The Mermaid's Mirror

Chapter 10

Lena stood perfectly still in the same spot, trembling, for the next five minutes.

If she could believe her eyes, she had just seen a mermaid. If she had only imagined that flashing tail, then there was a woman out there in the frigid ocean. And if there was a woman out there, she was either drowning or swimming under water to some location where Lena could not see her, because Lena's eyes never left the water.

Finally, unwillingly, she turned to walk back down the beach, her legs shaky. The woman was gone, and so were the dolphins.

Lena felt the first tickle of belief in her belly: That was no human woman. That was a mermaid.

A tiny laugh escaped her throat. Mermaids were real.

She stopped and stared back at the sea. Was she really gone? Was it over, the moment of magic ended already? Come back, she thought. Please.

The mermaid had been playing with the two dolphins, Lena was sure of it. Out there in the vast deep lived a fairy-tale creature who was real, who was alive. Who played with dolphins. Who probably ate and slept, because didn't all living things need to eat and sleep? Who lived alone ... or maybe with other mermaids! Lena's breath caught as she imagined a whole gathering of ... what did you call a group of mermaids? A mist of mermaids? A marvel of mermaids?

She had to go, thought Lena. They don't want to be seen.

Lena broke into a run. She needed to do something physical, something that would help her body catch up to the rapid beat of her heart.

When she got to the rocks, Lena stopped and put her hands on the rough stones, feeling the solid reality of them. Already, doubts were surfacing.

It was a woman.

Of course it was.

She was out for an early-mornings wim.

With no wetsuit? argued Lena's practical mind. And what about that tail?

There was no tail.

It was a trick of the light on the waves.

Lena nodded. She was always seeing things out in the water—that turned out to be nothing more than a random splash or a diving sea lion.

***

By the time Lena got home, she had convinced herself that she'd seen a woman swimming, not a mermaid.

She stepped into the dark house. Everyone must still be asleep, she thought.

"Surprise!" yelled Cole, running in from the living room.

Lena jumped.

"We were hiding," he explained. His eyes blazed like tiny twin gaslights. He threw his arms around Lena. "Happy birthday."

Her parents followed, embracing the two of them.

"Group hug," sang Cole.

"Thanks, guys," said Lena. "You're up so early!"

"That's the only way to surprise you," said her dad. "Mom set the alarm for six, but you were already gone. So we hunkered down in the living room to wait." He yawned.

"Dad fell back asleep," said Cole. He started to sing: "Haaappy birthday to yooou..."

Her parents joined in.

They were all gazing at her with such love that Lena found herself wanting to laugh and cry both. "Thanks, guys," she said when the song was finished.

"I'll start the pancakes," said her mom. She brushed back a strand of Lena's hair. "Did you have a nice birthday walk?"

Lena's smile faltered. If that was a woman swimming, where did she go?

"Yes," she said. "Very nice." She just swam away. It was a woman, and she swam out of view.

"Good," said her mom, and squeezed her. "Now ... brekkie!" She turned toward the refrigerator.

"Mom," said Cole. "Can we have bacon, too?" He trailed after her.

"I can't believe you're sixteen," said Lena's dad. He blinked a couple of times and turned away. Lena knew he was blinking back tears when he did that. He went back into the living room, saying, "I've got a present for you in here."

Lena followed. Her dad patted the sofa next to him, and Lena sat down. He handed her a small box. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

She smiled. "Thanks, Dad." Opening the box, Lena found a thin silver bracelet inside. She picked it up—t here was a dolphin charm dangling from the links.

She shivered.

"Dad?" asked Lena.

"Mmm-hmm."

I saw something in the water, she thought.

He was looking at her now, so she had to say something. Without thinking, she asked, "Do the words 'blueberry moon' mean anything to you?"

Her dad paused. "As a matter of fact, they do."

"Really? I was thinking about them when I woke up this morning."

"You were?"

"Yes. This song kept going through my head: 'By the light ... of the silvery moon,' but then it seemed like those weren't the right words."

He tried to smile. "It was a song Lucy made up for you when you were little."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"How did the song go?"

He glanced at the kitchen door, then sang softly,

"By the light

of the blueberry moon

we sang this song

in Lena's room.

By the light..."

Lena joined in:

"...of the blueberry moon

we sang this song

in Lena's room."

They smiled at each other.

"Why was it a blueberry moon?" asked Lena.

"I don't know. I think it was just because you loved blueberries."

"Oh." Lena looked at her father. "Did she sing to me a lot?"

He nodded, looking wistful. "All the time." A crooked smile came over his lips. "Sometimes—if I was very good—she even sang to me."

Lena glanced at him quickly. Did he know about her singing to Kai?

But her dad's gaze was unfocused, and it was clear he had wandered off into old memories.

Lena felt a strange jealousy—she couldn't remember her mother—she had only fragmented impressions of being at the beach with her.

Hazy memories of her mother were suddenly replaced by the sharp image of a silver tail.

She's real, thought Lena. That mermaid was real. I did not imagine her. I need to see her again. "Dad," she said.

"Yes, sweetie."

"It's my birthday," said Lena. "Please teach me to surf. It might be good for you! If we're in the water together, maybey ou'll—"

Her father stood up, leaving a cold spot next to her. "I'm sorry, Lena," he said. "I can't."

Lena stood up, too. "Okay." She headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going? Mom's making breakfast."

"I'll be down in a minute," she said.

In her room, she sat down on her bed, reaching for her phone.

Hundreds of waves beckoned from her walls. Lena reached up and trailed her fingers over the collage of oceans.

If I want to see the mermaid again, she thought, I have to go to Magic's. And the only way to get in the water at Magic's is on a surfboard.

She texted a message to Kai: Plz tell ani I'm ready for lessons.

***

Lena's birthday party that night was three hours of dedicated fun with friends. As she lay in bed that night, she tried to decide what her favorite part had been.

Was it Martha—who'd had a crush on her dad since fourth grade—belting out U2's "With or Without You" on karaoke, or was it Leslie and her boyfriend competing to see who could eat the most spicy tuna rolls? (Leslie, with fifteen.)

Pem's gift of an entire set of hardbound Jane Austen novels was pretty sweet, too. "What the heck," she had said. "I can't exactly ignore the fact that my name comes from Pride and Prejudice."

No ... the best part was Kai's present—a plush toy otter holding a tiny pink box. When Lena opened the box, a pair of pearl earrings glimmered against a bed of pink satin.

"Pearls for my pearl," Kai had said, then turned dark red.

Lena lay in bed, thinking of that moment. She had kissed him then, right in front of her parents. Because a guy who would do that for you ... well, that must be love. She fingered the earnings already on her lobes and vowed never to take them off.

I'm so lucky, she thought, and closed her eyes. But as sleep began to wash over the memories of her Sweet Sixteen party, the last sharp image in her mind was of a white-shouldered woman in the sea, staring right at her.