Below the Dock

I narrowed my eyes and searched to no avail. Whoever I saw was gone, which shouldn't have been possible. Nobody could swim away in the few seconds it took for me to look back down. I tried to recollect the brief image of her face. Surely she was real, right? I saw her so clearly right in front of me. There was no way it could have just been a hallucination.

But there was also no way that it could have been real, as I looked around the surface of the lake for several moments. I could see for hundreds of feet in every direction, confirming that nobody surfaced to take a breath. To stay underwater in order to scare me, swim away far enough to where I couldn't see them in the water anymore, and still remain submerged for this long, it wasn't possible. They would have to breathe.

Cautiously, I dipped my head back under the water, eyes remaining open, and held onto the ladder as I searched. After several seconds, something shifted in the mud beneath me. A few bubbles escaped my mouth in surprise as a figure rose from underneath the silt. No, not from underneath the silt, from the silt.

The brown-gray mud adjusted in tone as if it were refocusing colour, revealing a lightly-tanned hand. The colour shifted up an arm, across a shoulder, and up a neck to a face that became visible against the lake bottom. The woman stared back at me with wide eyes, but I couldn't ignore the skin tone returning down her bare chest. A pair of shapely, wonderfully well-proportioned breasts clung to her chest with nipples and areola just barely darker than the rest of her skin. Perhaps a D-cup, at least in relative to her body, they almost seemed to float idly in the water as the woman adjusted her position slightly. However, her nudity was the least surprising thing about her, as her smooth stomach transitioned from skin to scales at her hips.

A long, red, fish-like body emerged from her lower half instead of legs. Two pairs of medium-sized flippers emerged from the top part of her impossible fish form, drifting in the water like errant curtains. Foot after foot of scaled flesh extended downwards beyond her human form, tapering to a point before expanding into a wide, vaguely-heart-shaped tail that rested on the ground. As the woman laid there, I could see her chest moving with each breath, but not from her nose or mouth. Instead, the six orange-red gills on the woman's abdomen, three on each side, quivered in the water.

With a longer look, I was finally able to register the sheer size of the woman against the lake bottom. The fish tail, from her hips to the tip of her tail fins, probably reached almost twenty feet in length. Her human half was not much smaller. If she had regular legs, I would wager that she probably stood close to, if not slightly over ten feet tall.

With most of my air having been depleted in the surprised reverse-gasp, I breached the surface again and took a careful breath. As I looked down through the surface of the water, I could see the woman adjusting her position, getting up from the mud as if standing to meet me. Should I tell Mrs. Carmichael? There was a mythical creature just a few feet away. Would she believe me?

Did I even believe me? Surely this wasn't real- a dream. I was still in the car, probably sleeping on my way to this place. There was no way that a fucking mermaid was reaching up towards me.

When her massive hand closed around my foot, I gasped. She certainly felt real. Her hand was large enough that my entire foot easily fit into her palm, and her fingers wrapped up and around completely. She wasn't grabbing in a predatory way- her every touch was as gentle, soft, and warm as her skin.

I could only cling to the ladder in disbelief as she rose slightly higher, bringing her other long arm. Her other hand touched a single finger to the ankle of my already-held foot, and she slowly dragged that finger upwards. Up my calf, behind my knee, across my thigh, and eventually reaching my abdomen. I was completely paralyzed as her palm covered most of my side, and her long fingers reached past my belly button, just as gentle as her other hand. When I looked into her eyes, she smiled and released my foot, bringing the hand down to her face. Using one finger against her lips, she made a 'hush' motion.

I gulped and clutched onto the ladder tighter as she brought her free hand to my thigh, wrapping almost all the way around it to where her thumb and forefinger were barely an inch apart. Her face closed the distance to my leg, planting a gentle kiss on the side of my foot. Her lips felt impossibly soft as she kissed again and again, tracing a path across my skin. To my heel, and then my ankle, then my calf, and behind the knee, her lips followed the same road as her finger just a few moments before.

I had completely forgotten about Mrs. Carmichael until she cleared her throat. "Are you going to swim?"

The movement beneath me stopped completely as I jerked my head up to look at the blonde on the dock.

"I- uhh..." I stammered. "I kind of like it right here. I can just relax in the water."

