Hawaiian Dream

• Alistair Hawcroft, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2009

Jade and her family had won a vacation to Hawaii and her parents had let her hire a boat and go scuba diving on her own.
She checked that everything was on properly then leapt into the sapphire waters. The water was warm and she felt she could swim there forever if she didn't need the oxygen tank. She swam until she reached a bright reef with many different colours. She floated there, watching various fish swim by. Just then she noticed a figure swim towards her. As the figure swam closer she noticed details, it had webbed feet, a lot of red hair, no clothing on, which made the water around her seem to go cold, and a mischievous grin on his face. Jade let him swim up to her. When he reached her he stopped and floated there, just a couple of feet from her. She felt her arm extend towards this creature. Immediately he grabbed her wrist with both hands and wouldn't let go. She suddenly felt strange, as though something was changing. Jade didn't notice that her flippers slipped off and floated downward onto the soft sand and her legs become a long, smooth tail and her zip on the back of her wetsuit on her back disappeared. Jade was also too pre-occupied to notice that her diving mask and oxygen tank came off. However she did see her left hand transform into a webbed one and wasn't sure if she could scream. Then, suddenly the creature let go and swam off. She watched him go, then realised to her horror, that she had no breathing tools!
Jade looked down for her gear, which she saw on the sand, but also saw her new tail. She felt faint. She wouldn't be able to go to the surface now if she stayed the way she was. Jade collected her things and nearly flew towards the surface with help from her new tail. She hit the surface and was relieved greatly to find that she was human once more. She swam over to her boat and climbed aboard. She started the engine, and set off towards the shore.
That evening, when Jade had arrived back at the resort that her family was staying at, she was flicking through a book on mythological creatures, when she noticed two pages next to each other; one reading: Sea Nymph and the other: Mermaid. She began reading each page, taking in every detail. Finally, when she finished reading the top she looked at the bottom which read: Mermaids are believed to be related to Sea Nymphs for it is believed that Sea Nymphs can change a human into a mermaid. The human can change back by leaving the water but every time they re-enter water where they once were transformed they will transform back. As she put the book down, she realised that she actually felt alright when she turned into a mermaid. Well, thought Jade. I'm know where I'm going tomorrow.