Into the Deep Read Online Free PDF

appendage out of the surf. My emotions are a kaleidoscope, spinning and fracturing into a hundred directions. I’m in awe because it’s so lovely and exotic. And yet, panic pushes in past the edges, flirting with sending me into a total freak out. Dread grips my stomach. My world will never be the same. But in the presence of all this, there is also acceptance.
    The movement is natural, like I’ve done it my entire life. I’m not concentrating on what’s missing, but on what I’ve gained. Impossibly strong, the urge to dive under the waves floods through me. It’s such an odd desire, but then my emotions seesaw back into terror.
    “What the hell is going on?” I cry out again, my voice high and squeaky.
    Charlotte inches forward to stroke the fin gently, letting out a quiet whimper. Her touch isn’t what I expect, almost electric. Curious at how far up my altered appearance goes I lift my shirt and notice the pebbling texture of the scales fade into my normal skin and travel up my torso to the edge of my bra.
    “It’s a tail!” Charlotte doesn’t run off, but I sense she wants to by how her body is tensed, until she surprises me completely and flashes a warm, excited smile. “It’s kind of cool.”
    “What do you mean cool ?” I whisper fiercely, though I partly agree. “My skin started tingling after I came to a rest.” Burying my face in my gritty hands, I groan, “I fell and got knocked out, didn’t I?”
    “We can’t be having the same dream. This is as real as it gets.” I raise my head and discover her face is glowing with awe. I’m curious about what’s running through her mind because it might put this into perspective, or snap me out of a messed up hallucination. “How do you feel?” she asks.
    “Physically, pretty awesome,” I blurt, realizing it’s the truth. “I’ve never felt this complete. I’m in one piece again, which sounds completely lame. My actual thoughts are all over the place. I mean, how in the heck did this happen? What am I?”
    I’m about to continue, after choking down a couple hysterical tears, when I notice a weird flutter behind my ear. I lift my hand and discover a soft ribbed area.
    No way.
    My brows shoot together in confusion. Charlotte is still staring at me curiously, so I interrupt her. “Is there something, um, behind my ear?”
    I hold my hair to the side and Charlotte leans in close.
    “You’ve got gills,” she shrieks, then covers her mouth.
    I start to quiver, trembling from head to, well, tail. My skin is suddenly too tight and I chalk it up to fright other than the strangeness of it. Taking a deep breath through my nose, which also causes the gills to contract, I say, “I guess it explains the fish.”
    Charlotte looks at me and laughs breathlessly. “Either you’re a mermaid or I’ve slipped into another universe.”
    “A mermaid?” The word is foreign on my tongue, but it settles on me, a comforting cloak of truth. I’m a mermaid. My pulse kicks into overdrive. Oh my God, I am a freak.
    “What else could it be?” Charlotte inquires energetically. “You changed the minute you touched the water. I mean, you have gills and fins. If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
    “Why didn’t I change in the bathtub or the shower?”
    She shrugs. “It’s probably only the ocean, salt water.”
    “But, I’m missing a leg,” I say dumbly.
    Her wide, blue eyes blink. “Huh, maybe you don’t need them both in this form.”
    “Why aren’t you freaking out more?” I ask in a high pitched tone.
    “I knew you were special. Plus, it answers a lot of questions.”
    The positive part is her calmness keeps me centered. If this had happened while I was alone, I would have been a hysterical mess.
    The bubble around us bursts when a wave of laughter from the bonfire snaps me back to a very stark reality. The party, with all our friends, is only yards away and I’m sitting here in the darkness incapable of moving, not to mention sporting