Excerpt of Fish out of Water
Blowing his hair off his forehead, Brandon sinks into the bed. “Wow. That’s insane. None of this makes sense. None of this is real.” He stares at me. “You had a mermaid tail! They don’t even exist?”
“So, I’m just a figment of your imagination?”
Brandon rubs his temple. “No, I suppose that doesn’t make sense either.”
I sit down beside him, one hand clutching my towel together, and my other going to touch his shoulder in a way that I hope will ground him, or at least comfort him. “I am real. And so is my… C word. And my legacy. Which I must return to.”
“Wait…” Brandon turns to me, his eyes still wide. “You want to leave?”
“My sisters were also… C worded. I need to rescue them.” I consider adding the bit about being queen of the sea, but I figure he’s already had enough shock for one day.
Brandon nods slowly. “And you’re sisters… they’re also mermaids?”
“Yes. Though, ocean only knows what they’ve become now. I didn’t used to be able to…” I gesture toward my legs.
He follows my gesture and stares at my human appendages. “So, what exactly has to happen to break the spell or curse or whatever this is?”
“It’s a complicated… thing. Some aspects are… taken care of by, well, what we were doing before I started being able to talk again. But it’s true… you know that will eventually overcome the… issue.”
Brandon nods slowly, turning back to my face again. “Okay… so you’re saying that it’s just like the fairy-tales, and it’s…” He furrows his brows. “True love’s kiss?”
“Indeed.”
“And you’re saying that my kisses have been breaking this curse?”
“It certainly hasn’t been James’s.”
Brandon mops some mock sweat from his brow. “Well, that’s a relief. Things sure would be awkward if it were.”
I smile to see a bit of Brandon shining through the shock.
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