Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

of talcum powder helped me slide on my swim cap. Swim blocks lined the wall, newly installed for the meet. I stepped onto the lane three block. Rough sandpaper secured my feet on the otherwise slippery metal as I laced my toes over the edge.
    In a week and two days, a crowd would fill the empty bleachers and Meredith would be standing to my right. I imagined the gun popping and leapt into the air. The bubbles rushed past my ears as I glided like a torpedo. One stroke . . . two . . . three . . . deep breath . . . flip-turn. My body flew up and over the water. I had to be untouchable—faster. I finished the set and pulled my head up to check the time. I did it. My best time ever.
    “ Cannon ball,” Georgia screamed and careened into the water next to me, interrupting my imaginary win.
    As she surfaced, I pushed her head under.
    “ Did you see?” She popped her head up further away, half of her smiling mouth under the water.
    “ See what?”
    She laughed and splashed me. “You have to go to Senior Ball.”
    “ What do you mean? No, I don’t.”
    She took a water-logged piece of paper out of her suit top. “Oh yes you do. Look.”
    I grabbed the dissolving pink filaments and stared. On it was a list of candidates to vote for Senior Ball royalty. My name, the third one listed, jumped out at me under the heading Senior Ball Queen.
    “ Where’d you get this? Georgia? Georgia!”
    She just laughed and swam away from me. With tepid cheeks, I looked around at the other swimmers who’d started their warm-up, curious grins on their faces. Apparently, this wasn’t a joke and explained all the staring.

6
FIN

    Unsure where to go the next morning, I hung out by the palace—the place I was supposed to meet Azor the night before—and waited. Standing him up wasn’t the most brilliant plan, but I wasn’t thinking straight last night. A steady stream of females went inside while the mermen headed towards a sandy field behind the palace. I drifted in their direction, looking for a familiar face.
    The crystal ball shot sunlight into the city, making my tail ache to change back. Rarely did we spend the night in Natatoria, let alone the next day. Normally, we hung out in our retrofitted basement swimming pool with easy access to the lake through the hatch.
    Unused to being solidly underwater, I attributed Natatoria’s atmosphere to the claustrophobia that slowly started to choke me. But what I missed most was coffee, something impossible to brew, let alone drink down here. Plus the few pieces of fish I’d eaten for breakfast had already burned through me and I craved some substance like French toast or pancakes.
    If it wasn’t for Dad’s mission, I’d be on the deck of the Empress right now, sipping a good Sumatra and showing tourists the bay in full sunlight. Instead I was listening to some guy named Chauncey explain the rules for today’s hand-to-fin combat tournament. The only reason I paid attention was because the winner got a golden trophy cup filled with rubies—not a bad reward.
    When Chauncey finished his rhetoric, I floated among the group, trying to look like I fit in. Where was Azor?
    “ Aye, son,” a redheaded merman with a thick Irish accent said. “You’d be Jack’s son, right?”
    “ Yeah,” I said, unsure if that was a good thing.
    Without hesitation, he swam over and gave me a bear hug. “I’m Badger. Good to meet ya. You’ll be my partner today. How’s that?”
    “ Okay.” I guess.
    I followed him over to the edge of the field. Memories of Dad talking to me about him vaguely came to mind.
    “ What’s with you, lad?” Badger asked.
    I pressed my thumb against my temple, willing away my caffeine headache. “Don’t you ever crave something other than fish?”
    Badge threw his mane of hair back into the current and laughed. “Aye, lad. Every day. I’d love me a thick Guinness right about now and me mum’s fried shredded potato.”
    His full-bodied holler echoed over the field, which lightened my spirits. “That does sound good.”
    “ Ya missin’ the food from the Pacific already, aye?” He raised one hairy eyebrow.
    “ Dad’s on a mission, so I’m stuck here training on temporary assignment until he returns.”
    “ That’s what I’ve heard. Well, we aren’t half as bad as ya think, but then, most of these boys would start blubberin’ like wee girls at the first sign of combat.” Badger flared his fin to reveal the deadly barbs just under the surface. “You’re