"Mother, I wish to see the surface."

     "And why would you want to do that," she retorted, her expression curling with disgust.  "This world of ours is perfect; a utopia among ruin. There is no fear, no imbalance... equality in its most purified form. ---"

     My father appeared beside my mother, his large form casting a shadow over the seabed below him. "You must learn to control these infantile urges you are diseased with if you are to take your place on the council."

     "Your father is correct," my mother replied, her expression returning to its usual blank appearance. Knowing it was not my place to press the matter any further, I remained silent and lowered my gaze.

    The water remained tense as my father took a heavy inhale. "There is a reason we sought refuge in these depths. This sanctum was constructed of blood, not stone. Need I remind you of our history?"

     "No, father," I replied. I knew the stories of the commune's arrival at this location after the great destruction of the terrestrial peoples. The events that transpired in the past could only be described as an apocalypse. The land could no longer sustain living beings, and as a result, the few that survived the bombings slowly perished. 

     "Then this matter is finished," my mother stated bluntly before turning and swimming away.

     I nodded and bit my lip, my gaze still fixated on the seabed. There was a moment of silence before my father opened his mouth to speak again.

     "You will stay here. This is where you belong."

     I was startled awake by a sharp pain that radiated from the side of my face down my spine. My father struck me, I recalled as I opened my eyes. Bright light filtered through small undulating waves harshly greeted me. Had I really swum this close to the surface?

      As I sat up the sand became disturbed around my body, casting a haze across the rippled seabed. The area smelled odd. There was an unfamiliar chemical profile to the water that I didn't recognize. I had heard stories of the residual toxins from the bombings of the great destruction being absorbed into water near the surface and assumed that must be the cause of the scent.

     I made an attempt to look around the area while my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the environment. Below me sat a seabed of pale, rippled sand dappled with clusters of small pebbles. Large rock formations protruded upwards in the distance creating the appearance of walls enclosing the small cove I was in. Long strands of kelp grew from the seabed and stretched upwards towards the waves, swaying as I disturbed the still water with my movements.

    I uncurled my body and rose higher in the water. From surface to seabed the cove was around 40 feet deep. I was much closer to the land than I had initially thought.

      I tried to recall the events leading up to this current moment but was unable to remember anything more than a few flickers of memories until this point.

        I approached my parents for permission to visit the surface, I thought to myself. My father became enraged. I pressed the matter and insulted the commune. He struck me and I fled.

       There was nothing else I could remember. My mind was blank. Despite this, I knew that regardless of how I had ended up in this cove, I now had the opportunity to see the surface. My parents and the commune could do nothing to stop me now.

       My hearts began to race in my chest as I took a deep breath and quickly swam towards one of the large rock formations that protruded from the seabed. Waves washed over the stone as I neared the structure. Everything I had wanted to know, to confirm my suspicions about the commune and it's origin was right in front of me. All I needed to do was surface.

     I gripped onto the stone with my talons and pulled myself above the waves. A series of piercing shrieks exploded around me and a deafening sound caused my ears to ring.

    To my horror, when I opened my eyes I did not see the torched ruins of a civilization, but rather a large crowd of what appeared to be terrestrial humans, pressed tightly against a railing-protected walkway above the water. They were all intently staring at me, several of their young screeching loudly as they all muttered in an unfamiliar languages.

         My blood ran cold and a pit formed in the base of my stomach as I quickly dove back under the waves. My mind raced as a chill ran down my spine. Everything I had learned about the history of the commune up until this point had been false.
 
     Adrenaline coursed through my veins as my hearts somehow beat even faster. I darted from the stone structure as fast as I could in a panic until my body collided with a hard surface. Black spots swam across my vision and I nearly lost consciousness as I sank to the seabed.

     When I recovered from the shock of the impact and the throbbing headache beating between my temples faded enough for me to think clearly I placed my hands against the surface before me. It was solid concrete painted the same shade of blue as the water in the lagoon, and was impervious to any of my attempts to break it.

     I ran my webbed hands along the wall to a different stone structure. The rocks were a deep shade of beige, speckled with colonies of algae and were mounted to the blue concrete wall. The structure formed a rectangular shape around a large transparent wall. I had heard of this material before from the commune's history tablets. The window was made of glass.

