Even though it was glass I was peering through, it was as reflective as a mirror when I saw her making the same face I could feel I was making. The mermaid and I were both trying to come to terms with the choice I had made. My body just fell against the thick dirty glass pretty hard, the impact of my head sent a jolt down my arm due to how hard I landed on it. As much as I want to let my dad reap the benefits of his catch, I can’t just let this mermaid die. With my face less than an inch away from the tank, I stared directly into the mermaid's worried eyes. Her face was just as close to the glass as mine was. Just because we as people figured out how to sell and market these creatures as food or pets, that didn’t give humans the right to ignore their pleas for existing. Yeah she has the lower half of a fish but her top is perfectly identical to a human woman, this creature has the right to experience life.
“Please don’t let him kill me.” The mermaid still looks panicked. she and I both knew well that my father would be here soon. Ideas started to race in my head about what I should do next. I just stared at her and wondered If I could just up and carry her out of here.
From head to the tip of her tail she was only about six to seven feet tall. A human about that tall wouldn’t weigh half as much as a mermaid would. You would be surprised how heavy a mermaid could be, about the same as picking up a dolphin. Her beautiful long blue hair had a nice shine that had its color almost saturated in this green water. If compared to a human, her facial features were quite lovely. Mermaid skeletons are still on display around the world and something noticeable about a mermaid's bones is their color. A mermaid's bones aren't quite the same color as humans, they have an iridescent pink color almost like a sea pearl. The structure of a Mermaid skull was eerily similar to a human skull except for the fact that their two back teeth were missing on top and bottom and in exchange were a bed of small sharp razor Esq teeth used to chew fish and the sort, it was hard to see unless they opened their mouth really wide. This mermaid’s teeth at first glance looked just like a human’s teeth would but with that soft iridescent reflection, Though her full pink lips covered them up with her frowning. Two sets of gills are noticeable on her back most rib cage just behind the arms. Everything from her pretty face, slender neck to just about her waist was that of a human female. About two inches below her belly button, was where a surrounding fin-like belt about 3 inches top to bottom surrounded her fishtail, separating her human anatomy from her fish anatomy. Her sleek turquoise-colored tail had a hard time shining through the grimy water but it still found a way. Painted downward on her tail were beautiful shining scales that seemed to fuse with one another creating a flat texture. The two large translucent fins protruding from the end of her tail had a gold color similar to her eyes.
How could I just sit idly by knowing they would butcher such a beautiful creature or any creature with this much of a sense of self. I guess that's a horribly biased way to look at this, I mean I'm sure a pig wants to continue living as much as a human. Funny to think that when someone eats that pig, that pig was vital and useful to that person, It’s not always guaranteed a person will do anything that meaningful or useful in their lifetime. I could just be talking from experience though.
I just started to look around to see if there was a possible way for me to keep her out of harm's way. It would not be easy, but I could have her grab my neck and I could carry her on my back.
“So how...how are you going to get me out of here?” I suppose my pacing around was a bit hard to ignore. I walk up to the opening of the tube. There was a bit of a gap between the water and the top of the tube, about twelve feet or so. She had about eight feet of water to swim in so altogether I was looking down at a twenty-foot-tall tube from top to bottom she was encased in. I kneel down and stretch my arms down. Without hesitation she swims to the bottom of the tube then rather gracefully she shoots up. Our hands don't come close to touching in the few attempts made. If this were the ocean she could easily shoot about 20 to 25 feet in the air. With so little space in this tube to get a swimming start, she can’t build up the velocity to jump high enough. The tube is too thick to crack with anything in this building though I do try a few times with some old boards that were laying around. I even tried to pull the harpoon out of the wall but it was stuck in there for good. I see her somehow easily lift one of the heavy sandbags and slam it against the tube but it obviously didn’t work. I bet she knew to some degree that it was useless or she would have tried that earlier. I look around for something to pull her up with and find a long rubber belt. It looks like it has seen some use but she could easily grab hold of it.
“Let's try it with this instead” I lower the rubber belt down to her and again without hesitation she launches herself up to try and grab it. Immediately I’m pulled down into the tube. I am just able to just barely grab hold of the top perimeter of the tube so’s not to fall in. I’m now hanging with just my hands. I managed to pull one of my forearms past the edge but the metal lining was really putting strain on my arm. If I let go, there is no climbing out but at least she will have a hostage.
