This short story is about a young teenger who was taught to believe her dreams while still young. After meeting the girl she had always dreamed about, her life was changed. The girl's name was Sapphire and Sapphire is a mermaid, but who will believe her?
Saria was a young teenager. Her grades were well kept up, and she was keeping her high hopes for the scholarship to stay hers.
As a young child, she was taught to believe her dreams. No matter what happens, never give up. Of course, she was young with an imagination; she took it the wrong way. Saria told her mother about her feeling, but her mother thought that Saria was just having nightmares or something.
She was fed up with Saria’s dreams, and said that they were foolish and false. Any dream she had wasn’t right, that she was too young to understand. She was waiting outside of her house because of a dream. A feeling that something important lies near the back alley for her to yet uncover. She just waited, and waited, and waited.
Nothing did happen that day, but as she got older, she matured. Her mother takes things more seriously now, and says that NOT everything is possible. She just wanted a daughter that would fit in with everyone else. It would be less embarrassing for her to have a kid with much more teaching.
Soon, Saria turned 14. She was already on her way to winning her scholarship, and kept her grades up well. She got new friends too. Her best friend though, was a pretty brunette with the most perfect skin. Her silky hair stretched down to her lower back, and she had solid gold irises.
“So, what did you have a feeling about?” Jenna asked. That was her name, Jenna.
“What, When?” Saria was confused.
“You know. You told me about when you were younger…”
“And…”
“And that one time when you waited by that alley.”
“I don’t really remember it all that well. I mean it was like 5 years ago. I can’t remember everything forever.” Saria replied.
“Yeah, true that.”
Saria didn’t actually forget, she just didn’t want to humiliate herself. It was pretty embarrassing for her. Saria spaced out, dreaming about what it would be like to have something come true. “SARIA!” Saria’s brunette friend shouted, trying to her attention.
“What?”
“Earth to Saria, leave the zone on its own! Jeez!”
“Oh, sorry I must’ve spaced out.” Saria apologized with a tired voice.
“Are you okay?” Jenna sounded worried. “You don’t seem very well.” After a couple of seconds, Saria replied quickly.
“I’ll meet you in ‘the place’ at lunch, okay?”
“But what about-” Saria interrupted her.
“Be there A.S.A.P!” She walked off leaving Jenna ditched in the hallway. Obviously, Saria had a secret to spill. Their place was behind the gym at school. There was a forbidden bathroom there with locked lights. You needed a key to turn them on, but they secretly picked the lock.
At lunch, Saria told Jenna about how she had a feeling like someone rare was waiting there for her. Jenna played along like if she was kidding, but Saria was serious. She also swore that she thought she saw a shadow as she left for home. Obviously, Jenna didn’t believe her. She always needed visuals to believe everything.
Jenna no longer hung out with her after that. She thought that Saria was going crazy. A couple of days later though, Saria decided to stop by the one place she waited by 5 years ago. She hoped that something would happen this time.
Saria turned around to the crackle of a twig behind her. “Who are you?” Saria said with fear.
“I’m Sapphire.” She replied. Her face was hidden in the shadow from the alley.
“What do you want?” Saria eagerly whined.
“I’m waiting.” Saria whipped around.
“For who or what?” She turned her back again, thinking she was nothing. There was a pause. Saria was now getting impatient with Sapphire. “If you don’t have any business here, just leave!” Saria complained. She waited and waited for an answer.
“What are you waiting for?!”
Then Sapphire finally replied,
“I don’t know…” There was yet another pause.
“Then maybe you’re the one that I’ve been looking for all this time!” Saria thought of the possibilities. She was looking for a certain someone in the alley, but she didn’t know who. Sapphire was also waiting for somebody, but also didn’t know who. They both had a feeling that someone was supposed to meet them there.
Saria and Sapphire spent a lot of time together. Of course, Sapphire looked human. Whenever she stepped out of water, her tail turned into legs and feet, but like before, water equals mermaid plus tail. Nobody really did believe in mermaids though; it was just a myth. Saria greeted Sapphire to her friends, but never told them about the secret for she knew that they would never believe her. If her friends thought that she was crazy, then she wouldn’t have them anymore. Saria kept that secret for who knows how long, but couldn’t hold it captive any longer. She needed to tell someone.
The next day, Saria finally decided that she would tell her best friend, Jenna about it, but would she believe her or would Saria lose her? It was too hard to tell her though. Jenna met Saria at the secret place behind the gym to talk about the secret Jenna was about to learn. Saria tried to take it slow and steady before humiliating herself. “Okay, I need to tell you something. It’s a secret that I would have never told you though.”
“What? You’ve been hiding a secret from me this whole time?!” Jenna snapped.
“Listen, this might sound crazy.”
“You have a boyfriend?” Jenna interrupted.
“Focus, Jenna!” She paused trying to think about how to put things. “You know how you said that you would always be there for me and comfort me when I was down? I admire you for that, but I don’t know if you will believe me for this.”
“Come on, Saria! I believed you when you said that you thought you were supposed to meet someone. It was hard, but I believe you now.” Jenna tried to get Saria to understand, but what Jenna didn’t know, was that it was much, much more important than that.
“I have something to tell you…”
“I know! That’s why I’m here! Saria, hurry up and spit it out already!”
“Well here goes…” There was dead silence for a moment. Saria was beginning to sweat.
“Umm… Sapphire isn’t really who you think she is.”
Jenna gave her a disgusted look.
“She’s really a mermaid.” Saria blurted out. She waited for a response, but the look on Jenna’s face gave her the hint of disbelief.
“Saria, are you-“ Saria cut her off before she could finish.
“You HAVE to believe me! Look, I’ll ask her myself!”
