Opening my eyes, I looked down. My whole body, from the waist down, was a golden tail. My bikini bottoms floated past me and I screamed.
“No, no no!” Mom shouted over my screams. “It’s all right! You’re fine! Please don’t panic!” She pulled me into her embrace and I could hear her heart beating. “Sweetheart, that’s the quickest I’ve seen anyone learn to phase! I’m so proud of you!”
I closed my eyes, afraid of looking down. Silently, I told myself it was all right to wake up now.
“Morgandy!” Mom pulled me back. “Your tail is absolutely gorgeous! Normally, Halflings have white tails! Yours is just lovely. You must have some powers we aren’t aware of to have a golden one!”
I felt her touch and I opened my eyes. She was running her hand down what used to be my thigh. “Oh honey, I can’t tell you how proud I am!” She repeated.
“What do I do now?” I asked.
“Now? Now you learn to swim!”
It wasn’t hard at all. In fact, it was a lot easier to swim with a tail than with two legs. Of course, not having to come up for air every minute was nice too. Mom showed me the basics: swim like a dolphin, and I took it from there. In no time at all, I felt really confident. The fish in the tanks went back to lolling about and ignored us.
I don’t know how long we stayed in that pool, swimming and laughing. I felt the weight of the world begin to lift off my shoulders. It was really hard to stay depressed. The terrible feelings about Dad’s death would probably always stay with me, but just for those few hours, I felt happier than I had in a long time. Whatever Naira did must have worked.
Eventually, Mom said we needed to get out and talk with Tammer, as he had a few things he wanted to go over with me. When I asked her what it was about, she simply answered, “School.”
Ugh, I hadn’t even thought about it. It was the beginning of August and school couldn’t be far off.
“So, how do I get rid of my tail?” I asked.
Mom swam up to the steps leading into the pool.
“It’s usually easier the first few times if you’re sitting down.”
Reaching the steps, I pulled myself onto one just below her. “Now what?”
“It’s exactly the same as when you changed your legs into your tail. Only this time, concentrate on bringing your legs through instead of your tail.”
I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing. Concentrating on having legs, I bowed my head and thought hard about the golden orb and how strange I felt as it covered my whole body. Instantly, I could feel it begin to form and within seconds it had rushed from the top of my head to my, um, fins. When I opened my eyes, my legs had returned.
“Geez, you’re a fast learner!” Mom had already phased and was pulling on her sarong. “It’s incredible how easy it is for you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, reaching for my bikini bottoms.
“Well, a lot of times, when mermaids or mermen grow up not knowing who they are, there are certain problems they can encounter after they find out how to phase.”
“Such as?”
“Sometimes, they can’t phase back or sometimes they phase the instant they touch water, without meaning to. When that happens, it can be very dangerous.”
“Why?”
“If it happens in front of humans, it releases our secret. So then, Troen has to glide in and mess around with their memories so they don’t remember it happening.”
I stood and dried off with a towel. “Troen?”
“Troen is a very powerful merman. He’s almost like the Poseidon of the seas. He is the leader, but one never sees him. Just saying his name drives fear into some merfolk’s very hearts.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s the most powerful of us all. He’s incredibly fair – doesn’t play favorites. If wars or huge arguments occur among his merfolk, he will do something about it. That’s why most of us live in harmony or settle our problems ourselves. We don’t want Troen getting involved.”
It was all sounding very fairy tale-ish, and normally I would have laughed at her, but after what had happened, I just soaked it in and nodded. Better to start to learn about your new world than stay in ignorance of it.
Mom and I met Tammer in the living room. After she’d proudly told him how quickly I had learned to phase, he beamed at me.
“That’s just incredible, Morgan!” He set down a glass of water and took Mom’s hand. “I’m looking forward to introducing you to the ocean. But please do me a favor. Don’t swim alone until after we’ve given you a few lessons.”
“Why?” I felt like I’d got the swing of things.