Sink or Swim Read Online Free PDF Page A

get ready.
    My closet is now filled with outfits. Real ones — nothing invisible here. There’s a beautiful long, flowy yellow dress with a beaded top and a silky skirt. There’s also a simpler cotton yellow sundress. Two yellow nighties. A few pairs of yellow undies. I’m going to look very sunny. Good thing they also gave me a new pair of red sunglasses.
    I put on the fancy dress and step out onto my balcony, calling to Jonah to meet me outside.
    Jonah steps onto his balcony, which is connected to mine with a short divider between them. He’s wearing new yellowpants, a striped yellow-and-white collared shirt, and a massive smile. “I love it here,” he says. “This is the best vacation ever!”
    “It’s not a vacation,” I remind him. But honestly — it does kind of feel like a vacation. The view from here is incredible — blue, blue water that goes on forever. Even though it’s warm and sunny, the ocean breeze is gentle and amazing. But still. “We have a job to do. We really have to find the Little Mermaid before it’s too late.” I look out into the water, hoping for a glimpse of her. Is she swimming up the coast looking for the prince right now? Where is she?
    Jonah pumps his fist in the air. “We have to stop her from dying!”
    “So, here’s the plan,” I say, rubbing my hands together. “We’re going to nip this problem in the bud. We’re going to stop the Little Mermaid from making the deal with the sea witch in the first place. If she stays a mermaid, then she won’t die, even if the prince marries someone else.”
    Jonah cocks his head to the side. “That’s not what I think we should do. I think we should let her make the deal with the sea witch and then help her get the prince to fall in love with her so she can live happily ever after.”
    What? He can’t be serious. “Jonah,” I say, “that is the worst plan ever.”
    He motions around him. “But it’s so nice here! I bet the Little Mermaid would really like it.”
    I wag my finger in his face. “That is a bad plan for many reasons. First of all, it’s very risky. If the Little Mermaid visits the sea witch, then she has to get the prince to marry her, or bye-bye mermaid.”
    “Everything has risks,” Jonah says. “We keep going through the mirror even though we never know where we’re going to end up or if we can get home. Living on land with the prince is the Little Mermaid’s dream. We can’t tell her not to dream. Everyone has to dream big, right?”
    “Of course we have to dream,” I say, annoyed. “But if you know your dream is impossible, then you give it up. You find a new dream and you make it work. You get used to it.”
    He frowns. “That’s so sad.”
    My brother’s just not getting it. “Jonah, we didn’t want to move to Smithville, did we?”
    He shakes his head. “ You didn’t want to move to Smithville.”
    “Fine, I didn’t want to move to Smithville. But we did, and now we’re okay. We have friends. We have a magic mirror. It’s not so bad. You have to learn to make the best of what you have. You get what you get and you don’t get —”
    He smirks. “Wet!”
    “Upset,” I say. “Hmm. Maybe that’s the whole point of the original Little Mermaid story. That she should have been happy with being a mermaid. The Little Mermaid gave up her whole life — her family, her home, her tail, and even her voice — for a guy who didn’t appreciate her.”
    Jonah nods. “That’s true. She even gave up her tongue.”
    “Exactly. If she’d learned to be happy with what she had, she would have been much better off.” I squeeze the railing. “We have to stop the Little Mermaid from making the biggest mistake of her life.”
    He nods. “You’re right.”
    Of course I’m right. I’m always right. Well, not always, but usually. “Now the only issue is — how do we find her?”
    “Maybe she’ll be at the party?” he asks.
    “I doubt she’ll be hopping around on her tail,” I say.