Hi, my name is Hannah. I’m about to tell you a story. You probably won’t believe me but it’s true. The only thing is, this story is a secret. So you can’t tell anybody, okay?

It all happened last summer in Florida on Bathtub Beach . If you’re not familiar with Bathtub Beach , it’s well known for having great seashells and lots of storms. I was walking along the shore when suddenly I noticed a young girl about my age lying in the sand.  At first I thought it was just someone sun-tanning, but when I looked again, I noticed something about her that made me stare. This girl had a tail. She was a mermaid! Her long multi-colored fin was beautiful and her lovely thick black hair glistened in the sun even though it was sprinkled with sand. Shocked, I rubbed my eyes to see if I was dreaming. I wasn’t.

Ohmygosh could this possibly be? I wondered. I ran toward the mermaid, hoping she was alive and okay.  As I approached her, I said, “Excuse me? Are you all right?” The mermaid rolled over. “Yes I’m fine, just terribly exhausted!” she replied.

“Why are you on land?” I questioned, still in shock. She explained to me she is the youngest of 7 sisters and her parents are the rulers of the sea.  They control the merpeople, other sea creatures and all storms, so they are constantly busy. Plus, her brother Neptune is in training to become the next ruler so he doesn’t have time for her either.  She said she felt really lonely so she swam away from home looking for a friend. I asked her why she didn’t hang out with her sisters.

“Them? They hardly know I exist!  And they’re too bossy and mean.”

“Well, I’ll be your friend. My name is Hannah,” I said energetically.

She shrieked with joy. “My name is MeiLin.” Then she flashed me a look like the most amazing thing in the world just happened. Then she told me that she could only be on land for three days, and must be home by midnight on the third day. I felt really disappointed. But who cares I thought, I just found a new friend! (Not that I don’t have any friends, I do but they’re not like MeiLin.)

I began to look down at her tail when I noticed it wasn’t there! “What happened?” I cried.

“Oh, when a mermaid’s tail gets dry, it disappears and becomes human legs. I barley even noticed,” MeiLin explained. The rest of the day MeiLin and I shared childhood stories with each other. We had so much fun. I had never felt so happy about everything before.

The next day we ventured down the beach to go seashell hunting. Of course, MeiLin knew all the best places to look and we found the most amazing shells ever! They were a variety of different colors, shapes and sizes.

At lunch time, I took her to my favorite restaurant, The Krazy Café. MeiLin said that the food was terrific, but it was so different from what she ate at home.

“What do you eat at home?” I questioned.

“Oh, lots of stuff. My favorites are clams, salt, shrimp, kelp custard and seaweed salad.”

“Yeah, that is really different from Krazy’s pizza and watermelon ice cream!” I responded. 

By the time we were finished eating,      it was so hot we had to go back to my house where there was air conditioning.  We played all my coolest CDs and traded our inner-most secrets.

The next day MeiLin and I used my savings and went to Disney World. It was even more fun than looking for shells. During the day we rode a lot of rides and went to see all the Disney characters. We even got to see The Little Mermaid Show! After the show was over MeiLin totally criticized how unrealistic everything was.  I guess we humans have a lot to learn about the world under the sea.

When the day was over, MeiLin told me that her favorite ride was Space- Mountain . I said that it was mine too. As we were going home, MeiLin told me this was the best thing she had ever done. We arrived back at my house at about 11:30 p.m. and fell fast asleep.

On the third day I spent with MeiLin, we didn’t know what to do, so I suggested going horseback riding. She said that sounded great! When we arrived at the horse stables we each got a horse. MeiLin’s horse was a friendly tri-colored Paint named Sheba and I rode Freckles, a spirited Appaloosa.

“Are you sure you know how to ride a horse?” I asked MeiLin.

“Yeah. I ride giant seahorses all the time back home,” she said casually.

“But how do you ride with your fin?”

MeiLin told me she rode side-saddle, which I thought was pretty clever. Then I taught MeiLin how to ride “cowboy style.”

“It is so much easier to ride this way!” MeiLin exclaimed. We had an awesome time and rode all day. The sky began to fade to a spectacular shade of glowing pink as we returned back to my house.

When we arrived MeiLin said,   “I’ve had a great time and I’m really sorry, but have to go now!”

“But it’s only 9:00!” I protested.

“I have to be back by midnight, remember? And it takes me 3 hours to get home!” MeiLin explained as she entered the water under the moonlit sky.

“Alright, but how will I know you’re okay?” I yelled.

“Wait for the next storm!” she yelled back. With a flick of her tail, MeiLin swam away.

I didn’t know when the next storm was going to be or why I had to wait for one, but the next month I found out. Now, you may be thinking that a storm is a bad thing, but the way I see it, it’s a wonderful thing. It’s wonderful because that is when MeiLin’s dad pushes her to land to visit me. Each time she can only stay for three days, but those three days are always filled with enough adventure, laughter and fun to tide us over until the next storm. That is why I look forward to storms and why Bathtub Beach will have so many of them. You might say the secret story of the beach lies in the tail of my best friend!