     Upon closer inspection, I noticed several terrestrial humans watching me through the clear window. The children had their greasy faces and small hands pressed eagerly against the glass, their tiny, disproportionate eyes taking in my every movement. Though I hadn't wanted to, I shuddered.

     I felt the panic building within me once more as I concluded that the water I was in was a rectangular pool. The windows I had seen were placed on the north, west and east walls of the pool. The sand at the south end of the pool gradually rose upwards towards the surface until it formed a shallow channel to an unknown area.

     I knew from the commune's teachings that this was an aquarium, a place for terrestrial humans to display oddities of the seas for profit. I was trapped, and completely under their control.

    My breathing quickened as I tried to find a way to break out of this sunken prison. I had heard of the horrors that occurred at these locations, the torture my people had endured before the bombings of the great destruction.

      But that's even if what they told you was true, I thought to myself. The elders of the commune's council told me of the wars and the bombings. I read the historical tablets documenting the fires from the explosions. I saw the documents containing the death toll counts. I saw records of the terrestrial human's extinction. Yet, here I swam before hundreds of individuals that I had been told were obsolete.

      I felt angry... confused... I felt as if everything I had known about my upbringing was a lie. While I did have my suspicions about the commune to start, I hadn't expected them to be confirmed. What else was the commune council hiding from me?

     I needed to get back to the commune's territory. I needed to get answers. I had to get out of here.

     I attempted to calm my racing mind and building emotions and swam over to the glass window on the western side of the tank. I ran my talons across its surface, wincing with discomfort when they created a sharp screech against the glass.

       While the glass was tempered, it wasn't impervious to my strength. Raising a fist, I brought my hand down heavily on the surface, repeatedly bashing the glass with all my might. The humans standing at the window cried out in fear and fled when a series of cracks in the material radiated out from where my hand had struck the glass.

       A thin trickle of blue blood rose into the water from a few small cuts along my hand caused by the splintering glass. I didn't care though, as I raised my fist and brought it back down on the window. I was motivated purely by my desire to escape this prison. I needed to find out the truth about the commune and its history.

       I beat the glass until I became so exhausted I couldn't bring my fist down on the glass anymore. My body weakly sunk to the seabed as I cried out in frustration. My efforts had caused the glass to splinter and crack, but the window was still in one piece, and I was no closer to returning to the commune.

        Remembering the kelp that swayed nearby, I slowly rose and gathered up a few large leaves from the tall stalks, fashioning them into a bandage for my hand. I carefully twisted the woven leaves around my injuries, ensuring not to wrap the bandage too tight and hurt myself further.

     When I had finished tending to my wounds, I noticed a human dressed in a black and white outfit shooing the remaining members of the crowd away from the window. I smiled a bit, now that I could rest in silence. A few minutes passed and I felt panic being to take over once more. Driven by this emotion, I used my uninsured hand to beat the glass, continuing my assault on the window even after blue blood seeped from new wounds.
   
      By the time my unwrapped hand was covered in lacerations and impaled with small chunks of glass, the fracture in the window had only grown slightly. It wasn't nearly enough for me to break the window.

     I cried out in frustration and left the side of the pool to gather more seaweed leaves to make a bandage. After wrapping my hand, I decided to surface in order to get a good look at my surroundings.

     The sound of a few voices greeted me as I raised my head above the water. As I looked around, I saw that the surface of my pool was about three feet below an elevated cement walkway. A tall iron fence separated the walkway from the water, where humans stood and watched me. Turning around, I saw that I was swimming in the east side of the pool, which was circular and about one-hundred feet in diameter with the elevated viewing platform bordering the entire pool.

     I turned around and looked at the large crack I had made in the west window. Somehow, the nearly-shattered glass reminded me of a poem my parents used to recite to me before I went to bed.

     Be at peace, tempest-tossed seas of soul.

     Give me rest, from doubt and fear.

     Sun find my face,

     Light, find my heart,

     Song, find my story.

     Be at peace.

     For life is finite, and these storms have raged too long.

     Even winter must surrender to spring.

     Somehow, reciting that poem made me feel like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I relaxed. Looking back at the the window, I gently placed a hand on the ruptured glass. Guilt filled my body. It's not their fault, I thought to myself as I watched humans walking by my pool. It's mine. They're only trying to make a living for their families.

