‘Happy birthday, sis!’ Rae thrust a present into Eva’s hand.
Eva tore into the shimmering fish-skinned wrapping paper.
‘A Mother-of-Pearl travel hairbrush! Thanks!’
‘A must-have for your upcoming mission!’ Rae’s smile was as wide and bright as the pearl gift she’d bestowed upon her sister.
‘You’re more excited than me,’ said Eva.
Rae, a year older, had just completed her mission. She’d been so immersed in it that Eva had barely seen her. Strangely, she’d hardly spoken about it.
Missions were set by the elders when mermaids turned eighteen. Rae had been tasked with collecting discarded plastic.
‘Let’s see what your mission is!’
Eva opened the famous oyster shell and unfolded the parchment.
‘Your mission is to take the plastics found in the ocean by your sister, and display them on the beaches to shame the humans.
You must operate under the cover of darkness. Communication with humans is forbidden.’
Rae squealed, clapping her hands like a seal. ‘Go to Coral Island! The sunset view from the rocks is beautiful.’
‘But it said after dark…’
‘This is about independence, sis! Make your own decisions. Honestly, no-one’s checking. I hardly collected any plastics.’
Eva swam to Coral Island at sunset. Rae was right. It was stunning. The sun spilled liquid gold into the ocean, illuminating a path before her. Anything seemed possible.
‘Hi there.’
Eva almost toppled off the rocks.
‘I’m Jack,’ said a handsome man. A tendril of dark hair fell across his brow as he shook her hand.
‘Eva,’ she swooned.
He stepped back to admire her. ‘You’re a mermaid! Wow.’
Eva shifted self-consciously under his gaze, contemplating swimming away. She’d be in trouble if the elders found out.
But Jack sat beside her and they talked for hours. And the next night. And the next.
‘Been to Coral Island yet?’ said Rae.
Eva blushed.
Rae’s eyes widened. ‘You’ve met someone!’
Eva sighed, secretly relieved to confide in her sister. Rae relished every detail.
‘But mermaids and humans can’t be together,’ Eva cried.
‘I’m sure there’s an ancient lore,’ said Rae, eyes shining.
She lifted a weighty tome off the shelf.
‘Here!’
‘Should a mer-person kiss a human beneath a full moon, the human shall thereafter become a mer-person…’
Rae slammed the book shut.
‘What did it say next?’ said Eva.
‘Oh, nothing! So all you have to do is kiss him on a full moon!’
*
Under the full moon’s glow, Eva gazed at Jack.
‘What if I told you there’s a way we could be together?’
‘I’d do anything!’
‘Even become a merman?’
‘Anything,’ he repeated.
‘Kiss me!’
Their lips had scarcely touched when Jack leapt into the water with a splash. She saw the silver flash of a tail behind him.
Eva’s heart soared. But when she tried to dive after him, her tail began to vibrate. Then it split down the middle, becoming two human legs.
‘Thanks, sis!’ echoed Rae’s voice as she greeted her lover on the seabed below.
Eva screamed into the moonlight.
