“Help!” I could hear Waverly scream as I came up for air. She waved her arms in the distance. “Lilly’s drowning!”
Drowning? How could Lilly drown? She’s a mermaid!
But I didn’t see Lilly anywhere. Suddenly Waverly disappeared, too. The sea was totally dark, brightened for an instant, when a firework was shot into the air and exploded. I waited, not knowing which way to swim. My heart stopped beating, time stood still. Why weren’t they firing off the supercolossal fireworks that lit the sky like a universal spotlight?
“Lilly,” I called. “Lilly!”
I treaded endlessly, waiting forever for Lilly, for Waverly, for any sign of their location. The next burst of fireworks just lit up desolate waves.
And then I saw Lilly’s pale hand, only yards away from mine, reach up for the moon, and then slowly sink beneath the surface.
I quickly swam in her direction and reached for anything I could grab.
“Lilly! Lilly! Where are you?” I called, breathless, scared, tormented.
I was lost myself. The waves crashed against me, bobbing me up and down like a discarded pop bottle.
“Lilly!” I called, getting a mouthful of saltwater.
“Here,” Waverly finally shouted, behind me. They were floating back toward the pier. I felt as if I were swimming in thick pea soup, trying desperately to get closer as the waves pushed against me. Gasping for air myself, I finally reached Waverly, who was holding Lilly’s limp head.
“I thought she was a mermaid.”
“She is!” Waverly shouted.
“But she’s drowning!”
Lilly’s sparkling blue eyes were shut, her glowing skin sallow, her spirit withering away.
“She’s drowning of a broken heart! Only you can save her,” Waverly cried.
“CPR? Help me take her back to shore.”
“No! With the kiss of love!” she said hurriedly. That’s what Madame Pearl said—the kiss of love.”
“Who’s Madame Pearl?”
“It’s in the kiss—that’s what she said! Please! Help her!” she pleaded.
“That’s easy,” I said, smiling, but almost out of breath. Waverly handed me Lilly’s listless body. I leaned in to kiss her, but Waverly put her hand between us. “Wait. There’s something you must know.”
I impatiently glanced up at Waverly for the answer.
“If you kiss her now, you’ll be a merman,” Waverly conceded.
“You’re joking!”
Waverly shook her head. “It’s your decision,” she said, with sad eyes.
I looked back to the rocks where a crowd was gathering on the highest point. Chainsaw and Robin had called over a policeman and were pointing at us while several onlookers stood around them. One man was taking off his shoes. Two orange-clad lifeguards were running along the pier. I didn’t have another minute.
The booming fireworks’ finale crashed overhead, drowning out the music. Reds, purples, greens, oranges, coppers, crimson shot across the sky like passionate electricity.
Lilly opened her eyes for a brief moment.
“Spencer,” she whispered breathlessly and closed her eyes, fainting away. Eyes which had once sparkled ocean blue and stared through me to my soul. Her golden yellow hair that had so energetically flowed in the water that morning, now draped limply over my arm. Her wonderful pink lips were turning blue. A sparkling heart glistening around her lovely neck as it did the day I met her. Thoughts of my swimming angel flashed through my mind and overcame my being. Hearing the wonderful sound of her sweet laughter at the peak of the Ferris wheel, seeing a thousand enchanting Lillys in the Hall of Mirrors. Dancing around under the flagpole, her gentle arms around me. Saying she had come back for me, telling me she was home.
The greatest gift I’d ever been given, I held in my arms. She had saved me, and now it was time for me to save her.
I took a deep breath, and I kissed her lips. Lips once full of life, once full of love. Her eyes opened.
I didn’t have to say good-bye, after all. In fact, I was just beginning to say hello.
That night, I saved a mermaid.
And, that night—I saved myself.