MERMAID’S DIARY Episode 1: The Girl Who Couldn’t Drown The first time I realized something was wrong with me, I was nine years old. It was summer, and the beach was crowded—children screaming, waves crashing, the smell of salt and sunscreen thick in the air. My parents had rented a small house along the coast, the kind with peeling white paint and windows that never fully closed. I remember standing at the edge of the water, watching the tide crawl in and out like it was breathing. “Don’t go too far, Elara!” my mother called from behind me. I nodded, but I didn’t turn around. Because something in the water was calling me. Not loudly. Not urgently. Just… patiently. I took one step forward. Then another. The water was warm, wrapping around my ankles like it knew me. Like it had been waiting. “Come back,” my father’s voice echoed faintly. But it didn’t matter. I kept walking. Knee-deep. Waist-deep. Chest-deep. The waves grew stronger, tugging at me, pulling me further. By the time I realized how far I’d gone, the shore looked distant—blurry, like a memory fading too quickly. I should have been scared. But I wasn’t. I felt calm. Safe. Like I belonged there more than I ever had on land. Then the current changed. It hit me suddenly, violently, dragging me under. The world flipped. Saltwater rushed into my nose, my mouth—everything burned. I tried to scream, but there was nothing to hold onto, nothing to breathe. Above me, the surface shimmered like glass. Too far. Too far to reach. This is it, I thought. I’m going to die. But then— Something strange happened. The burning in my chest… stopped. My lungs didn’t ache anymore. I inhaled. And instead of choking— I breathed. Underwater. My eyes snapped open. The ocean wasn’t dark like I expected. It glowed faintly, streaks of silver light weaving through the blue like threads. Fish darted past me without fear. The current that had dragged me down now held me gently, like hands guiding me. And I wasn’t sinking anymore. I was floating. No— I was being held. A shadow moved in the distance. At first, I thought it was just the shifting light. But then it moved again—closer this time. Watching me. My heart started pounding again, fast and uneven. I tried to swim up, but my body didn’t move the way I expected. My legs felt… wrong. Heavy. Unfamiliar. Panic crept in. That’s when I saw her. She emerged slowly from the shadows, her movements smooth and effortless. Her hair floated around her like a dark halo, impossibly long, drifting with the current. Her eyes—pale, almost glowing—were locked on mine. She looked human. Almost. But there was something off. Something ancient. “You’re early,” she said. Her voice didn’t sound like it traveled through water. It echoed directly inside my head. I froze. “W-what?” I tried to speak, but the words didn’t come out right. They felt… different. She tilted her head, studying me like I was something fragile. Something new. “Earlier than we expected,” she continued softly. “But I suppose it doesn’t matter.” My chest tightened. Who is she? “I don’t understand,” I said, though it came out more like a thought than a voice. Her lips curved into a faint smile. “You will.” Before I could react, she reached out and grabbed my wrist. The moment her skin touched mine, a sharp pain shot through my body. I gasped—or at least, I thought I did. It felt like something inside me was breaking. Changing. My legs— Something was wrong with my legs. I looked down. And my world shattered. They were… merging. Fusing together, skin shimmering, shifting into something smooth, something scaled. Silver light rippled across the surface, catching the faint glow of the ocean. I tried to pull away, but her grip tightened. “Don’t fight it,” she said calmly. “It’s who you are.” “No—no, this isn’t possible—” My thoughts raced, spiraling out of control. But my body wasn’t listening. The pain intensified—sharp, unbearable—then suddenly vanished. Just like that. Gone. Replaced by something else. Something… powerful. I moved. And the water responded. Effortlessly. Naturally. As if I had been doing it my entire life. Slowly, I looked down again. Where my legs had been— There was now a tail. Long. Sleek. Silver. Not human. Not even close. I stared at it, my mind refusing to catch up with what my eyes were seeing. “This isn’t real,” I whispered. “Oh, it’s very real,” she replied. I looked up at her, my heart racing. “Who are you?” I asked. She watched me for a long moment before answering. “I am Lyra,” she said. “And I’ve been waiting for you.” “For me?” My voice trembled. “Yes.” “Why?” Something flickered in her expression—something unreadable. “Because,” she said slowly, “you don’t belong to the world above.” A chill ran through me. “What does that mean?” She moved closer, her glowing eyes locking onto mine.