Change is essential for life, from the change of baby to adult, or the change in status from single to married. But, any change can cause ripples in our lives. As babies, we had simple tasks that others did for us. However, as adults, we get different tasks that we had to do by ourselves. I prefer not to make any ripples in life unless I have to. My name is Caesar and this is my story.

“Caesar! Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” My friend James yelled out by the entrance.

Unlike other merfolk, my house is partly above water. One section has a rock table with herbs and potions above the water; I am not sure what they were for. One section is my bedroom, which is completely underwater. My house is covered in the mixes of dry and wet; at least it makes it harder for thieves.

“Caesar!” My friend called out again.

I moved out of my bed and floated up to the cave hole. I pulled myself up onto the dry hallway.

“I’m coming!” I yelled out as I slowly moved to the entrance.

I feel like a snake sliding across the ground. I saw my friend sitting on the edge of the entrance waiting for me.

“Why don’t you move up to one of the normal houses? You know ones that are completely underwater.”

I rolled my eyes at him right before falling into the water.

“Why would I even want to live nearby the other merfolk?” I told him as he slid in. “You know the rumors that they say about me and my family.”

My father died when I was a baby from a stray shark attack. My mother disappeared when I was eleven years old. Some say that she was banished, others say that she died, even a few say that she figured out how to live with the humans. Because of the bad luck, many of the merfolk believe that I am cursed.

“Puh-lease! Not everyone believes that your mother was a sea-witch!” I almost forgot about that one. “My father didn’t care when he took you in.”

I had to swim harder to catch up with him as he swam away. His father is one of the teachers here and he was very kind to me.

“Why do you always drag me along on your crazy land adventures?”

“Because you want to see them dancing, wandering free all day in the sun as well.” I had to nod my head at him. “Now hurry up! The light is leaving!”

We had to stay hidden in the many plants to dodge the patrols as we continued. Times like this, I wish that James’ tail were not so flashy with its golden color. It makes it hard to sneak out around here. He used to make fun of my tail by saying it made me look like a naked human because the tan color matched my skin.

“Look! We’re almost there!” He pointed up and I could see the flashing lights above the water.

He dashed up and almost left me behind in a flurry of bubbles. It was a good thing that I knew where he was going; otherwise, I would have lost him. I swam up to our rock, and I had to help myself up because he was already at the top, watching the show. He enjoys the shows because of all the humans. I enjoy them because the lights make his tail sparkle like millions of colored pearls.

“Isn’t this always so amazing? Oh, what would I give if I could live out of these waters?” He said and his tail was flapping in excitement.

“Yeah, they are amazing.” I said while watching him more than the show.

There are moments when I hate myself for falling in love with him. However, days like this, I cannot help but stare at his golden hair and bright blue eyes. I have tried before to tell him about my crush, but every time, he is more focused on the humans than me. We stayed up watching the humans until the colorful lights faded and almost all the humans left the beach.

“Caesar, I have a confession to make.” He said as we turned to face the moon.

My heartbeat started to quicken and I tried my best to calm it down.

“I think I’m in love!”

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“With who, James?” I tried to keep my voice from sounding too hopeful.

“With a human king! His name is King Leo!” I could feel my heart breaking with every word. “He found me napping on the beach last week and we have been talking ever since.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

‘Only a week? I have been by your side for ten years.’ I thought as I tried to hide my tears.

I wish he would have told me this when we were underwater. So I could cry without anyone knowing. Merfolk can cry, but it is only noticeable above water because our eyes dry out.

“Oh, I was telling you because I didn’t want you to be alarmed when I go see him right now.” He got up and pointed.

Even in the dark, I could tell that there was a waving human at the edge of the beach. He got up and started climbing to the edge of the rock.

“Have fun, I should be heading home soon.” I told him with very little emotion in my voice.

“Thanks! See you tomorrow.” He told me before he fell off the edge and dived in the water.

I felt the tears running down my face as I watched him swim up to the human. I took one look at the human, and I realized why James would fall for him. Even at this distance, I could tell that his dark hair would be softer than mine would. I pulled at some of my hair to look at it. Under the water, it just looks like dead kelp because of the brown color and waviness of it. But, above the water, it feels and looks like dead kelp. I could hear their laughter, from all the way out here, as they talked.