     Out of boredom, I surfaced and rested against the side of the pool as the humans walked near the elevated platform, but never on it. Why aren't they coming over? I thought to myself. When I first woke up here, there were crowds of people around the tank. After pacing for a few moments, I had an idea as to why this area of the aquarium was deserted.

     In order to test my theory, I swam underwater to the nearly-broken east viewing window and peered through the glass. A line of yellow tape hung a few feet away from the side of the pool between two posts. The aquarium staff had closed my exhibit. "So that's why it's so deserted," I said to myself.

     Since there was nothing else to do, I sunk to the bottom of the pool and plucked many leaves from nearby strands of kelp. Weaving them together in a messy fashion I was able to make a small mat to sleep on. Since my previous nap was interrupted by small humans, I laid the mat down on the sand and rested my body atop it. Not bad, Alex. This is actually pretty comfortable. I thought to myself as I pulled my tail to my chest. The peaceful abyss of sleep welcomed me soon after I closed my eyes.

     I was awoken by a loud announcement over what I assumed were speakers throughout the entire aquarium. "Do you love the ocean? Support ocean conservation by purchasing a separate ticket to visit Mermaid Lagoon, where you can view a live mermaid! The exhibit is now open, so stop down and say hi!"

     But I thought the exhibit was closed because of what I did to the east window? I thought to myself. Quickly rising and swimming over to the viewing area, I went to see if the crack was still there. Once I arrived, my heart sunk. No longer was there a large fracture in the glass. The staff had repaired it while I was asleep. My one chance at escape was gone.

     Humans now flocked in a large crowd at the window, probably four or five people deep. Flashes that looked as if they were lightning blinded me as I hovered in the water near the glass. I shielded my face with a hand and swam in the opposite direction. Swimming near the north window, I was curious to see if there were humans standing at the glass, since there was silence in the pool. But as typical humans do, the humans created more shouting sounds and flashing as soon as I came into view.

     I lowered the fins behind my ears and bared my fangs to display my anger, and swam away. For some reason, I already knew the west window was crowded with people and I didn't bother to check it. I guess my exhibit is open, I thought to myself.

     I heard a splash resonate throughout the water, then shouting and commotion above it. Whipping around, I was surprised to see that a human had fallen into the pool. Rage filled my body. It is her kind that imprisoned me here. I should kill her. Maul her. Make her an example so the others know my rage.

     Blinking, I shivered suddenly. I had never had such thoughts before. Fearing I was becoming corrupted by anger, I dashed towards the girl. Before her body hit the sandy ground, I grabbed her by both shoulders and breathed into her mouth, hoping to provide her with some oxygen in order to sustain her until I got her to the surface.

     I held her close to my chest as I quickly swam towards the surface. Once my head emerged above the water, I saw a woman standing behind the iron fence holding a chair with wheels. Looking down at the girl, I saw that she was missing one of her two appendages. Putting two and two together, I swam swiftly to the side of the pool and handed the shaking girl to her parent. She breathed a sigh of relief and helped her to sit down in the odd chair. The woman turned towards me after caring for her daughter. "Thank you," she said. "You saved her life."

     I smiled a bit in response, and slowly dove underwater, my pale white and gold tail breaking the surface for a moment before silently disappearing below it. Sitting down on the sandy bottom of the thirty-foot-deep pool, I waited impatiently for the silence that once shrouded it to reappear.

     The commotion continued its chaotic sound above the water even after the ten minutes I remained underwater. Normally that would've been enough to deter the humans away from the exhibit, but these ones were stubborn. I surfaced out of curiosity to see what was going on.

     When my head broke the glassy water, I saw that a group of children were at the barrier of my pool. They looked normal, until I realized that each one of them was sitting in one of the same odd chairs as the girl with the missing leg had. I recognized one of the children was the same child who had fallen into the pool just minutes earlier since her hair was still slightly wet. For some reason, I felt a pain in my heart for her. Poor girl, I thought. She must've gone through so much.

     I began to swim over to the group of children when I remembered the ancient law that protected Merfolk. We were forbidden to have contact with humans. I shook my head slightly, as if trying to remove the thought from my mind. That's gonna have to wait, I thought to myself. If I want to get out of here, then I need to do whatever I can to raise my chances.