Mrs. Carmichael let her phone drop into her lap as she reclined back into the chair. I saw her close her eyes and let the sun shine on her face.

"Enjoy it however you want. This isn't a prison, it's a camp. The only rule right now is that we're heading back for dinner in ten minutes. You enjoy the water, and I'll enjoy the sun."

I couldn't imagine how she could be comfortable in this weather while wearing a shirt, cardigan and jeans, but she lazed back without a care in the world. After several moments of quiet only broken by the sound of the tiny waves slapping against the sides of the dock, I slowly brought my gaze back down to the water.

The woman stayed in the exact same position as when Mrs. Carmichael began speaking, hands on my torso and thigh. Her head was level with my hips now, further revealing the size difference between us. Her eyes were wide with anticipation, and she almost seemed to cock an eyebrow as if to ask to continue.

I still had to try and deny my disbelief. Ever-so-slowly, I released one hand from the ladder and let myself sink in the water a tiny bit. The woman did not move. With my free hand, as if approaching a wild animal, I gingerly approached the woman's hand wrapped around my waist. Still, she did not move, and I began getting the feeling that she wasn't the skittish wild animal in this scenario.

I was.

My fingertips gently touched the back of her hand, and she continued to stare passively at me. She may have initiated this scenario, but now she had passed all control to me. Her eyes did move away from mine, the sparkling emeralds gazing instead towards my brave fingers that began tracing along her skin. With every inch that my fingertips explored, the doubt of her existence was further erased. I moved down her wrist and to her forearm before stopping and gathering my resolve.

I let my hand drift away from her skin and towards her face, moving only a millimeter at a time, Still, not a single muscle on the woman moved aside from her eyes. They followed my hand as it closed the short distance, but quickly refocused on mine when my palm rested upon her cheek. Comparatively, the sight almost looked like the tiny hand of a young child resting on a grown adult's face. I wasn't sure what I was feeling. Disbelief? Not quite as much. Curiosity? Yep.

Fear? Absolutely.

Those fears quickly diminished as the woman closed her eyes and gently tilted her head into my hand.

I had to keep from gasping. Here I was, resting my hand on the face of an actual, real-life mermaid. A mermaid who seemed perfectly content to stay in that same position, save her long, long tail swishing slightly in the water. For many moments there was no change. She simply held her cheek against my palm with one hand each clasping my waist and thigh, and I just held onto the ladder with the one hand still locked in reality.

Eventually, I broke the still and slowly released the ladder. I dropped several inches in the lake, causing the woman to open her eyes and smile at the movements of me treading water. I did not move away from the dock at all, still well within arm's reach, but somehow I felt like I had stepped fully into the mermaid's domain.

She brought her other hand up to also hold onto my waist, which was completely encircled by her lengthy fingers. Still with my hand on her cheek, she moved her face in and laid a kiss on my thigh, as if continuing her trail from earlier. Inch after inch, she planted kisses on my skin moving upwards. Past the crevice where my thigh met my pelvis, in between each of her fingers on my stomach, and up to the gap between my breasts.

The top of her head began breaching the water as she kissed up my clavicle, her wet hair sticking in strings to her face. Slowly, more of her was revealed in the sunlight as her head completely rose from the surface. Her lips dragged up my neck, taking a long, winding path, and curled around my chin to the section of skin just below my bottom lip. The woman pulled her large face back and locked eyes with mine as I panted. I wasn't even aware that I was getting so worked up until that moment.

The world almost seemed to move in slow motion as she approached my lips. Her body was pressing against mine now, bare breasts rubbing my navel. I could smell her, we were so close. I expected her to smell like a fish, or the ocean, but was surprised when the scent of vanilla passed through my sinuses. Closer and closer, until our lips were just a hair apart...

A loud ringing erupted from the dock beside me, shaking me out of my trance. In a blinding flash of impossible speed, the mermaid vanished as if she had never existed. One moment we were locked in what could easily be described as a lover's embrace, and the next millisecond there wasn't a single trace of her touch anywhere. I looked into the water around me, the clear lake allowing the sun to show nothing of importance in a wide radius. Whether the mermaid simply camouflaged herself into the mud again or swam away completely, it was clear that she was significantly faster than I could even comprehend and somehow left nothing behind but a tiny ripple.

