Faith fell. She saw Rainer’s bloodied body hit the ground as well. The General raised his sword and then‒ 

My alarm interrupts my deep concentration on my book. I groan and turn it off. It always goes off at five in the morning. “You’ve got to be kidding me, I’ve done it again, haven’t I?” I whine. The music from my alarm on my phone, which is loud for some reason, combined with my lack of sleep has given me a splitting headache. I have a bad habit of reading all night. This marks the third night in a row of doing this. I really should sleep more often.  

Reluctantly, I get out of bed and take a shower, brush my hair, put on some moisturizer, and put on some light makeup. I subtly curl my black hair and get dressed. Nothing special, just a light pink tank top, a jean jacket, black pants, and booties. I put on some nautilus earrings made with real nautilus shells, a matching necklace, and finally, I hide my emerald eyes behind oval shaped glasses with a rose gold colored metal frame. 

I head downstairs to grab my bag. As I’m walking down the stairs, I hear my father’s voice. “Happy birthday!” 

“Hm? Oh yeah. Thanks.” I say nonchalantly, walking past the kitchen in the direction of the front door. I’m stopped by my father in the kitchen. 

“Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?” 

I sigh. “No Dad, I’ll just get breakfast at the Luscious.” Just as I put my hand on the doorknob, I hear the TV. 

“‒and there will be clear skies tonight with a blue moon in the sky, which is a rare occasion...” 

I look at my dad. I can already see that he’s looking at me. “Is it my time yet?” 

Instead of his usual answer, he replies: “You’ll find out soon enough.” I huff as I walk out the door, making sure I slam it. The two of us haven’t been getting along lately.

As soon as I get to the cafe, I order a latte and a delectable croissant. Once I get my food, I start to walk in the direction of my school. Sipping my coffee, I hear loud footsteps coming my way. I turn around, seeing my friend David running towards me. I stop and he finally catches up, panting. “Jeez, Hendrix, what are you, Usain Bolt?” He says between breaths.

“Uh, I don’t know what you mean.” I reply. 

“You were triple power walking. Again.” 

“Sorry, I suppose it’s just a habit. Y’know, just wanna get to school early.”

David gives me a You’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me look. “School doesn’t open for the next hour.” He says, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips. I check my watch. He’s right. It’s six o’clock, and school opens at seven, with the morning bell ringing at seven-thirty. I chuckle awkwardly. 

“Oops.” 

David smirks. “C’mon, let’s walk, but can you not power walk again? You’re fit enough.” I laugh, and try to walk normally while he walks right beside me. “Oh yeah, how’s the situation with your old man?” He asks. I don’t reply. “That bad, huh?” I nod. 

“I just don’t get it. He’s so nosy sometimes. He asks me so many things these days and he won’t leave me alone, yet when I ask him something, it’s like he couldn’t care less. It’s so frustrating.” I complain. David gives me a small smile.

“He’s just worried about you Ly, like any good dad would be.” 

I sigh. “Well, he doesn’t give me any privacy these days. When I’m out after school doing volunteer work at the oceanic center or hanging out with my friends, he tracks me. I can’t turn it off. He also calls me a million times during volunteer work, hangouts, stuff like that, even though he knows where I am at all times.”

David sympathetically winces. “And how long has he been like this?” He asks me. 

“I dunno, around the very beginning of the month? Around the full moon, just about, now that I think of it. Why?” I turn to him and David turns away, facing forward. His eyes look troubled, but his voice says otherwise. 

“No reason, just curious. Maybe it’s a coincidence?” 

I tilt my head, confused. “What do you mean, a coincidence?” 

“You and your dad track every lunar event, correct?” He asks me. 

I nod, slowly. 

“Well, then, you’d know that today is a blue moon.” 

“What does that have to do with anything? I thought you don’t believe in the lunar superstitions, and neither do I.” 

“Nothing, nothing. I’m probably just overthinking things.”

The lunch bell rings. I head to the roof for the nice view of the ocean, and also for the near-solitude. Almost nobody comes up here, which is strange to me, but perhaps it’s because I’m the only girl in this school who’s utterly obsessed with the ocean. 

