Michael, Tootles, the Twins and Curly, all stood on the beach, gazing out at the mermaid lagoon. They took it all in, the cliffs and rocks covered with hanging moss that fenced in the water. They breathed in the salty air, feeling the freedom boys feel when they've been set loose.
"How did we get here?" asked Curly.
"Well, it's possible that we got sucked into a vortex generated on the island by some kind of magic," said Thomas
"That stands to reason," said Timothy.
"Who cares?! We're in Never Land!" cried Michael. He beat his chest and tried to crow like Peter.
"What should we do? Make for the hideout? I want to see Nibs," said Thomas.
"Yeah! Then lets go see Tiger Lily and John!" added Michael. "They'll probably know what happened and why we're here!"
Thomas put his hand to his chin. "Why did we end up here in Mermaid Lagoon?"
"And where are the mermaids?" asked Tootles. As if in answer the water in front of them began to churn and a beautiful face surfaced with hair the color of wild pink orchids. She was floating fairly close to them, as the sand only went a few feet into the water, and then dropped off into deepness.
"Well hello boys," she said, her head tilting to the side to survey them. Her beautiful, unearthly face was striking.
"Coralia?" asked Curly, recognizing her immediately.
"Well, yes. Who wants to know?" she asked.
"It's me! Curly!"
She looked him up and down with surprise. "Curly? I seem to remember a boy with that name who used to live here, but he wasn't quite as handsome or as tall as you," she purred.
Curly blushed crimson straight to his wavy hair. "Oh come on, I am not." He delighted in the compliment, because he was short for his age.
"Always let a pretty girl compliment you or you'll miss out on tons of fun!" she said. "In fact, if you come a little closer I'll show you what I mean."
Curly took a step toward the water, but Thomas stopped him by putting his hand on his chest. "We don't have time for that." He turned back to the mermaid who had begun to pout. "Coralia, we want to know how we got here. We're not sure."
"How does anyone get to Never Land? Fairies silly."
"You don't remember us do you?" asked Timothy, staring at Coralia. He wasn't ashamed to admit he appreciated the way she looked now more than he had when he'd been on the island last time. Now he knew why Peter spent so much time down here.
"No, I can't say that I do."
"It's us!" cried Curly. "The lost boys! We flew with Peter Pan and…"
"Peter!" she exclaimed. "Is Peter back? Oh why didn't you say so! Oh where is he?" She began to splash her tail in the water excitedly. "Peter!" she called. "Oh Peter, where are you?"
The boys looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Lily! Diana! Marina! Sirena!" she called.
The water began to move again, and more familiar mermaids swam to the surface.
"Why Curly! Twins! Tootles!" said Diana. Her hair was jet black and shown glossy in the sun.
Coralia looked at her and frowned. "Well of course you'd recognize them, show off."
"They're bigger. I almost didn't recognize them!" she responded.
"I'd recognize those two pairs of big brown eyes anywhere!" said Sirena looking at the twins with a come-hither stare, flipping her blue hair over her shoulder so that it cascaded down her front. She began to play with it idly, her eyes shy and seductive.
"No one asked you!" chimed in Lily, her white hair striking against the others'. "Oh boys! It will be fun to play with you again. You should come closer; I want to see if it's actually you!"
"Girls, listen! Peter's back on the island!" interrupted Coralia before the boys could respond.
"Peter!" they all cried, looking around frantically.
"Oh where is he?" begged Marina, her green hair swishing back and forth in the water. "Hopefully he didn't bring that, that ugly girl with him this time."
"Which ugly girl?" asked Lily
"I don't remember," said Marina haughtily. "Wendy-whatsit."
"Come on boys, tell us where he is," coaxed Coralia enticingly, twirling her shoulders side to side.
"He's not here!" said Michael exasperated, annoyed at them calling Wendy ugly. "We don't know how we got here. We were on another world, and there was a bright light, and then we were on this beach."
The mermaids looked at each other.
"Hook," said Diana.
"Hook?" Curly repeated. "But he's trapped!"
Lily shuddered and hugged herself as if the water had just gotten cold. "He's not," she whispered.
"He came here days ago, looking for something. Something we have hidden."
"What's that?" asked Curly.
They began to whisper to themselves then turned back to the group of boys.
"We can't tell you," said Marina.
Michael rolled his eyes, done with their antics.
"Oh please tell us?" asked Tootles.
Lily smiled at the shortest boy and whispered something to the other girls. "Oh very well!" she conceded. She beckoned them closer with her hand.