‘I need to get away from here before I cry all the water out of my body.’ I thought to myself before going into the water.

The main city was glowing beautifully tonight, and it felt like it was mocking me. Unlike James, I prefer to live far away from the city as I can. I got to the underwater cave entrance and swam in. I climbed up and went to where the potions were. Unlike other merfolk, my mother always wrote down her notes on paper, like a human. She had ways of keeping the paper dry as she brought them in.

I carefully wiped my hand on the sponge on the table to dry my hands. After flipping around her notes, I finally found something.

‘Midwinter, Caesar is getting so big! I wish that his father could have seen him.’ I flipped to the next page. ‘I saved a human last night. A winter storm knocked him off his ship. He made my heart flutter just like Caesar’s father used to.’ I was surprised at her notes. ‘Today, the human found me again and we started talking. I found out he is a prince! A human prince!’ It looked like they talked for a few seasons. I wonder why I do not remember her leaving so much. ‘I found something that might help me, but it means I might have to leave Caesar behind. So I will wait until he is ready.’ I felt bad that I delayed her happiness. She loved me even though I knew she was only eighteen when I was born. ‘I got all the ingredients ready for the tea. It is too dangerous because if done wrong, it can be deadly. Two people must drink the tea at the same time. It could be a human and a merfolk or two merfolk. The two people must truly love each other or it can kill either one or both of them.’

I had to shuffle the papers around to find the next page but part of the page was torn off.

‘I never cared that people would call me a seawitch but Caesar came home from school with bruises all over his body. He fought of some children that was calling me rude names. Even though he had a torn fin, he had a huge smile on his face.’ I looked at the now small tear on my fin. ‘I have to leave now to protect him. I have the tea ready and I do not know if I will live happy or die in pain. But I hope Caesar will still live happy without me around.’

That was the end of her notes but I turned my head to look at the glass bottle. I found it shortly after my 17th birthday; inside contains a note from my mother.

‘It has been six years since I last saw you. You must hate me for leaving you behind. I put a special stone inside this bottle that you can use if you want to talk. Just come to the beach and it will shine bright enough for me to see. I miss you my dear fighter.’

Since I found it, I have talked to her every month for the past four years. I grabbed the stone and slid to the entrance. I hope that James is done talking to his human friend.

‘If I can’t have him happy with me, then I can at least help him be happy with someone he loves.’

I swam closer to the shadows because I know his pathway home. There was a sparkle of gold up ahead and I dived down into a crack to hide. He was humming a tune as he swam by my hiding spot. As soon as he left, I swam out and continued my journey. When I got close to the beach, I broke the surface of the water and I had the stone reflect the moonlight. I had the arm holding the stone, held up high as I swam closer. I heard an animal moving closer as I got close to the beach.

“Caesar! My baby boy!” My mother called out as I saw her riding a large animal.

“Mother!” I called out as I crawled up on to the beach.

“Here, let me help you.” She got off the giant beast and helped me on the beach.

“What is that thing?!” I asked as she prepared a picnic.

“That’s a horse. They make it easier to travel long distances very fast.” She gave me a mothering look. “What’s wrong? You normally don’t call me between visits.” I grabbed some of the biscuits and started nibbling on one. “Caesar, tell me.” She used the mothering tone on me as she gave me a cup of tea.

One problem with human food, it is really dry compared to mer food.

“Thanks.” I grabbed the tea and took a few drinks out of it. “I wanted to talk about my friend James.”

“Did you finally kiss him?” She asked while jumping in her seat.

I am now regretting telling her about my crush.

“No, but I found out that he is in love with a human.”

Her eyes widen before answering.

“You found my notes.” I nodded my head. “You are lucky I found the cure just in case. If you really want to, I can make the tea.”

“What makes it so deadly?”

“It is only deadly to merfolk. Because the potion works on the love of both people. If one merfolk or the human loves them then the other will become human. But if the love is one-sided then the tea will rip the tail in half to form legs. No merfolk has ever survived that.

