Once upon a time there was a mermaid named Morgan. She loved being half fish, but it was distressing that every time she tried to read a book, the pages wilted and disintegrated. Reading was her favorite thing to do, but she’d never gotten past the first five pages of anything. One day, Morgan was laying out in the sun, in the shallow waters near the shore, daydreaming about finishing a book. She became so lost in her own head, that she forgot to watch out for humans. --
“Miss? Are you okay?” Morgan looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. A human boy stood above her, staring down with concern. Morgan felt a momentary wave of panic wash over her before realizing that the boy could not see her fins. “I’m fine,” she replied, thinking of how to get away without him seeing her fish half. “Just taking a swim.” Then the boy sat down beside her. “Beautiful day out,” he said, picking shells out of the sand. “Perfect,” Morgan replied, inching her way back toward the water. “Wonderful weather for reading on the beach.” Morgan froze. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word, the boy jumped up. “Is that a fin?” He shouted. Morgan took this as her opportunity to disappear back into the waves. The next few days were spend moping around her mermaid castle, thinking about the human boy who liked to read. Perhaps in another life, if Morgan had been a human, she could have asked to borrow one of his books. But alas, Morgan was a mermaid. Weeks passed before she dared go back to the shore. When she returned, the boy was nowhere in sight. Morgan knew she should have been relieved at this, but she couldn’t deny the way her heart dropped when he wasn’t there. “Maybe he’ll come back someday,” Morgan mused to herself, tracing book titles in the sand. Nearly a month after her first encounter with him though, she spotted the boy, only feet from where they’d met. She stayed out in the ocean, watching him, wondering if he remembered her, if he came back looking for her. He paced around, eyes roaming the waves, though he never caught sight of her. As the sun began to set, he took something from his backpack. Morgan squinted her eyes, following his form as he neared the water. He placed something in the wet sand, glanced around once more, and then walked up the beach, away from the sea. Morgan swam quickly toward the shore, eager to see what he’d left behind. She reached the object, picked it up and was overcome with mermaid joy. The boy had left behind a book. But this book was different; it would not be destroyed by water. No, because this book was laminated. THE END
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JUST KIDDING I LOVE IT. I LOVE YOU. WELCOME BACK MY DEAR ANNA.
