Mermaids of Xanadu

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Chapter One: Homecoming

"It's time we left," said Alex.

"I agree. This very afternoon," I said. Alex was pushing me back to the hotel after our impromptu celebration at the Walkers' tent. All three siblings were now reunited with their parents. Of course the ordeal of learning to live with the changes wrought by the Xanadu effect was just beginning for them, for us and more than ten thousand others.

First, we spoke with my parents, who had arrived yesterday morning. This time, it was not a disaster. They gave us their prayers and wishes for my safe delivery and a healthy child, along with their unconditional love, be she Mer or biped. I knew this was how it would turn out, I was happy that it resolved as quickly as it did. They would head back to Ashville and come visit when we figured out where we would move to.

It took less than twenty minutes to pack and throw our stuff into the back of Alex's car. We would have to come back for mine, which had been damaged (I couldn't drive it now anyway). The real test was to come next. We decided to leave legitimately rather than 'Jedi' our way off the premises. This required waiting in line for thirty minutes (it was to get much worse in the next few days), being separated, then answering a twenty-minute questionaire read by a staff-sergent. I had to lay down on the floor for my 'height' to be measured, 7'10" from pate to fin. Finally, we were each issued a shiny new I.D. card with photo (I had to tie my hair back to show my Vulcan features), a verbal description of changes and a new Florida drivers' license (mine conditional to the use of hand-controls, Alex's included a permit to carry his lightsaber). Last but not least, we gave the National Guard their wheelchair back. They didn't demand it, but we felt it best if we got my own. Altogether, this took about an hour.

It was a great relief to be away from that place and headed home, but it was also frightening. I knew the 'home' I was headed for could never really be home anymore. It was too far from open water. Fortunately, we had only moved in last July, so our roots weren't deep.

We didn't talk much on the way, we were each lost in our own thoughts. I began to feel anxious, almost embarassed, like I felt that first evening after the change. Somehow, I didn't want the neighbors to see me crawl.

"You'll carry me into the house, won't you?"

"Sure, right across the threshold, just like on our wedding day." Alex grinned. When he looked at me and saw how I was sweating, however, he grew serious. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, just feeling a bit of anxiety."

"I know just what you need. There are no beaches around, maybe a pool? We could really freak the mundanes."

"It's more a social anxiety than water. I just didn't want the neighbors to see me crawling into the house."

"OK." He gave me a look that told me that though he didn't understand, he'd walk barefoot over broken glass to make me feel better.

I stayed silent for a few moments, then spoke, "You're perfect for me. You know that, don't you?"

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We pulled into the driveway. Once more, everything looked just as it had when I left for Orlando last Thursday. Alex came around to the passenger side, opened the door and carried me into the house. The first thing I did, while Alex was unloading the car, was crawl from room to room, to check everything out. I looked in closets, under beds and behind furniture. I was like a bunny sniffing out a new burrow for dangerous scents. "Is this some sort of Vulcan or Mer maternal instinct? Or am I just going nuts?" I thought.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" responded Alex.

"No! And you left all the closets in a mess putting together your Jedi outfit!"

"Oops! I was counting on you being amused enough by my efforts to overlook that."

"You weren't counting on bringing home a cranky, pregnant mermaid, were you?" "Well," I said aloud. "She's also hungry. Go fetch something to eat and I'll forgive you and straighten out the closets myself, at least those parts of the mess I can reach."

"Chinese carryout?"

"Yes, but no seafood, please. I can't stand the stuff cooked anymore, and the Chinese don't do sashimi."

Alex left, and I began unpacking. I was done and starting to contemplate the closet, when the doorbell rang. "Crap! I'm betting that's not you yet, is it Alex?" No response. I crawled up to the livingroom door. The bell rang again. "Just a moment." I raised myself as high on my tail as I could, putting one hand on the wall for balance. I was wearing a sun dress, so, if someone didn't know better, or didn't look over my shoulder to see my fin splayed out behind me, they might think I was standing on my knees. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

It was Mrs. Linzky, one of our neighbors. She was a retired school teacher and a widow. Alex got along quite well with her, she always seemed a little intimidating to me, perhaps it's the teacher thing. She was a bit befuddled, probably because she was used to looking up at me.

