Droplets (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

     “Finally, you’re back!” My step-mom called from the door, her eyes kindled with the excitement she had passed onto each of her children. Her hand rested on her increasingly large belly, which had grown even more since we had been away.

     We all took turns greeting her and paraded into the house, Aaron grunting as he stumbled and dragged my bag across the ground. His face was a mask of determination, refusing help from anyone who offered.

     Entering the house, I scanned the kitchen; everything in the wide white-cabinet room was in place. The blinds of all the windows were open, revealing a vast view of the ocean and its rolling waves. Sunlight spilled through the windows onto the seashell-filled jars, which were out of reach from the younger children.

     The large space opened up into a living room with cream couches, and wooden furniture in a distressed turquoise. Books were stacked on old bookcases, creating a studious and yet comfortable environment. Dominating the room was a stone hearth fireplace, where we often gathered in the winter with hot chocolate. Along the back wall of the living room rose a staircase which led to a small balcony and the many bedrooms up above.

     “Withie!” A loud screech came from the kitchen table, coming from a curly-haired little boy in a booster chair clapping his hands together. Justin, as always, was bouncing up and down with excitement to see me. For some reason I was his favorite, and I knew he had his own special place above everyone else in my heart. At three years old, he loved to follow me anywhere in the house, always accompanying me while I read, finished homework, or simply listened to music.

     Letting go of the girls’ hands I walked over to the table to give him a hug and kiss. I then kissed his younger brother Kaleb on the cheek. Kaleb was the youngest at fifteen-months old. The youngest until the new baby arrived, anyway. And by the looks of Jillian’s belly that might come sooner rather than later.

     “Here, go ahead and sit,” Jillian gestured to the table while tucking her dark brown hair behind her ear, a habit she was unaware of. “I’ll whip up a batch of pancakes for all of you.” She waddled her way to the stove while Dad protested, saying she should rest and get off her feet. I knew how that conversation would go.

      On the table were the beginnings of breakfast, half cut pancakes and syrupy plates were scattered all over the place. It was Saturday morning and this was home, for the first time since I had been thrown overboard I truly felt myself relax. 

     After a long breakfast, we retired to the living room to watch a movie. I plopped on the couch, letting Justin totter toward me and scramble onto my lap. He fit comfortably against my body, and his small weight was reassuring.   

     Placing a tiny, sticky hand upon mine, he looked up at me. I glanced down into his sunshiny face knowing what he wanted.  With a quick move I placed my mouth against his neck and blew, giving him a raspberry and making an unpleasant sound against his skin. He laughed with glee, clapping his chubby little hands together.

     Caitlin nudged my side, “Can we watch a movie now?” Her gaze was pleading, something she was able to do quite easily with her large brown eyes.

     “Sure,” I said, shrugging in acceptance. She darted away with Sara in tow to the movie cabinet. Aaron walked over with them bickering, about the movie they were choosing.

      “Did you pick a good one?” I asked jokingly, when they rushed back to the couch with dazzlingly bright smiles on their young faces. Caitlin nodded, causing her curly-pony tail to bounce up and down, while Sara giggled. Aaron frowned even more, and I waited for the girls to reveal which movie was chosen. If I had a guess it would be one with a princess.

     “Well, let me see it.” I stuck my hand out, but being dramatic as always, Caitlin made a show of sliding the movie out slowly from behind her back. With a sudden burst of uncontainable excitement her partner in crime yelled, “It’s
The Little Mermaid
!”

     Behind me in the kitchen something, heavy hit the floor, while Caitlin berated Sara for ruining the surprise. I glanced over the couch, noting how Dad stood frozen in the kitchen, his eyes fixated upon me. The word that had slipped so loudly from Sara’s mouth affected him more than it had me.

     “Randall, are you okay? You look really pale.” Jillian walked over to him and rubbed his back. Derek and Sean both stood like statues, their hands frozen in mid-air with dirty plates and syrup-covered silverware. For a half second more they stood transfixed, and then, as though the frozen-flash mob was over, they moved in unison.

     “Whoops, I have such butterfingers.” Dad said in a normal and calm voice. Without another moment’s hesitation he scooped the pieces of the broken platter off the ground and placed them on the counter. The twins slipped to the sink and rinsed the plates without a glance toward me or Dad.    

     I was impressed by their antics—their actions didn’t cause the ever-aware Jillian to suspect anything. All three of them were able to hide their feelings better than I was. The mistakenly dropped word had thrust me back into the fear of my unknown future. It was my new reality and one I did not want to face, especially in this home where so many happy memories rested in the light-colored walls.

     “Hey! Can we watch the movie now?” Sara looked at me, tugging on my sleeve. I tried to get rid of the lump that was lodged in my throat as I realized I would not be there to watch her grow up. The thought made me want to lock myself in my room and cry. I took a steadying breath.

     “Sara, use your manners.” She mumbled please and waited for my answer. “How about we watch something else,” no matter how hard I tried I knew I wouldn’t be able to say the word mermaid. “It’s a good one, but what about Aaron? He wants to watch too and that’s kind of a girly movie. So why don’t we watch something everyone will be happy with?”

     Mumbled “okays” were the response to my request, but I didn’t care. There was no way I was going to make it through watching
The Little Mermaid
without pulling my hair out.

     After much debate,
Toy Story
was decided and before long the familiar jokes and scenes played before my eyes. Midway through, Derek and Sean joined us acting as normal as possible. They laughed, looked surprised, and got scared in all the right parts. This was all for the amusement of the younger ones. At one point Sean was hiding behind a pillow as though scared of the evil child Sid, who switched the heads of a pterodactyl dinosaur toy and a doll.

