Back in the real world, morning had come. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Tom and Charlotte were already out going about their daily routine making breakfast and getting ready for work. Lucy was brushing her teeth getting ready for school.

As she brushed them, she heard her mother calling out to her.

"Lucy! Could you wake up your brother and tell him to get ready for school?"

"Sure thing Mom!" called Lucy as she spit. She then rinsed her mouth and then headed towards Garret's room.

In the attic, everything was quiet there as well as well as the room in the other room. The only thing that was in there was a small mouse who was exploring the attic searching for food. As it searched through the attic, it happened to come across the room where the mirror was. The mouse sniffed around trying to find anything to eat.

Then it noticed something. A large strange object met it's eyes. It was a long and strange item that also had a parabolic shape on the end.

This was Garret's flashlight from which he dropped before he got sucked into the mirror. The mouse sniffed the flashlight curiously trying to figure out what this strange item was.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light coming from above. The mouse immediately snapped its head towards the direction of the light now alert. The light from the mirror grew brighter and brighter and the surface of it became wet and murky.

Then a huge tendril of water gushed forth from the mirror causing the mouse to immediately dart away feeling frightened. The rope of water fully emerged from the mirror and then began to spin around and around until it became a dome.

As the dome formed, Garret emerged from the mirror and feel onto the floor in a heap. Then the dome of water turned back into a rope of water and then went back into the mirror.

The light coming from the gem disappeared and the surface of the mirror returned to normal.

It didn't take long for Garret to regain conscious. He groaned as he sat up.

"Oh... man. What happened?" he wondered. "Where am I?"

He then looked at his surroundings realizing that he was in a dusty old room. Then his eyes widened.

"Wait a minute... I know this place!" said Garret. "This is my attic!"

That wasn't the only thing he'd noticed. Garret happened to look down at his legs and saw a startling yet wonderful sight. The lower half of his body was no longer a merman's tail. Instead, there was his normal humans legs encased in a pair of the same black shorts he wore to bed.

"My... my legs... they're back!" murmured Garret as he felt his legs to confirm if they were real. "I got my legs back...! But... then that means..."

Garret immediately got up on his feet and he almost cried tears of joy. He knew exactly where he was.

"I'm home!" he cried. "I'm home! I'm back home in my own world!"

He let out a whoop of joy and then bolted out of the room. He climbed down on the ladder and darted straight into his room. His room was definitely a sight for sore eyes. His bed, his posters, his books, everything was still where it should be. Then Lucy came in.

"Hey bro," she said. "Mom said to get up and get ready for school."

As soon as Garret saw her, his eyes began to well with tears making Lucy a little surprised.

"G-garret? What's the matter?" she asked. "Why... are you crying?"

"Lucy!" cried Garret as he embraced his sister in a tight hug. "I missed you so much! I know you tease me all the time and you probably hate my guts at time, but I missed you so much!"

Lucy was so surprised that she didn't know how to react, especially seeing her big brother bare-chested and slightly wet. "H-hey!" she yelped. "Let me go weirdo! You're being weird!"

"What's going on here kids?" asked a woman's voice from behind. "Is everything OK?"

Garret immediately turned around and there standing in front of the doorway was his mother. As soon as he saw her, Garret didn't hesitate. He immediately let go of Lucy and hugged his mother tightly.

"MOM!" he cried as he buried his face in her chest. "I missed you so much!"

Charlotte felt very confused, but she embraced her son gently patting him on his head.

"What's the matter, Garret?" she asked gently. "Why are you all wet and have no shirt on?"

"Mom... I'm missed you...!" continued Garret and his embrace tightening around his mom. "I missed you so much...! I thought I was going to die and never see you again!"

"I... beg your pardon, son?" asked Charlotte with confusion.

"OK nimrod, you're definitely acting stranger than usual," said Lucy. "I think you've gone a little cuckoo in the head."

Then Tom came into the room. "What's the matter everyone?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Garret upon seeing his father made him release his mother and hugged him tightly not letting go of him.

Tom was surprised. "G-garret?! What's the matter with you son?" he asked.

"Dad! I was so scared...!" cried Garret. "The mirror...! Talking fish...! Sharks...! Almost dying...!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy Garret, easy," said Tom soothingly. "It's alright, son. Just calm down."

"What is going on with him, Dad?" asked Lucy. "Even I could tell that he's acting weirder than usual!"

Tom shook his head. "Don't worry, Lucy," he said. "Just focus on going to school for now." He then looked at his wife. "Charlotte? Would you mind taking Lucy to school?"

"Are you sure, honey?" asked Charlotte. "What about Garret? He's gonna be late for school."

"It's fine hun," said Tom smiling. "Besides, Garret's gonna stay home today. He's... a little under the weather. I'll stay with him."

Charlotte still wasn't sure, but she trusted her husband. "Alright then," she said. "Let's go Lucy. I'll take you to school."

Lucy then trotted after her mother as the two of them left the room leaving Garret and Tom by themselves.

"It's alright Garret," said Tom. "We're alone now."

Garret finally let go of his father and then took a few deep breaths getting his breathing in order.