"Hannah!" She looked down over her spectacles. "I heard you-two got caught in that terrible thing that happened in Orlando. Are you-all doing alright?"

"Uh, not too bad. Considering." I noticed she was carrying a covered dish. I was going to have to invite her in. This was going to be awkward (in more ways than one) no matter what I did, so I resigned myself to it. "Would you like to come in and sit a spell?"

"Sure, if you don't mind. I brought some eggs."

"That wouldn't happen to be your deviled eggs, the recipee with horseradish would it? We like those!"

"Why yes, they would." she smiled.

"Just a moment." Mer bodies are not made to back up in. "Here goes," I thought. I leaned back, spun around, did a single hop crawl to the couch, then a half turn/half flip onto the middle of the couch. I ended up sitting primly, my tail half curled to the left, displaying my large purple and gold fin on the carpet. "Just put the eggs on the kitchen table and come sit." I patted the seat next to me.

I half expected her to pee herself or maybe just keel over, but evidently highschool teachers in her day were made of sterner stuff. She froze for a moment to regather her wits, took the eggs into the kitchen, then sat next to me, showing only a bit of a flush on her face.

"So...You're a mermaid," she said quietly.

"Yes," I nodded, adding the sweetest, most uncreepy smile I could manage.

Then, she truly surprised me. She laughed, gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You are so lucky! Since I was a little girl, I wanted there to be mermaids! I wanted to be one too! Now they...you're real!" She wanted to know all about how it happened and if it might happen again. I really thought she might buy a mermaid tail and camp out at the Xanadu Center.

I didn't know how to handle this. I was the one getting dropped down Alice's rabbit hole...again! This time, by a school teacher!

After a while, however, I relaxed. I began to see her curiosity as friendly, an innocent childhood fantasy, rather than something I should worry about. I related the whole story of my change, and some others as well. Eventually, she asked, rather shyly, if she could touch my tail and fin. I consented.

"The scales are rather warm and dry, aren't they?" she said.

"Well, I am a warm-blooded mammal, nearly all of us Mer are, though some have a harder time out of water than others."

"Your fin is so delicate-looking, but it feels tough."

"It is tough. It has to move a lot of water, fast."

"You don't switch back and forth, between human and mermaid, do you?"

"No, I'm a mermaid 24/7. If there is a way for me to change, I haven't found it yet. Some can switch, however. They're Mer when wet, or change with a magic phrase or even at will. Most are of the 'just add water' variety, thanks to Darryl Hannah and a certain Australian TV show." I laughed and added, "I bet some folks were in for a rude surprise when they got home from the convention and took a shower!"

Alex arrived about that time with pan-fried dumplings and chicken mu-shu. Edna politely declined our offer to share supper with us, but promised to keep in touch. After she left, I turned to Alex, "I think I have a fan."

"You have a fan? Why do you think I'm late? I spent fifteen minutes signing autographs at the carryout. Oh, our local CNN afiliate would like an interview with a real mermaid and her Jedi-guy sometime tomorrow."

"Wow. When they call back tell them I'll do it, but only if they tape some sequences of me swimming, not just rolling around in a wheelchair."

"I think that's pretty much a given. They'll probably want to see me play with my lightsaber. Cut a Volkswagen in half or something.

"Speaking of wheelchair," Alex pulled a communicator out of one of his many pockets and turned on the screen, "we have an appointment in the morning at 9:30 for you to pick one out at the medical supply warehouse downtown."

"Do I get my pick?"

"I suppose, so long as we can make the co-pay. The food's getting cold, by the way, want me to carry you to the table?"

"Yes please, I'm starved!"

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I woke up early the next morning, feeling, if anything, more anxious. Early mornings have always been bad for me in that way. I usually let others do the worrying. Alex is a good worrier. I generally just try to deal with things as they come. Everything always seems more overwhelming to me in the early dawn for some reason. I slipped quietly out of bed. What now? If I fiddle with the closets, I'll make too much noise and wake Alex. Same thing if I start sorting through the squeeky dresser drawers. I could watch TV with the volume way down low, but I felt more than my usual revulsion for television and it would remind me that I was going to be on the TV news sometime today, which wasn't going to help. Finally, I decided on cornflakes.

