Authors: Sheri L. Swift
“I’m sorry Dad; I didn’t realize that I had been under so long. How can I do that?” Lana asked confused.
“Because you’re just like her, that’s how,” her father said as his dark brown eyes stared out ahead.
“Are you talking about my mother?”
Lana was again confused.
“Yeah
, she was a rare swimmer as well. I’ll say no more about it this day,” he said in a serious tone while still staring forward.
Neither Lana nor her father spoke another word. He rowed to the
wooden
dock in front of the
old red and white k
eeper’s house where they lived. Her father went straight to the lighthouse and Lana went home. When she went upstairs to her room and looked in the mirror, she saw a smear of blood on one side of her neck. All she could think of was that she must have scraped herself on the old ship.
That night, Lana lay in bed awake wondering about all that had occurred that d
ay.
How was I
able to stay under water for so long
?
She wished that her father would just sit down and talk to her like a normal person.
Why did he always get so weird
?
Lana drifted off to sleep with a dream of the deep blue water and the turtle. It was a happy dream.
It was nearly
2:00am
when Lana woke to what she thought was the sound of a fog horn. Then she heard her father arguing with someone on the dock out front.
He has
to be drunk
again
, Lana thought.
She opened up her window and heard him yell, “I don’t care about what we agreed! I don’t care about your mating rituals! Lana is mine, you hear, stay away from her!”
Lana couldn’t hear anyone else speaking and she didn’t see anyone else on the dock with her father. She heard him yell once more, “I mean it! Stay away from her if you and the others want to stay alive!” Then her father turned around and headed towards the house. Lana saw him carrying what looked to be a large shell of some kind.
She quickly hid behind her curtain and heard him come inside and slam the front door.
He’s more drunk than he’s
ever been before
, she thought.
He didn’t mak
e any sense
. Lana laughed to herself and began to fall back asleep as she heard her father come up the stairs and enter his room across from hers.
Once more, Lana dreamed of swimming in the deep, onl
y this time
she saw herself as a mermaid. She had a blue and green glistening tail. Her top was made of two large shells attached to strings of tiny shells around her back and neck. She wore a circle of
large
grey pearls around her head like a crown. She saw herself smiling and then s
omething even stranger happened;
she sensed that it wasn’t her at all, but it was her mother and she was smiling at Lana. It was actually a comforting dream and she slept peacefully for the rest of the night.
~~~
Lana woke to the sound of seagulls as the sun
shone through her window.
Wow
what a crazy dream
, she thought. Lana wasn’t looking forward to what she knew would happen this morning. Her father would be angry that she went against his wishes and not only learned to swim, but also that she was swimming beneath the ocean. She slowly dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
On Sundays, her dad usually made them a large breakfast, it had become their tradition. She was surprised to see that he wasn’t up yet, but then remembered that he might not be feeling so great this morning. Lana began to make breakfast for them both.
Lana had waited to eat until her breakfast was nearly cold and then started without her father. She waited thirty minutes
more and he was still not up. S
he started to worry a little, this wasn’t like him. Lana went back upstairs and cautiously knocked on his door. There was no answer and she carefully opened the door. He wasn’t inside and this made Lana both relieved and a little upset, that once again, he was avoiding her. As she started to shut his door, her eyes caught sight of the large shell on h
is nightstand.
At least I didn’t imagine
that, he really was
carrying it last night. How strange all that
was
. She closed his door and then went down the hall and looked in his office. He wasn’t there either and Lana started to get pretty ang
ry.
How dare he not talk to
me
!
Why was he always running away?
She decided that she’
d go and see if she could talk to Miss Perry.
~~~~~
Miss Perry lived on the far side of the island. It was also a place that Lana’s father didn’t like her to go without him. He was so strict and Lana was getting tired of it. Today, she would go. She knew that he could see her anywhere on the island from his lighthouse. She
now
knew that he must have seen her right from the first dive
yesterday from the pier.
It’s his fault that I have
to go to someone else for ans
wers when he refuses
to give them himself.
As Lana passed the pier and came by the pavilion, her friends called out, “Lana, are we ever glad to see you!” Elaine shouted.
“Yeah, with the look on your dad’s face, we thought you might be grounded for life
.
”
Rick
smiled
.
“We wanted to stay, but your dad said that he saw you way out and that we should all get home to our parents. With the look he gave us, we knew it was best to leave
,
” Jody
chuckled
.
“
It
’
s
okay, my dad is a little strange. He was upset, but he’ll get over it
.
”
“Did you hear that the island is allowing us to use the pavilion for the prom?” Elaine asked with a wide grin.
“Wow, that’s really nice of them,” said Lana a little uncomfortable with the whole prom subject.
“Yeah, we’re all gonna
go stag and just have fun, how about you?” Jody asked.
“I don’t know
I’m pretty clumsy at everything, let alone dancing. I’m not sure I want to go,” said Lana a little timidly.
“Come on La
na, it’s our senior year. It’
ll be fun,” said Rick.
“I’ll think on it, okay,” she
said
smil
ing
slightly.
“Alright, but I hope you come,” said Elaine.
Lana beg
an walking away and said, “Well
I gotta go, I’m heading over to Miss Perry’s house.”
“Okay, see you later,” Elaine said and the boys waved goodbye.
