The sand was hot beneath my feet. My family and I had just arrived not only five minutes ago and I had wandered off to the waves. If I had turned around I could have seen the house over the small mountain of sand. It was beautiful. The way the waves came in contact with the earth. We were here to celebrate my step-mom’s fortieth birthday which was just a few days before. It felt as though hours had passed but in reality it had been minutes. The sound of Florence and the Machine’s Cosmic Love made me pull my eyes from the water to look at my screen with the word,”pops” flashed across the top and the answer button at the bottom.
I slid my finger across the screen and pressed the phone to my ear. “Come change. We are going to set up down at the beach and will need your help.” My father’s voice rang through my ears as I turned to look up seeing him on the porch looking at me.”Alright i’ll be up in a second,” was the last thing I said before ending the call and walking up to the small bridge that lead to the house we would be staying at for the next three days. I entered the house seeing my aunts and uncle putting bags together while my brother and cousin play Fifa. I got changed into my bathing suit and exited the room. My step-mom was now in the living room with my aunts and my sister getting the food put away with my father.
I grabbed a couple bags and made my way down to the beach with my family following. We picked a spot and eventually got settled down. The rest of the day was spent lounging around and just having a fun time. Towards five I had spotted storm clouds in the distance. I had warned my father just in time as the wind started to pick up causing the sand to pierce my skin. Then came the rain. It beat against our backs as we grabbed the rest of our stuff and headed back up the small bridge where we had came from only a few hours before.Once we had reached the house we washed the sand from our body’s and ran up the stairs towards the door while the rain pounded against our bodies feeling as though the rain drops were small needles.
We rushed inside grabbing towels to dry ourselves with. I could still feel the rain and sand pounding against my shoulders. I walked into the room putting on dry clothes and putting the bathing suit and towel into the washing machine. I stepped out of the room seeing that everyone else had done the same as I had. I walked across the room and sat down in front of the large window in the living room just watching the rain pound against everything that it could reach. There was something there. I could see it as the waves became restless growing larger by the minute. It stayed between the breaks in the waves being swallowed by every new wave the ocean created. Then it was gone and all I could hear were my own thoughts and the mixed sound of conversation with rain. It was peaceful.
The rain didn’t stop for another couple hours. But by the time it did stop the adults were getting ready for bed along with my sister while my brother, cousin, and I sat in the living room Oh well if you need me to shut up just tell me and playing Fifa. I had wandered outside sometime during the boys long conversation of sports and stood staring out into the open water wondering, searching for something below the dark surface. Then it appeared. The same object i had seen earlier that day. It moved towards the sand swiftly. I had to know what lied beneath the surface of the water.
Swiftly I walked down the stairs and across the path. When sand reached my toes I looked around searching for the object. Then it appeared larger than I had seen from the balcony. Slowly I moved towards it trying to see if I could identify the object. Then it turned to face me. Its eyes looking straight into my blue ones. A gasp escaped my throat as I could now see the creature.
She had beautiful, long blonde hair that reached just past her waist. Her skin was almost a pale color with the tint of pink across her cheeks and it seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. Her dark blue eyes danced in the moonlight with the millions of stars draped across the sky. She wore jewels and sea shells across her wrist, neck and head. Two dark blue shells covered her chest. Scales traveled down her stomach here and there with tones of green and blues. Then at her waist all her skin stopped and scales the color of the dark night water mixed with different colors and designs started until they ended at a point.
“Mermaid,’ was the only word I could muster. “Are you afraid,” she said in a silk voice. Shaking my head no,”just surprised,” I said still stuck to the sand. “I am Aglaia, I won’t hurt you I was just lonely and you looked lonely too so I thought I should bring you some company.”She smiled at me with her pearly white teeth. I stepped forward “I’m Ashlynn,” I said looking down at her and smiling as well. “Want to sit with me Ashlynn?” I nodded replying to her question and stepped forward and sat beside her grabbing the sand beside me and letting it sit in my hand.
“Well Ashlynn, tell me about yourself,” and that’s what I did. We talked for a few hours about anything and everything until I felt myself start to drift. “Are you tired?” she asked seeing my eyes start to open and close slowly. I shook my head yes and looked at her,” then go on up to bed sweetheart.” “Will I ever see you again,” I asked still looking into her eyes. “I don’t know but if you ever need me again just blow into this,” she handed me a conch shell and smiled down at me ,”Thank you for this and talking with me. Goodnight,” I said standing dusting off the sand and grabbing the shell.”Goodnight Ashlynn, I hope to see you again,”She looked back at me once more before going back into the water.
“So do I,” I whispered. I looked into the water for the last time that night and turned going back up to the house. I entered the living room to see the boys still in the same spots as I had left them in. “How was the beach?” my brother asked as I walked into the kitchen, looking at the clock to see it was three thirty in the morning. “How was the beach,” my brother asked again pausing the game and turning to me.”It was beautiful.” I grabbed my cup walking into the room not saying anymore about my little adventure and sat down watching them play.
Around four that morning we had stopped all conversation, also leaving the x-box waiting for the next time it’s controllers would be touched. I had gotten ready for bed and covered myself with the warm sheets as I felt my muscles relax as memories of the day replayed in head. I smiled as those thoughts replayed like a slide show till my mind wandered off and sleep overtook my body. The next morning we all did what we had done the day before and that’s how it was for the next couple days until we left. Getting ready for the beach and spending the day there. I can still remember some of the talks I had with the family and the laughs. I could remember the sand and the sound of the waves. The way the water looked so much darker at night and the mermaid I had met who in such a short time became like a best friend to me. The memories I took from that vacation still edged into my brain as if we had just gotten home the day before. That’s how I liked to remember moments, clearly, like they had happened just a day before and that’s how I wanted to remember this.