"Have you finally calmed down, son?" asked Tom.

"I guess so," said Garret. He looked up at his father in a scowl. "But... I've got a lot of questions and things to say to you Dad."

"I understand," said Tom. "But first, why don't you go and take a shower while I make you breakfast? We got a lot to talk about after all."

Garret was about to decline wanting to talk about this now, but then he had a thought. It had been a while since he had to take a shower. Not to mention he was actually getting real food instead of eating all that Atlantian food.

"Alright Dad," he said. "I'll take that shower... but I expect you to explain everything to me when I'm done."

"No worries, son," said Tom. "You have my word."

Garret and Tom then left Garret's room. Garret headed for the bathroom while his father went downstairs. Garret walked into the bathroom and took a first-time-in-a-while shower. After that, he got dressed and then headed downstairs walking into the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped in, a familiar and delicious smell wafted into his nostrils. It was the smell of bacon and eggs. Upon recognizing that scent, Garret's stomach let out a loud growl which Tom happened to hear.

"Well, well," he chuckled. "Sounds like someone's hungry."

Soon Garret and his dad were sitting at the table eating their breakfast. Garret furiously inhaled the food savoring each and every bite.

"Take it easy, son," chuckled Tom. "Your food's not going anywhere."

"Cafft heff fit!" said Garret with a mouthful of eggs. "Haffnt eaffen fin fa while!"

Garret kept on eating as fast as he could until his plate was empty. Garret leaned back in his chair and let out a contented sigh and burp.

"Man... that was good," he said. "Nothing compares to the taste of eggs and bacon."

"Glad you enjoyed it," said Tom as he sat down at the table. "So... I take it you want to talk about what you experienced?"

Garret looked at his father and suddenly remembered. "Y-yes I do."

"Alright then," said Tom how wearing a neutral expression. "First off, tell me everything that you experienced until you came back here."

Garret took a deep breath and then told his father everything that he went through until he came back home.

"OK, there was this singing sound I heard and then I followed it all the way up to the mirror you showed me up at the attic which was the source of it all. Then gem thing on top of the mirror began to glow and the surface turned into water and stuff and then I was sucked inside it. Then I when when I woke up, I saw that my legs turned into fins and then I met an actual mermaid and a talking fish and a crab! Then I was checked once over by some strange doctor octopus, not the marvel superhero, he checked me and said I was healthy and then I met the mermaid's father and then he let me stay over at this palace which was in this place Atlantica which was filled with other mermaids and other talking sea creatures. Then there was this baby whale who we named Spot and then we took him home and raised him for about three months I think. Anyway, Spot grew to a full size killer whale and we tried to keep him hidden, but the king found out and we had to show him how to be a real killer whale and stuff. Then we were attacked by sharks and one almost got me but I managed to get away and then we hid inside this giant shell thing and we ended up being trapped and I thought we were gonna die, but then Spot came zooming in out of nowhere and then beat up all the sharks saving out lives. And then all of a sudden, Spot's pod came along and we had to let him go and then we headed home. I was going to go back to the room I was staying, but then I heard the singing noise again and then I followed it to the king's treasury and then there was this glowing again and some bubbles and then I was sucked inside and now here I was back home again."

Tom stared at Garret having to understood everything he said even though he was talking at who knows how many miles per hour. Then he burst out laughing holding his sides.

"Hey! What's so funny?!" demanded Garret angrily.

"I'm sorry, son," chuckled Tom wiping his eyes. "But I couldn't help it. You were speaking so fast that you were like a cartoon character."

"Well can you blame me?!" exclaimed Garret. "I almost got killed by a pack of sharks and I've been gone for like three months!"

"Three months? Is that how long you were gone?" wondered Tom.

"Yes! Didn't you notice me missing?!" asked Garret. "Surely, you would have noticed that I was gone!"

"Actually, I didn't," said Tom simply. "You were probably gone for more than three hours at most."

Garret's eyes widened. "Three hours?!" he exclaimed sitting up from the table. "How the heck do you know that?! You got some explaining to do, Dad!"

"Whoa. Take it easy Garret," said Tom. "I'm just about to explain it right now, so try to calm down a little."

Garret growled in frustration, but he did as his father said and sat back down. After a brief pause, Tom took a deep breath and then looked at Garret with a serious look in his eyes.

"All right then. Where shall I begin?" Tom murmured to himself. He pondered for a moment. Then he spoke. "Alright. First and foremost, that mirror I showed you is a special one. If it wasn't obvious enough, it serves as a window to an alternative world. A world that's vastly different than our own."

"That much was obvious," said Garret. "But what I wanna know is where did you get it, how long have you had that thing, and why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Well... firstly, my grandmother gave me that mirror quite some time ago," said Tom. "I would have to assume its been passed down from generation to generation. I've had it... probably since I was a child. I've also discovered its powers and I've been using it whenever I needed to get away from it all. Also, I didn't tell you what it could do because you never would have believed me if I told you. I didn't even believe my mother when she told me about it.

