Beyond the Sea Read Online Free

merrows. They are happy on land as long as they are near the sea—any sea that is. Merrows prefer the ocean, only the ocean. Merrows can’t transform like Oceanids can. A lot of Oceanids prefer the land.” She took another bite.
    “My parents’ marriage was arranged. My mother never wanted to live in the ocean. After my father died, she began coming up to shore, talking to humans. Then, six years ago, she met Edward VanBurren. He has a big boat. It’s called something, but I guess it’s not important. One day, he fell overboard. We’re allowed to show ourselves, but it’s, well, frowned upon as your saying goes. You have to be careful with who you reveal the secret too. My mother saved him. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and pleaded to see her again.
    She loved him, almost as much as he loved her, but she knew they could never be together. Obviously, he can’t live in the sea. Lana and I knew she wanted to go the land. But for three years she stayed in the water with us, only seeing Edward every once in a while. Lana and I knew what she was sacrificing, so we agreed to sort of half live on land. Then, my mom and Edward got married. Lana and I spent the summer in New York with them, the rest of the time we lived in the ocean, only surfacing and acting human for special events. A year later, Lana… ” Tears welled in her beautiful eyes. “After Lana died, I moved to New York. But I hated it, so Edward built me this house as a compromise. My mom’s scared I’m going to go back to the ocean.”
    Jamie dropped her sandwich back on the plate. “How long have you been on land?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
    “Full time? A little over a year.”
    That explains the oddity, Jamie understood. Melia finished her food.
    “Want to walk down to the shore with me?”
    Jamie just nodded. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Ghosts, yes. There are how many reality shows on about them? And faeries, well they were just spirits, nature spirits. But mermaids? No, there was just no way. This was a dream. She wasn’t really here, eating the best grilled cheese ever. She wasn’t sitting on the patio of a multi-million dollar house. The most beautiful girl in the entire school was not sitting next to her, with dripping hair and a ruined designer blouse.
    Everything felt surreal as she made her way to the shore. Melia walked a few feet into the water and lay down.  
    “Isn’t that sound wonderful?”
    “It is,” Jamie agreed honestly. Questions buzzed in her head. She pulled off her shoes and stood near Melia. Water lapped around them. And Melia still looked human.
    “How do you change? I mean, you’re in water and still have legs.” The question sounded ridiculous as it spilled from her mouth.
    “I change when I want to. It’s a bit awkward to go leg-less on land,” Melia said with a smile. “I can stay human looking in water too.”
    “Oh.” Jamie sank down on her butt, soaking her jeans. But she didn’t care. “So your body…it is human?”
    Melia sat up. She put a hand above her right breast. “My heart is here. My lungs are different too, of course. My heart beats faster, I have more than one set of eyelids and my temperature’s lower. Other than that, I’m just as human as you are.”
    Yeah, just as human as I am, minus the tail, ability to breathe underwater, and I’m sure a pet dolphin or two… Jamie thought to herself sarcastically. She was so overwhelmed. She wanted to know everything. How could she breathe underwater? Why change into human form at all? Did they talk underwater? What did she eat? Where did she sleep?
    “Do you talk to fish?” she asked, unable to help herself.
    Melia laughed. “Do you talk to dogs?”
    “Oh, sorry,” she said, embarrassed. “I guess I’ve seen The Little Mermaid too many times.”
    “I like that movie. It doesn’t do a good job truly showing the merpeople though.”
    Jamie hugged her knees to her chest. “What happened