Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,30

didn’t know.

She’s kind of like a little kid, honestly...”

“Are you okay?” asked Cruz.

“I’m alive,” I said, wincing at the splitting pain in my head when I focused my eyes.

“You’re lucky,” Megan intoned ominously.

I rolled my eyes at her, eliciting a fresh wave of head-pounding agony, “Anyway, what happened after that– how did I get here?”

Cruz explained that some beach goers found me lying on the sand with blue lips. “They freaked out, thinking you were dead,” he said solemnly. “A nurse came by and realized you still had a pulse– they rushed you here in an ambulance.” He swallowed hard, “Mom was so worried when you didn’t make it home she had everyone she knew out looking for you.”

“Even Ethan was out looking,” Megan added meaningfully.

Cruz went on to tell me how I was near death, well under ninety degrees, when they received me.

“They thought you were a goner,” he said.

I groaned, “Your mom thinks I tried to kill myself.”

Megan went on to explain that they’d found my bag at the end of the cement ship and thought that I must have jumped. Worst of all, I’d been out of it for well over twenty-four hours and we’d all missed the first day of school. It was the talk of the town.

Abby hurried back into the room, a bespectacled snowy haired physician in tow.

“Well, young lady, you sure had us worried,” said the doctor with false cheeriness.

I smiled reassuringly, aware they were watching me for signs of suicidal tendencies.

“Thank you so much for all of your help,” I said brightly. “I can’t believe how clumsy I am!”

“You’re very lucky they brought you here in time,” he said sternly.

I looked at him with limpid eyes, “You saved my life,” I said breathily, remembering how Evie laid on the charm when she really wanted something from someone. To my amazement it worked.

“It’s all in a day’s work, my dear,” he said, puffing up with self-importance.

Abby and the doctor seemed reasonably satisfied with my performance. They herded Megan and Cruz out the door and explained that I would be staying another day or two for

“observation”. It had been arranged for me to start school the following Monday, giving me a full week to recover. The doctor bustled out, leaving me alone with Abby.

“Please, please don’t tell dad,” I begged her.

“I can’t promise that,” she said. “But I’ll let you call and tell him what happened.”

“Fair enough,” I replied.

She wanted to stay the night but I told her she should go home. I was all of a sudden weary and wanted to be left alone. She reluctantly agreed and said she’d be back first thing in the morning. She kissed me again on both cheeks and left.

I really was tired, and I rolled over on my side, turning away from the door, finally alone to face the truth. Unbidden tears stung my eyes and rolled down my cheeks as I recalled what Lorelei had said about my mother. How else could I understand Lorelei when Megan and Cruz couldn’t? According to Lorelei, the mother I had so often wondered about was one of them– a mermaid. Just thinking it made me feel faint, but somehow I knew with every fiber of my being that it was the truth.

In my research, I’d found many tales of mermaids who’d fallen in love with handsome young men. They gave up their lives in the ocean and split their tails apart in searing agony to be with their lovers, who often disappointed them. Could I be the product of such a union?

The crushing sorrow that overcame me was utterly devastating. I was in a strange bed, completely alone, my body racked with involuntary sobs. I mourned for my mother, and for my father who couldn’t even bear to think about her. I was lost in my grief for the things that I had never had.

I felt a hand on my back.

Startled, I sat bolt upright and turned to look into Ethan’s worried blue eyes. I couldn’t run and I didn’t know what to say, so I twisted around and lay back down, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

“Marina,” he said haltingly, “I know sometimes it feels hopeless...” his voice was gentle,

“and you think you’ll never feel happy ever again, and I– I just want you to know that you can always talk to me. I understand how–”

“Stop!” I blurted out, horrified, “I did not try to... hurt myself.” I sat back up and looked at