A clear night sky greeted Lily when she emerged from the water and pushed her hair out of her eyes as she stared in awe at the huge luxury yacht that was in the distance, with the lights she had seen and the sounds of loud music and laughter were echoing in the sky.

Lily giggled happily as she looked at the yacht and wondered if the laughter she was hearing was coming from humans that may be on board.

If they were, she could see for herself that they were not the fish-eating and dangerous barbarians that her mother made them out to be and that they were truly kind and caring like she believed them to be.

'Lily, what are you doing, child?' Senna said when she and Aurora surfaced and saw Lily dive back into the ocean before swimming towards the yacht, ignoring the crab calling out to her, like she had done many times.

'Come back here this instant! I've had just about enough of your shenanigans tonight…' she said, only to pause mid-sentence when she saw the large white yacht, the one that Lily was heading towards and gasped at it.

'Jumping jellyfish!' she said.

'So that's the whale-like shape we saw,' said Aurora, 'it's a huge ship and Lily's swimming towards it! Or…it could be something else, I don't know but Lily seems to be keen to approach it.'

'Then we better follow her..again,' Senna said, sighing, 'that girl is certainly enjoying shattering my already tattered nerves. Come on, let's not be dilly-dallying around if we're to get her home before the queen finds out about this little escapade.'

Senna and Aurora swan through the rippling waves that Lily was making, only to be pushed back as the mermaid reached the yacht and managed to climb up the side while holding onto the railings and found a ledge to sit on.

Looking at the deck of the yacht from a safe distance so that she wouldn't be seen, Lily had found the source of all the music and laughter that she heard earlier and she stared in silent amazement and fascination.

There were a large group of humans standing around laughing and dancing along to the music, which was coming from speakers with a smartphone sitting on top of it and a group of young humans, three girls and four boys were drinking, dancing quite badly and laughing, while two men stood against the railings watching them.

The group then huddled together, with one of the girls holding a smartphone that was like the one on the speakers and was about to take a picture of everyone, apparently not needing someone to do it for them.

'Selfie!' she said and the group flashed silly grins, holding up the bottles that they were drinking out of, 'Everyone say, 'Queensland rules, New South Wales drools!'

'Queensland rules, New South Wales drools!' the rest of the group said and the flash went off when the girl pushed the button on the phone, with some of them making silly faces.

Lily giggled quietly as it reminded her of Daffodil, who always ruined family portraits by flashing goofy and silly smiles to the chagrin of her mother and the palace artist.

'Yeah, down with the Blues! Up with the Maroons!' the boys chanted, clearly feeling the effects of the alcohol.

'We're gonna win State of O this year and get our revenge against those dirty cockroaches who ended our long winning streak last year!' they said.

'The roaches suck!' one of them said, 'they shouldn't have won!'

'That's typical of you blokes,' the girl who took the photo said, rolling her eyes at the boys.

'We're here to celebrate our best friend Ben's birthday and all you're talking about is stupid footy! The season hasn't even started yet and State of Origin is months away!'

'That's what we do, Anna,' the boy said, 'and if you don't like it, that's tough!' while Anna scowled at him.

'Hey, Steely, do you think that the Broncos will win the Premiership this year?' another boy said to a balding, tubby man with a moustache on his face, 'and that the Maroons will win back State of O from the Blues?'

'I think so, Adam, I truly believe that this will be the Broncos' year,' Phil said, 'we will win the NRL and the Maroons will take back what is rightfully theirs. I know that the Blues ended our winning streak last year but we will rise again.'

'Of course, Steely, that's why you're the coach!' said Adam, grinning and the party kept on going, with many more drinks being passed around, music being played and people dancing, not noticing that a mermaid was watching them, fascinated by what she had seen.

Although Lily had no idea about what the humans were talking about nor had any knowledge about the strange devices that they were using, she knew at once that they were definitely not the dangerous barbarians that her mother made them out to be.

Mum was wrong; I knew that humans are kind and decent folk, especially these ones, they seem like they have a good time every day if they have parties on the sea like this. That must mean that they love the sea just as much as we merfolk do, she thought.

Then a Blenheim-coloured Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, not that Lily knew what it was of course, who was running around on the deck, barking happily and sniffing the air, picked up Lily's scent and saw her sitting on the yacht's ledge.

Eager to see the strange girl, the dog quickly made her way to the ledge where Lily was, who looked at the furry land creature in fear and ducked her head to avoid being discovered, but a few seconds later, she slowly rose up to see the dog peeking over the ledge, panting happily and licking her cheek.

'Hey, that tickles!' Lily said, laughing. The dog was very friendly and seemed to like the mermaid immediately as she kept licking her cheek.

