02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (18 page)

“
It’s an air person,
” she said with
wide eyed wonder.

“
Yes,
” I laughed, “
Yes it is. Let
me help you put it on.
” She swam close and handed it to me,
shivering with excitement, but holding still as I slipped it around
her neck and attached the clasp. She looked down at it with
unabashed joy, and grabbed the edge of my surfboard.

“
I have something to show you,
” she
said, pulling me effortlessly through the water. I lay down on my
board and watched the coastline speed by as I was taken on another
one of Lorelei’s wild rides. I recognized the wild shoreline we’d
surfed before as we sailed past it, and a few minutes later we
reached a quiet cove ringed with sheer rocky bluffs. She pulled me
into a thick forest of heavy seaweed, undulating in sync with the
incoming swells.

I sat up on my board and looked around. It
was a peaceful spot, not suitable for surfing at all.

“
Why are we here?
” I asked.

Lorelei giggled with delight, “
I want you
to meet my favorite pets!
” she looked all around, “
Come out
little ones! Come out!
”

A score of small furry heads bobbed up out of
the water and we were surrounded by sea otters. Lorelei tickled and
petted them as they rolled and twirled playfully. I’d seen them at
a distance, but up close they were unbelievably cute, and I watched
as Lorelei greeted each one individually. They nuzzled at her
coppery hair and eyed me curiously, a few bold ones sniffing at my
surfboard.

“
Say hello to them,
” Lorelei urged
me.

“
Uh... Hi otters,
” I said tentatively.
The minute I spoke they responded gleefully, sliding across the
surfboard and crawling onto my lap. They were bigger than cats, but
reminded me of kittens the way they tumbled and played. Before I
knew it I was laughing out loud, my surfboard covered with otters
jockeying for position. Overloaded, my board tipped over. I climbed
back on only to repeat the process a few more times. My sides ached
from laughing so hard.

After a while they tired of the game and went
back to foraging for food or floating on their backs grooming their
lush fur. I sat up on my board, feeling happy and content as the
sun broke out in the sky. The swaying kelp forest seemed to be
breathing gently; the ocean was pulsing with life. Lorelei watched
over the otters maternally, her eyes filled with love.

“
They’re beautiful,
” I commented.

“
We used to have many more, but people
hunted them and took them away,
” she said sadly.

“
But they don’t hunt them anymore… there
are good people who are working to help them.
”

I felt ashamed, like I had to explain that
not all people were bad.

“
Now they hunt us,
” she said
sadly.

“
People don’t know about you... about
us,
” I said.

“
Some bad people do. That is why we must
not be seen,
” she said.

I could see she was right; it was the only
way. If it was discovered that a hidden society of immortal
mermaids lived under the sea it would be earth shaking news. People
went crazy over the mere idea of aliens from outer space. If
mermaids were ever exposed they would never be left alone. They’d
be in serious danger. There was no doubt about it.

“
Thank you for bringing me here,
” I
said.

She smiled up at me, “
Are you ready to go
wave riding?
”

“
Always,
” I said with a smile. We said
goodbye to the otters as Lorelei took my board and pulled me down
the coast further than we’d ever gone before. We stopped at a
desolate stretch of shoreline with a wickedly breaking wave. It
looked treacherous and it sent my heart racing wildly. I focused on
the water and could feel some big waves on the way.

“
Perfect,
” I said to Lorelei with a
wild eyed grin.

I surfed set after set like a madman. My
focus was so intense I lost all track of time and only stopped when
my body ached with fatigue. I felt spacy, like I was dreaming about
surfing instead of actually doing it. Looking up, I realized that
the sun had moved across the sky, and it was getting to be late
afternoon. Reluctant to leave the wild beauty of the place, I
finally came to my senses and asked Lorelei to take me home.

We neared the beach at Aptos and Lorelei kept
well back from the surfers. She released my board, leaving me to
paddle into shore past them. I was too tired to care what anybody
thought as I used the last of my strength to get in. My feet hit
the sandy bottom and I walked on leaden legs up to the beach.

