Skipping the Scales
Book Two in the Flipping the Scales Series
Pete Tarsi
Copyright 2016 Pete Tarsi
All rights reserved
Smashwords Edition
ISBN: 9781311707482
This book is also available in print at most onlineretailers.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the productsof the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Anyresemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events ispurely coincidental. Any trademarks, product names, or namedfeatures are assumed to be the property of their respective owners,and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement ifany of these terms are used.
License Statement
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.
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This book is dedicated to my mother. Thanks foralways believing in all of my creative endeavors, and for neverskipping any of my stories.
Table of Contents
~ Chapter One ~
Marina, youshould not be doing this!
She didnt have to turn around to know herbest friend Lorelei was following her. Without responding, Marinaflapped her orange tail even more vigorously than before. Waterstreamed around her as she glided through the ocean, her longblonde hair flowing behind her to halfway down her back. She knewthat it would only be a matter of time before Lorelei caught upwith her because while Lorelei wore only her typical seashell top,the human covering that Marina wore created too much waterresistance.
As Lorelei gained on her friend, she noticedMarinas tail sticking out from under a pink sundress, presumablytaken from the sunken yacht they had borrowed human clothes frombefore. I know what you are thinking, and this is not theproper way to go about it.
I have made up my mind. Marina caught aglimpse of Loreleis red hair in her periphery and realized she wasnow swimming alongside her friend. Though I appreciate your offer,this is something I must do on my own.
You have only been on land twice before. Igo almost every cycle.
You forget that I spent half a moon cycleamongst the humans. In that regard, I could say that I have moreexperience than you.
You may be correct, but you did not plan itback then. Lorelei took hold of Marinas hand and then slowed themotion of her own green tail, thus decelerating both of them. Youmust carefully consider the choice you are about to make. If theconsequences are the same as others who have made that choice,then
Sink or swim, Lore. As they drifted into avertical position, Marina used her free hand to keep the dress fromfloating upwards while she looked into Loreleis eyes. Iunderstand what you are trying to do, and I truly appreciate yourconcern, but I must not follow anyone other than myself.
Lorelei quickly surveyed the surroundingarea to ensure no one had followed them. Since they had returned tothe north, Calliope, the purple-tailed daughter of their schoolsleader, had been keeping careful watch on them. She had grownsuspicious when the disappearance of the odd mer Meredith hadcoincided with Marinas return to the school, especially becausethey were the only two mers with orange tails. Her fathersdecision to migrate early was due to Calliope revealing thatMeredith had interacted with a human-maid.
Fortunately, the early departure was theonly consequence of those events, but Lorelei remained cautiouswhen she and Marina ventured away from the school. Seeing no othermers around, Lorelei said, I am willing to follow you,Marina. Please let me share the experience.
Marina glanced upward and caught glimmers offaint red light dancing on the ripples of the undersides of thewaves. She was not only closer to the waters surface, but alsocloser to the desired time of day. You will share it, just not theway you think you will. She turned to Lorelei and smirked.Remember, there are two of us, but only one on the otherside.
Dropping her arms limply by her side,Lorelei stared quizzically at Marina. During the awkward pause thatfollowed, Marina seized the opportunity to kick her tail forcefullyand thrust herself forward to her destination.
~ ~ ~
Sitting cross-legged on the private beach behind herisland home, Hailey stared out at the eastern horizon and watchedfor the sun to rise. Awash with fiery colors, the cloudless sky waswaiting to change to a beautiful light blue on that Wednesdaymorning. Waves rustled calmly as they rolled onto the shore, andthe seagulls flying by called to each other. For the early time ofday, the air was unusually humid, even for late June. Her straightdark hair frizzed a little bit, almost as if there were some staticelectricity around her. But she hoped that the sensation was aprecursor to something much more fantastical.
There was going to be a full moon thatnight.
She had spent her entire senior year payingclose attention to the calendar and circling the date of each andevery full moon with orange magic marker. On each of those days,she had written the precise time the sun would riseinformation shehad easily obtained from an online almanac. She would go to bed asearly as possible on the nights before so she was wide awake andoutside before the sun came up. As she sat on the footbridgeconnecting the beach to her yard, Hailey would hope it was thatdaythe day that a mermaid would come back to visit.
Marina had appeared one other time duringthe previous summeron the morning of the first full moon afterHailey had helped her return to the oceanjust as promised. Andjust as promised, Hailey had spent the two weeks researching thepainting they had received, but information about it waspractically non-existent. Even the strange old shopkeeper at TheMermaids Lagoon who had given them the print wasnt entirelysure how or when it had ended up in her possession.
The painting depicted a baby mermaid with anorange tail being handed to outstretched arms in the ocean. Thewoman giving the child away, with her blue eyes and long blondehair, bore a striking resemblance to Marina, and the paintingstitle, Coral, matched Marinas long-lost mothers name. Itwasnt a far stretch of the imagination to assume that the baby wasMarina, and the arms belonged to Loreleis father, who had becomeMarinas adoptive guardian so long ago. The painting was enoughevidence that Marinas motherand maybe even her fatherhad oncebeen somewhere on land, but no one knew where.
Though she and Hailey spent from sunrise tosunset together, it was a bittersweet reunion. After almosteighteen years of being orphaned, Marinas first glimmers offinding at least one of her parents had been washed away.
When the waterlogged translucent skirttransformed her legs into a single iridescent orange tail, Marinawarned Hailey that she wouldnt be returning again that summer.After rumors surfaced that the mer named Meredith had exposedherself to humans, the leader of the school decided to migrate awayearlier than usual. Regardless, Hailey vowed to be sitting on herbeach at sunrise on the same day of every moon cycle in case Marinaever wanted to visit.
On the marked days, Hailey awoke to witnessthe sunrise but sulked away when it was time to head off to school.As the months passed, and summer turned into fall, the sun roselater, and she spent less and less time waiting on those full-moonmornings.