“Last one in is a rotten egg!” Ben shouted as he dove off the right side of the boat.

Sheryl stripped down to her bathing suit and dove in after her brother. The frigid water quickly enveloped her, filling her ears and chilling her to the bone. She broke the surface with a shriek. “Geez! This is cold. What was I thinking?”

“Baby!” Ben taunted.

“Am not!” she shouted back and splashed him. “Are so!” he jeered and splashed her back.

“Stop splashing! You’ll attract sharks!” Sheryl shouted, watching the water nervously for any sight of marine life. She did not like being in open water, bobbing at the surface like bait on a hook, but the chilly ocean was a refreshing change from the harsh sunlight.

Sheryl looked away for a moment. No sharks were in sight. Then she heard a small splash. A fish, I hope, she thought. When she looked around, she could not see her brother anywhere. “Ben!” she called. “Where are you?” He did not answer.

“Ben!” she shouted louder. Sheryl whipped her head left and right, nervously treading water. He was nowhere in site.

Frantically, she swam around the other side of the boat. Ben was there with his back to her.

“Ben! What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me?” she demanded. “You scared me half to death!”

“I found something,” he said, turning to face her. Ben was treading water with one hand held behind his back. “You won’t believe it.”

When he said that, Sheryl’s mind raced. Many things end up in the ocean. Most are not very interesting. Ben seemed excited, but knowing him, it was probably a dead fish or something like that.

“Ok, I give,” she said. “What did you find?”

“A bottle,” he said. “It looks like there is something in it.”

“A what?” Sheryl was so angry with him for not answering. She thought that he could have, should have let her know that he did not drown. “Just put it in the boat. We’ll look at it later.” She turned, swimming a few feet from the boat.

Sheryl heard another splash. Suddenly, something smooth brushed against her leg and grabbed her left foot. Sheryl screamed and kicked. She was terrified of being dragged under. Sheryl turned her head quickly looking for Ben. He was missing again.

She panicked and kicked again; dislodging whatever attached itself to her foot. Ben erupted from the water beside her, gasping for air.

He coughed a few times. “I gotchya!” he shouted, grinning as if he did something clever. Then to top it off, he mocked her even more with his, “Ha, ha!”

Sheryl gave him a long, cold stare. “Not funny, Ben.”

Ben continued to laugh. “Ha, Ha! I got you, Sheryl!” he shouted. “You were scared. Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat. Sheryl is a scaredy-cat.”

“C’mon, Ben. Let’s get out,” she said, ignoring his taunts. “I have a bad feeling.”

“About what?” he asked.

“How about big nasty fish and sharks with sharp teeth and a huge appetite?” Sheryl looked into the opaque water below her. She could not see anything but her legs.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “We’re in the middle of the ocean! Mom said that most fish hang around the coasts.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Sheryl said. “C’mon, let’s get out.”

She swam toward the boat. Reaching the side, she attempted to pull herself up. The boat tipped sharply, and she let go. “Ben, I need you to hold down the other side while I get in,” she said. There was no response. “Ben!”

Sheryl swam around the boat. He was not there either. Thinking that he was up to one of his pranks again, she went under water, swam the length of the boat, and resurfaced. “Ben!” she shouted. There was no answer. She started to cry. Even though her brother was a pest, she did not want to lose him. Sheryl was about to shout again, but she was pulled under.

Hands pulled her into deeper water. Sheryl opened her eyes and she saw a woman’s face surrounded by long, red flowing hair. A mermaid? Sheryl temporarily forgot her fright and stared in awe. The mermaid was smiling, and she had a long greenish-blue tail that shimmered in the sunlight. I must be dreaming, she thought. Sheryl frantically signaled that she could not breathe under water. The mermaid ignored her and pulled her down. This can’t be happening. It’s got to be a dream, Sheryl thought.

