Page 6 of Mermaid on Heels
“Rise and shine, angelfishes, I am going to gather some breakfast. Be ready when I am back.”
Hearing a sleepy hum from both of them, Liriya grabbed the mother shell from their collection and swam up to the rift when Ella called from behind.
“Wait, wait, wait! I am coming, too.”
Liriya paused and turned. Ella sat up and rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes. Sessa jolted upright next to her.
“But, I would be alone!” she protested.
“No shark can pass through the rift, silly. Will you ever let that sink into your stubborn skull?” Ella asked as she rose from the sand and ran her hands over her face and through her hair.
“And will you ever get it to sink intoyourskull thatbabysharks can?” Despite her sleepiness, Sessa narrowed her eyes and shot back in annoyance.
“Oh, and what would they do to you? Right, play with you. And my little sister is not a big fan of games because she loses all the time,” Ella teased her.
“Fine, I am coming too!” Sessa pouted and rose to grab the largest shell left from their collection.
Liriya shook her head at their silly banter. As much as it got under her skin sometimes or gotoutof her hands when it heated into an argument, she loved it and adored her sisters for it; it was the highlight of her days.
They swam out of the cave.
“Alright, I shall go west—”
“But west is mine!”
“We are switching directions this time, angelfish.” Liriya offered her youngest sister a gentle smile. “Going the same direction for breakfast hunting has gotten a little boring, will you not agree?”
“Yes please,” Ella said desperately. “My eyes would begratefulif they can use a change of view. If you take west, then I shall go east, and Sessa can take north.”
“No,Ishall go north, you take east, and Liriya will take west,” Sessa countered comically, with a faux-glare at Ella.
“Ooh, someone is in a good mood today.” Liriya pointed out with mirth.
Sessa shot her a cheeky smile. “I had a spectacular dream until I was interrupted.”
“Yet, it is a surprise you are not grumpy like most mornings.” Ella snorted a laugh. “I am off! I shall see you in a while.”
“Save some for me if you catch prawns!” Sessa called out after her before turning to Liriya. “You know, if I do not tell her beforehand I will not get any.” Saying so, she glided north. “I shall see you, Liriya! Kick a shark for me if you see one!”
“Do not predict anything!” Liriya admonished her with a laugh. The last thing any of them wanted was a shark crossing their path. Shaking her head, she swam away to the west.
Eating good food was one of the few vital things Liriya missed from her past life. As a royal, she had never worried over food; when she was hungry or when it was mealtime, she could always find it ready to eat.
However, since coming here, she had been forced to food-hunt three times a day. She had to feed her sisters. At first, Liriya had started alone, and eventually, her sisters joined; which was a great help because hunting for food wasn’t all that easy—especially when some had preferences, favorites, and ate things only that were delicious.
They collected edible weeds, vegetables, buckthorns, as well as conch, prawns, and small fish, and shared with each other after getting back. Repeating this three times a day was the only entertainment they had—ifone could even call it an entertainment.
Liriya collected the food in her shell, and tied it around her waist with seaweed when it was full. Chewing on an extra berry that she plucked on her way back, a shoal of fish crossed her path. She waited until the coast was clear and gave a flick of her tail to move forward when a movement caught the corner of her eye.
Liriya’s eyes followed the motion. She glanced up and froze. Her eyes went round in terror as they hooked on the certain creature, recognition clicking. She looked around in panic and scurried over to the bushes nearby, and hid behind them.
Her tail swayed in the water, mirroring the rhythm of her quickened pulse. She had heard tales of humans, whispered stories of creatures from the world above, but never had she imagined she would witness one in the flesh, orscalesrather.
Liriya couldn’t believe what she saw. It was unbelievable and utterly impossible! She replayed the sight in her mind rather than turning to look at it again—having no courage to do so.
At the first glimpse, she thought it was a merman, a merman with a weirdly short, parted tail and tiny fins—extremelytiny. That was when the terror of recognition hit her. It was no merman; it was a human!
And the first thing the very wordhumanbrought to the forefront of her mind was, a pirate.