'You sure are friendly!' said Lily, patting the dog's head, which increased its affections for her even more by licking her, which was its way of saying 'I really like you!'

'Ruby!' a young man's voice, which Lily hadn't heard before as it didn't belong to any of the other boys, a cheerful, upbeat voice with a strange yet enchanting accent, called to the dog.

'Ruby, come here girl!' the voice called again and Ruby, as the dog was known, turned around again, barking happily and ran to her owner.

Lily looked at the deck to see who had called the furry land creature and almost immediately, she was attracted to the handsome young man who was the dog's owner and was sitting on a chair, away from the others.

'What were you doing over there, girl? What got you excited all of a sudden?' the boy said to the dog, as he petted her and she licked his face while Lily kept staring and gasped softly at him.

'He has the same colour hair as me,' she whispered, as she noticed his blonde hair, the same shade as hers, only darker, 'and blue eyes, just like mine,'

The young man was also very well-built, with tanned skin and was wearing a navy-blue short-sleeved shirt with white patterns on it and brown pants and shoes.

Looking at the boy, Lily was feeling the same way as her sister Violet did whenever she was in love and she was fast falling in love with the boy, in spite of not knowing him unlike Violet who was rather lax when it came to boys and discarded a boyfriend when she got bored of him or if he didn't please her.

'The first human I have ever seen up close and he is the most gentle, kind and handsome one I have met,' Lily said to herself, watching the boy.

'I don't see why Mum would think he's dangerous, especially since he really loves animals and being out on the sea. Why would such a handsome and loving human be a barbarian?'

'Come on, Ruby,' the boy laughed and stroked the dog's head,

'Good girl, good girl,' he said before Ruby jumped out of his arms and his friends came towards him, holding a pack of cans with a ribbon tied around it and an envelope poking out of it.

'Happy b'day, Ben, mate,' Adam said, 'here's a little pressie from us! A pack of XXXX, the best beer in Queensland! None of that Victoria Bitter crap, that's what the roaches drink and have on their jerseys!

Go ahead; the birthday boy has the first drink!'

'Thanks mate,' Ben said, taking the envelope and opened it, chuckling at the card before opening one of the cans and sipping from it.

'Now you can drink legally instead of sitting on the side-lines, drinking Coke like you did at schoolies last year!' Cody, one of the boys, said.

'I was underage!' Ben said, rolling his eyes.

Lily giggled and smiled at herself, just as Sandy came up behind her and put her wing on her shoulder.

'Hey there, sweetie!' she said rather loudly, 'quite a party, huh? The Goldie Coast is famous for its swinging nightlife and parties and it looks like these humans know how to have a good time!'

'Sandy, be quiet!' Lily hissed, noticing the seagull behind her, which was hard not to since Sandy's voice was like a foghorn and that was the last thing she needed.

'They'll hear you!' she then said as the seagull flew down to sit next to her.

'Oh, right, I get you,' Sandy said, louder than before, 'we're here to discover and to learn more about..' but Lily grabbed her beak before she could finish speaking.

'Sandy, look at this human,' Lily said, tilting her head towards Ben, who was talking to his father.

'Isn't he handsome?' she said, sighing dreamily, 'I've never seen a human up this close before and yet, he has stolen my heart.'

But Sandy wasn't paying attention, looking at Phil who was smoking a pipe, rather than at Ben and she frowned at the man, hardly believing that Lily would be in love with him!

'The one with the snarfblatt? Oh, sweetie, you must have an odd taste in men, if that one has made you go all ga-ga!

I mean, look at him, he's old, bald, fat and has a hairy thing on his face! Surely, there must be better looking humans than that lardo!' she said.

'No, not that one!' Lily laughed.

'I meant the boy next to him, the one with the blonde hair and blue eyes, like I have and who has the furry land creature who came up to me,' as she turned Sandy's head towards Ben and Ruby.

'Oh, I see,' said Sandy, chuckling in embarrassment, 'I totally misunderstood you. He is quite the dreamboat, isn't he?'

'Yes, he certainly is,' Lily said, dreamily as she stared at Ben again, never taking her eyes off him.

After a while, the music stopped and Phil whistled to get everyone's attention, for it was the time for the speeches and the partygoers gathered around, with Ben sitting next to his father, with Ruby lying down beside him as Phil began his speech,

'Now, I'd like to thank you all for coming to Ben's eighteenth birthday tonight on board the Lara, which, as you all know, was named after his mother, on this calm and still night, although it would've more appropriate to have it at the local footy club…

Anyway, Benjamin Phillip Steele, you were born into one of Queensland and Australia's greatest rugby league dynasties and long may it continue..' Phil said, while Ben rolled his eyes but quickly hid it.