Miss Perry lived alone in a small
blue and white
cottage that had been in her family for some time. Her parents were no longer living and she had never married. Lana wondered if she ever got lonely like herself. As she rounded the corner, she saw Miss Perry out on the dock in front of her house loading a small row boat.
“Hey Miss Perry, I’m glad I caught you!” Lana shouted and waved.
“Well hello Lana, I’m glad you caught me too,” s
he said with a smile
as she started up the footpath that led to the cottage. “Come sit on the front porch and let me get yo
u some
cold
lemonade.”
“Okay, sounds great,” said Lana as she sat in one of the
white
wicker chairs.
Miss Perry came out quickly with a cool pitcher of lemonade and two goblets. She poured the lemonade and handed a glass to Lana and said, “What brings you out here on such a fine day, Miss Lana Prentis?”
“I just needed to do something different for a change and I always wanted to see where you lived
.
” Lana
took a
sip
of
her drink.
“I’m so glad you did, I’m sorry that I haven’t asked you before. I just didn’t know if your dad would approve,” she said compassionately.
“Yeah
he’
s kind of strict, but I’m getting older and I need my space too.”
“Yes, I’m sure you do.”
“So where are you going in the row boat?”
“Well, you might say that I’m on a little adventure. Would you like to come along? It won’t take more than an hour or so?” Miss Perry encouraged her.
“Sure, I’m in the mood for an adventure
.
” Lana
grinned
.
Lana helped Miss Perry get the boat out from the dock. Miss Perry rowed, and as she did, she began to tell Lana a story. “You see Lana, wh
en my mother was a little girl
she believed in mermaids. She believed in them so much that a few times a year she would make them gifts and take them out to
Gull
Island
. She would string beads into necklaces and would also bring gifts of fruit, because she
thought
that they enjoyed it and were never able to get it for themselves.”
“That’
s such a sweet story. I can’t believe she went to
Gull
Island
. No one is allowed there because of the danger of the rocks and reefs
.
”
Lana
looked
seriously
at Miss Perry
.
“Well yes, that’s true. It is usually very dangerous and the Harbor Master doesn’t allow it. But, you
see, my mother only went on a mermaid d
ay
.
” Miss Perry
smiled brightly
.
“What’
s a mermaid day?” Lana asked smiling at the thought of it.
“It only happens a few times a year. It’s when the water is so calm that there is barely a wave rippling out at
Gull
Island
. It’s when the sun is bright and warm. The island is usually shrouded by fog, but not on a mermaid day,” said Miss Perry as she pointed out towards
Gull
Island
.
“You mean
that’s where we’re going?” Lana
aske
d in disbelief.
“Yes, you see, it is a mermaid day and all is calm and sunny. I have been going to
Gull
Island
at least once a year since I was the age of ten. That’s when my mother died of cancer. My father would go out fishing all day and I was cared for by my grandmother. On a mermaid day, I would wait until she nodded off to sleep in the afternoon and take my treasures to
Gull
Island
and leave them there for the mermaids
.
”
Miss Perry smiled proudly.
“I can’t believe that my dad hasn’t tried to stop you
.
”
“Oh, I won’t say he hasn’t tried. I just tell him that it’s a mermaid day and he shakes his head laughing at me
,
” she
said
laugh
ing
herself.
Gull
Island
really wasn’t an island at all. It was just a large stone rising up out of the water in a triangular shape. It was named
Gull
Island
because it’s where the seagulls gather. Lana had always seen it from the lighthouse and it was a comforting landmark. It was constant and never changing, except for the fog coming and going. It was a good three miles out from
Safe
Harbor
Island
and Lana couldn’t believe that two little girls have rowed there.
“I ‘m so glad that you came along with me,” said Miss Perry.
“I am t
oo, I always wanted to go there
even though I knew it wasn’t allowed,” giggled Lana.
“Yes, I don’t always do the things I should, or maybe it’s that I don’t always trust others judgment of things. I like to find out a thing for myself
.
”
Miss Perry
grinned
.
Lana smiled and said, “I can see that we are a lot alike.” Just then, Lana looked up to see the massive stone in front of her and something seemed so familiar.
“The only place to leave your gifts for the mermaids is on the other side,” Miss Perry said as she rowed around the large stone mountain. As she did, Lana saw a flat ledge that rose two feet out of the water. It was a good six feet in width and eight feet in length. Then Lana began to remember the feel of the stone beneath her legs as she sat there when she was a child. She even thought she remembered her father sitting there with her and even her...
“Lana, what is it?” Miss Perry asked with concern for the look on Lana’s face.
“I, I’m not sure. I can remember being here as a child. I sat on that very ledge,” she said as she began to look down into the blue and green shimmering water.
“You remember being here?”
“Yeah
with my dad, and I think my mom?”
Lana continued staring down into the water.
“Lana, are you alright?”
“Yeah
, I think so. It’s just that I feel so strange, it’s like I can remember swimming here. Not just here, but down there,” said Lana as she looked up at Miss Perry confused
by it
.
“Maybe your dad did bring you here to swim before.”
Lana began to remember all she saw beneath the water, it was like she could almost remember every rock and reef below.
How could I
?
If I was here when my mother was alive, I’
d have been a toddler.
Miss Perry brought out a shell necklace from a duffle bag, as well as a dozen or so oranges. “This is my mermaid offering this year. You think they’ll like it?”