Spec
I could do nothing but stumble, both physically
and on my words. While I mustered what to say to a freaking
mermaid (and failed), I had gradually drifted backwards until I met the blockade of the sinks. Naturally, she was absolutely and utterly beautiful, but she was absolutely and utterly
scary as well. My mind couldn't refrain from conjuring up images of the kind of sea women who lured men to their deaths in place of Disney's
The Little Mermaid. Which folklore story held the truth?
Just in case mermaids weren't as sweet and innocent as Disney led us to believe, I continued to press myself against the sinks until my
butt ended up in one--and it was an automatic.
Instantaneously, the sink started spurting out water at full force, dousing my nether regions and its neighbors until my own
bones felt drenched. I blushed furiously--both with embarrassment and fright--as I realized I had just made a fool out of myself in front of either a pretty fish lady or a siren of some sort that would soon kill me. "I'm sorry!" I apologized once again, fusing my eyes shut in a way to embrace my fate.
"It's fine," a voice cut through my "final" moments. I opened my eyes slowly and carefully, gaping with surprise as she asked, "What's your name?"
Disney! I thought in relief, my shoulders slumping as I was finally able to breathe outward again. I didn't care that my entire back
and lower half were soaked; I was alive! But now I had to deal with her question: my name.
"Um, my name..." I faltered. "Ummmm...my
name......about that........."
Fortunately, I had taken so long in fumbling for my response that she queried, "Why are you wearing a boy's uniform?"
Not so fortunate after all.
"So many questions..." I said distractedly, heaving myself out of the sink and inching towards the exit. Disney mermaid or not, I needed to get out of there soon, before she grew suspicious.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" The sea maiden's eyes lit up as she regained her legs and got to her newly-formed feet. "My name is Cailyn." Her sapphire eyes shimmered. "Please don't tell anyone. Please!" I knew she was referring to her tail.
For a moment, I abandoned my escape plan and gave Cailyn a genuine smile. "Don't worry, miss--I won't tell anyone."
After a minute of grinning like a total idiot, she asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Of course.
And that was all it took for me to high-tail out of there--not before I had set off all of the dryers, that is! The din of those devices echoed down the hall with me, continuing to ring in my ears even after the sound had ceased.