Chapter 7 Sisters
Author's note; Annie meets Mrs. Wellington's sister; In character's past, Mrs. Wellington gets legs and goes exploring dry land.
Pacific Ocean 1981
Two mermaid girls were swimming together in the ocean. The older one had dirty blond hair and blue-green eyes. The younger one was shorter and had long brunette hair and amber eyes.
The sisters swum together enjoying the feeling. The blond one did a backflip and laughed.
The brunette mermaid stopped to help a fish caught in the reeds and she then petted a sea turtle's head. She then swum after her sister.
"Melora, Dawn!" called a voice.
The two sisters stopped and then turned around. They swum back the way they came and saw a male mermaid and a female mermaid swimming up to them. The merman had the same brunette hair and amber eyes of Dawn and the mermaid had the dirty blond hair and blue-green eyes of Melora.
The couple hugged their daughters.
"You two haven't been sneaking off during lessons again, haven't you?" the male mermaid scolded gently.
"Oh dad, you can't be angry on a beautiful day like today" said Melora in a cheerful voice.
"I know you girls love playing and swimming," said their mother in a caring but serious tone of voice. "But you know you're going to be leader of the pod someday Melora, so you have to take your role seriously."
"Yes mom" sighed Melora giggling.
"And Dawn," added the merman to the younger mermaid. "You may be two years younger, but you need to learn these things just as much as your sister does in case anything should happen to her."
"Don't worry dad," said Dawn. "Melora and I will rule the pod together."
The mermaid couple smiled proudly at how close their daughters where.
"Just promise us you'll stay in mermaid school tomorrow," said their father.
The girls nodded.
Florence Oregon 2015
Trish and Kelsey were walking past the office when they saw Mrs. Wellington arriving wearing a blue sheath dress with black sides. They noticed she was looking a little down.
"Are you okay Mrs. Wellington?" asked Trish.
Mrs. Wellington was opening the door as Trish spoke and turned to look at them.
"Oh yeah Trish," she said replied. "I was just thinking about my older sister Melora."
"Your sister?" asked Kelsey.
"We were very close when we were young," explained Mrs. Wellington. "But as we got older and she was going to become the pod leader one day our relationship began to strain. It got worst when I started to go on land and I fell in love with a human."
The girls remembered Irene's mom mentioning that if mermaids fell in love with humans they were banished from their pods.
"It's been years since I married my late husband," sighed Mrs. Wellington. "But I still miss my sister."
The girls looked at each other in sympathy. They could tell she missed her sister, especially Trish. She and her sisters were different, but they still loved each other.
When Trish and Kelsey got over to Trish's house after school, they decided to talk to Irene and Annie.
Trish's dad was having a shower, so they couldn't use the bathroom mirror. So, they went to Cat's room. Cat's room was a tannish pink color, when they peered inside, they saw Cat wearing a hot pink top with a pale pink skirt and tights dancing while music was playing.
"Hey Cat" said Trish putting on a smile.
"Hey" replied Cat cheerily.
"Can we borrow your mirror" asked Trish.
"Um sure" replied Cat handing her sister a small makeup mirror, though she was puzzled.
Trish and Kelsey went to Trish's room and Trish recited the spell.
An image of Annie and Irene appeared.
"Hi guys," said Irene.
"Mrs. Wellington told us about her sister," explained Trish. "She told us she misses her."
"She mentioned once that she left her pod because of her interest in living on land," said Annie. "That's what Haru said to us."
"Maybe we should try to find her pod," suggested Kelsey. "And find Melora."
"But Mrs. Wellington said that she worries her sister won't want anything to do with her after leaving the pod and marrying a human" reminded Trish.
"She mentioned her pod was near Oregon," said Annie. "So, it's obviously near home."
"Trish!" called Elaine's voice.
"Uh oh," gasped Trish. "It's Elaine! Gotta go!"
With that she made the image disappear just as Elaine walked in.
"Who were you talking to?" asked Elaine.
"No one" stammered Trish.
Elaine didn't look convinced.
"You always look like you're up to something," she said. "I don't know why you don't tell us."
"We're not up to anything," declared Kelsey firmly. "Now I'd like you to leave."
Elaine looked shocked, but left the room.
"Sometimes I wish I could just tell them" sighed Trish.
"But Mrs. Wellington doesn't want us to tell anyone," reminded Kelsey. "Come on we have work to do."
1996
Dawn was swimming into a cave and heard singing. She followed the sound of the music to see Melora singing to other mermaids.
As I look around I see, this wonderful world around me.
A rainbow, many colors bright for all to see.
Treasures so warm and gold, and wonders through all to hold.
Surrounded by the afterglow, here I am.
