Ben was the first one up the next morning or rather, the next daylight. Joey was still in bed when he heard his friend moving about in the kitchen. He jumped off the bed and went to join him. Both men had had little or no sleep, but Joey was quite sure that he was the better of the two.

"Morning Benny. Slept well?"

"Why ask when you know I didn't get any sleep?", Ben asked as he drank hot coffee.

Joey was glad that his friend's mood was vastly improved. He was pleased to see him in control of himself unlike yester night when he had to put him to bed and tuck him in.

"I'm glad you're in a good mood," he teased, trying to test the waters.

Ben said nothing in reply. He was silent for a while. He kept staring at the empty cup.. then suddenly, he spoke.

"I hate you, Joey for letting me see what I saw, but... I wanna concentrate on the future."

Joey nodded in understanding, but said nothing.

"Christ," Ben sighed, running his hands through his hair. "She's probably gone forever. I'll never see her again..."

Joey quickly glanced at him.

"You mean.. you.. you wanna reeeally see her again?", he asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah. We have a lot to talk about. I really can't believe all this isn't a dream, you know. I wish I could see her one more time. I don't know... I just need to talk to her."

"Perhaps it's possible," Joey shrugged, putting his cup of coffee to his lips.

"Really? You think so?"

"I'm not so sure, but I've read and heard quite a lot of stuff.. myths, beliefs, facts.. about them, you know."

"Please Joey," Ben pleaded with sincerity in his eyes. "I need to talk to her. I'll do anything to make it happen. Anything."

*****

Rana couldn't get it out of her head. That voice filled with disappointment and a struggle to hold on to the thinnest thread of hope. She had lied to him, disappointed him and betrayed him. She could not hope to forgive herself. The only consolation she had was a very insufficient one. It was the fact that if she had confessed her true identity to him, his reaction would not have been so different, but perhaps, the current situation was much worse because he had found out by himself. He would surely feel betrayed and never want anything more to do with her.

"Heyyy Rana," Maalina shook her sister by the shoulder.

"What is it, Lina?", Rana asked her mother's third child.

"You've been acting all day like someone who's mourning a loss."

"Maybe I am," she sighed.

"What?"

"Oh no. Just pulling your tail. What is it? What do you want?"

She put on a forced smile and braved her sister's intense searching gaze, but it was not easy. Just when she was about to break down and cry, Maalina sighed and stopped searching her face.

"Mother needs you, that's all. Sure you're alright, Rana? You can tell me anything, you know."

"I'm fine, sister," Rana smiled, a real smile, and touched her face affectionately before swimming off to the enclave to respond to her mother's summons.

She found the three youngest of her siblings playing outside the enclave.

"Hey Braana, where's Mother?", she asked the baby of the family.

"She's in," Braana replied without taking her eyes off something she and her sisters were inspecting.

Rana wondered what it was, but she knew better than to try to find out. She simply shrugged and swam into the enclave.

"Sister Rana," Braana called to her. "What's this?"

The little mermaid was holding up a large heavy metal object that looked like a little plaque. Rana swam back to get a closer look.

"Where did you find it?", she asked as she turned it over in her hand.

"It fell from a boat. A land man was swimming around searching for it. I kept calling to him to come pick it up just next to me, but he just swam away... Why do land people never listen to us, sister Rana?"

Rana sighed.

"Did he see you?", she smiled bitterly with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Well, I don't think he did.. but he must have heard me!"

"Land people are different from us, Braana. They can't hear us though we may hear them. They can't love us though we may... I mean, they talk differently.. loudly, with their mouths open wider than ours. Our voice is at a freq... Look, I’ll explain it later. Mother's in, right?"

"Yes."

The little mermaid had been enjoying the talk and was disappointed that it had come to such an abrupt end. Well, her sister would have to complete it later, otherwise she could easily use her very lively imagination to finish the job.

Rana swam into the enclave and found her mother awaiting her.

"Rana dear, I'm getting a lot of pressure from Manis and his family. I've been holding off my ceremonial consent, hoping you'll find someone better. Are you any closer?"

"I may once have been," Rana sighed dejectedly.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't even know, Mother. I'll tell you everything later.. when I've had time to think properly."

With that, she turned her tail and swam deeper into the enclave. She needed some time alone to rest and think things over.

"Hey Rana," Lina called, swimming towards her. "Look what I found!"

Oh no. Just when she needed time alone. Being the eldest certainly had its disadvantages.

"What did you find?", Rana asked, sighing resignedly with a weak smile on her face.

"I found this just after you left," Maalina grinned like a schoolgirl as she proudly displayed a bottle with a piece of paper in it.

Rana wished to get rid of her, but knew that that would be easier achieved if she let her run the course of her speech.

"See," the younger mermaid continued excitedly. "I can read this one. It says: 'We need to talk, Tara. Please we really need to talk.. Ben."

"Uh?", Rana gasped.

"What? You know the person called Tara?"

"Oh no," she sported a stiff smile and coughed hurriedly. "Just a hiccup."

The story continues…..

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