Skate off!

In the spirit of competition, we held a second event for our olympix. We call this here the ten meter dash.

Moonshine was bad mouthing me the whole time. He's all like, "I can beat you in a two legged race with one leg and no toes." So I figured I'd rise to the challenge.

I was kind of nervous at first on account of Pablo psyching us out with fake numbers. He's all, "ono, dose, trace..." I don't know what none them numbers mean. Course he thought he was super funny, so he kept starting over. He held us in the racing position with stupid count downs like this here, "ono, dose, trace... lego!" And "ono, dose, trace, house of cards!" Anywho, it took him a dang while to finally say, "ono, dose, trace, Undelay, undealy, ariba, ariba!" I think that means go.

I was not expectin Moonshine to come out of the gate skatin in a blaze of fury, but sure enough, he did!

Course we don't actually have skates, so maybe he was just better running on ice than I was, but he got a pretty stout lead.

Anywho, I don't want to tell you who won, and it aint like it really even matters, because here's the deal, we enjoy the spirit of competition. And that's all that dang matters! Well anyways, since we aint got skates and such, we're just going to have to have a different sort of competition. Next challenge, name off. Ya'll are gonna love that!
     For those of you who are interested, I put up a few more pages of the story. Next Sunday, I suppose I'll compile them and be at the end of chapter 2. Pretty exciting 'eh? Well, I'll talk to you all later.

Chapter 2 (contd) 

Princess uselessly swipes at the manta ray. Suddenly, the log comes to a halt within the pulling waves.
Aghast, Princess looks over her shoulder to see what could be holding her in place. When she discovers a pale, slender human hand, a feeling of sheer joy rushes over her, as captivating as the manta ray’s mysterious energy. Her fragile mind falsely assumes it is her mother’s hand. Her heart pounds with anticipation as she scans with wide eyes, up the graceful fingers to the wrist. A broad grin spreads across her face when she thinks of her mum. She tilts her head up and finds a slender, wet arm glistening in the moonlight. Princess’ bulging eyes dart up the arm and are mesmerized by a pale female torso partially covered in octagonal solid gold scales overlaid in a sparkling fashion. A thin gold rope wraps around the back of a willowy neck and connects the dazzling garment above delicate shoulders. Wet, golden hair spills down her back. Water droplets dangle from the stranger’s earlobes and sparkle in the moonlight.  

Hesitantly, Princess stares into the stranger’s alluring face. “Found or finding?” the lovely woman asks in an Oceanid’s voice. 

A strange tone like a wind chime tickles Princess’ ears. “Uhm … I’m Princess,” responds the child, as she wipes her nose with her forearm. “Your voice…,” she muses, “’tis like music!” 

The woman squints at her and Princess thinks her eyes are hazel, but at night, she can hardly tell.  

The stunning woman tilts her head to the side. “Raulick summoned me to you.” She gestures to the large manta ray and clicks her tongue. 

The broad fish’s wings break the water’s plane; they rise into the air, and then lower, lifting its small, pointed face above the surface. The aquamarine fish pauses, then slaps its wings against the ocean’s face and disappears back into the blackened depths just behind Princess’ log.   

Startled, Princess snaps her head over her shoulder, narrowly missing the sight. The woman puts her hand on the child’s head and redirects her attention.  

Princess furrows her eyebrows, confused. 

“Would you like to go back to the shore?” asks the mermaid soothingly, with one eyebrow raised. Through her perfect smile her pearly white teeth gleam in the starlight. 

Princess nods with her eyes downcast, and her little lip protrudes as huge tears pool at the brim of her lids and trickle down her cheeks. Even in dire circumstances, she cannot restrain her bashfulness.  

“Very well, then,” the mermaid answers serenely. Seeing Princess completely helpless invokes a motherly instinct most mermaids long to feel; a bond that is especially strong with little girls.  

The mermaid places both hands behind the log and gently flips her tail. Carefully, she guides the child through the rippling currents.  

