That night, and every night for a week, Storm
dreamed of the boy in the sailing boat, the boy she’d rescued from the ocean. It
took all of those days for Storm to decide to do something pro-active about her
longing. She had to meet him again. Jack. Jack Hunter. It was a lovely name; a
name that played on her lips and offered an ocean of possibilities.
The next morning, Storm decided to find him.
For years, Cynthia had lived in a sea cave
not far from Storm’s ocean home. Cynthia had been cast out. Some said she lured
a human to her cave once and he was never seen again. This was against the law.
She was no longer a mermaid but Cynthia practiced a powerful magic that no
mermaid or human could ever conjure. All said, if you wanted something
impossible, Cynthia was the only one to provide it.
The next morning, the noise of the busy
underwater world woke Storm. She was covered in pink lilies on her water bed,
listening to the ocean rumble. Storm pulled on her lily shawl after a stretch
and swam to Cynthia’s hide out in the rock caves near the cliff.
Some said, Cynthia was at least a hundred
years old, but she did not look a day over twenty.
“Come in Storm, I have been expecting you. I
had a hunch you would be coming today.”
Cynthia told fortunes using magic shells.
Storm’s mermaid friends once told her that Cynthia’s readings helped them decide
who to date and who not to date. They were careful never to ask her for
anything wicked or mean as those requests could turn against them. Cynthia
herself placed no limits on the magic her mermaid clients requested.
“Ah, the lovely Storm,” Cynthia intoned in
her deep and spooky voice. “What is it you want from me today?”
Storm hesitated. She knew her sisters would
be horrified if they knew what she was about to do – and all for the love of a
boy she’d never even spoken to. She knew it was crazy but she wanted it so bad…
all her life she’d wanted to…
“… Walk on land, to become human. Is it
possible to do this? Some say it is.” The sea sorcerer hesitated, and then
spoke.
“Of course, child. All things or at least, many things are possible
with my help. The only thing I ask in return is…”
In that moment, the woman’s eyes gleamed.
Using her witchy fingers, she picked a particularly beguiling gem off Storm’s
tail. The skin of the mermaid’s tail had grown around the gems for sixteen years
and it pinched as the gems lifted. Storm’s shells shone brightly fluorescent under
Cynthia’s gaze.
“I ask only for all of your beautiful gems
and shells in return.”
“But my gems were given to me by my
grandmother and her grandmother before her…”
“Ah, well, off you go dear. You must not
want what you say you want very badly
at all. Perhaps it is for the best. The cost in being human is enormous – more
than you could ever imagine.”
Storm began to swim away. Then, hesitating,
she measured the weight of her Jewels against the weight of her love for Jack.
She needed to see him, had to see him again. She longed to walk side by side
with him. Storm could never do that as a mermaid. She would always be gifted,
sure. She knew her ability to swim fast and save people was unsurpassed, but
those abilities didn’t make her human.
“Wait, please.”
Cynthia knew it, she had her then.
“Before I do this, make you human, you have
to know it comes at a great cost. We never know how bad it is going to be but,
at first, when you try to walk you are barely going to be able to stand. To
walk even an inch will cause you enormous, burn like pain at best. This should
wear off after a few days…”
“A few days?”
“Or never.”
“Never?”
“It’s your choice. And remember, the only way
back to your family under the sea once you’ve made your decision… Oh, there
isn’t a way. So, what’s it to be, lovey? I haven’t got all day.”
Storm hesitated, sea urchins played with her
golden curls while she decided what to do. Meanwhile, Cynthia had started to
pick at Storm’s perfect, shimmering jewels, as if they were scabs on skin.
“I’ll take the chance.”
“Thought you might say that. They all do.
Teenage girls and their notion of love! Don’t you ever wonder if the boys would
give it all up for you?”
Storm hadn’t, she had only wondered what her
sisters would say but there was nothing to be done. She’d leave them a note; it
was the only way to leave without tears.
“You’ll need this, and this.” In waterproof
marker (of course) the woman handed Jewel a map, instructions and the name of a
couple and a school. This is the name of the family you’ll stay with. This is
the name of the school you’ll attend: Sloan Select. They’re okay with girls
like you.”
“You mean ex-mermaids?”
“Not exactly. Listen girlfriend, you need
to wise up. This transformation is not easy. It takes some pretty powerful
magic to make you over. This school, Sloan Select High, it’s for outcasts and
weirdos - the extremely gifted and the very talented; a place kids go once the
mainstream has rejected them.” The woman
chuckled as she placed her hands into Storm’s and chanted some words. Already, Storm
realized, she would wake human but be labeled a reject. Still, she had no
choice. These were the limitations placed on her transformation and there was
nothing else to do; Storm wanted to be with Jack again.
“Bon
chance,” Cynthia said. Storm looked surprised.
“I’ve had years to study here. I speak at
least six languages.”
The sea sorcerer waved Storm away and told
her to swim to the surface. Once there, Storm would fall asleep on the beach from
exhaustion and when she woke the next morning, she would be human and helpless,
until she could learn to swim using her legs and become strong again.