“Lyra!” 

A familiar voice cuts through my train of thought. I turn around, smiling. My other friend, Abigail, is running right towards me. 

“Abby!” I exclaim as she gives me a big hug. She breaks it and hands me two boxes wrapped in blue paper, my favorite color. 

“Sorry, David gave me his present for you. He got a detention for using his phone in class multiple times and he wouldn’t have been able to give it to you himself. Such a shame, he was really looking forward to giving you this.” She apologizes. I smile, assuring her it’s okay, and examine David’s gift. The box is small, and has an unmistakable shape. It’s obviously a jewelry gift box. I can recognize the size and shape anywhere. I don’t unwrap it or Abby’s gift, instead, I put them in my bag.

“Speaking of detention, you’re really cutting it close.” She continues. 

“Hm?” I ask her, confused. 

“You’ve been falling asleep in Mr. Jones’s class a lot over the past week. You’re lucky most of the time, but if you get caught sleeping in his class again, then it’s detention for you too.” 

I sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve been reading at night a lot more than usual over the past several days. This is the third night in a row I’ve done it. Mr. Jones’s class is so boring that I just doze off. Everything he’s been teaching so far I already learned in the summer, piece of cake.” 

“I know you’re a math wiz, Ly, so your grades aren’t jeopardized in that class yet, but we both know how badly you’re doing in French. I see you nodding off a lot in that class too. You have to sleep every once in a while, even if the dad situation is causing you a lot of stress.” 

I huff. “And how do you know I’m stressed about that? Because I could be just peachy right now.” I inquire. She sighs. 

“Because I know you Ly. You tend to do the night reading a lot when you’re stressed or excited.”

“Fine, fine, you got me.” 

We both eat in silence for a little bit while I think.

Suddenly, I get an idea. 

“Wanna sneak out tonight?” I ask her. 

“What?” She replies, confused. I repeat myself.

 “Wanna sneak out tonight?” Her amber eyes are filled with worry. 

“Uh, why tonight? Isn’t it a blue moon? I mean, I know for a fact the moon doesn’t affect you at all, but we don’t know if it affects me.” I laugh. 

“Ha! You really believe in those superstitions? C’mon, I can sneak out of the house, pick you up, and then we take a moonlit dip in the lagoon. I can protect you if you want.” Abby immediately stiffens. 

“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. I can see why you’d want to rebel against your dad and stuff, but it’s illegal to even set foot on the lagoon’s shores, never mind swimming the lagoon itself! If you get caught there, you’ll be forced to pay a huge fine. If you don’t, you die.” I chuckle and lower my voice to a whisper. 

“That’s the thing. It’s illegal to go near the lagoon, so if you’re caught, the person who caught you will have to pay the fine too. Nobody wants to pay a hefty bill. And it’s the blue moon. No one will see us because they’ll all be cowering inside. And if the legends are true and you do end up looking at the moon, I can save you because I’m unaffected. As David says, ‘It’s not a crime if you don’t get caught.’ So what do you say?”  

Abigail bites her lip and starts stroking her russet waves. She’s obviously torn. Why wouldn’t she be? On one hand, she has the danger of breaking the law. On the other hand, she has the thrill of the danger. 

After a few minutes she finally says something. “If it’ll make you feel better...” I literally jump for joy. 

“Yes! Thank you! Ok, I’ll pick you up at your house at around ten before midnight, ok? My dad makes sure he’s asleep by then, and he’s a really heavy sleeper. Make sure to put on your bathing suit, okay? And don’t look at the moon.” Abby nods. 

“Ok then. Are you sure we won’t get caught?” 

“Positive.” 

Finally, at the end of the day, the bell rings and we’re free. I can hear Abigail running towards me, calling my name. “Lyra! Wanna meet up at the Luscious? I can give you a discount!”

 “Sorry, but I have to spend a couple hours at the oceanic center. Maybe some other time.” I say, walking in the direction of the center. 

“Wait! Please, you have to come! Even if it’s two minutes. You just need to pick something up!” I laugh. 

