dominant gene, which is why as a full human you’ll feel if you were in the wrong body. You have that connection to the water, are an excellent swimmer, have a huge lung capacity. It’s almost like your merperson gene is trying to come out but can’t,” he explained.

“Never knew that before.”

This time Max pitched in, “It’s not that much of common knowledge unless you took classes about merpeople. I took some because I was intrigued. I had a girlfriend who was a mermaid a long time ago, so I wanted to know more of her kind.”

“I obviously took them; they were mandatory for us,” said Kenneth.

Yeah, I recall in high school that the course was optional for me since I was human. I should have taken it, but at the time I didn’t bother since I wasn’t one of them. What would I learn if it won’t apply to me? Now I wish I did. Apparently, there was something to learn.

“So, how does job work? You just dive in the water and try to find valuable items?” I asked to change the subject. Talking about what I am and how rare that is just made me think. If it is an oddity, was that why I was given up? That can’t be. My mother’s note told me that she loved me and wanted me. It has to be something else.

“Oh, we’ll get to that, Lucas, don’t you worry,” said Frankie when he approached the table with a pan that I assume had the eggs. The pancakes and toast was later brought over to the table. Everyone picked up what they wanted and dug in.

When we all finished eating and cleaned up, we gathered in the living room to discuss the plan for the trip. Frankie mentioned that we are going to be diving over at Navagio Beach, or what most call it “Shipwreck Beach” because it's a physical wrecked ship sitting on the beach. And also check out the hidden cave that’s right on the other side of the beach wall.

The job itself is as straight forward as I’d imagined, just look for something valuable. The part that I need to learn is how the system works.

Don’t search alone, go with a partner.

It’ll be something new for me since I’ve always dived solo.

Regroup every hour.

An hour is usually how long an air tank lasts, so we use that time to switch tanks. It’s also for giving a report on your search and for breaks. Although, I can only last about 15 minutes without, so my surface trips will be more frequent. Of course, I could take a tank with me when I need the air, but I’ve always disliked carrying those things.

Be aware of your surroundings.

Of course, you’re not alone in the water. There's dangerous sea creatures that can attack you if you bother them, or even get near them.

When the meeting had ended we began packing up for the trip. I packed up extra clothes, my diving gear consisting of a wet suit and fins, and my waterproof watch to keep track of the time. Sometimes being under can mess with your sense of timing.

Climbing down the stairs with my bag, I saw that those who were done with their own packing were helping out pack food and plenty of water bottles in the coolers. When that was done, I helped carry one of the coolers while the rest carried out some equipment to the van. It took about an hour to get everything together.

Out on the road, from the passenger seat I could see the landscape of the island, and it was a big change of scenery. I got used to seeing houses everywhere, the tall buildings, lots of cars and people. But here, all I could see for miles was nature. Any trees or plants I saw on the way were not purposely place where they are for decoration, but they actually grew there. It felt so fresh to me to see land untouched by humans for their use.

We all arrived at a boat rental place, so we could sail out to the cove. When Frankie took care of getting us a boat, we started to unload the van. As I carried our stuff to the boat, I noticed that it was similar to the size of Kirk’s fishing boats, so it was plenty big to fit all seven of us and our equipment.

As we sailed away from the docks, I was feeling anxious. A good anxious. Soon I’ll be diving into new territory and wondered what the world under those waters will be like. There will probably be new wildlife that I haven’t seen, vibrant colors that I’ll never want to forget. Looking at the water below us and the scent of saltwater, I just had the instinct to jump in and swim the rest of the way.

Frankie at the wheel was watching me as I tried to calm myself down.

“I can tell you’re eager to jump off this boat, Lucas,” said Frankie with a knowing grin.

I blushed in embarrassment for getting caught. I must look like a little kid excited on their birthday eager to eat cake and open presents before it was time.

Kenneth joined in on the situation. “Hey, no sweat it, man. I was like that on my first trip. Couldn’t wait to get in the water. It’s in our blood.”

