Chapter 2: I Found a Merman

I wrote in my diary.

“10th September 2012, cloudy.

“Professor Gary and I have been drifting at sea for three days, but we have found no merpeople.

“I’m beginning to question the existence of merpeople, but the dreams keep me going.

“I don’t want Gary to know what I dreamt of, and I feel like he’s keeping something from me.”

As I looked at my reflection on the cabin window, I realized I had lost some weight. My figure was slimmer, and my face was pale. That much was clear without looking too hard.

Looking like this, I would be laughed at by my classmates. Of all the research topics I could have chosen, I picked such a difficult one.

Just then, someone shouted from outside the cabin, “Linda! Come out quickly! I think there’s something beneath the water!”

I put down my pen and immediately rushed out, bumping into Professor Gary at the door.

He was holding a deep-sea monitoring device that could monitor the conditions underwater.

He raised the screen of the device before my eyes and excitedly exclaimed, “Linda, look at this! Isn’t this a merperson? I’m not just seeing things, right?”

My eyes widened, staring at the silhouette shown on the screen and forgetting to breathe.

The silhouette had the upper body of a human as I could see its outstretched arms. But the lower body was a large fishtail!

That’s right, a merperson.

Just like the one in my dream, they were identical!

I could feel my heartbeat in my throat, and my hands were shaking.

I came back to my senses. “What are you waiting for? Cast the net quickly!”

The merman I saw in my dream was so powerful, if we didn’t use the fishing net, we wouldn’t be able to catch them.

Gary patted my shoulder as if to console a child. “Do you think we’re as silly as you are? Why do you think he’s not leaving? That’s because we attracted him with bait.”

Even so, I was still anxious. I didn’t think merpeople were beings of low intellect. Were they really that easy to attract with just mere bait?

At that moment, the divers had already changed into their diving gear. Watching their figures slowly disappear in the water, I felt unsettled. If no accidents happened here, this would be one of the most shocking scientific discoveries in biology.

With this in mind, I started to prepare myself to dive so that I could help catch the merperson.

“Linda, don’t cause trouble! Leave things to the professionals!” shouted Gary from behind me.

He grabbed my waist from behind. I wanted to push forward and escape from his grip, but he yanked me backward. I lost balance and toppled to the ground, with my butt almost landing on his face!

I think he must have done that on purpose.

He smirked. “Linda, do you want me to kiss your ass?”

I got up and sized him up, forcing out a laugh.

Gary continued, “From a biological standpoint, you have a good figure, and childbearing hips. This is the second shocking discovery of the night.”

I lifted my foot to kick, aiming at his knee. “The hardness of your knee is not bad as well.”

I wanted to land another kick, but just then splashes on the water surface caught my attention.

The divers dragged the tangled bundle towards the boat. In it was a being that was more than half times larger than the average human.

As it struggled, its long, beautiful and curved tail shimmied its way out of the net while its scales shone brightly in the night.

Its tail was black! The same shade as the one I saw in my dreams! The tail fin had red speckles too, a very bright shade of red, like a blade stained with fresh blood.

I didn’t know why I was so captivated by the red shade that I couldn’t keep my eyes away.