I'm about convinced that my recent feeding frenzies are a Mendenhall rather than a Mer or Vulcan maternal thing. I recall both my older sisters alternating between ravenous hunger and debilitating nausea during their first trimesters. I'm pretty sure my newly acquired taste for raw sea-creatures is Mer, however. Of course, it was probably floating somewhere in the back of my mind when my tail became permanent last Saturday. Afterall, the mermaid costume was chosen for me as some kind of goofy 'Hannah hates sushi' joke. On the other hand, Skye likes raw fish now too. I'm not sure about the other new Merfolk.

I quietly crawled into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the cereal was all on the top shelf of the cabinet. What fool was responsible for that? Yep, it was me, back when I was 5'9" and didn't worry about reaching for stuff. I grabbed the counter and pulled myself up until I sat on it. Then, I twisted around, opened the cabinet door, reached up and grabbed the box of flakes. Scales don't have much traction on counter tops. I yelped, slid off and hit the floor with a thud. Somewhere in the process, the box of flakes exploded and I whacked the tingly part of my elbow. When Alex rushed in, I was writhing on the floor, covered in cornflakes. All he needed was some flour and beaten egg and he could have had a fish fry.

"Are you OK?!"

"Nooo!" I wailed.

He sat next to me, slipping and sliding in the cereal, "Is anything broken? Where does it hurt?"

Seeing him slide barefoot in flakes tickled me. I laughed and cried hysterically, "Tee-hee arm tee stinger hee nothing's sniff tee-hee busted!"

"What about inside?"

"That's OK sniff hee. She's OK, I'm sure of it."

He held me and calmed me down. A great thing about having a Force-sensitive for a loved one, they really can kiss it and make it feel all better. I was still upset, however, and finally burst out, "I am not handicapped! I am a sea-creature! I do not belong in a wheelchair! I belong in the water!"

"Well, actually, no one belongs in a wheelchair," Alex reminded me. "It's just a mobility tool. An expediant 'til we can move to a better place."

"You're right." I flipped the cornflakes off my tailfin. "But, who am I fooling anyway? I can't leave the land entirely, nearly everyone I love and care for are land-creatures. Meanwhile I can't even make myself a bowl of cornflakes without courting disaster! Edna should see this, then tell me how lucky I am!"

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I helped Alex sweep up the cereal, as best I could, then sat in one of the kitchen chairs while he fried some eggs (I had lost my desire for cornflakes). We ate mostly in silence, finally, Alex looked at me seriously and said, "You know, I'm getting tired of being a fiance."

"Huh?"

"Let's just get married." He reached across the table and took one of my hands.

"OK."

"I mean today."

"Yes."

"There's no real reason to delay. You're already pregnant. I know you always wanted a formal wedding..."

"I said OK!"

"All right then!" he smiled.

"Formal woulda been nice, but that's a lot more complicated now. How do I get down the isle for example, roll, swim, crawl or have Poppa carry me? And that's just one thing. By the time we got it all figured out, I'd need to wear maternity. so, let's just do it!"

About that time, the phone rang. Alex answered it. After a short conversation, he hung up. "The news people want to meet us at the city pool at 7:30, that gives us an hour."

"I guess I'd better get to it then." I slid off the chair and headed for the bathroom.

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We pulled into the parking lot with maybe a minute to spare. There was the camera truck, with its long telescoping antenna and a SUV with the stations logo on its side. I had serious butterflies, I mean hyperactive butterflies the size of jumbo jets in my belly. I really didn't want to do this. Mermaids can't run, but if there had been a river or lake near by to escape to, all they would have seen of me was a cloud of dust and a tailfin.

It was too early to get the chair, so Alex had to carry me to the pool. There were four folding directors' chairs next to the water. Alex was told to put me in the one on the far right and sit next to me. I was wearing a black swim-top and a large beach-towel. I wondered how long I would have to hide at the bottom of the pool before they would give up and go away.