Glancing up on the dock, I saw Mrs. Carmichael open her eyes and lift the phone from her lap, which was the source of the sound. She appeared to turn off some sort of alarm, then groaned as she stood up.

"Well, time for dinner."

Later that night

I eased open my eyes, not that it helped since the interior of the tent had only the tiniest bit of illumination from the moon. I took several moments of silence, listening for any sound coming from the silhouette of Mrs. Carmichael on the other side of the tent. Judging by her soft, repeated, slow breathing, I could only assume that she was asleep. Just because we had to share a tent with an adult didn't mean they were able to supervise us all the time. Everyone has to sleep eventually.

Gingerly, I opened the flap of my unzipped sleeping bag, wincing at the slightest rustles of noise. I was still dressed in my t-shirt and shorts I had changed into for dinner, even wearing my socks. Luckily, the temperature dropped quickly after the sun went down, letting the cool night air permeate through the canvas of the tent.

What time it was, I had no idea. All I knew is that everyone seemed to have gone to bed two or three hours ago, leaving me with the perfect opportunity. As slowly as possible, I crawled out of the sleeping bag and reached for the small, handheld flashlight resting on the ground beside Mrs. Carmichael. She did not stir, even as I slid the light into my pocket.

However, the biggest challenge was going to be the zipper of the tent flap. Millimeters passed along with minutes as I unzipped a single notch at a time. I was given a small respite as a soft gust of wind blew through the clearing. The rustling of leaves and grass was perfect at shrouding the sound of me unzipping a large portion of the flap and stepping out. The breeze only died down after I had re-zipped most of the tent, and left me in the still silence that signified I had gotten away with it.

I picked up my shoes and walked a few feet away into the grass before sliding them on, and tip-toed my way over to the small clothesline that held my towel and bathing suit from earlier. I was as silent as a mouse while I plucked them from the line and used the moonlight to guide myself towards the path leading to the lake. Once I was a comfortable distance away from all the tents, I clicked on the light and quickly traversed through the thin trail. It was only a matter of moments before the trees split apart to reveal the rocky shore and the single, floating dock.

I took a few deep breaths and stepped across the gravel and onto the wooden platform. The lake was completely still, like a sheet of darkened glass reflecting the moonlight. The only sounds that reached my ears were the chirping crickets off in the distance and my own careful steps on the dock. I set the still-lit flashlight on one of the chairs facing me so I could have some light as I quietly began stripping. I didn't bother putting on underwear after I changed earlier, so it was as simple as taking off the shirt, shorts, and shoes before I was completely bare. The cool air made my nipples stand on end, and the fabric of the bikini tickled as I quickly tied the top and bottom in place. They hadn't completely dried, so the fabric was slightly moist and quite cold against my skin.

Gathering willpower, I picked up the flashlight and stepped across the old wood towards the ladder. I placed the flashlight down on the wood so it faced out from the ladder and hesitated. Was I really going to do this? Break the rules and sneak away in the middle of the night so I could go swimming with a gorgeous mermaid that may or may not be there?

I gulped and dipped a foot into the water to place on the first submerged rung. I expected the lake to be much colder than earlier, but surprisingly it actually remained similar in temperature. It wasn't much cooler than the night air around me, allowing an easy transition as I stepped down the ladder and lowered more of myself into the water. The surface swallowed my legs, swam over my hips, and licked at my chest and neck as my feet reached the bottom rung. I only paused for a moment before dropping off the ladder entirely, only holding onto it with one hand to keep myself in position. I looked around for several moments, waiting for anything.

Silence.

Stillness.

"Hello?" I whispered. Even hushed, I could hear my voice carry across the water like it was an empty room. A minute passed. Two minutes. Three minutes. The water was nice, but my nerves were rising. I wasn't going crazy, was I? Surely not.

I took a deep breath and slowly lowered my head under the surface of the dark water. Goosebumps rose along my neck at the chill, and my eyes darted around for any sign of movement, but the moon was barely a sliver- any light it gave off was miniscule. As such, the water was similar to a void. Crystal clear, but dark enough that it looked like I was staring miles downwards into the depths of the ocean, even though the lake bottom was perhaps twelve-or-so feet beneath me.