As she went deeper and deeper, she held her breath, allowing small bubbles to escape occasionally. Sheryl noticed mountains, colorful mountains covered in multi-colored coral of yellows, oranges, and reds. And just when she thought that she could hold her breath no longer, the mermaid pulled her into a cave, down a short tunnel, and into a larger chamber. Sheryl’s head broke the surface of the water, and she gasped for air.

On the bank of the cave, Ben sat stuffing his face with vile-looking green, yellow, and gray slimy things. Sheryl sighed deeply, happy to see that her brother was alive and well. He was alone. And of course, he was cramming food, if you can call it that, down his throat and into the bottomless pit he calls his stomach.

I wonder where all the mermaids are, she thought, scanning the inside of the cave. The mermaid who had brought her to the cave turned and left, with a small splash from her tail. Sheryl and Ben were alone.

“Hey, Sheryl,” he said. Something green dribbled down his chin, and he wiped it off with his arm.

She swam to the bank and crawled up beside him. The food smelled heavily of salt, and most of it had a slimy green consistency. It looked absolutely gross, but Ben was enjoying it. The rumble in Sheryl’s stomach sounded like distant thunder.

“Here, have some of this,” Ben said, handing her a shell full of slippery gray stuff, “it’s…”

“Don’t tell me,” Sheryl said, making a sour face. “I don’t want to know.” She slowly tasted a small amount of the gray stuff. It was a little chewy and very salty, but it tasted good. She ate more, ignoring the feeling of snot sliding down her throat as she slurped the remaining slop from the shell. She continued to eat, sampling various things – some slimy, some crunchy. She ate only what she did not recognize. She avoided anything that had eyes or had any resemblance to living creatures.

“It’s time to go,” Ben said.

“But, I just got here,” Sheryl replied. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked across the water. “Hey where’s the light coming from? Why can we see?”

“I think there are some sort of glowing rocks down here,” Ben said, pointing at the pool of water. “Kind of like the light sticks we use during Halloween.” He stood and wiped his hands on his swimsuit. “Anyway, the mermaids want us to go now. They said that we’d be rescued soon.” He pointed to the mermaid who appeared at the edge of the cave. She was smiling.

“They talked to you?” Sheryl asked. She looked for the mermaid. She was gone again. When did the mermaids talk to him? “What else did they say? Why did they bring us here?”

“I don’t know… they said it was important for us to know.” Ben dove into the water and swam to the middle of the pool. “C’mon, Sheryl. It’s time to go!”

“Know what?” she asked, but it was too late. He had already ducked under the water. She stood and quickly dove in after him.

Taking a big breath, she sank below the surface and followed her brother’s skinny white legs into the tunnel. Sheryl was a stronger swimmer, so she caught up to him easily. Ben and Sheryl left the cave and slowly swam to the surface. The boat had drifted only a small distance.

“Hold onto the other side so I can get in, Ben,” Sheryl pulled herself up and over the side of the boat and then helped Ben in. He immediately found the bottle and held it up.

“They didn’t even say goodbye,” Sheryl said, staring at the water. She wished that the mermaids had spoken to her. They will probably never see a mermaid again. “What did they want us to know?”

Ben just shrugged and proceeded to open the bottle. He pulled out a note and held it for Sheryl to read. She could scarcely believe her eyes. The note just said, “Wake up!”

Her mouth dropped, and she looked up at Ben. He just shrugged.

“Wake up, Sheryl.”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

Sheryl felt someone tapping her shoulder. It brought her back to reality. She stretched and flung her covers off. Then, she opened her eyes.

“It’s time to wake up,” said Ben. “I want to show you something. I found a bottle on the beach.”

The End

Natisha LaPierre is a freelance writer and a stay at home mom. She enjoys the art of storytelling and writing for children. She moved 22 times and lived in seven different states before she settled down in Rochester, New York. Currently, Natisha lives with her husband, two children, and two cats. When she is not playing with her children, reading books, or cleaning her house, she writes. Find out more about her at www.natisha.us.

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