“Saria, stop it!”
That instant, Saria dragged her out the door. She dragged her all the way to the bathroom where Sapphire was hanging out with her friends. Saria demanded Sapphire to spill her secret for the proof, but Sapphire acted as if she didn’t know what Saria was talking about. Saria was now getting angry but embarrassed at the same time. Sapphire still refused to answer. Saria walked off mad, but behind her back, the group was talking.
“What is her problem?” One of the teens complained curiously.
“I don’t know,” Jenna sighed. “Just something about Sapphire being a mermaid or something; I think she’s going crazy.” Jenna giggled and joked. Those words sent a cold shiver down Sapphire’s spine.
“I go to go now. See you later…” Sapphire ran off like there was no tomorrow. Soon Sapphire caught up to Saria, who was heading down the hall in anger. Stopping her in her tracks, Sapphire tried to apologize and get things straight but Saria couldn’t care less. Sapphire stopped, falling behind. A twinkle lit up in her eye, filling her eyelids with sparkles of tears. She watched as Saria walked down the hall a bit more and out the door.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered to herself. Sapphire turned around and left.
The next few days, Saria never spoke to anyone. In fact, no one would speak to her. Sapphire was no longer around, but it wasn’t like Saria cared. Her grades began to drop rapidly, it felt like her life was at its end. Whenever she had a test or the teacher was speaking to the class, she would doze off.
A couple of days later, Saria stopped to check her timetable for her next class. It was Friday, and Saria hadn’t seen Sapphire since. Maybe she was sick with the flu. No, she couldn’t be. She’s a cold-blooded mermaid. Something was up, something big. Saria reflected the past. She met Sapphire, tried to tell Jenna that Sapphire was a mermaid, lost her friends, refused Sapphire’s apologies, left the school… it had to have been when she got mad at Sapphire. Saria thought about it and continued to walk. Students were shouting in the distance. Saria looked up.
“Hey, watch it! Watch where you’re going, Jerka!” Some students made fun of Jenna’s name. Ignored the amateurs, Jenna swept down the hall towards Saria. Saria just looked down as if she didn’t see Jenna straight ahead. “Saria! I need your help!” Jenna stated.
“For what, to make fun of again?” Saria expected. Jenna stopped Saria in her tracks.
“Look, I didn’t mean to do anything to you, but believe you.” Saria stopped and looked into Jenna’s gold irises. She could tell that Jenna had just sprayed some perfume on her body. It was a cherry scented flavor. “As hard as it is to believe you, I apologize.” Saria stepped into Jenna to get a move on, but Jenna didn’t budge. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have ever done the things that I did, but now… now I’m trying to make it up to you.” Saria thought for a moment, then she smiled. “What’s up?” Saria trusted Jenna again, their friendship was restored. Jenna didn’t smile though. “It’s Sapphire,” Saria’s smile dropped to a serious look. “She’s gone.”
“What?”
“She’s gone, she’s hasn’t been to school for 3 days.”
“Maybe she transferred.” Saria didn’t want to bring her up again. She began to walk away when she noticed that Jenna was ticked off. “I’ll do it myself then.” Jenna muttered. Saria slowed down to a stop. Jenna walked away, but Saria turned around and caught up. Skipping the beginning of the school day, they ran to the beach. The waters were calm, and the deep blue-died water reflected the sun. There seemed to be nothing for miles. Emptiness filled the sand, emptiness filled the water, and emptiness filled the heads, no way to get her back. Jenna and Saria turned around and slowly walked away with tears in their eyes. It was all over, it seemed like. Step after step, they both left footprints in the sand; proof that they were there, evidence that all they did, never mattered. Two sets of footprints turned into one. Saria turned around and ran the edge of the seashore. “Please, come back!” She shouted to the waters. That instant, Jenna whipped around to see Saria weeping. “Please! Sapphire, I’m sorry for everything! I need you.” Saria pleaded.
Jenna ran to Saria’s side to comfort her. They stood up together and walked away with tears rolling down their cheeks. “You came back…” A voice stated. Saria and Jenna turned their backs to see a figure standing at the edge of the water. The sun blocked their field of view; it was too bright to make out the figure. Sapphire then stepped out into sight.
She smiled, “I admire that in a friend.” Saria and Jenna ran to Sapphire and gave her the biggest hug. I’m sorry for everything!” The two begged Sapphire for forgiveness. Sapphire hushed them both and admitted that she had some proof for Jenna. She then tapped the water with her toe and sank in. Her feet stepped in next, as her legs conjoined. The next thing to see, was Sapphire in the water, but with a tail, not feet. Jenna’s jaw dropped. She looked at Saria, but Saria just gave her a friendly smile. “Water plus Sapphire equals mermaid.”
“I’ve been meaning to show you this charm. It means love and friendship. I got it from my mother before she passed away.” Sapphire pulled out a yellow charm carved into the shape of a heart. It gleamed in the rays of the sun, reflecting its shape.
“Why Yellow? Blue suits you more.” Jenna asked in curiosity. Sapphire giggled and said, “It’s the color of peace, trust, and honor. It was also the closest color to my mother’s eyes. My father proposed to my mother with this. He said that it suited her well.” Saria smiled. Peace filled her heart at last. No more worries flew about.
The three of them got back to school and ran to start their next class. “Where were you girls this morning?” A teacher stopped them in their tracks. “Skipping perhaps?” the girls looked at each other and forced a smirk on their faces.
The three of them became friends again, and they had no problems with trust as long as they were still friends. Saria’s grades jumped back up and had a little assistance from her friends.
No one else found out about Sapphire’s mermaid side, it was their little secret.
By: Emily Lucky 8A