Swimming against a strong current she quickly pulls Princess toward a wide, shallow bay. The little girl watches the mermaid swim like a dolphin, submerging, then surfacing, with her pressing hands guiding the hefty log back to shore. With speeds that could never be matched by a human, the mermaid dashes across the bay. Occasionally, her flapping fin breaks the water’s surface and keeps Princess’ complete attention. Every time the little girl sees the wide tail flounder out of the water she gasps, then patiently waits to see it again with enthusiastic delight. When the log scrapes bottom, a half-mile away from shore, it tilts over and spills its sacred contents. The mermaid hurriedly swims aside the log and eagerly catches Princess. She flips over onto her back and fins her way to shore, cradling the child on her silver scaly lap. Princess’ little face tilts down, but her sad puppy eyes look up. The cold seawater makes her shiver. 

“Are you going to eat me?” Princess somberly asks, nestling into the mermaid’s arms. The child wiggles and squirms feeling the cold ocean water wet her legs and bum. She whimpers when the stinging salt water splashes against her wound.   

The mermaid taps the child’s nose. “You? Never. I eat what you eat,” she explains in an inviting angelic voice. 

Inside the safe grip of the mermaid’s arms, Princess immediately recognizes that her miniscule weight is nothing in comparison to the log. The mermaid jettisons the child to the shore with such immense speed, walls of water part around her slender shoulders. A thrusting wave beaches her on the rocky shore where a number of charcoal, ice-blue, and chalky, round stones litter the coast and grind together beneath her weight. There, the mermaid gently sets Princess down, the seawater lapping at the child’s bare ankles.  

Though Princess caught glimpses here and there of the mermaid’s tail, she wasn’t quite prepared for the full picture. “Oh my…,” Princess gasps when a foamy wave recedes, revealing the fishy woman’s lower torso. Shimmering silver shingles plastered tightly together begin at the woman’s waist and travel down to where her ankles should be. Her wide tail is oriented like a dolphin’s; however, the actual tail is structured like a fish’s caudal fin in shape and bony form. Strange, ribbon-like flesh hangs from both pointy sides of the tail.  

Princess yearns to touch the shimmering tail, as she does all things intriguing. She breathlessly reaches out to make contact. The whipping flipper slaps against the wet ground. Princess immediately retracts her hand, her entire body clenches and quakes from the fright. She looks at the mermaid, who seems to say, “Don’t touch.”  

Unsure of what to do, Princess bows.  

“Tinksel, Ma’am,” cheeps the high-pitched girl.  

“Tinksel?” responds the mermaid.  

“Ma says to say tinks.”  

The mermaid smiles brightly, realizing the little girl is actually saying thanks and bows her head in reply.  

As Princess recovers from her greeting, her feet wobble on some loose rocks. The sea sprite grabs her arm and stabilizes her.  

“Careful,” the mermaid calmly commands.  

The little girl stumbles again, takes a few steps, and eventually finds solid ground on a patch of dark beach sand.  

The mermaid looks at Princess patiently and then asks, “How is it you are out here with no protectors?”  

Princess slips into a panic. Her knees buckle, her mouth opens, and her face shakes. The terror from her earlier trauma is awoken. The clawing, biting animal of fear wells up inside her.  

“They dieded … ahh—eh … ahh!” Princess’ eyes dilate and saliva dribbles down her gaping mouth. Her body goes limp, her knees buckle, and she begins to teeter.  

The half woman, half fish wraps her arms around the little girl and pulls her onto her lap, protectively warding off danger with her own form. 

Princess succumbs to her emotions and crumbles in a heap at this water nymph’s mercy. Seeing nothing, hearing nothing, she becomes lulled by the mermaids’ rocking arms.  

“There, there, child,” the mermaid says soothingly, running her cool hand over Princess’ frazzled hair. “You’re safe with me.” The mermaid moves to rub her hand in circles on Princess’ small back. “I am Setchra. There, there, all will be well.”  

The young girl drifts off to sleep, leaving Setchra to formulate a plan. Through her silver irises, she searches her surroundings. Her metallic vision pierces every shadow and reveals only contrasting shades of silver, exposing every detail.   

