Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,28

Abby left I cleaned up the kitchen and wandered out to the beach. Cruz was working and Megan was back-to-school shopping with her mom. I was on my own.

The beach was always crowded on Sundays, and since this was the last day before school started it was particularly busy. I picked my way through the umbrellas and beach towels crowding the dry sand, wrinkling my nose at the mingled aromas of suntan lotion and cigarette smoke. People playing with Frisbees shared the wet sand with headphone wearing joggers. Dogs splashed into the surf to retrieve sticks, bounding out of the ocean to shake off great arching sprays of cold water, rudely drenching unsuspecting sun-worshipers.

I walked through a chorus of blasting boom boxes to see little tribes of children building sand castles at the water’s edge. I smiled, watching them doggedly trying to dig holes to China before finally giving up and filling them with water brought from the sea in colorful plastic buckets.

Heading out towards the ship, I watched a couple of families strolling on the pier and taking pictures of each other leaning against the railings. The last thing I expected to see was Lorelei.

Considering her shyness, I knew she wouldn’t be hanging around the ruins on such a busy day.

I was wrong.

When I wandered to the fence and looked down, her head popped up immediately.

“Lorelei! ” I blurted out in shock.

She laughed, and it sounded like wind chimes. I looked around, but no one else had noticed her. I scooted to the edge of the chain link and glanced over my shoulder.

“Marina! ” she called with a brilliant smile.

“We need to talk, ” I stage whispered. She looked over at the edge of the fence.

“Come over here, ” she said, with a beckoning wave.

“How? ” I wondered, for there were more and more people coming down the stairs towards us. She smiled, and swimming over to a bobbing sea lion, she whispered something into its ear.

Suddenly the sea lions all disappeared underwater. A few seconds later there was a barking commotion on the opposite side of the boat. All the people ran across the deck to get a look at what was going on. I could see them pointing and laughing at whatever the sea lions were doing.

No one looked in our direction.

Sheesh, she can talk to animals, I thought. She gestured for me to come around the fence, which extended out over the water to prevent just that. I set my bag down on the deck, and looked around again.

Gathering my courage, I clung onto the fence, slipping the toes of my ballet flats into the links step by step. The sea lion commotion continued as I slowly picked my way around the fence. For a split second it occurred to me that this was a really dumb idea, but curiosity triumphed over rationality and I kept going. Once I had maneuvered around and climbed down onto a concrete chunk she swam close.

“Come! ” she said, beckoning me into the water.

“But I can’t swim! ” I exclaimed.

“I can swim for you, ” she said, and before I could protest she scooped me up like Ethan had and flung us into the surf. The water was shockingly cold, and we stayed under for much too long. When we surfaced I was gasping for air. We had cleared the boat by a good fifty yards and were further out to sea than even the surfers went.

“I know a place we can go, ” she said, and with a tight grip on me dove under again. My mind raced. I had read legends of mermaids who maliciously drowned humans. I knew I was going to die and they would probably chalk it up to another sleeper wave. Ethan would really think I was an idiot. I thought of how sad my father would be. We broke through the surface again.

“Stop! ” I managed to gasp. We went under again. Now I was really afraid. I tried to pry her hands off of me but the glacial water was rushing by so quickly that I could barely move. I held my breath as long as I could and just as the dizziness set in we broke through the surface. She grinned at me, and then noticing my terrified expression, paused.

“I... I need to breathe,” I gasped, “Air, ” I added.

She smiled again, wild and beautiful, “I know,” she said, and dove underwater with me. This time she came up a bit