     When the movie finally came to an end, I stood very carefully with a sleeping Justin on my shoulder. Jillian entered from the kitchen shaking her head.

     “That boy just goes and goes until he wears himself out.” She smiled, “Would you do me a favor and put him in his crib? Kaleb is already up there.”

     When I nodded my reply she said thanks, and I headed for the stairs. I could feel Derek’s and Sean’s eyes boring into my back. I climbed the stairs with care and was half way up when I heard the following footsteps of the twins. Carrying the sleeping toddler into the room he shared with Kaleb, I placed him in his bed.

     After giving him a kiss on the forehead, I walked to my room and found both twins waiting for me. Sean sat on the edge of my large bed, forearms resting on legs, and Derek leaned against the window ledge with his hands in his pockets. 

     Taking a deep breath I looked at both of them, the water filling my eyes quickly. I shut my door softly and headed for a seat next to Sean on the bed. It was time to get all this pain and frustration out into the open.

_______________

     I lay in bed that night thinking of the things Derek and Sean had said. Staring up at the ceiling I secretly hoped it would swallow me whole and take me away from the fate that awaited me; the very fate I never wanted to meet.

     The conversation with Derek and Sean had been awkward. None of us knew how to address the situation, and I was hard pressed to try to act as though nothing had changed. The problem was everything had changed. I was no longer the same; the sister they had grown up with was no longer me.

     When Sean finally breached the silence and tried to be serious about what had happened, something snapped and I could not stop myself from laughing. The situation was so absurd and we felt silly speaking of creatures which used to only exist in our childhood imaginations. Somehow the laughter eased the tension, bringing us back together to how we used to be. For just a moment in time I was able to forget about the fate awaiting me. I was able to just laugh with my brothers, giving me some peace of mind and helping me feel as though I was still the same person inside, no matter what would end up happening to me.

     I rolled onto my side annoyed that I couldn’t fall asleep. My mind was buzzing with different ideas. I had to admit that even though I was disgusted with the idea of becoming a mermaid, I was also curious. I wondered if I would be able to move as fast in the water as the merman had. The speed he had moved at was incredible, no motor boat would have been able to keep up.
Would I be able to do that?
And what about the blades in his arms, would those come out of my arms too? It was all so scary and yet amusing at the same time. I rolled over to my back and giggled.

     The image in my mind of me being a mermaid was too funny. I conjured up a mixed picture between Ariel, from
The Little Mermaid
with puffy, red hair and bright purple seashells, and a half naked woman with fins, sprawled across a rock with long hair covering her breasts.

     My mind surged with curiosity, refusing to calm itself. I wondered whether my body would look entirely different, but I remembered the merman had stood and then had sprouted fins in the water. The anticipation was too much.

     With a sudden surge of excitement, fear, and curiosity I made my way to the bathroom. The faucet squeaked as I turned the knob to the bathtub, and I cringed at the sound. As I watched the water fill the tub, a nervous bubble built in my stomach.

     When the water was high enough, I leaned over and turned the faucet off. It became incredibly silent and eerie. The water was placid, unmoving and yellow-tinged from the color of the ivory tub. I bit my lip in worry about what was going to happen. Part of me wanted to drain the water and go back to bed; but the other part knew I would never fall asleep until my curiosity had been quenched.

     I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I had locked the door to the bathroom. Cautiously, I slipped out of my clothes, not sure why I was doing this in the middle of the night. Inching my way closer and closer to the tub, as though it was going to bite me, I lifted one leg, and quickly placed it in the water, to get it over with.

     It was the strangest feeling I had ever experienced. The water was around my leg, pressing up against it, but there was a barrier between my skin and the water. It was as though the liquid could not really touch me, as if I was covered in water repellent. I could feel the water around my leg, but it didn’t soak into my skin.

     Again testing the new abilities of my body, I pulled my foot back out. The water rushed down my leg with speed, as though nothing got in its way as it slipped down to the rug on the floor. I leaned over to touch my skin and feel if it was wet. I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be, but logic told me it had to be wet. My fingers brushed against perfectly dry, smooth skin. Shock surged through me, as the weight of what I had become sank in.

     I stepped into the tub with the same leg I had used before. The rest of my body followed and I sank down into the water until the surface reached my shoulders.

     I waited, expecting something to happen. Maybe for my legs to become glued together and sprout fins. Nothing changed. I decided maybe I needed to be entirely wet. I slid down into the tub and went all the way under. Again I waited, and again nothing happened. I came up for air.

     Oddly, disappointment flushed my soul. Up until this moment I had not realized how much I desired my transformation. It had only been three days since I was changed but the merman had said I would be different immediately. A lump wedged its way into my throat while I tried to laugh away my embarrassment and frustration. 

     I sunk into the water again, this time keeping my head above the surface. I was in total comfort in the water, as though I was one with it. The water was neither hot nor cold, but rather a comfortable warm, even though I knew I filled the tub with hot water. I wondered if this was how the merman had withstood the cold water of the ocean so well.

     My mind was filled with visions of what the merman had looked like. I didn’t think of him because I was attracted to him, but because I was attracted to the idea of what he was. I longed to be like him, out in the ocean just swimming. The feelings were so desperate; I had such a pressing need to swim. It was a primal urge like I had never known before that took over my thoughts. My body responded, my fingers tingling, my legs pressing tightly together even though nothing changed. My lungs strained to take a breath underwater, but the logical part of my mind refused to believe that I wouldn’t choke.

     Resurfacing with a gasping breath, a flicker of light caught my attention. Looking down into the water I gasped at the sight on my skin. The cut, which the merman had placed on my hip, was shimmering with a soft, almost transparent, lavender glow. Like a stained-glass window, it refracted any light that touched it into lavender shimmers.