My mouth dropped at her words.

“So if the human doesn’t love James, his tail will be ripped in half!”

“Yes, that’s why it was forbidden and lost until I found it. I was very lucky to find the cure. It will take me a few days to get the ingredients.”

I took another drink of the tea.

“Does the hot water still run from the spring near my desk?” I nodded my head because my mouth was full of tea. “I should give you some of this if you like it so much.”

“How’s the little one?” I asked after I swallowed the tea.

“Oh! She is growing up so big now! Even though she looks human, she must have the soul of the merfolk!”

Lily is my half-sister, but I never actually met her. But, my mother has been trying to find another way to turn me human so I could meet her new life.

“Hopefully, I get to meet her soon.”

“I’m still looking for anything that might help.” She hugged me before standing up. “I need to go before the guards get too worried.” She kissed my head before helping me to the water. “I will see you in two days. Safe travels.”

I waved her off as she rode off, then I swam off. I kept a hold on the stone as I got closer home. As I swam into the entrance, I noticed something was glittering nearby. I didn’t think it was anything and continued on my way.

“So, where were you at?” James whispered in my ear as I started to climb up onto the dry land.

I turned around as he used his arms to block me.

“I was just going to a midnight swim.” I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I spoke.

I felt his tail starting to wrap around mine.

“Oh really? Then why were you hiding from me with such a shiny rock?”

I almost smacked myself from how stupid I was. I forgot to keep the stone hidden from all light to keep it from shining.

“I thought that you would be too tired after spending time with your human.” I tried to hide my jealousy as I spoke.

He kept on moving closer to me and I thought that my heart was going to pop out of my chest. He got close enough that our chests were touching and our tails were wrapped together in a way that I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to. I could feel his breath in my neck before he spoke.

“You know that I am always up to a little adventure.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Hey, that eel had it coming! I wanted that shiny coin!”

“You had twenty of them!” I had to face palm at the memory.

“But who cares how many I have, it’s no big deal!”

He moved away and climbed up onto the edge. I tried to calm my breathing but he moved his fin right across my chest. My body shivered at the touch but he didn’t noticed.

“So, what kind of adventure did you have without me?”

I knew that he wasn’t going to stop until I told him. With the way that he was teasing me without realizing it, I had a feeling that I was going to lose control and do something stupid.

“I found a way to turn you human so you could be with your human.”

“Is it from the same source as your human drinks?” I just nodded my head at him. “How long before I can be with my love.”

“Two days.” I could feel my voice trying to break as I spoke.

I wanted to regret telling him but I loved the look he gave me. My brain was trying to get me to snap out of my lovesick stupor, but my heart loved the attention he was giving me, as he was excited on being human soon. The next day felt like a blink of an eye. But that day, I was the happiest because he spent the whole day by my side. The final morning, I opened my eyes and saw bright blue. It pulled away and I fell off the bed because I realized it was James.

“James! Don’t do that!”

I smacked his arm and he laid down on my bed. My heart was racing as I was still on the floor.

“So, when do you get the thingy to turn me human?”

“Tonight! You have to wait!” I told him as I tried to push him off.

He grabbed my hands and pulled me onto the bed, then he flopped on top of me.

“Then, let’s have a nap until it gets closer to nightfall.” He poked my cheek. “Your face is really red.”

This went on for a few hours until he did fall asleep. I slowly moved out from under him and he continued on sleeping.

“I wish he would just notice my love for him.” I watched him sleeping for a few more moments. ‘Thank the gods for this little piece of happiness.’

I swam up and slowly climbed onto the dry land. I quickly grabbed the stone before leaving. By the time I got to the beach, she was already there waiting for me. She had to help me, and this made me wish for more waves to make it easier. She had everything set up for a picnic.

“Oh! You are so red! You make a lobster look pale!” I started to attempt to hide my face from her. “Oh, just tell me what happened and it should go away.” So, I told her what happened and she hugged me. “Oh, my poor love-struck baby! Mama’s here.”

I just sighed at this because she used to do this when I was younger. I grabbed the cup of tea and started to drink after she let go of me.