     When I reached the wall of the pool, I dove underwater and did a front flip. I remained under the surface afterwards and looked up through the slightly wavy water at the girl. She turned towards her mother. "Look at her tail mommy!" I saw the mother nod. "She's so pretty. I wish I could be a mermaid like her."

     I placed my webbed fingers at the bridge of my nose and sighed slowly, a few bubbles escaping my lips. It was these same kinds of people, the ones who loved us so much, that put our race in danger of extinction. I opened my eyes and looked up when I felt a slight vibration in the water. I saw that the young girl had reached her hand through the iron fence and placed it above the water, as if she were waiting for me to do the same.

     Intrigued, I reached my hand through the surface of the water and placed mine on hers. I heard the girl laugh slightly, then pull her hand back through the barrier. As if it were a signal for me to introduce myself, I surfaced and looked at the girl, whose mother was standing behind her.

     "Hi. I'm Evelyn, what's your name?" I couldn't stop the expression of shock spread across my face as I didn't know how to respond. The children around her eagerly waited, impatient for me to reply.

     "Evelyn honey, I don't think she is going to talk," Evelyn's mother said sympathetically. "Who knows, she might not even speak like us," her mother said sympathetically. For some reason I felt guilty. Of course I spoke English, I just didn't want to, but something inside of me kept pushing for me to reply.

     "I-I don't know," I stated tentatively. "Merfolk don't usually have names." The children around the girl smiled and clapped their hands in excitement. "They call me Alexandria here, though. Supposedly I was named after the bay they found me in." The fins behind my ears lowered shyly as I sunk down into the water. I wasn't used to this much attention.

"Wait! Don't go!" Evelyn said once she noticed me trying to leave. I raised my head out of the water and looked up at her. "I like your tail," she told me, pointing to the large fin on the lower half of my body. "Gold is my favorite color."

     I nodded as if to say it was mine too. "Where did you come from?" Evelyn asked slowly. "Did you swim into the fish tank?" There was a mental battle between the truth I wanted to hide and the lies I wanted to tell. After a few moments, I decided to tell her the truth in an effort to get out of the horrid place.

     "I used to live in the ocean. I fell asleep on a rock near the shore. It was early morning, so I thought that I would be safe from the eyes of humans, as no one was awake yet, but I slept for too long. I awoke to the feeling of a net being thrown over me. I panicked and tried to escape, but it was no use.

     The humans hauled me into the back of a truck and held me down as they drove me here. I flailed around, trying to get the people off of me, but I couldn't. They threw me into this tank and I've been here for a few hours now," I said, finishing the tale of horror I was forced to re-live.

     "Why did they do that to you?" Evelyn asked.

      I shook my head slowly. "Truthfully, I don't know. Maybe it was money, or maybe it was love. I...I don't know," I muttered, voice shaking as tears began to escape my eyes.

     "You'd really do that for me miss?" I asked, sniffling slightly.

     Evelyn's mother nodded. "I would. I've always been against these aquariums. At least now I can make one small difference, and please, call me Jackie," she replied. I let go of her hand and nodded, smiling a bit.

     "No one has ever been so nice to me since you two, even back home. You're great people," I said to the mother and daughter. Jackie smiled and nodded as Evelyn leaned forwards and reached her hand through the bars of the fence.

     "Can I touch your tail?" She asked as she leaned forwards in her wheel chair. I nodded and raised my large fin from the water. She cautiously reached down and felt my fluke before she withdrew her hand and set it back on the armrest of the chair.

     "Look, you can pet the mermaid!" I felt my stomach drop as the children near Evelyn realized that she got to touch my tail. One of them, a little boy noticed me talking to my new friends, and pointed at me, yelling like I had suddenly become a mindless creature at a petting zoo.

     I looked over panicked at Jackie and she frowned. I looked back at the group of children to see that even people standing at the glass windows of my pool were now swiftly making their way up to the top of the pool where I was now.

     As people began to grab my tail I dove underwater and sulked at the bottom of the tank. The commotion above resumed as people took pictures of me through the water. The usual crowd of people formed at the glass windows as they realized I was now underwater. A sharp pounding sound echoed throughout the pool and I looked up.

     At the east window, Jackie and Evelyn stood amid the large crowd. I swam over panicked and mouthed the words 'help me'. Jackie nodded, then helped Evelyn leave the crowd. I could only watch as my last bit of hope walked away from me and out the exit for the park. ♆