Ethan was sitting on the driftwood log by my
bag, watching me return. I felt a surge of dread, anticipating an
argument I didn’t have the strength for. Our eyes met and I was
thankful to see that he wasn’t angry. He looked relieved, and then
resigned as I stumbled up to sit down next to him.

“Hi,” I said, looking over at him
timidly.

“Where does she take you?” he asked
quietly.

“Remote places,” I said, “places with no
people.”

He looked defeated, “Where?”

“Down the coast a ways,” I said, looking out
towards the surf, “Places without beaches.”

“The cliffs?” he swallowed hard.

I nodded, “And up north too… places people
can’t get down to the water.”

“You look tired,” he said, searching my
eyes.

“I didn’t plan to stay out so long... I kinda
lost track of time.”

“When did you come out here?” he asked.

“Early,” I said.

“I suppose you haven’t eaten all day,” he
gave me a pained look.

I sighed and looked down... damn.

“Come on,” he pulled me to my feet, “Get
dressed. Everyone’s wondering where you disappeared to.”

I stripped off my suit and put on my clothes
while he waited. He carried my board and bag up the stairs and went
to wash out my suit while I slipped in the kitchen door.

Dutch was working on something at the cutting
board, “Marina! We were wondering where you were off to... Did
Ethan find you?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “He’ll be right in. Excuse
me.” I hurried off to take a hot shower. I threw on some jeans and
a soft cashmere sweater and came out to find Ethan sitting on the
couch. Abby and Dutch were clanking around in the kitchen. I sat
down and Ethan handed me a glass of juice.

“Drink this,” he said, “We’ll have dinner
pretty soon.”

“Thank you,” I said after I finished, “for
being so sweet and washing my wetsuit... and not getting angry.” I
leaned over to kiss his cheek.

He smiled ruefully, “I guess I’m just gonna
have to pick my battles.”

I laid my head on his shoulder, exhausted. He
put his arm around me.

“So what did you do today? What do you talk
about?” he asked.

“We don’t talk a whole lot. She mostly shows
me stuff and we surf together.”

“What kind of stuff?” he asked.

I told him about playing with the otters,
about how they capsized my board and how funny it was. I told him
about the surfing, glossing over the danger to describe how Lorelei
would be inside the waves as I surfed on them. I told him how fast
she could swim, dragging me along on my board as the coast whizzed
by.

Ethan listened quietly.

“You went out with her last Sunday, didn’t
you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Marina, you need to be more careful,” he was
intense, “What if you pass out or something when you’re out there?
What if you hit the rocks?”

I knew he was right, I worried about the same
things. What he didn’t know is that I doubted my ability to stop. I
craved the feeling I got flying through the surf, free from reason
and all sense of time. It could only be compared to an addiction; I
needed more and more danger to get the same thrill. I could see the
trajectory my behavior would take. This was bound to end badly.

“I know,” I said quietly, “You’re right. It
scares me sometimes.”

“I think you should tell your dad the
truth... and Evie.”

“No. They’ll make me leave,” I said. He was
quiet.

“Maybe you need to leave Aptos for your own
good... maybe I’m being selfish wanting you to stay,” he said it
like he’d been thinking about it for a while.

“I can be more careful... I’ll stop surfing
with her.”

Even as it came out I knew it wasn’t true. I
also knew he wanted to believe it.

“I don’t think–” he started to say something
when I turned up to kiss the words off his lips. I didn’t want to
hear anymore. I rubbed his tense shoulders, willing him to calm
down and relax. Locked in an embrace, I could feel his heart
pounding through his chest as we kissed, and for a minute I
believed that I really could stop. As long as I could be with Ethan
nothing else mattered.

There was a knock on the door that brought us
back down to earth. Cruz came past us to answer it.

“Honestly you two, are you capable of keeping
your hands off each other for five minutes?” he said as he opened
the door to reveal Megan on the porch.

“Merry Christmas,” she said with a smile,
handing him a plate. “My mom sends her famous cookies. She’s been
baking her brains out all week.”

