Aurora Emily King
As we got sucked through the “Window”, I did something that I very rarely ever do: I gasped. What?!?!?!?!??! was all my thoughts could say. I barely even had time to think that. It all happened too quickly. Like a trapdoor, we fell straight through. One second we were standing in a white hallway that is in the house of our mystery lady, the next we are...well, I wasn’t quite sure yet.
Around me was a stone wall. As I turned, I realized that it was all around me, and it looked like I was inside a stone dome. On the walls were colorful streaks of paint varying in different shades of blue, purple, silver, green, and pink. Time had been good to the the artist, or artists, for all the colors had blended perfectly around the edges. The wall was so beautiful, it looked like a mirrel. The ground beneath my feet was mossy and squishy. My toes explored the floor and welcomed the soft, smooth dirt beneath them.
I did a double-take when I realized that I had changed back. No longer did I have a tail or breath underwater as I had for the past 6 hours. I had the same clothes on as I had on before I jumped into the magical Crystal Waters. My short, red hair was dry, along with my skin.
That was when I remembered Air and Natalie. Where were they? Obviously not in the same place I was. Did the window transport them to some foreign place too? How, and when, could I find them again? Were they together?
So many questions filled my thoughts, but for some odd reason, I didn’t panic. My thoughts were loud and clouded my senses. One of the biggest things that I was wondering was what Natalie would look like. If we changed back into a human with legs, what would she be? She was a born mermaid. If she got out of the water, would she be like us? Would she even be able to walk? She had never put any weight on her legs, and there would not be any muscle there.
As I was pondering all these questions and trying to find answers to them with common sense, a chilly breeze swept throughout the cave, and I shivered. Taking a seat on the moss, I had no idea what to do. Should I stay here and wait for the other girls to find me, or should I find them? Still deciding and having a mental argument about what to do with myself, I heard a loud creak. I jumped sky-high, and was genuinely afraid of breaking my tailbone coming down. Light showed its presence to me for the first time in hours, and I blinked multiple times to readjust.
Has someone come in this vicinity? I thought. Has Ariana or Natalie found me?
“Hello? Is anyone there?” I called out. Now, looking back at myself, I have come to realize how stupid I was. Why, oh why, did I call out and give myself away? I mean, how unintelligent can you get?
I heard feet squish the moss on the ground, coming towards me. Looking at the ground, I could not bare the disappointment I would have if it wasn’t Air or Natalie.
A voice broke the silence. It was something that I did not expect, and I was taken aback by its youthful sound. It was a boy’s voice.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
