Read Online Tangled Tides (The Sea Monster Memoirs) by Karen Amanda Hooper - Free Book Online
Authors: Karen Amanda Hooper
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for another two or three. "You didn't sleep at all?"
"I told you, Yamabuki, I don't sleep."
"Stop calling me that."
"You can call me freak, kingpin, slimeball and jackass, but I can't call you Yamabuki?"
I made a mental note to stop calling him names. "What do you do at night if you don't sleep?"
"Work." He sounded awake and alert, but dark circles cradled his eyes.
"All night?"
"Yes, and it still isn't enough time."
So Treygan was a workaholic. No surprise there. I could totally see him having a never-ending need to feel important. "If you didn't go to work last night, what did you do?"
"Sat here, waiting for you to finish sleeping."
He looked even stiffer than usual, like he really had sat in the rocking chair for ten hours. "You sat there all night watching me sleep? Are you one of those deranged stalker types?" Dang it. Again with the name-calling.
"May I request you refrain from insulting me or any of our people today? I am running low on patience and might not have the restraint I had yesterday."
"Restraint?" I leaned forward. "Are you threatening me?"
"You will know if I threaten you. There will be no question about it."
"I don't like your tone."
"I don't like wasting an entire day and night here on land accomplishing nothing while our people are getting sick. I'm behind in my work, and you have a lot to learn in the next few days. We have to go." He stood up and walked to the door.
"When can I come back?"
"You may not want to come back."
"Oh, I'll want to come back," I picked at the hardened pools of candle wax on the coffee table. "You're delusional if you think I'm going to spend the rest of my life underwater."
"You'll be able to come and go as often as you like once your initiation is complete. That will take a few sunsets."
"Sunsets? I'll be gone a few days?"
"Yes."
"I need to see my uncle before we go."
"Your uncle?"
"You know, the man whose house you stole me from."
He tilted his head back like he just remembered something. "Right, of course. But please hurry. You're part of a much larger family now. Some of them are suffering because we've been ashore too long."
Some of
them
are suffering? My uncle's kidneys could shut down at any moment. I needed to be on the island looking after him. Instead, I had to go live like a fish. I followed Treygan out on the front porch. He kept his face to the sky, eyes closed, as I summoned up conviction for my next argument.
"First off, none of you merpeople are my family. My family is my uncle—that's it. Secondly, don't blame your insufficient drug supply on me. Your people are suffering because you turned me against my will."
He didn't move or open his eyes. "Go say goodbye to Lloyd. If you aren't back in twenty minutes, I will come get you."
"Don't you go anywhere near him."
He turned and looked at me. I expected his eyes to be piercing and angry, but he looked calm and indifferent. "Be back in twenty minutes and I won't have to."
"Ugh! I h—I hay—"
"What? Hate me? You don't know me well enough to hate me. Now go."
T he walk to Uncle Lloyd's was a daily routine, but today it felt strange. Trees and shrubs had been blown over by the hurricane. Flooding shifted the sand and dirt along the roadways and made hills and barriers where none had been before. Uncle Lloyd's house hadn't been damaged, but it looked different. Maybe it was the sun rising behind it, or the reflection off the ocean yards away from his porch, but the house appeared to be surrounded by a shimmering bubble.
The thought of explaining everything to him made my stomach hurt. The truth was unbelievable, but according to Treygan I couldn't lie. What could I possibly tell him?
Hey, Uncle Lloyd, this is Treygan the merman. He turned me into the Little Mermaid and I'm going to live under the sea for a few days. Hold down the fort while I'm gone.
Yeah, that would go over well.
I knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Morning," I called.
Uncle Lloyd came down the
"I told you, Yamabuki, I don't sleep."
"Stop calling me that."
"You can call me freak, kingpin, slimeball and jackass, but I can't call you Yamabuki?"
I made a mental note to stop calling him names. "What do you do at night if you don't sleep?"
"Work." He sounded awake and alert, but dark circles cradled his eyes.
"All night?"
"Yes, and it still isn't enough time."
So Treygan was a workaholic. No surprise there. I could totally see him having a never-ending need to feel important. "If you didn't go to work last night, what did you do?"
"Sat here, waiting for you to finish sleeping."
He looked even stiffer than usual, like he really had sat in the rocking chair for ten hours. "You sat there all night watching me sleep? Are you one of those deranged stalker types?" Dang it. Again with the name-calling.
"May I request you refrain from insulting me or any of our people today? I am running low on patience and might not have the restraint I had yesterday."
"Restraint?" I leaned forward. "Are you threatening me?"
"You will know if I threaten you. There will be no question about it."
"I don't like your tone."
"I don't like wasting an entire day and night here on land accomplishing nothing while our people are getting sick. I'm behind in my work, and you have a lot to learn in the next few days. We have to go." He stood up and walked to the door.
"When can I come back?"
"You may not want to come back."
"Oh, I'll want to come back," I picked at the hardened pools of candle wax on the coffee table. "You're delusional if you think I'm going to spend the rest of my life underwater."
"You'll be able to come and go as often as you like once your initiation is complete. That will take a few sunsets."
"Sunsets? I'll be gone a few days?"
"Yes."
"I need to see my uncle before we go."
"Your uncle?"
"You know, the man whose house you stole me from."
He tilted his head back like he just remembered something. "Right, of course. But please hurry. You're part of a much larger family now. Some of them are suffering because we've been ashore too long."
Some of
them
are suffering? My uncle's kidneys could shut down at any moment. I needed to be on the island looking after him. Instead, I had to go live like a fish. I followed Treygan out on the front porch. He kept his face to the sky, eyes closed, as I summoned up conviction for my next argument.
"First off, none of you merpeople are my family. My family is my uncle—that's it. Secondly, don't blame your insufficient drug supply on me. Your people are suffering because you turned me against my will."
He didn't move or open his eyes. "Go say goodbye to Lloyd. If you aren't back in twenty minutes, I will come get you."
"Don't you go anywhere near him."
He turned and looked at me. I expected his eyes to be piercing and angry, but he looked calm and indifferent. "Be back in twenty minutes and I won't have to."
"Ugh! I h—I hay—"
"What? Hate me? You don't know me well enough to hate me. Now go."
T he walk to Uncle Lloyd's was a daily routine, but today it felt strange. Trees and shrubs had been blown over by the hurricane. Flooding shifted the sand and dirt along the roadways and made hills and barriers where none had been before. Uncle Lloyd's house hadn't been damaged, but it looked different. Maybe it was the sun rising behind it, or the reflection off the ocean yards away from his porch, but the house appeared to be surrounded by a shimmering bubble.
The thought of explaining everything to him made my stomach hurt. The truth was unbelievable, but according to Treygan I couldn't lie. What could I possibly tell him?
Hey, Uncle Lloyd, this is Treygan the merman. He turned me into the Little Mermaid and I'm going to live under the sea for a few days. Hold down the fort while I'm gone.
Yeah, that would go over well.
I knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Morning," I called.
Uncle Lloyd came down the
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