"Grandma knows about it too?" Garret gasped his eyes widening. "Wait... do Mom or Lucy know about the mirror?"

"Well... I'm pretty sure your mother doesn't know about it yet," said Tom. "And Lucy... well I'm not sure if I can trust her with it."

"So... why trust me?" asked Garret.

"There's a lot of reasons," replied Tom. "But mostly because of... well... what happened to you before. You know, back with... you-know-who."

Garret then suddenly remembered and knew what his father was talking about.

"You're... referring to Casey huh?"

Tom nodded. "Yes. I never meant to frighten you or anything like that, so I do apologize," he said. "I just wanted to give you an opportunity to make friends and actually believe in happy endings again. Not to mention, give you a whole new experience."

"But Dad... I... you didn't have to do that," sighed Garret. "I mean... it's my fault about my situation with Casey and I told myself that I'd be better off alone. But... I guess I shouldn't be saying that now... considering that I accidentally made some friends anyway."

Tom then immediately looked at Garret surprised. "You did?! Who?! Tell me!" he said excitedly. " And tell me everything that happened while you were over there!"

Garret was a little put off by his father's excitement, but he began telling his father all about his adventure back in Atlantica. How he met Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian, and even King Triton and her sisters; and even told how he helped take care of Spot and how he saved all of their lives from the trio of sharks.

When he finished, Tom stared at Garret with amazement and some slight amusement. "My, my Garret. You've had yourself quite the adventure," he said. "Although... I do have one concern."

Garret raised a brow. "What... do you mean by concern?"

"About King Triton. You said that you were staying with him along with his daughters correct?" asked Tom.

"Yes. Do you know him?" wondered Garret.

"I do. I've known him for while since I was about your age," said Tom. "Although that was a quite some time ago. Back then, he was a young man who had recently been married to a young merwoman named Athena and she had just given birth to her fourth daughter, Aquata."

"Really?! How long ago was that?!" exclaimed Garret. "And how old are you?!"

"Not that long," said Tom pouting slightly. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not that old. I'll have you know that I'm very young for my age. Besides, time is different when you enter that world. It's hard to tell approximately how time works." Then he shook his head. "Never mind. We're getting off topic. What I was trying to say is that you need to be careful when you're around King Triton. Especially on the subject of us humans."

"I think Flounder mentioned something about that," said Garret. "Does he hate humans that much or something?"

"Very much so," said Tom. "So... if there's a chance that you run into him again, make sure you never, and I repeat, never mention you being a human. Otherwise he'll take his trident and blast you until you're a pile of ashes."

"Come on Dad. You can't be serious," said Garret. "I mean... he looks intimidating, but he wouldn't do that right?"

"I am serious," said Tom looking at Garret. "He hates humans with a passion so much, that he really just might kill you if he found out you were a human."

Garret gulped. "I... guess I better not tell him then," he said. "That is... if I ever or can go back."

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Tom. "You'll be able to use the mirror any time you want. Just... make sure that no one sees you and know about that mirror. The last thing I want is your mother and sister finding out about this or anyone finding out about it and using it for some kind of circus tour or something."

"I will Dad," said Garret. "By the way... mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

"Sure thing son," smiled Tom. "Fire away."

"So... first off... you said that you've been in that world too right? Why... does that mirror emit that singing noise?" asked Garret. "I mean have you heard that singing before or know who's voice that is?"

"Oh, that. Well... I never really knew what that was," said Tom thoughtfully. "Although I wish I'd knew. For all we know, a ghost of a mermaid could be sealed in that mirror."

"I highly doubt that," said Garret flatly. "Anyway, one more question. Has... anyone ever come out of that mirror from that world?"

"Hmmm... Not that I'm aware of," said Tom. "I don't think anyone's ever gotten through to this world before."

"I see. Then... I guess that's all," said Garret. "I think I'll go lay down in my room for a bit."

"All right then," said Tom. "And... I want to apologize to you again for not telling you about the mirror."

"It's alright Dad," said Garret. "Don't worry about it. You only did that to help me out right? Well... I guess it kinda did help. I mean... I was able to make new friends. But... I'm gonna need a break from all of this."

"That's understandable," said Tom. "Off you go then. But... one more thing. Don't worry about the time. When you reenter that world, it'll be like you've been gone for like a minute or an hour. And also, try not to wear your shirts or any other clothes."

"Duly noted Dad," said Garret as he walked up the stairs and back into his room.

When he was in his room, he plopped down on the bed and lied down on his back staring up at the ceiling. He was feeling a bit overwhelmed about what he had been just told and he still couldn't believe what his father had just told him. He wanted to pinch himself and wake up from this crazy dream, but he couldn't. Garret sighed as he turned to his side.

"Man... this has all been totally crazy," he said to himself. "I should be happy that I'm home, but... still..."

Garret continued to lie there on his head trying to process what he was told. Most of all, he was wondering whether it was OK to leave the world of Atlantica behind him considering the fact he was almost killed by sharks. However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't make a decision.

In the end, he decided to give up on thinking and closed his eyes and went to sleep hoping that the nap would ease his thoughts.