Iris and her 2 best friends Annie and Brittany sat outside in Brittany's yard eating ice cream and listening to music one day in mid July. The 3 girls are all 13 years old and they were all happy it was summer vacation. Iris wore a white t-shirt with blue polkadots on with an ice cream cone on the front of her shirt, blue knit shorts, navy canvas shoes and white socks. She wore her long blonde hair down with 2 shiny silver barretts on each side of her hair parted down the middle. Iris has brown eyes, dimples and a slim build. Iris's friend Brittany wore her long light brown hair down and slighty curly, she has blue eyes, slim build and wore a light blue checkered sun dress with a star fish trim along the top and blue flip flops. Lastly her friend Annie wore her long darker blonde hair in a pony tail, she has brown eyes, slim build and wore a pink beach print swim suit with an orange swim skirt over and pink flip flops. Iris and her friends are all about the same height of about 5'1 and they really all have a lot in common. They all love summer, the beach, the same height about the same build slightly under 100 ibs and all love music.
As they sat in the yard this hot day eating ice cream Annie suggested they go to the beach since it was so hot. Brittany got out of her lawn chair and went in and asked her mom if she could drive them to the beach. She said she would. They got into her blue van and she drove them to the beach. Brittany's mom is Ella a slim woman who really looks a lot like Brittany only a bit taller. She wore a pink tank-top and white shorts and as she drove she sang with the country music on the radio, because like Brittany she loves music and is actually a good enough singer. She pulled in at the beach and they all got out the beach was packed with people and Ella found an empty place to fold out her lawn chair and she sat down putting on her big shades and began to read a book. The 3 girls swam for a while but it was so busy so they decided to take a walk down the beach a ways. They walked and walked and the farther they walked there really weren't any people just miles of sand and the ocean tides. Brittany's mother still sat in her lawn chair reading her book she seen the girls were taking a little walk the beach was awful busy and she texted Brittany where she was at. Brittany wrote back they took a little walk to where there were less people and it was nice.
As they were walking there were 2 young men about in there late teens pulling a boat to shore the one guy was blonde the other was dark haired. The dark haired man whistled at the 3 girls and Annie smiled since these 2 guys were really hot. The blonde guy introduced himself as Sly and his friend was Marley and they were pulling there boat ashore. Annie smiled saying ''Nice boat'' Marley smiled and said ''Hey wanna have a ride.'' Annie looked at her friends and said ''Sure'' Brittany thought this looked fun a boat ride with 2 super hot guys. Iris smiled too it did sound fun. They climbed into the boat by the 2 guys and Sly pulled the motor and away they went deep out to sea. They were really having a fun time they went out farther and farther and the 3 girls were laughing and so were the 2 guys. They were out for what seemed like a long time and Brittany's mom texted her wondering where she was at. Brittany hated to tell her mom the truth she would be mad probably so Brittany didn't answer at all just slid her phone into her purse.
They were out for such a long time it felt like and Brittany said ''Maybe we should go back.'' Sly said ''Okay'' he zoomed his boat, just then his boat came to a hulting stop. Sly rubbed his hair and swore to himself the boat was out of gas. Marley said ''Hey why aren't we moving?'' Sly said ''Were out of gas.'' Marley said ''Do we got more?'' Sly shook his head no. Iris's heart began to pound and she looked at Brittany she looked spaced out. Sly said ''Well, Well lost at sea with 3 babes. Sly reached over and kissed Iris on the lips and she backed away and fell out of the boat. Annie heard the splash and dove in after her. Iris was frantic and was now crying and that's when Marley began to laugh. Brittany suddenly wanted out of this boat more then ever and Sly said ''Come on girls were lost at sea but lost at sea with 3 pretty girls.'' Marley began to kiss Brittany and she dove out of the boat and went into the very deep water with a spash. Sly and Marley dove in after them and they were swimming after them. Iris swam deep under the water and suddenly she felt herself falling deeper and deeper and she then felt a force grab both her feet and pull her deeper under. Iris couldn't scream she was under water. Just then that something pulled her up and whispered ''Get on my back.'' Iris crawled onto the lady's back and called out ''Annie and Brittany.'' Annie and Brittany swam towards where Iris was sitting and Iris said ''Get on some lady is saving us.'' Annie and Brittany crawled onto the lady's back by Iris. Sly and Marley swam after but this woman could swim fast.
The farther away they got they no longer seen Sly or Marley or the boat. Who knows Sly and Marley quit following them. The woman swam out farther and farther and that's when Annie realized the woman had the longest green fin in which she sat on. At 1st she was kind of scared and hadn't noticed just a dark haired woman in a shiny green and blue outfit but now she seen it the woman was a mermaid. Brittany noticed to and whispered to Annie ''Are we dreaming this?'' Annie didn't know but the whole thing seemed so unreal. Iris held onto the mermaid's shoulders and she swam so swiftly and then she stopped and there was a huge sea turtle and the mermaid said to the turtle in a funny voice and then she said ''This is Sammy the oldest turtle in the sea he will bring you to shore.'' Brittany said ''Wait are you a real mermaid?'' The woman said ''Yes I am one of the last left nobody has ever seen me before but I seen you needed help I know them 2 guys I see them all the time at the beach there after every woman for the same thing sex, and 3 girls as innocent as the 3 of you seem well I couldn't let that happen or let you drown.'' Iris said ''Thank-you'' The mermaid said ''No problem.'' Iris reached out and touched the mermaid one last time, she was the most pretty thing she'd ever seen. Long dark brown hair, shining green eyes and a slim type face with the longest most shiny tail she had ever seen. Annie said ''Will we ever see you again?'' The mermaid said ''Okay we can see each other again next time you come to the beach just come to this end and call out the name Merida you see that's my name.''