“Excellent!” smiled Cruz, “It wouldn’t be
Christmas without them.”

Megan came in as Ethan and I straightened up
and pulled apart.

I caught my breath, “Hi Megan,” I smiled,
“Merry Christmas.”

Abby came in the room, drying her hands on a
towel, “I’m so glad you could come!” she smiled happily as she
greeted Megan with a hug. “Dutch is making bouillabaisse, have a
seat. It’ll just be a few minutes.”

Cruz and Megan joined us on the couch and we
talked about what she had been up to over the break. Her success at
Evie’s party had changed her attitude remarkably. She carried
herself more confidently and started to style her hair and wear a
little makeup. She added some more fashionable clothes to her
wardrobe and was beginning to look as beautiful as she sounded.

Evie would be proud of her, I realized with a
twinge of surprise. I thought about how Evie always brought out the
best in people; there was nothing she loved more than encouraging
artists and designers to put forth their finest work. People just
seemed to want to please Evie.

Except Ethan, I thought, remembering how the
two of them had clashed. It was ironic really, because Ethan was an
artist and designer too– only his paints were plants and his canvas
was the earth. I wondered what Evie would think about him if she
could see Abby’s beautiful garden.

Abby called us in to the table and we all
took a seat, eager to try Dutch’s fish stew. It was delicious, full
of all kinds of seafood and shellfish, and Cruz and I refrained
from teasing Abby about eating it. I couldn’t tell if it was the
cooking or the attention, but Abby was glowing with happiness and
had never been more beautiful. Dutch could barely tear his eyes
away from her.

We listened as Dutch told us a story about an
encounter he had with a blue whale last summer. He promised to take
us all out on a whale watching trip during the next migration. I
wondered what it would be like to talk to a whale, remembering how
the dolphins responded to me. I turned my wrist to see the tiny
whale on my charm bracelet.

“That’s cute, is it new?” asked Megan.

“Evie sent it from Switzerland,” I said as
Megan took my wrist and looked at all the different sea
creatures.

“How appropriate,” she said with a teasing
smile. I rolled my eyes at her.

Ethan took my other hand under the table and
squeezed it, and I curled my ankle around his leg. As long as he
was there to keep me grounded I knew that everything would be
alright.

After dinner Dutch and Abby put some music on
and retreated to the couch. Cruz made some coffee and we sat down
to eat some cookies and talk. Megan told us that she’d arranged for
an audition at a coffee shop in Santa Cruz that featured live music
on weekends.

“Could I borrow those shoes from the party?”
she asked me.

Ethan looked at me with mock seriousness, “I
don’t know Marina... do you think you can spare a pair?”

“
Spare
me
,” I said
sarcastically, getting up, “Come on Megan, tell me what you’re
going to wear.” We went down the hall to my room as she described
her outfit.

“Whoa!” said Megan when she walked in, “It’s
like an explosion of waves!”

“Yeah, I suppose I’ve been a little
obsessive...” I said, scanning the room stuffed with paintings and
imagining what it looked like through Megan’s eyes.

“You think?” she asked with a cocked eyebrow
as she looked at them more closely. “They’re really good, they make
me feel like I’m in the middle of the sea.”

“Thanks,” I said as I dove under my bed to
pull out some shoes.

“Marina, why the change in perspective?” she
asked searchingly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, surfacing with a
few pairs of black pumps and sandals.

“These ones are newer, right?” she gestured
to the paintings on and around the easel.

I nodded. There were older paintings stacked
against the wall behind the bed.

“Can’t you see?” she looked at me
meaningfully. “These ones are looking from the beach...” she
gestured to the older ones, “And all these,” she turned to face the
easel, “are looking from the water.”

“Oh,” I said, realizing she was right.

She pressed on, “Why do you suppose it
changed?”

I thought about it for a second, “I started
surfing...” She seemed satisfied with that explanation but I knew
it wasn’t the whole truth. It was when I started surfing with
Lorelei. The new paintings were from a mermaid’s perspective.