In the night sky, sat the brilliant scene of the crescent moon. It shined beautifully over the sea. The sea was a deep, dark blue and it moved gracefully in smooth waves.
During this peaceful night, a cute little sea creature decided to come out and play.
Jae had traveled far and vigorously for land. When he peeked his head out of the rough waves to see the familiar yet foreign site of the beach, he just knew he had to explore it. So Jae rushed over to the shore, swimming through the water with ease. He came to an abrupt stop when he could feel the sand brushing against his tail.
Jae lifted himself from the water onto the land eagerly. He crawled up to where his long, red tail no longer touched the water. Shifting on his back, Jae admired the moon and stars shining in the sky. Now he just had to wait. Wait for his soaked, yet still beautiful, bright red hair to dry.
And after a few minutes, it did.
His red hair had curled up and became fluffy. Then the scales from his tail slowly started to fall off like molting skin. They fell to reveal two pale human legs. The sight caused Jae to squeal happily.
Jae jumped to feat hastily and stumbled as he did so. He struggled a bit but, managed to stand up properly. He stood there for a few seconds while attaining balance. Once Jae was steady he set off in a sprint and ran all over the beach. He hopped around joyfully with the biggest smile on his face.
The land was always so much fun. A completely different experience from underwater. He felt so light and weightless.
After a while, he paused to regain his breath. He lifted his head and with his eyes, he searched the surrounding area. The boardwalk came into his vision and he stared in pure curiosity. Jae hopped up and made his way to the boardwalk. When he first stepped on it he gasped at the difference in texture.
It was nothing like sand. It was hard and brown like nothing he had ever seen before. Jae continued to run along the boardwalk, he was thrilled.
He pranced around in simple innocence and genuinely enjoyed himself.
Then his legs began to itch. Jae scratched them as any normal person would and resumed in his fun. No problem!
Then they started to burn, no, his whole body started to burn and itch. It was unsettling and almost made him want to cry. What was happening and why was it happening now?
Everything had been fine until now!
Now he felt like he was being pricked by hot needles.
Jae glanced at the ocean and breathed deeply.
Wait! That might be it! He needed water!
No, there was still a problem. He could barely move. The pain was so intense it had Jae tumbling down. How was he supposed to get to the ocean? There had to be another way, another pool of water.
That's when Jae turned to see Bummie's backyard.
Water! He shouted in his head delightedly. There was a pond with fish he had seen in the sea. That means it must be a saltwater pond.
Jae ran, as best as he could, to the pond a few feet away. He was stopped by a short fence that he quickly hopped over. Then, he dived into the pond.
Phew!
Jae had achieved instant relief.
While relief traveled through Jae, the owner of the house shot up in deep concern.
Bummie had jumped out of his seat, startled. What had he just heard? It sounded like a splash that came from his backyard. Bummie glared at his backdoor and rubbed his eyes before creeping hastily towards the door. He cautiously opened the door and stared at his pond.
There were slight ripples in the water that showed as a sign of the previous movement.
Hm.
Bummie moved closer as he inspected the water. Once at the edge, he leaned forward so he could see deeper. It was strange.
There was nothing.
Suddenly, he sees something coming up. Bummie stumbles back and lands on his bottom as a head arises from underwater. Red hair submerges from the water and Bummie gazes at it with a stare that carried disbelief and terror.
His heartbeat was spiked.
Jae looked up to see a human staring at him with wide eyes. He panics for a minute and whines in his head. As soon as he begins to sink himself a shout is directed towards him.
"W-wait!" Bummie calls out to him scooting closer.
Jae halts to where the water reaches just above his nose.
"Who are you?" Bummie asks, still freaked out.
Jae just backs up. Bummie looked into his eyes and realized, he must be afraid too. He goes for a different approach.
"I-It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you or anything." Bummie tries to reassure him while putting his hands up.
It was strange to say that to an intruder, but maybe this person was in trouble. Even if this person had randomly hopped in his pond he didn't want to risk it. Make sure they weren't seriously injured or something. That is what he told himself.
Jae relaxes just a bit.
"My name is Bummie, I work as the head lifeguard for the beach over there and I live here because it's so close," Bummie says calmly and scoots forward.
Jae slightly rises so he can speak.
"Life-guard?" He questions and tilts his head curiously.
"Yeah, a lifeguard. I help people who drown in the ocean and make sure everyone is safe." Bummie explains.
Did he not know what a lifeguard was?
"Oh! I do that too sometimes, but I'm not a lifeguard I'm a fish." Jae smiles.
Bummie just laughs.
"A fish?" He questions with a smile.
"Yup!" Jae lifts his lower half to reveal the bottom of his bright red tail.
Bummie nearly screams.
No, that couldn't be real. No way that was a real tail. What in the world was happening? Was he seeing things? Maybe, this was a dream.
"Where did you come from?" Bummie asks in amazement.
'and how'd you get here' Bummie thought with a look of shock on his face.
"The ocean, duh." Jae teasingly replies and lowers his tail back into the water.
"Wait, if you have a tail how did you get from the ocean to here? Did you crawl?" Bummie lets out a nervous laugh as he voices his previous thought.
"Nope! When my hair dries, I get human legs just like yours!" Jae giggles.
What the hell?