I allowed myself to surface once more. There was nothing. Nobody. I sighed and pivoted in place to grab fully onto the ladder. Just as a single foot was placed on the bottom rung to begin climbing out, I felt a light touch on my lower back.

A gasp escaped from my lips and I whipped back around to see the surface of the water ripple the tiniest amount before allowing a large head to appear. Wet hair clung to her face, illuminated by the faintest edge of the flashlight beam, and droplets of water sparkled across her freckles. However, her green eyes were shining, almost as if they were giving off their own, faint light from within like a bioluminescent jellyfish.

"Hi..." I said, breathlessly.

When the woman opened her mouth, the sound that emerged was not at all what I expected. Part of me was expecting a female voice, but another was anticipating nothing but dolphin clicks and whale moans. Her speech was neither, and just as ordinary as it was supernatural. I could make out what sounded like a regular voice, but it was as if there were two different sets of vocal cords. It was decidedly feminine, yet almost sounded like she was autotuned with a deeper, resonant frequency behind it.

"You return?"

"Yeah?" I stammered

She smiled. "Happy."

As I removed my foot from the ladder and released with one hand, the woman moved slightly closer and wrapped a hand around my waist, sending shivers through my body.

"What are you doing?" I managed to squeak out. The woman continued to inch closer and place her other hand on my shoulder. When I asked again, her eyes glanced up and almost seemed to ponder words for a few moments.

"Soft. Like soft. Like touch."

"I'm soft and you like touching me?"

She nodded.

"Why me?" I asked.

Once again the woman pondered. It was easy to tell that she obviously understood me well enough, but wasn't familiar with speaking. As she thought, I took note of her thumb gently tracing around my belly button.

"Live long time. People..." She paused. "People new. Always avoid. Alone. Then you. Try you."

I tried to find my voice. "You always hide from people, but get lonely? You wanted to try something new?"

The woman smiled and nodded. I offered a nervous smile.

"My name is Alice. What's your name?"

"Name Nairad."

"Nice to meet you, Nairad. Why were you kissing my body earlier?"

"Avoid people, but watch. Watch touch. Watch kiss. People like kiss touch. Nairad like kiss touch."

"Kiss touch..." I paused. "Like this?"

I reached my free arm up and gently grabbed hold of the woman's wrist on my shoulder, much larger than my hand. I rubbed a few inches up and down her arm and tilted my head downwards to gently place my lips against her wet skin. Unsurprisingly, all I could taste was the lake. Still, I could feel a surprising amount of muscle within her arm twitch and shiver at the sensation. I looked back up at Nairad's face, which was locked in a smile. The hint of flashlight light on her face revealed a flush of red across her cheeks. She nodded.

"Kiss touch." Nairad confirmed, and released her hand from my shoulder as she disappeared under the water. For a moment I was concerned that she was leaving, but her other hand never left my waist. I felt the free hand begin to caress my leg and thigh gently, interposed with several soft pecks of her lips against my skin. On my thighs, my stomach, my navel, whatever she could reach she kissed.

I let my head roll back against the ladder as I enjoyed the sensations of my body being- for lack of a better term- worshipped by Nairad. For many moments, Nairad continued caressing my submerged body with her hands and her lips before I felt her surface once more. I opened my eyes and was met with the immediate pressure of her larger lips on mine.

I couldn't bring myself to move away. She was so gentle, so sensual, so wonderfully delicate that I just sank into her and wrapped my arms around her neck. Slowly, she increased the pressure of her lips on mine, and I could feel warmth flushing through my chest. The hardness of my nipples superseded the chill of the water. I could also tell that I was not the only one getting aroused. With the size difference between us causing Nairad's breasts to press against my bare stomach, it was easy for me to feel her nipples stiffening. Apparently that part of her human half still functioned normally enough.

Nairad pulled back, her eyes almost enthralling in their light. She said nothing, only giving a faint smile as she lowered back down beneath the water. I expected her to continue her worship of my body, but was caught off guard by her long, slender fingers pulling at the strings of my bikini bottom. I gasped as the knots came undone and Nairad pulled the cloth away entirely, revealing my bare, shaven mound to her. I could almost feel the water vibrating slightly as she spoke, but unlike a normal person trying to talk underwater, Nairad's voice was only slightly muffled.