Skipping the Scales by Pete Tarsi

Author:Pete Tarsi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mermaid, high school, magical realism, folklore, summer vacation, bodyswap, fantasy contemporary, fantasy about a mermaid, girls teens
Publisher: Pete Tarsi

~ Chapter Eighteen ~

From the distance, Finn said, “There is nothing terribly unsafe about the waters ahead. Only a smack of jellies in the vicinity.” Then he turned and swam back to Lorelei and Hailey.

“What’s a smack?” Hailey asked Lorelei, who torpedoed forward to meet her father.

“I do not understand why Ray wishes to relocate the school.” Lorelei slowed herself and gestured out to the open ocean. “These waters are to the northeast, farther away from the land.”

“That may be the point,” replied Finn. “Ray does not want us to be so close to land.”

Catching up, Hailey breathlessly asked, “What’s a—?”

“We would be more than a day’s swim away when Hailey has to go back home.” Lorelei turned to Hailey, who appeared confused. “I know what you are thinking, Hailey, but if we stay in the cave while the rest of the school migrates, Ray will grow suspicious.”

Hailey flailed her hands in the water. “That’s not what I’m thinking. What’s a—?”

“And that is why we must find some fault with these waters.” Finn put his arm around his daughter. “Even if we have to fabricate a reason.”

“I am sure we can pull the scales over his eyes.” Lorelei smirked deviously. “Meet you back here before sunset?”

They nodded at each other and then separated, swimming away in opposite directions. Hailey quickly headed after Finn, but then turned around to follow Lorelei, and then turned one more time before giving up and screaming, “O-M-G! Will someone please tell me what on earth a smack is?”

Turning around, Lorelei gestured for Hailey to join her. “A smack is the name for a group of jellyfish, just as a group of dolphins is a pod.”

Hailey’s mouth opened wide. “Oh! Makes sense. Silly word for it, though. But like a group of mers is a school?”

“Yes,” said Lorelei, swimming northward. “Come help me find reasons not to move to these waters.”

Hailey followed. “Like a group of sheep is called a flock. Or a group of geese is a gaggle!”

“Now that is a silly word.”

Lorelei started scouting north of where they left Finn and then methodically made her way to the east. Unsure what they were even looking for, Hailey wasn’t much help so she blithely swam about and enjoyed the freedom of open water. Always keeping Lorelei in view, Hailey tried swimming in different patterns such as figure-eights, corkscrews, and full loop-de-loops—anything that would give her practice and experience for when she became a professional mermaid performer at an aquarium or water park. She even mastered a variation of the backstroke with her hands resting behind her head while she flipped her orange fluke and watched the sun slowly cross the sky.

When the girls reunited with Finn before sunset, they shared their findings. No recent signs of humans other than scattered refuse at the ocean’s floor either from boat wreckage or littering. No dangerous animals other than the smack of jellyfish at the outskirts of the area.

They headed back toward the cave but were met by Ray.

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