MERMAID 

I’d lost interest in cataloguing algae species; two hours of it was enough. I searched around for a snack to satisfy my growling stomach until I could get home for a proper meal. A school of young bluefish swam by. I decided that a few of them would suffice and snagged two. I leaned against a rock to enjoy them when some dolphins swooshed past me screeching at me to swim away. I turned to yell at them when the bluefish all rushed at me suddenly. Were they really going to fight me? Weren’t they taught that it was the law of the sea? Everybody knew it was eat or be eaten, but something was wrong. It wasn’t just the bluefish that were rushing at me. I lost count of how many other species. When we were all jammed together and began to rise out of the ocean, it dawned on me. The upper world began to materialize, and I knew without any doubt that we’d been caught in those nasty nets the humans used. My parents had warned me repeatedly about the dangers of those nets, but I was not careful enough. 

 The ocean was vast and there were sea creatures far more wondrous than me, so you can imagine my shock when we reached the surface that everyone found me to be a true wonder. Luckily, I had mastered my glamour spell. I had been practicing sustaining it for extended periods and it was the only reason they did not see the real me. The days have come and gone so that I have lost track of how long I have been in this giant tank the humans have put me in. They were studying me; they were scientists like me. I’ve learned that the other sea creatures caught with me have since been transferred to zoos and water parks around the world. But I was a secret they wanted to keep.