When she finished, the mermaids applauded.
"Melora," said one. "You have a beautiful voice."
"You'll be a great leader one day" added another.
Dawn felt left out. She was always happy her sister would become leader instead of her, but as the years passed, their once close feeling had cooled down. Melora had started to take her role seriously so it kept them distant. Melora was also popular among the pod, while Dawn just blended in with the crowd.
Dawn went out swimming in the ocean. She wished things could be like they used to be with them swimming together. Dawn had always been curious with the surface and the land where the humans lived, her parents had always told her not to go to close to land and not to let humans see them.
She decided she was fifteen now, so she knew how to stay safe now.
Dawn swum to the surface and swum close to a beach. She didn't want the people to see her so she swum away to the marina.
There were lots of docks and boats around, so Dawn was careful to make sure not to get hit with a boat.
Although Dawn was fascinated with what she could see on land from the water, all the grass and the trees and houses across the street from the marina, she would never tell anyone, including her family, she wished she could go on land so she could see even more.
She swum over to a pier and saw the most interesting sight of all. Walking on the dock was a boy around her age. He had pale skin and straw-colored hair. He wore a red shirt with black stripes on the shoulder and black shorts.
Dawn used her magic to make her invisible and watched the boy. She was very curious, and she liked the boy. It was like there was no other human but him.
She watched the boy for a while and then saw him getting into a boat. A few minutes later he got out and walked away. Dawn made herself visible again and swum home.
When Dawn returned nobody seemed to notice she had been gone. Melora was talking with her friends. Dawn was about to join her sister when she heard a voice.
"Dawn where have you been?"
Dawn turned around to see her mother.
"I was just swimming mom" replied Dawn.
Her mother felt satisfied with her answer and didn't question anymore.
"Just remember though," she reminded. "You're supposed to be helping your sister run the pod when she becomes leader. You're supposed to work together, you two are best friends."
"I know mom" said Dawn putting on a smile.
For the next few days, Dawn swum to the surface and would go near land to see the boy again. Sometimes she would see him at the marina alone, other times she would see him with friends, and sometimes she would see him getting in his boat and going sailing.
One day, Dawn arrived at the marina and saw the boy wasn't there.
She wondered where he could be.
She wished she could go on land and look for him.
Dawn swum back to the pod's cave, everyone was too busy to notice her, including her parents.
She surfaced into a moonpool where she saw one of the pod's elder mermaids.
"Hello Dawn" she said in a warm voice.
"Hello Delphine" said Dawn smiling.
"You've been looking distracted lately," teased Delphine. "Is something on your mind?"
"It's just…" said Dawn fidgeting. "I've been wondering, some mermaids live on dry land. How do they do that? We aren't born with legs."
"Mermaids use the light stored in their moon rings to turn their tails into legs when they go on land," explained Delphine holding a ring with a blue gem. "As you know the rings are made from the crystals in the cave. If you hold the ring out and concentrate, it will turn your tail into legs. But don't worry, you'll turn back into a mermaid when you touch water for ten seconds."
Dawn stared at the ring in aww. She wondered if she could use the ring to give herself legs so she could go on land and find the boy.
"Can I borrow it?" she asked innocently.
"You can keep it," said Delphine with a smile. "I'm not a young mermaid anymore, so it's time I pass it on."
She handed the ring to Dawn; she smiled and thanked the mermaid and dove down.
…
Annie and Irene were swimming into the throne room. They could hear the king and queen talking.
They peered behind a pillar to see a mermaid who didn't look much older than Mrs. Wellington, with long wavy dirty blond hair.
"I'm worried about my pod your majesties," said the mermaid. "The humans are scouting the ocean for drilling. They might cause harm to our territory."
"I know," said Merrow sympathetically. "You can always come to the oceanic realm. There are lots of oceans in this world."
Annie and Irene swum closer.
"Excuse us," said Annie.
The mermaid turned around in surprise.
"Irene and I are from the human world like you are," said Annie. "Are you the leader of your pod?"
"Yes," replied the mermaid. "I'm the leader of the Portland pod."
"What's your name?" asked Annie.
"Melora" said the mermaid confusedly.
Annie and Irene stared at each other in surprise.
…
In Florence, Mrs. Wellington was sitting in her office looking at a picture. She looked up from her desk to see Haru coming into the office.
"What is it Haru?" she asked softly.
"I noticed you looked distracted lately" said Haru.
He then noticed the picture it was of Mrs. Wellington and a man. Mrs. Wellington was wearing a white wedding gown with a V-neck and lace sleeves. The man wore a black suit and white undershirt.
