Almost got caught
788 Words
Mrs. Valerie’s voice startled me.
“Miss Phoebe? Are you alright?”
My heart jumped into my throat. I quickly splashed the water with my hands, trying to sound normal.
“I....I’m fine!” I called back, forcing my voice steady. “I’m not done bathing yet!”
There was a small pause outside the door.
“Alright,” Mrs. Valerie replied gently. “Take your time.”
Her footsteps faded.
I exhaled shakily.
Then I looked back down and the tail was still there
Long and himmering, moving slightly in the water like it belonged there.
Slowly, I tried lifting myself out of the basin. The moment my tail left the water, it felt heavier. I slowly dragged myself carefully onto the bathroom floor, water spilling everywhere.
I lay flat against the cold tiles, breathing hard.
Maybe… maybe it will go away if I dry up.
That made sense, right?
Mermaids belong in water, so maybe..
With trembling hands, I grabbed a towel and began drying my body desperately. I wiped my arms and my shoulders. Then carefully, nervously, I dried the scales. But nothing happened, the tail still remained, I panicked
“Please,” I whispered under my breath.
I tried sitting up, but balancing felt strange. My body wasn’t shaped the way it should be. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.
“Why now?” I muttered. “Why today?”
My thoughts spiraled back to dinner. Then I thought of Lucas and to the accidental brush of our lips. Could that have triggered it? Or was it the water? Or the necklace?
My necklace.
Suddenly I looked down at my neck and the necklace was gone.
My heart dropped.When did it..?
Then I remembered the faint snap downstairs.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my palms together tightly.
“God, please,” I whispered. “I don’t understand what’s happening and I don’t know what I am. But please… I can’t stay like this.”
My voice cracked.
“I can’t let anyone see me like this. Please make it go away.”
Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. I felt ridiculous lying half-soaked on a bathroom floor with a tail where my legs should be.
But I kept praying over and over.
“Please… please… please…”
My breathing slowly began to calm.
The panic dulled, didn’t notice it at first.
The strange tingling sensation starting at the tip of my tail.
A warmth spreading upward.
It felt like pins and needles but softer.
I gasped slightly and looked down.
The scales were fading.
Melting into skin.
The shimmering blue dissolved gradually, replaced by something familiar
My heart pounded as I watched it happen.
The tail split slowly and within seconds, my legs were back.
I stared at them in disbelief.
I moved one foot, then the other.They responded normal.
Completely normal.
I let out a shaky laugh that quickly turned into a quiet sob of relief.
“It worked,” I whispered.
Or maybe it wasn’t the prayer.
Maybe it was something else.
Maybe I had to calm down, maybe I had to will it away.
I didn’t know and i don’t understand any of it.
But I wasn’t a mermaid anymore.
At least… not right now.
I stayed on the floor for several long moments, afraid it might change back if I moved too suddenly. But nothing happened.
Slowly, I stood up on unsteady legs.
They felt slightly weak, like I had just learned how to walk again.
I wrapped myself tightly in the towel and looked at my reflection in the mirror, I looked the same, what was i expecting?
I changed into my nightclothes carefully, half-expecting something else impossible to happen.
The bathroom was quiet again as i stepped back into my bedroom slowly, the room looked peaceful under the soft lamp light. The bed was neatly made, everything felt ordinary.
I walked to the bed and sat down, my mind replaying everything.
The glowing woman, the tail, Lucas holding me.
My heart skipped again at some memory.
Did he notice something?
What if he comes upstairs?
What if he already suspects something?
I lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
I needed answers.
But more than that, I really needed sleep.
My body felt drained, like I had run a marathon inside my own skin.
I turned slightly onto my side, pulling the blanket over myself.
Just for a few minutes, I told myself.
Just to clear my head.
The events of the day blurred together, my eyelids grew heavy without me realising it.
My breathing slowed, and without knowing exactly when it happened, I drifted into sleep.
"PHOEBE!!!!" "PHOEBE!!!"
- Writer
