Miserable, Lonely, and Depressed

“Happy Birthday!” Arianna and Nessa shouted, swimming into Harmony’s room waking her up. Harmony sat up and rubbed her eyes, her brown hair swaying in the water.

“Was it really necessary to wake me up so early?” she asked with a yawn.

“We thought you’d want to get ready for the ceremony,” Arianna said. “Daddy said King Cayman will be ready at noon to turn you into a human. Queen Delia, however, will be waiting for you at ten to help you choose which type of outfit you want King Cayman to give you when he transforms you.”

“Alright, thank you,” Harmony said excitedly, swimming over to her sisters and pulling Arianna into a hug. Reluctantly she also gave Nessa a hug.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Nessa said with a sigh, swimming away from her older sister. “Go get ready, Daddy’s waiting to talk to you.”

“Oh joy,” Harmony said, rolling her eyes.

Minutes later she was swimming to meet her father. She knocked on the doorway to his room and swam in when he turned to look at her.

“Morning Daddy,” she said, swimming up to him and kissing his cheek.

“Good morning, Harmony.”

“Ness said you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes, I just want to lay down a few rules while you’re up at the surface,” he said, clearing his throat to achieve his ’Dad’ voice.

“Daddy,” she said with a sigh, floating down into a chair.

“Just listen, Harmony,” he said sternly. “You need to be careful up on the surface with the humans. Especially the males. I have heard many bad things about them when it comes to young girls. Don’t expect to be living there either once your month is over.”

“Daddy that’s not fair!” she shouted, rising up in fury. “It’s my choice; you can’t make it for me.”

“Oh yes I can!” he roared.

“Says who?”

“I do, I am your father.”

“Well I’m eighteen now which in Maritania means I have the ability to choose for myself. It’s part of our government, Daddy.”

“Listen to me young lady; none of my daughters will ever live above the surface. Understood?”

“No,” she said, crossing her arms. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have a meeting with Queen Delia.”

Harmony swam away from her home, her cheeks burning from anger. Happy Birthday’s were shouted to her from every direction and she tried her hardest to smile and wave even though she was fuming mad at her father. Once she reached the castle she stopped swimming and tried to regain her composure before her meeting with Queen Delia. She swam through the entrance and was guided by a guard to the throne room.

“Wow,” she breathed when she saw the racks of human clothes set up around the room. Queen Delia was floating by one, searching through the hangers.

“Your majesty, Harmony has arrived,” the guard said in a loud booming voice.

“Ah, Harmony!” she exclaimed, a smile on her face as she swam over. “Happy Birthday, darling. Come. Come. Time to choose a fabulous outfit for you to wear when you go to the surface.”

“But there are so many! How do I know which one to choose?”

“That is why you are here with me. So I can help you,” she said, pulling an outfit from a rack and holding it up to Harmony’s body. She made a face and tossed it over her shoulder where one of her maids caught it.

“May I ask a question about the changing your majesty?” Harmony asked nervously as Queen Delia searched through another rack.

“Of course. You can ask me anything.”

“Okay well, I guess, what happens, exactly. I’ve been to them many times before of course but what does it feel like? I would have asked Arianna but Daddy told her she couldn’t talk about it. I guess I’m just a little…”

“Nervous?” Queen Delia asked with a smile and Harmony blushed.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

“It’s alright, dear. Everyone is nervous on the day of their changing. Well first King Cayman will transform you into a human and you’ll be put in a bubble so you can breathe through your nose and the outfit you pick out will appear on your body via King Cayman of course. His magic will lift you to the surface, near a beach. The bubble will then disappear.”

“Breathe?” Harmony asked, looking up at Queen Delia.

“It will come naturally. It’s like how we use our gills but humans use their noses,” she explained, holding another outfit up to Harmony’s body and then discarding it. “Then you will just have to charm your way into the human world for a month. Once your month is up you will be able to make your decision.”

“It doesn’t sound easy.”

“It will be as easy as you are willing to let it be,” Queen Delia said, placing a hand on Harmony’s shoulder. “Now come on, let’s find you a stunning outfit.”

****

“Welcome all,” King Cayman said in his loud, booming voice. “Today we celebrate the eighteenth birthday of our beloved Harmony. She is prepared to be transformed into a human and to spend one month above the surface. It is always an exciting time when of us gets this chance so help me congratulate Harmony on hers.”

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers for Harmony who floated nervously between the King and Queen. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her father sulking against one of the pillars, her sisters in front of him. Harmony closed her eyes and remembered that this was going to be an exciting time.

“Now, silence please as I transform Harmony,” he said, turning towards Harmony. The outfit she had picked out was on a rack next to Queen Delia. King Cayman closed his eyes, pointing his trident toward Harmony and muttering some words.

Harmony closed her eyes as she could feel the magic surrounding her. Her body started to tingle and she could feel her fins separating. A bubble formed around her and she began to spin, the outfit appeared on her body and she felt the flowing of the skirt against her new legs. She breathed through her nose for the first time and the sensation felt strange but she knew she needed to continue. The bubble was beginning to rise above Maritania and float towards the surface.

Before she knew it she was lying on a beach, completely dry with no bubble around her. She blinked open her eyes and saw the blazing sun. The ocean waves lapped against her toes and she sat up, looking around her. The beach was completely disserted.
She decided this would be her chance to finally stand on legs. Using her hands she pushed her body upwards onto her new feet. Her knees shook from instability and she stumbled forward a little but she caught her balance. She slowly walked towards a large rock near the water and sat on it.

The breeze felt nice against her hair. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the ocean. In the distance she could hear seagulls and laughter. She opened her eyes again and tried looking for the source of the laughter and she saw a family down the beach. Some kind of land animal was running to the water retrieving something and running back to the people who took the object from it and throwing it back to the water. She watched curiously wondering what they were doing.

One of the boys happened to turn away and look in her direction. Harmony gasped when she realized it was the boy she saw the other day when she was at the surface and she realized the rock she was sitting on was the one she had been hiding behind. She watched him as he walked towards her.

“Hi,” he said once he was close enough to her.

“Hi,” she said shyly, running her fingers through her hair.

“Are you alright? You look confused.”

“I’m fine. I’m just enjoying the smell of the ocean,” she said, looking back towards the rolling waves.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said, turning his body to look at the water.

“Very. It’s different, seeing it from this point of view.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at her curiously.

“Oh… nothing,” she said, mentally smacking herself. “Is that your family back there?”

“Yeah, and our dog, Elvis,” he said, and she tried to remember that… dog.

“He seems to enjoy the ocean.”

“He loves coming here,” he said, a smile on his face. “I’m Joe by the way.”

“Harmony,” she said, smiling at him.

“That’s a beautiful name,” he said and she looked down, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “Listen, are you sure you’re okay? The only other car here is ours and there aren’t any houses in walking distance and I didn’t see any bikes.”

“I’m…”

“Because I’m sure my family wouldn’t mind if you came home with us, at least just for the night until you find somewhere to go.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, we have plenty of room,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, alright. If you’re sure.”

“Of course,” he said, smiling at her again. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Harmony stepped down from the rock. Her legs were still a little shaky and she almost fell into the sand but Joe wrapped an arm around her waist, steadying her.

“Thanks,” she whispered, standing straight and slowly placing one foot in front of the other.

Joe walked by her side, ready to reach his arms out if he had to. He watched Harmony carefully, the way she looked around as they walked; even the way she walked was very strange. It was almost as if she had never walked before. Plus, the way how she said it was different seeing the ocean from this point of view… what other point of view was there? He wanted to know more about this girl.