“Don’t let go, I’m going to grab on to your feet”
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“What?! No! Don't!” I let out an almost primal scream as I saw her launch herself up to my feet. My grip got a lot tighter when I saw her launch up. She must have missed or she would have dragged me down easily though I do feel something grab past my pant leg and grab my ankle. I quickly make another attempt to pull myself up and with ease, I almost fly over the edge. I definitely wasn’t expecting my body to launch up into the air so fast, I crashed pretty hard against the metal steps with the loud sound still echoing throughout the warehouse. I look down at my feet that are still dangling in the tube and notice the mermaid has her arms wrapped around my calves. The sight of this large creature holding onto me startles me at first.
“Pull me out now!” she’s trying not to but she’s starting to flail around.
“Oh right.” I drag my feet up and pull her out. She looks at me with a smile.
“Lighter than air” Her smile caught me off guard.
“What the heck was that?” I could guess it was some kind of mermaid magic.
"I never tried it on a person, but like I made those sandbags float earlier I was able to make you lighter as well." She had this proud look on her face as she explained it to me. While she was still holding on to my legs I felt as though I had the weight of being underwater.
"I feel so light," I tell her.
“Let us not dally, you really meant what you said didn’t you? You will help me get out of here?”
“I’m certainly trying, but not entirely sure what to do next or how long until my dad will take to get here either. First I have to get you out of this big shack.”
“I am fine outside of water for a while, but eventually I will need to get back in. from what you mentioned earlier, there is something in the water that makes it pretty unsafe for me to dive in.” She remembered what I told her about the sea drones swimming around beneath us, though I’m not sure she knows what a drone is or how deadly it can be for her.
“I’m going to see if I can find something useful in this place.” I look around the warehouse and see the normal butcher tools, some rusted old boat parts, and some small moldy buoys. My eyes return to the barrel I had knocked over earlier. Without really having noticed, the mermaid used her arms to climb down the steps.
“You think you will fit in here?” The mermaid took a look at the barrel and climbed in. she fit, albeit a little snug but she fit. The big metal barrel with a mermaid inside was next to impossible to carry. With some effort, I was able to begin moving her container. I drag her and the barrel over to the spout used to fill the tanks. I’m having a hard time turning the crank, I’m guessing this thing has not turned in a while. She pokes out of the barrel and helps me grasp the red crank protruding from the spout. We lock eyes and use our full strength to turn on the large flow of water. The barrel fills with seawater in no time. I for second thought freshwater might come out. I doubt she knows what freshwater is. I can see her breast rise and fall as well as her stomach contract as she takes in the new, nongreen, seawater.
“Much better, thank you”
“Yeah, now hold on” I begin to drag the barrel toward the door. I’m pretty sure she can see how hard I'm struggling with moving this heavy thing. With a container full of water and a mermaid comparable to a dolphin in weight, you get yourself one heavy barrel. She wrapped her arm around my neck like a couple about to slow dance. She had a pleasant smell, like a fresh ocean breeze, most things that spent so long in the water wouldn’t smell as nice. Her face was rather close to mine, now with no thick glass between us. She didn’t seem to think much of it, but her face looked puzzled as mine started to feel a bit flushed.
“Hey!” She said, snapping me back to where we were.
“Y..yes?”
“Why don’t we use that?” she points up to the rubber belt I used to try unsuccessfully to pull her out.
“I suppose I could drag you and the barrel with it?” not much different than just dragging just the barrel.
“No no no, why do you think I wrapped my arms around you just now? You see when I’m touching you, I can circulate a bit of my magic through you. You were able to pull us up earlier because I was holding you. Watch! lift the barrel”
She was right, with her arms wrapped around me as she did earlier to my ankles I felt just like I was moving underwater. I even held my breath at the first inkling of that submerged feeling. My body felt light, however, I also felt as if I was moving in slow motion. I was able to lift her and the barrel with ease. I set her and the barrel down to retrieve the belt. On the walk up the metal step where the belt lay, my body felt like it had to readjust to my normal gravity. Without thinking earlier while curled on the bottom of the tube she was making sandbags float under her with her magic, it was also how she pulled off her sandbag floating to the top of the tank trick. I pulled the belt onto the side of her barrel almost as if I was going to slingshot it. It had the appearance of holding a large rubber band against a cup. The two loops that slacked off the barrel, I slipped my arms through and lifted the barrel. I jumped a little as she rested her tail on the back of my neck and shoulders. With her touching me and circulating her magic through me. I was able to pick up the barrel with ease and wear it on my back like a backpack thanks to the rubber belt.
“Alright let’s move” I announce to her with a sense of reassurance.
“Thank you so much” she whispers in my ear, making my body shudder a bit. It’s going to take some getting used to this feeling of constantly being underwater. But finally, after all of that hassle, I’m able to kick down the door of the warehouse and take her out of her prison.