CHAPTER TWO: CATCH OF THE DAY

The fishnet was getting closer and closer to the surface, and I was still trying to tear a hole in it and escape, along with the other innocent creatures trapped in the net. I didn't want to end up becoming some delicacy or freak-show oddity anymore than I wanted to participate in that wedding back home, which made me all the more determined to escape the fishnet.

As I pulled on the net for the umpteenth time, I noticed something swimming a few feet below me. At first sight, I thought it was a fish. Then I noticed that the fish had a body of a man. My heart filled up with hope. Perhaps it was a merman, hopefully not one sent by my mother to find me. (Despite my predicament, I wasn't that ready to go back home yet.)

"Hey!" I called out to it. "Hey! Up this way! Hurry!"

I watched the creature swim upwards, and saw it was a human. A male human, to be precise.

I was awestruck as I saw him swim. He had the sleek body of a young merman, except his skin was the color of pale gold, and he had legs and feet, which enabled him to swim just as well as any creature in the sea. His hair, long and black, danced about him as he swam.

My mouth dropped open. He was the most beautiful male human I'd ever seen. I was totally speechless, too speechless to ask him for his help. But I needed no words to tell him: he could see the situation I was in, and understood what had to be done. He pulled a sleek, shining sword out that he carried with him, which easily cut through the tough, hard netting, and then he pulled the net wide enough for me and all the other sea creatures trapped inside to escape. When the last trapped creature escaped--the slow-moving turtle, of course--we all swam away as fast as we could, hoping to be long gone by the time the fishermen discovered their "Catch of the Day" was gone.

As soon as we were a safe distance away from the menacing fishing boat, the human and I swam up to the surface. I looked up at his handsome face and smiled approvingly, while he gave me a bewildered, wide-eyed stare.

"Haven't you ever seen a mermaid before?" I asked.

"Have you not seen a human before?" The human answered back.

None like you, I thought to myself. I paused for a moment, then said, "Thank you for saving me back there."

"You are welcome," said the human. "Now, please excuse me..."

He started to swim away from me. I followed right after him.

"Wait!" I called out. "Where are you going?"

The human stopped swimming for a moment and said, "I must return to my boat."

"Why?"

"So that I may continue my search."

"What are you looking for?"

"I seek the one called 'The Sea Witch'!"

"Sea Witch?" I asked, the name suddenly ringing a bell in my memory. "I know of her!"

"You do?"

"Everyone in Aqualon knows of her. It's said she has the power to grant wishes!"

"Where does she live?" the human asked me excitedly. "I must see her!"

"She lives in a grotto many miles from here, at the bottom of the sea," I answered. "I know where it is. I can take you there!"

"You could?" the human smiled.

I nodded.

"Let me get to my boat, and we'll be off!" the human said as he started swimming again. Naturally, I followed after him, all the way to a small boat anchored a few yards away. I watched him climb out of the water and into the boat. I smiled as I saw him put up his hair and get dressed. He put on a strange-looking white undergarment (I think he called it a doshi, or something like that) and along, white robe, wrapped a long sash around his waist, and slipped a pair of wooden sandals on his feet. Though he looked very handsome and regal in his warrior's outfit, I thought of how sleek and magnificent he looked without it.

As we set sail for the lair of the Sea Witch, I was looking forward (with great anticipation, of course), to swimming with him again (and watching him swim, as well).