Time passes, unbeknownst to Princess. Finally, her little eyes crack open, ever so slightly. Her vision blurs from her tears, yet the world appears to be shimmering, glowing gold. The apparition tempts the young child, inviting her eyes to reassess the scene around her. With the mermaid leaning over her, Princess is veiled in her golden hair; the moonlight shimmers through the strands, lighting up Princess’ field of vision. Princess accepts the invitation and instinctively reaches up, tempted by a single strand of pretty, white pearls growing from the mermaid’s scalp and braided into her locks.  

Without restraint or forethought, she grabs the pearls, unintentionally tinkering with the gateway to a mermaid’s heart. Setchra fiercely guards the treasure growing within her locks, because the touch of a mermaid’s pearl forms intense, eternal relationships, pledging them to the individual who dared to touch. 

Gasping at Princess', Poseidon’s daughter feels fiery warmth ignite inside her veins, instantly bonding her to Princess. Emotions flood in, creating a connection similar to a human mother’s, but far more potent. Though the little girl cannot know what takes place inside the merwoman's heart, Setchra allows her touch to graft into her soul. Had Princess been a mermaid, she would have been able to reciprocate the intense emotions. 

Merpeople lack the mortal warmth of humans, but when Princess was allowed to bond to Setchra, a fire as strong as the rising sun overtook the mermaid and cascaded down every scale, causing her tail to flutter in gentle flaps. These symbiotic bonds are experienced only by merpeople and unite bound to bonded in a circle of fire that literally warms their core for an eternity.  

That physical warmth is a manifestation of love shared through the connection of pearls. As the epitome of beauty, every merperson has one grand purpose: to fall in love, build love, enhance love, and progress love. They thrive on those powerful emotions, which is how pods are formed and underwater empires are built.  

“Mmm … warm,” Setchra beams, with her eyes closed and plump red lips pursed together. Rolling waves rush and increase the warmth in her heart, causing Setchra’s pale, oval-shaped face to glow with pleasant delight. Her perfect, pointed nose tickles against Princess’ cool cheek, which causes Princess to giggle. Setchra releases her grasp on Princess and withdraws.  

Setchra’s silver vision begins to transform. As the bond’s final transition takes effect, Setchra sees the crown of Princess’ head change from shimmering silver strands to rich walnut brown. The shifting color cascades down the child’s long hair. Her pale cheeks flush with fleshy tones and glow with a round hint of rose. Princess’ puny dark silver lips slowly turn pink. Setchra watches the little girl’s silver irises blink, and turn topaz when the lids open. The mermaid smiles at the beauty Princess becomes.  "If I had a daughter," Setchra dotingly sighs, "I would want her to look exactly like you." 

She glances out to the silvery horizon and then back at Princess. Within close proximity to the child, the mermaid sees color, but only feet away from Princess, her vision remains silver. 

“So … are you going to leave me here?” Princess interrupts Setchra’s glorious, overpowering emotional surge.  

Setchra again shakes her head and her radiant, long blonde locks curl around her petite face. Warmly, she smiles and her pupils catch the pale moonlight, eerily holding a luminous halo in the center of her silver irises.  

“You have pretty eyes!” Princess giggles, putting her hand on Setchra’s cheek, which magnifies the inferno inside the mermaid. “And pretty everything!” the little girl finishes.  

“I will ensure your safety,” Setchra whispers softly, gently tapping Princess on the nose. 

Unexpectedly, Setchra flips over, arches her back, and cracks her tail against the hard rocks with a violent rigor. Water droplets explode off of her iridescent scales and fly through the air as perfect spheres. The droplets then separate into beads and splash on the rocks. With several swift pops of her tail, Setchra’s scales seem to peel back.  

Princess, a nervous wreck, flinches with each cracking jolt. “You said you wouldn’t eat me!” she whimpers.  

At last, scales begin to dislodge and fall off. Where thin scales once were, human legs begin to appear.  

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