The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) Read Online Free PDF Page A

up at the eroding bluffs. I could see fossils embedded high in the cliff wall, giant bones from an ancient whale that had washed ashore millennia ago. Could my mother have known that primordial creature? The passage of time weighed heavily on me, and I started to wonder what the childlike mermaids would see in their eternal futures.
    The enchanting sounds of my sisters at play brought me back to reality. Like the perfect Zen masters, the mermaids lived nearly every moment of their lives in the present; thoughts of the past and the future were rarely entertained. I could take a lesson from them.
    I sat up on my board and waited for a swell to form, savoring the familiar delicious thrill. The waves were crashing like cymbals and the mermaid’s laughter was as sweet as any symphony. I gave myself over to the present, to the sea, and surfed the afternoon away.
    When I managed to come to my senses, it was later than I had planned. I rushed to beat Ethan back to Abby’s house, coming in to find her lying on the couch, distraught.
    “Abby – what’s wrong?”
    She sat up and wiped her eyes, “Mary came and picked up the kittens, but then she said that the one that can’t walk would have to be put down.”
    “No!” I cried, “That’s not right! Where did they take it?”
    She sniffed, “I wouldn’t let her have it. It’s still here . ” S he gestured to my room. “But I don’t know what to do about it… It’s all alone and Charlie won’t have anything to do with it and it just hisses at me whenever I come near it.” She looked like she was going to cry again.
    I was relieved, and I patted her shoulder, “Don’t worry Abby, I’ll take care of it… okay?”
    She yawned, and lay back down, “Thanks honey, I’m just so tired. I’ve had a backache all day and I can’t get any rest.”
    I tucked a blanket around her and kissed her cheek, “Kick back and relax. Don’t worry about a thing.” I went to the kitchen and made her a cup of tea, returning to find that she’d dozed off. I left the tea on the coffee table and hurried to my room, finding the one lonely little kitten curled up in the box, also fast asleep. I checked its food and water and grabbed a change of clothes, heading down the hallway for a quick shower.
    When I finally stepped out of the bathroom along with a cloud of steam , Abby was standing just outside the door. She was holding her overnight bag with a frightened look on her face.
    “Can you drive me to the hospital?” she asked in a tight voice, “I tried to get a hold of Dutch, but they don’t expect him back for at least an hour.”
    “Oh my God… of course… are you alright?”
    “My water just broke,” she said. Her voice was shaking.
    I took her arm and led her to the front door, “Wait one second!”
    I raced to my room and snatched my purse, digging for my keys. I slipped on a pair of shoes and hurried back to Abby, who was grimacing in agony, her hands clenched in fists.
    “Abby?”
    She looked up at me with pain in her eyes, and clamped onto my arm, her grip loosening a little as she panted out a few breaths . “That was a major one,” she gasped .
    We stepped onto the porch, and I turned to lock the door. I was just helping her down the steps as Ethan came up the walkway. He took one look at us and his eyes flew open wide.
    “Uh oh,” he said.
    I handed him my keys, “You drive.”
    I helped Abby into the back seat of the Rover, climbing in alongside of her. Ethan’s freaked out eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and he started the car, turning to back out, “Are you okay Abby?”
    She gasped again , gripping my arm even harder as another contraction tore through her body.
    “They’re really close together,” she managed to choke out.
    The drive seemed to last forever, and with each contraction Abby started spitting out strings of obscenities through gritted teeth, cursing out every other driver and traffic light, words spilling out of her mouth like I’d