Nearly an hour passed as I slowly climbed the cliff path and made my way down a winding road that hugged the cliff’s edge. It was dark and cold and I was not all that good at walking yet. But I was here. I was safe. And no one else in the Sea would have to die for me.
So I kept on, trudging slowly forward. No one had told me how slow two-leggers were. They didn’t move in all directions at will like we could in the water. I felt . . . flat. And stuck.
And very, very hungry.
“Food. I smell food.”
I stopped short, staring at the lopsided little shack at the edge of what looked like a human settlement. It was a res-too-rant, I realized. One of the places where humans went to get food.
Not that we’d gotten that in-depth about modern day-to-day human lives yet. I knew a lot about the Industrial Revolution, however. Thank Triton, our Human Etiquette professor had humored my fascination and endless questions about two-leggers so I had some practical information.
Still, I was very literally a fish on dry land.
A very stupid fish.
I squared my shoulders and headed toward it, step by step, my feet feeling like they had anchors dragging behind them.
You know what Annaruth would say? Fake it till you make it.
What? How? I asked myself. Thankfully, an answer came from somewhere deep inside me.
Just pretend to be human, you jellyfish.
Right. Pretend. Say nothing. Smile.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Delicious smells wafted over me. I could almost feel them on my skin. I nearly fainted from the intensity of it. Smells on land were much, much stronger than they were in water.
It smelled greasy and salty and very, very good.
“You alone?”
I nodded at the woman with the large flat book in her hand. This was my first human interaction. I wanted to ace it.
“Hungry?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, my voice sounding unnaturally loud to me. But everything on land was loud. Water apparently softened everything. That was going to take some getting used to.
“Follow me, hon,” she said, leading me to a booth near the back. “This is one of the good seats,” she added as I slid into the seat and glanced out at the beach. “Slow season, so you get the whole section to yourself.”
“Thank you,” I said nervously. She handed me the book and I thanked her again.
“Know what you want to drink?”
I shook my head and she shrugged.
“Be right back to take your order.”
Take my . . . what?
I stared at the book in my hand. It was covered in plastic. I looked closer and realized you could open it. Inside were pictures of fish and lobster! I realized I was staring at a list of food. I could have any of these items and pay the number next to it.
Humans were marvelous, inventive creatures! I loved them!
I settled in, putting my backpack to the side and leaning over the menu. I wanted to try a little bit of everything, but I decided I had to pace myself.
“What can I get you, hon?”
“I would like a lobster roll, please.”
“Chips or salad?”
“Chips.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes. I would like the steamers. And a crab cake.”
“That comes with chips or salad, too. Or you can do veggies.”
“I believe I would like chips again,” I said, figuring it was safe. I’d had chips once in the Royal kitchen. If these were anything like those, I wanted to try them again.
“Drink?”
“What do you recommend?”
“Most girls like diet soda with lemon.”
“What do boys like?”
“Regular soda.”
“I’ll have that, please. With limon.” I smiled at her and asked if I could hang onto the menu. “Thank you, hon.”
She gave me a funny look and walked off, leaving me to read the menu again. Thank Triton, our alphabet was extremely similar to two-legger writing. Plus, I’d been studying it at the Academy. Most Mers had a way with language, speaking and understanding multiple dialects. It was magical in origin, I suspected, though I’d never really thought about it before now.
I tapped my fingers together and stared out at the water, wondering what my friends were doing right now.
“SO good,” I mumbled to myself as I shoved another chip into my mouth. It lacked the subtlety of Batte’s cooking, but Triton, the food was good. And fresh!
Coming from a Mermaid, that was high praise indeed.
“You passing through, hon?” the waitress asked as she brought me a refill on my soda. I nodded. “Where to next?”
“Not sure yet,” I said through my food, trying not to be totally disgusting but unwilling to spit out the salty, greasy goodness.
“You’d better take something for the road then.”
“Yes, please,” I said, trying to think of what to order. “What would stay fresh?”
She laughed.
“Not seafood, hon. I’ll have them whip you up a sandwich or two.”
“Thank you. And may I have more crisps for the road as well?”
She shook her head at me.
“Such a polite girl. They’ll get soggy.”
I smiled at her.
“I’m fine with soggy.”