"That was easy," whispered Thomas.
"Too easy," said Timothy.
"We can show one of you, but that's all. We have to help you breathe underwater though. Which one wants to go?" asked Coralia.
The boys all glanced at one another with trepidation.
"You mean we have to get into the water?" gulped Timothy. He desperately wanted to go with the mermaids, but he was terrified of drowning.
As if in answer Sirena said, "It's alright; you'll be able to breathe. You won't drown."
"Which one wants to come?" asked Marina.
"That one," said Coralia pointing at Curly.
"Me?" he mouthed pointing to himself. He seldom got asked to do anything. As Mary often pointed out, he was the sensitive one, so everyone treated him as such. He was the second eldest, so responsibility rarely fell on his shoulders. But not this time; this time he would gladly bear the burden.
She nodded, holding her arm out to him provocatively.
The boys all slapped him on the back, and urged him toward the water. He slowly walked to the edge and took his shoes off.
"Take some more of those clothes off," said Lily. "You want to be able to move freely." She shimmied in the water to demonstrate, and Curly's breath hitched.
He pulled off his jacket, undid his suspenders and unbuttoned his shirt, yanking if off.
"That will do," said Sirena, when he began to undo his pants. He took a few strides, and then stepped off into nothing.
They pulled him up above the water, and he began to be passed around from mermaid to mermaid. He didn't know which way to turn, as they were brushing against him, pulling him close and arguing.
"I want to do it," said Marina, grabbing his arms.
"No, let me," said Sirena. "It's been so long since I kissed a boy!"
"Kiss?!" he cried. Oh, but he was glad he was the one they'd chosen. He felt his heart hammering in his chest, enjoying the feel of their bodies on his.
"I want to kiss him!" cried Lily, pressing herself up against him, and he smiled goofily at her.
"I'm going to kiss him," said Coralia, and she held him around the waist.
He stopped breathing as she leaned her head close. This is actually happening to me! This is what heaven feels like, he thought happily.
Their heads came together, and he felt her pressing her lips to his, moving them invitingly over his mouth and he couldn't think. His body began to react, and he moved his hands up to grasp her head, when his lungs began to constrict.
He pulled away, gasping for air.
"Oh, you have all the fun Coralia!" pouted Lily.
Curly was holding onto his throat, feeling it completely close. His eyes began to roll back.
"What are you doing to him!" shouted Timothy. "Filthy Mermaids!"
They all turned their eyes on him angrily.
"He'll be alright in a moment," said Diana. "His lungs are just preparing to breathe water."
Curly felt like his neck was being twisted, but then slowly the pressure subsided, and gratefully he began to breathe again.
Lily squealed. "Oh! You can swim with us now!" she said excitedly, and overcome with the thought of swimming with the boy, she pulled him to her to kiss him too.
His eyes were just coming back into focus, when she began her onslaught on his mouth, but he wasn't too far gone to kiss her back and put his hands on her hips. But then he pulled them away at the feel of her scales.
"Am I hurting you?" he said against her mouth. She answered by putting his hands back on her fish half, and kissing him deeper.
"That's enough Lily!" said Sirena, separating them. "We gave him the ability to breathe, and now you want to take it away!"
"Blast," muttered Curly.
"Alright Curly dear, stick your head under the surface and breathe in," said Coralia.
He looked at her like she was crazy, but she shoved his head under the water before he could tell her so. He thrashed wildly for a moment, but then surprised himself by taking a giant breath of water and found that it was as easy as breathing air.
He came up and smiled widely. "I can breathe!" he exclaimed.
Lily clenched her hands together and shook them in excitement and swam closer so that she could kiss him again, but then moved out of the way as his lungs expelled the water out of his mouth like a fountain. He clapped his hands over his mouth in horror, and the mermaids began to laugh.
"You can't breathe both at the same time silly!" said Sirena. "But you'll be able to swim like that forever now!"
"Oh hurray!" said Lily, pulling him to her mouth again.
"Stop it Lily! Let's take him down!" said Marina, and she grabbed his hand and pulled him under the water.
He took a deep breath in and watched as a multitude of bubbles escaped from his lungs. His eyes focused in the dimmer light. He saw that there was an abundance of little alcoves in the rocks, and several of them looked like beds had been made in them out of soft seaweed and decorated with coral and anemones. He guessed that was where the girls slept.
There was a larger cavern where light was pouring out in rays, undulating with the current and he realized that was where they were taking him. He took another deep breath and they swam into the cave.