Mermaid Girlfriend Sakari (special preview)

Something else hits my legs and I look down to see a terrified crab scurrying for its life away from me. 

“What the hell?” I gasp.

“Coward!” I hear someone yell.

I look up, seeing there’s someone poised on a rock near the shore. They have something ready in their hand to throw at me again.

“What?” I snap towards them. “Stop throwing things!”

“No!” They bark. “You’re a coward! You’re weak! I will throw what I please at you!” They throw something else and, as I dodge it, I see it’s a horseshoe crab. I scoff and pick it up, helping it back to the water.

“Stop throwing crabs!” I snap.

“I hate them too!” They shout, shaking their fists in the air.

“Who are you?” I bark back.

“A concerned admirer!” They toss a rock that nearly hits my knees. “Get back in the water! I won’t hesitate, bitch!”

I stare, horribly confused. “What?”

They rise up on their rock and there is something strange about their silhouette. “Get in the fucking water!”

I turn and run, not caring to stay and listen to this crazy person who may or may not look like a creature from one of my mom’s stories. I race home, slamming the door behind me.

“Mickey? Is that you?” My mom calls.

“Yeah,” I pant. I’m still clutching the one half shell in my hand. 

My mom steps out and looks over me. “You ok?” She asks. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she chuckles as she strokes my hair from my face.

“I uhm-” I take a step back. “Not exactly a ghost,” I can’t help but laugh. “There was someone yelling at me on the beach.”

“Yelling at you?” My mom asks.

I turn and look out the window. “Yeah. It was weird, but uhm-” I chuckle. “You know, it was probably just Luka.” I tell myself this to think my way out of it. If I lingered too much on it, my anxiety could take me down a dark rabbit hole this Alice would never get out of.  

The next day, I always go to the concession stand early. I clean, take care of needed repairs. I create the special for the day and I often go shopping for supplies. As I’m taking a huge crate into the shop, something lunges out from hiding behind it and tackles me down to the ground.

“You aren’t running today!” They huff.