Disclaimer: Own I not Finding Neverland! Own I, THE PLOT! (Dun dun dun)

Talking With Her

George emerged from the narrow path leading through the trees and ending at the pond. The weather wasn't bad. It was mostly clear, with a few dark clouds to the right of the sun, moving ever so slowly. He walked to the edge of the pond where Michael had caught the large bass, and also where Uncle Jim made them release it that very same day. George looked across the pond where he had seen the "mermaid". He saw that the small peninsula had a spot of grass that had been flattened. A few blades were struggling to stand straight up.

'Someone must have been here just now. But, I would have heard them if they had ran off. Or possibly have seen them. And there aren't any footsteps, either. Oh, this is ridiculous.' George started walking to the left of where he usually fished. He went around half the perimeter of the pond, stopping at the peninsula. He dropped his school bag and took his hat off and threw it on top of the bag. Stooping down, he saw a glimmer in the water. It was a bright orange, with flecks of black. Whatever it was, it was stationary. George couldn't make out the shape of it, but he hoped it was a tail. A tail of a mermaid, so he could prove to himself that he hadn't gone mad. 'Alright, on three…I'll catch her. One…two…three!' George thrust his arm into the water wrapping his entire hand around the slimy scales. He brought it up above the water, and his entire face was soaked instantly. Through the water, he saw what he had caught.

"A fish!" He released it gently, hoping he hadn't hurt the creature. "I caught a bloody fish! I'm so stupid!"

"But it was quite impressive." said a cool female voice. George looked up and saw that a woman was in the lake. She had bright green eyes and dark, dark black hair. Her shoulders were bare.

"Th – thank you, ma'am. Er…May I ask what you're doing in the pond?"

"Swimming, of course. Is it a crime?" She had a strong Irish accent that rolled off of her tongue with ease.

"No, no, of course it isn't. But normally women don't swim in a pond. They've got to clean the house, and take care of the children, and prepare the me-"

"Well, you may find that I'm not like other women. You're lucky you didn't hurt that goldfish, young man. I thought we'd already warned you about the last fish you nearly killed." She raised her eyebrows and swam a little closer to the shore. "You do remember, don't you?"

George sat there in shock. How could she have known about the dream he had had about the mermaids and the bass? Surely this woman couldn't be a mermaid. She wouldn't reveal herself in front of him. "Yes, of course I do… but how do you know about that?" he asked.

"I've got my ways." She smiled. "Just listen here, boy. No more fishing, understood? Believe it or not, fish feel pain too. They scream blood-curdling screams that us merpeople can hear, and you humans cannot." A chill ran through George's skin.

"They scream? But…no, that's impossible. We'd be able to hear them." He ignored what she had said about merpeople, because he thought he had heard her wrong, and didn't want to make a fool of himself.

"I told you, you can't hear them. It's out of your hearing range." She sighed. "I've said enough. Perhaps you can come back tomorrow, and we can talk a bit more, yes?" She dove down into the water, her green tail splashing water upon George's torso.

He sat there for a while, unable to process all the thoughts going through his brain at once. 'This had to have been real. I was less than five feet away from her, and it's clear as crystal out. But mermaids don't live in ponds! They live in oceans! How could she have possibly known about my dream? Can they enter other people's dreams? Do fish really scream?' While all these thoughts swam through his head, he hadn't noticed a small bumblebee that was whirring around his head. He swatted at it, much like the time he had in his classroom last Friday. The bee was stubborn, and refused to leave him alone. It landed on a flower by George's school bag. The fourteen year old sighed, stood up, replaced his cap and schoolbag on his head and shoulder, and headed home, the bumblebee close behind him the entire way.

OOOOO

Later that night, as the four Llewelyn-Davies boys lay in their beds, awaiting Uncle Jim to come say goodnight, George still had his mind on the mermaid. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to know her name, her age, how she survived in a pond, how many others there were, if she had a boyfriend…

Well, maybe not that. But he did have his mind on her.

"George? You alive down there? I said goodnight." George blinked, allowing his eyes to come back into focus, and saw Uncle Jim hovering over him.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jim, I was…somewhere else."

"Yeah, like in your girlfriend's house." Jack said. George rolled his eyes.

"You know as well as I do that I haven't a girlfriend, Jack."

"I sure hope not. She'll have to go through me, first." Uncle Jim stood up straight as a board, his legs somewhat apart. He balled his fists, placing them on his hips, and turned his head, keeping his face as serious as he could. The boys laughed.

"Uncle Jim, you need to be taller to act that way!" Michael said through his laughter. Jim let his arms flop to his side, and looked at Michael with a smirk.

"Now, Michael, I've told you a thousand times not to make fun of me. Perhaps you haven't noticed, my wee lad, but you aren't exactly the tallest tree in the orchard, either." Uncle Jim smiled, bid them all a last goodnight, kissing each of their foreheads, and turning off the oil lamp. He left the door open a crack, casting a small bit of light to fall over Peter.

George lay there with his hands behind his head, staring off into nothing. He thought about the mermaid for a little while longer, then retreated to a more comfortable position, and fell asleep almost instantly. He hadn't noticed how tired he was until he actually took his mind off of her.

For the first few moments, his sleep was dreamless. But then he saw her. Her beautiful green eyes staring back into his, her long, shiny black hair flowing freely in the water. She was so gorgeous; he didn't want to stop staring at her. She turned and pointed to the path that lead back to the school, and what would be the camera's point of view in a movie, but was actually George's in his dream, zoomed in to focus on a certain bush. He could see the ground was loosely packed to form a small, perfect mound just beneath the plant. Quickly, the dream vanished, leaving the rest of his night dreamless and black.

A/N: OMIGOSHLEIKIMSOSORRY! I know I took forever, and I know you were ALL just DYING to read this chapter, because I know how much you guys love me, but think I could not…..I had an idea for an idea, but couldn't display it into words. And, OMIGOSH it's short. I know. I KNOW, OKAY? I'll make up for it. I promise!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Meredith A. Jones

KatrinaKaiba

H.M. Chandler

Kristina

And Amber, of course.

I love you guys.