“Oh, I remember. You were leaning so far on the boat rails that you almost fell in,” cut in Tia.

“You were no better, Tia. I heard that you once actually dived into the water before arriving to the site. And you even said that you’ll just swim there,” retorted Kenneth. Everyone laughed at the anecdote, including me. Some urges you just can’t contain.

“She actually did swim all the way there,” informed Frankie.

“And I’ll have you know that it was exhilarating,” said Tia. “Mh-hm, it was a feeling of complete freedom.”

The ride continued on until we reached Navagio Beach. We anchored the boat beyond the limit of where the beach goers were allowed to go.

Frankie then spoke, “Alright team let’s suit up.”

While Frankie, Oliver, Alice, Max, and I got into our wetsuits, Kenneth and Tia were already undressed and in the water waiting for us. And since I didn’t need to gear up with the tank I was the next to enter the water with Kenneth and Tia.

Immediately as soon as I entered the water it was like coming home. The water here was so clear and blue than I was used to, and I was mesmerized.

I looked over to Kenneth and Tia to see them already in their true form. Their pale blue tails could be seen through the clear water. At times when I saw merpeople with their tails I felt a bit envious. I wondered what it’d be like if I had a tail, too. On land, even though I was human I wasn’t completely like the rest who are 100% human. It’s like I was a bird who got their wings cut off, no longer able to take flight like the rest. Only in this case, the tail was cut off.

My thoughts were cut off by Frankie who was now suited up just like the rest with a black wetsuit, fins, and tanks on their backs.

“So we have our assigned partners, and we’ll meet together here after an hour. Let’s go everybody!”

As soon as he gave the signal to start, we all dived into the water. The pairs were starting to split up to their search location. I got partnered with Tia. Since she was more familiar with the area I went to follow her lead.

When I followed her deeper in the ocean I glanced closely at her form. While I mostly solo dived, I did sometimes have to join the water with one of Kirk’s mermen at work. I couldn’t help but admire them, almost to a point as seeing them like they were not from this world. The way their tails moved up and down to propel themselves and how their scales shined like the inside of an abalone shell. They moved underwater so slow and graceful like a ballet dancer.

As I see Tia swim ahead of me, I can conclude that all merpeople possess this beauty. She said that swimming in the water was an exhilaration. I can image that’s how birds must feel too, with the wind under their wings; a feeling of belonging in the open sky. That’s what it’s like with merpeople in their natural environment.

Tia paused and turned to me. She began moving her hands to sign, “This is our area. We can begin looking around. When you need to surface signal me so I can come with you.”

I nodded in understanding. At that, she turned around and swam to begin her search by some colorful coral. As I started my own search, I also took the time to take in the underwater life. It was way different than it was back home. I was amazed at all the colors of coral and fish. Not only that, but the variety of sizes there were. Big, small, thin, and wide. All the colors of the rainbow glowing with the light of the sun streaming through the water making it look like the night-life.

Some fish were bold enough to swim around me and the shift in the water caused by their movements hit my skin.

The plant life swayed side to side with the movements of the ocean that almost looked like dancing.

As I searched for anything interesting to take to the surface, I kept encountering something new. Tiny critters crawling and swimming on the ocean floor. Some were even burrowed in the soft sand. Sea flowers that were unlike the ones on land. Most were really flowers with short tentacles for petals. They were soft and squishy. And of course my favorite, the many shelled creatures I’ve encountered. Shells with stripes, spots, or solid color.

I felt that I was nearing my limit and I swam over to Tia and signaled that I needed to surface. She nodded and followed me up.

When we surface, she looked at me and grinned. “So, are you amazed by what’s under here? It’s much different from Florida, right?”

“Definitely. It’s a whole other world if I’m allowed to sound cliché.”

She chuckled. “Oh, I know. Should have seen the look on your face all bug-eyed.”

I blushed at the comment.

“Okay, ready to dive again?”

“Certainly.”

And with that she dove lifting up her tail in the air before smacking in it on top of the water and me following right after.