"That's my wedding day," explained Mrs. Wellington. "My husband Troy and I. I left my pod to be with him. Lately I've been thinking if I made a mistake to leave the pod and my sister now that he's gone."
"No," exclaimed Haru in shock. "Annie would be having trouble with her mermaid powers if she never met you."
"I suppose your right," said Mrs. Wellington cheering up a bit. "It's just I've been missing Melora and I wonder if I made the choice to live on land with the humans. Since I was a kid, I was interested in the land and wanted to see it. I remember the day I went on land."
…
Portland Oregon, 1981
Early the next morning, Dawn snuck out of the cave and swum to the beach. She saw nobody was around. She crawled on to dry land and placed the ring on the ground in front of her.
Dawn held her breath in concentration. The crystal on the ring then started to glow and Dawn felt a flash of light. She looked back and saw her tail had turned into legs!
Dawn smiled brightly; it had worked. She wasn't afraid of how she'd go underwater again, she had learned in mermaid school that mermaids who lived on land or ones who had transformed into humans would regain their tales when they touch water.
Dawn stood up wobbly and was ready to go look for the boy. But then she noticed she wasn't wearing any clothes. Dawn knew humans wore clothes; she had been observing them for a long time.
She quickly dashed back into the water, feeling a woosh sensation she transformed back into mermaid form and swum to the marina.
Peering up from the water, Dawn checked to see if the marina was empty. There was no people around. So, she swum around, on one of the boats she saw a clothesline with clothes hanging on it.
Dawn climbed on to the boat and grabbed a towel hanging on a chair to dry off and transformed into human form.
Dawn grabbed a red tank top with a u-neck and a pair of white skirt pants. Then she quickly got off the boat and walked down the dock.
Walking wasn't the best thing for Dawn at the minute, walking on the sidewalk and the road was hard on her feet. She knew she didn't have any shoes and that people wore them when they went out.
Then suddenly, there in the crowd was the boy she had seen the marina. Dawn ignored the pain in her feet as she ran across the street. She just wanted to run up to the boy and talk to him.
The boy was talking to some friends and as she walked on to the sidewalk, saw them walking into the building in front of them. Dawn saw a sign that said Frank Benson high school home of the Frank Benson sparrows.
Dawn walked inside. She struggled through the crowd of people in the halls trying not to lose the boy. Everyone was too busy to notice her not wearing shoes.
The boy walked into a classroom, Dawn followed the boy inside and saw the boy sitting down at a table. Dawn sat down at the table behind him. A girl sat next to her, she had light red hair in an updo and wore an indigo shirt with three buttons, denim jeans and a jean jacket.
"Are you new here?" asked the girl.
"Uh yes," said Dawn unsure of what to say to the girl.
"I'm Susannah," said the girl.
"I'm Dawn," replied Dawn. "Who's he?" she asked pointing to the boy.
"That's Troy Wellington," replied Susannah. "He's one of the track runners in school."
Dawn looked towards the front again at the boy.
"Good morning class," said a man stepping in. "Welcome to marine studies, I am Mr. Wilder."
He went about with roll call, calling students names and students replied.
"Susannah Miranda."
"Here."
He then noticed Dawn sitting next to Susannah and looked surprise.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm Dawn" stammered Dawn.
Mr. Wilder looked at his clipboard.
"I don't see you on the list," he said sounding confused.
"It was last minute," explained Dawn still stammering. "I didn't know either that I was coming here."
Mr. Wilder nodded in acceptance.
"I need your full name" he said.
Dawn thought for a minute of what to use for her last name.
"Dawn Waters" replied Dawn.
As the class went on, Dawn surprised everyone by her knowledge of the sea life. Every time Mr. Wilder asked a question, Dawn was always the first to raise her hand.
When the bell rang class ended, Dawn watched the others get up and leave. So she got up and followed Susannah out the door. She noticed Troy walking beside her.
"You're very good at marine studies," said Troy sounding impressed. "You like the ocean?"
"Yeah," replied Dawn blushing. "The ocean is beautiful."
"I'm Troy," said Troy.
"I'm Dawn," said Dawn. "Dawn Waters."
"I like the ocean too," said Troy. "I love to go boating. Maybe I could take you some time."
"That would be nice" said Dawn softly.
Dawn looked Susannah.
"What's your next class?" she asked.
"Geography" replied Susannah.
"Same" replied Dawn.
As they girls walked down the hall, Susannah looked down.
"Where are your shoes?" she asked.
"I uh, left them at home" Dawn lied.
Susannah took Dawn to her locker and grabbed out a box. When she lifted the lid, Dawn saw a pair of black running shoes with purple laces.
"Here, I have an extra pair," said Susannah.
Dawn took the shoes and put them on.