'I know that you haven't had the easiest times when you were growing up, losing your mother at a young age and I also know that I haven't been around a lot due to my career, but I just want to say, that I've always been proud of you, mate.

And if your mother were here today, she would be also be proud and you have many achievements that you had worked hard for, such as gaining excellent marks in school and being the sports captain at Southport and going to study business at Bond University next month…'

'Dad, you're rambling on again,' Ben said.

'Yes, Phil, we better wrap this up, so that you can give him his special present.' Des said.

'Right, of course,' said Phil, 'Ben, to commemorate your birthday, I have got you a very special and a very expensive present,' as some of the yacht's crew carried a large-shaped object onto the deck while the crowd applauded.

'Oh, Dad, you didn't have to do that!' Ben said, chuckling.

'I already have the inheritance money from Mum, the maroon Lexus convertible we picked out last week, the beer from the boys and the presents from the girls and Des, so I really don't need another one.'

'I know, but I wanted to,' Phil said, 'it's my way to make up for all my absences over the years and while cars and money come and go, this will last a lifetime and I hope that you will treasure it forever.

Happy 18th birthday, Ben,' he said as he signalled to Des to unwrap the large present.

'Aw, Dad, you shouldn't have!' Ben said, before the wrapping came off to reveal a portrait of Ben wearing a Maroons jersey with the Broncos and Kangaroos jerseys draped over his left arm and holding a rugby league ball in his hand and it was set in the backdrop of Suncorp Stadium.

'I mean you really shouldn't have,' Ben muttered under his breath, clearly unimpressed with the portrait but did his best to show his gratitude while Phil grinned proudly at it.

Des, however, rolled his eyes at the over-the-top gift, Ben's friends laughed out loud and Ruby growled at it, not even bothering to hide their unfavourable opinions.

'Nice portrait, Ben!' Cody laughed.

'Well, what do you think, Ben?' Phil said, anticipating his son's response, 'isn't this the most magnificent portrait you have seen? Very lifelike, isn't it?'

'Um, thanks, Dad, I um…like it.' Ben said, faltering.

'It's brilliant, Phil,' Des said, then to Ben he muttered, 'No, I agree, it is a bit too much,'

'I'm glad that you like it, Ben,' Phil said, 'I had a professional sports artist paint it for you. It was originally going to be a bronze statue like the one they have of me outside of Suncorp but I thought a portrait would be better.

Of course, I had also hoped that it would be a wedding present, in the fairly distant future,' he said and Ben rolled his eyes, thinking here we go again, for a sensitive subject between father and son was about to be brought up.

'Dad, I've only just turned eighteen! I can't be thinking of marriage just yet, I 've got my whole life ahead of me, I want to be free for a while, go to uni, get a job, surf and hang out with my mates…'

'Wait a minute,' he then said, realising something,

'Is this because you're still sore that I didn't have a girlfriend throughout high school or that Mia and I went to the formal as friends?' tilting his head towards a blonde-haired girl who smiled shyly at him.

'Yes, I always thought that you would be a couple. As well as me, our whole circle of friends would like to see you settle down with a nice girl and why on earth did you go to the formal with Mia as friends?' Phil said.

'We decided that we didn't work as a couple and that we were better off being friends,' Ben said, as Mia nodded in agreement, 'the same goes for Anna and Grace and that's the way it's always been.'

'Why do you need more friends?' Phil said, 'you've got plenty of friends but no girlfriend!'

'Phil, leave him alone!' Des said, 'anyway, it's not like you were around, so why should you be interested in your son's love life or rather lack of one?

If he doesn't want to find a girl and get married, he doesn't have to and it's not because he went to an all-boys' school! No offense, Ben, mate,'

'None taken, Des,' Ben said, 'and the right girl for me is out there somewhere. I just haven't found her yet,' as he sighed, not realising that 'she' was literally under his nose on the ledge of the yacht.

'Maybe you haven't been looking hard enough,' said Phil.

'Dad, trust me, I will know when I find her and if I do, she'll suddenly appear like a thunderstorm when you least expect it!' Ben said, snapping his fingers.

No sooner as he said it, the calmness of the night soon gave way to a stormy sky and a flash of lightning appeared, accompanied by a rumble of thunder.

'Wow Ben, you're better at predicting the weather that the weatherman on TV!' said Adam, 'looks like a nasty storm is coming.'

'We better get to shore before it gets really rough,' Des said, which made everyone become aware that the party was now over and that they needed to get to shore before they would get caught in the storm.