The turtle swam them to the shore and they got off stood on the sandy shore. Brittany had lost her phone and her purse and where were they. They walked down the beach farther and soon they seen the buzz of people and that's when Brittany realized her mom's chair was empty. They hurried out to the parking lot her car was still there. Brittany called out ''Mom!'' Just then she seen her mom crying at a picnic table, she was frantic since she couldn't find her daughter and her friends. Brittany ran over to her mom saying ''Mom.'' Her mom Ella looked up tears on her cheeks and she hugged Brittany and said she was worried sick about her she'd been gone for several hours. Brittany told her mom but her mom hardly could believe it and one part of her was mad that they had went out with 2 strange guys in a boat and the mermaid part seemed unreal. Brittany wasn't known to lie and Annie said the guys were young and they were hot looking. She understood she was once a teenager too. Just the mermaid part seemed really weird.
Iris got home that night she didn't tell her mom the whole story but she did say she saw a mermaid and her mom wanted to believe her but said ''Chances are it's an odd woman in a costume and I would careful around a woman in a costume.'' Iris wished she could prove to her mom that she really had seen a mermaid it wasn't a woman in a costume she had saved there life. Annie didn't bring it up to her mother her mother she knew would never believe her in a million years.
Days went by and Iris took her mom to the beach and called out Merida but she never seen the mermaid until a week later. She was at the beach with her mom and her friends and there she was and when Iris's mom Sadie seen her she couldn't believe it and when she touched the fin she really couldn't it was so different feeling not a costume. Iris was telling the truth and she asked if it was okay to take a photo of the girls and the mermaid. Merida said in her soft smooth voice. ''Yes as long as you don't make a big deal out of it I don't wanna be shown in the papers.'' Iris's mom said she wouldn't and she took a photo of the 3 girls and Merida and to Sadie this was the most masterful photo she had ever took.
Summer went by a good one too and that last day of summer vacation was bitter sweet as always. This summer had been the most unique and best summer ever this was the summer they met Merida and they seen her quite often she was always there waiting for them. Iris figured this was the best summer meeting Merida, fun beach days, a fair and live music every Friday night in the red band stand. These things were Iris's favorite things and as the 1st day of school came, Iris got on the bus feeling bitter sweet and there were tears in her eyes. Annie felt the same way and when Iris seen her on the bus she had tears in her eyes too. So did Brittany cuz summer was done.
At school that braggy Eliza Moore was bragging about every place she'd been this summer and it just about drove Iris crazy, she thought she was more important then anyone in the school since she'd been to Egypt and did a modeling shoot in Japan this summer. That's when Annie said ''Well you didn't see a real mermaid like we did and have a boat ride with 2 hot guys even if all they did want was sex. Eliza didn't believe them, so the next day Brittany brought the photo and Eliza figured it was fake. Brittany said her name was Merida and they seen her all the time. It was really a mistake to tell Eliza and her friends because that night Eliza and her 3 friends Scarlett, Alexis and Willa went to the beach and called her name and Merida swam to shore and seen 4 unfamiliar teen girls standing there. Alexis pinched Merida and said ''Hey she is a real fish.'' They all grabbed her and drug her out of the water. Merida tried to flop out of there hands but Eliza's long fake black nails were digging into her arm. The girls drug Merida to Alexis's older brother Carson's car and they tossed her in the back seat and he drove them to there house. They drug her inside and took photos with her and Alexis made a video of her. Then Eliza said ''I wonder if she bleeds red blood?'' Willa took a knife and sliced a long slice in her fin and green blood began to poor out all over. Merida was crying and Eliza said ''Look the mermaid is crying.''
Meanwhile Iris, Annie and Brittany went to the beach that night and called out Merida but she didn't come. The next day at school they Eliza bragging they had found the mermaid and she bled green blood and cried. Annie heard that and said angrily ''What did you do that for?'' Eliza said ''To see if it had red blood heck it bleeds green and the mermaid actually cried.'' Annie felt so mad she stormed to her seat and burst out crying. Eliza said ''Aww Annie is crying just like her dumb fish friend.'' Brittany was so mad she punched Eliza in the face so hard her nose bled and Brittany got suspended. Brittany's mom was a bit upset she was suspended but when she heard why she was also mad that them girls hurt the mermaid.
Alexis meanwhile got home from school and her mom had found Merida and she said in a half drunk voice ''Wow what a big fish I see you caught, me and my husband butchered it up and were going to have a huge fish fry tonight'' Alexis felt kind of odd they were going to eat mermaid? Mom and Dad were drunk they didn't even see it had a head if they did they figured it was from the liquor. The mermaid meat tasted different and Alexis really wasn't that hungry she pushed it aside. One man said ''Meat tastes odd very different but tasty for sure.''
Alexis the next day at school told Eliza and she laughed about it and Eliza told Annie and all Annie could do was cry, Iris too. That night after school 3 tearfull friends built up a pile of rocks in memory or a special creature they got to know. Iris said tearful ''It's all our fault we should have never told them about her.'' Annie said ''All my fault I brought it up cuz Eliza was being a brag head.'' The tearful friends sat there in a circle and held hands as they heard a soft voice say ''It wasn't your fault it was there fault.'' Annie looked up and seen the ghostly figure of Merida floating there and the 3 of them cried and cried.
Iris never forgot about Merida and every now and then the rest of the year they went to the spot they met her only to not find her there.
The End