The morning went by easy for Dawn. That afternoon she and Susannah were in the cafeteria. Dawn looked around at the display for seafood.
"What are those?" she asked pointing at some round pieces of meat.
"Those are burgers," said Susannah.
"I'll have one," said Dawn.
The cook grabbed two of the burgers and put them on buns, she gave one to Susannah and the other to Dawn. Dawn didn't have any money so Susannah paid for hers too.
Dawn and Susannah saw Troy and some other boys sitting at a table and they went to sit with them.
"Hey Troy" said Dawn sitting next to him.
"So Troy," said one boy. "That's the new girl from marine studies you told us about?"
"Yeah," said Troy. "She likes the ocean and knows a lot about it."
"My old school was near the ocean," said Dawn trying to hide her true life from the humans. "I always loved being by ocean and going swimming." She took a bite out of her burger. It wasn't the same as fish and other seafood, it was stuff she hadn't eaten before.
"I usually prefer seafood," said Dawn between bites. "But I do like this burger."
Troy and his friends looked confused.
"So Troy," said Dawn curiously. "You hang out by the Marina?"
"Yes," replied Troy. "I live near it."
"I've been hanging out there a lot lately too," said Dawn. "I've seen you around the marina before."
"I've never seen you at the marina," said Troy confusedly. "Do you live in the neighborhood."
"I live near the marina," admitted Dawn. "I just keep to myself."
Just then one of Troy's friends knocked his water bottle over. Water poured all over the table. Dawn slid back in her seat and held her hand out. Nobody saw that as her hands held out the water stopped and started to slide back except for Susannah.
…
"Mrs. Wellington," said the secretary. "Trish Callahan is here to see you." Trish stood next to the secretary.
The secretary left Trish alone with Mrs. Wellington and Haru and shut the door.
"What's wrong Trish?" asked Mrs. Wellington.
"I wanted to talk to you," said Trish struggling how to explain. "My sisters are getting suspicious. Sometimes I wish I could tell them. What should I do?"
"I understand how you feel," said Mrs. Wellington sympathetically. "When I started going on land, I wished I could tell Melora about it too. But I knew she wouldn't be too happy about me talking to humans, so I didn't tell her."
Trish looked down.
"I know it's hard keeping this secret from your family," said Mrs. Wellington. "But we have to keep it secret."
Trish nodded and got up to leave.
…
Dawn left the school that afternoon feeling relieved. She felt proud that she survived a day of human school. As she walked down the front steps, she watched Troy leaving with his friends.
Susannah caught up with her and walked.
"I should give you your shoes back," said Dawn bending down to take them off. But then Susannah stopped her.
"You can keep them," she said. "You might need them since you mermaids don't really have them in the ocean."
Dawn stood up in shock.
"How did you know I'm a mermaid?" she whispered.
"I'm a witch," replied Susannah. "I could sense magic on you, so I had a feeling you were a magic being. And I saw you holding the water back in the cafeteria."
"Are you a sea witch?" asked Dawn.
"No," said Susannah. "I'm a regular witch. But I have read books about magic beings like mermaids. Your powers are water, aren't they?"
"Yes," replied Dawn. "You should see my sister; she has substance powers."
"That's amazing!" said Susannah. "Why'd you come on land if you live in the ocean?"
"I saw Troy in the marina and I wanted to see him," said Dawn admittingly.
"You like him, don't you?" teased Susannah.
Dawn didn't answer, she just blushed.
"You're coming back tomorrow, aren't you?" asked Susannah. "Troy and the teachers in our class will wonder about your absence after just one day. And I'm sure Troy will miss you."
Dawn thought for a minute, she did want to see Troy again, so she nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she said. "But I better get back to the ocean, my pod's probably wondering where I am."
Dawn ran all the way back to the marina and dove into the water transforming back into mermaid form.
Dawn swam to the cave where her pod lived.
Where have you been? said Melora. "Mom and dad were getting worried."
"I was exploring" Dawn said to her sister.
Melora didn't seem so convinced. But she nodded in respect at her sister as she did trust her.
…
Trish met Elaine at the front door when the day was over.
"Hey Elaine" she said to her sister. Before she could say anything else, she saw their mother's car showing up.
"Elaine, I'm sorry if I've been keeping to myself for a while lately," said Trish. "But you know what's been going on is between me and my friends."
"It's okay," said Elaine. "You are allowed to talk to whoever you want about your secrets."
"It's not going to change that we're sisters," said Trish.
The two sisters exchanged smiles as they climbed into the car.
Author's note; We have seen Mrs. Wellington's past and how she met her husband. I don't own the song Melora sang in the chapter, it's a song from the show Mako mermaids.