“Okay, okay. If we run, I hopefully won’t be late.”

We run as fast as we can to the Luscious Cafe where Abby works as a cashier. She opens the door and I am immediately greeted. 

“Happy birthday!” The entire staff says. I smile. 

“Aw, thanks!” Abby gives me a cheesecake slice with a Happy Birthday message on it. I look at the time. 

“Oh crud, I’m going to be late! Thanks for the cheesecake!” I open the door and run to the oceanic center. 

Mr. Martin greets me at the entrance. “You’re late, Miss Hendrix.” I pant a little and then I answer him. 

“I’m so sorry, sir. I had to pick something up.” I show him the slice of cheesecake and he smiles. 

“Alright, birthday girl, you can eat it. But it’ll have to be right now, you can’t bring food into the building.” I nod enthusiastically. 

After I finish eating and I throw away my plate and fork, I turn to Mr. Martin. “Alright sir, what do I have to do today?” I ask. 

“Alright, first, you’ll have to take care of the dolphin in basin number five, then you’ll have to unclog the drains in basin two, and then you’ll give the turtle at basin one some medicine, and finally, you’ll have to play with the dolphin calf at basin three.” 

“Have to, sir?” 

Mr. Martin raises an eyebrow. 

“Is there a problem?” 

“I can’t swim, you see, I’m not allowed to swim for some reason, so I can’t.” Mr. Martin smiles. 

“No worries, you two can play with some toys. The poor guy’s going to have to–” 

“Be raised in captivity, I know, I know, since he’s already a week old and already an orphan. I’ll take care of everything.” I run towards the first basin I need to be in. Harper’s already there. She and Dennis are college students who work at the center, and they work with volunteers, also known as me, since I’m the only one."

“Hey, squirt. I’ll be your partner for most of your tasks today. Unfortunately, I have to leave early today, so I can’t help you with the dolphin calf.” She says.

“What about Dennis?” I ask. Harper shakes her head. 

“Nope, he’ll be working all day. And unfortunately, the others don’t work with volunteers so you’ll be alone. Are you okay with that?” 

“Pfft, I can handle being with a cute baby dolphin.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I frantically press the button to close the gate, since I accidentally opened it when I leaned against the button. The baby dolphin is injured and has no mother to protect it, so I can’t let it leave. Cursing, I reach the edge of the basin. The gate is inconveniently slow. Without thinking, I speak. “C’mon, please. You’re injured and we can protect you. Please, just come back! I’ll play with you as much as you want to.” 

The dolphin stops and turns around, slowly swimming in my direction. Once the gate closes, it puts its chin in my hand. It makes some clicks and whistles that I think I can understand. I could swear it said “Ok, I trust you. My name’s Angel, by the way,” just before it dives back down underwater.

“Is everything okay down there? I could swear you were speaking in sonar.”

I turn around. Dennis is looking at me. 

“I wasn’t speaking in sonar. That was the dolphin.” I reply. He shrugs, starting to walk away. 

“Wait, Dennis!”

He turns around to look at me. 

“About the dolphin, I think we should name it Angel.” 

Dennis smiles. 

“That’s perfect! Way better than what Harper and I were arguing about. Thanks!”

He walks away, leaving me with the dolphin.    

I open the door. “Welcome home, honey.” I hear Dad say from the kitchen.

“Hi Dad.” I walk into the kitchen just as my dad is taking two cakes out of the oven. 

“Woah, careful, they’re hot.” He warns as he puts them on cooling racks. “Are you having a good day so far?” “Mhm! I went to the Luscious and they gave me a free dessert with a Happy Birthday message on it, and at the oceanic center...actually something weird happened there.” I reply. 

“What happened?” Dad asks. 

“Well, there was a dolphin in one of the basins and I accidentally opened the gate and of course it started to swim out, but then it stopped and turned around, and I could swear I could hear its sonar, no, not just hear it, but understand it...agh, it might just be my lack of sleep, it’s nothing.”

Dad nods. “Were you saying something when he was swimming out?” He  asks. 

“I dunno, maybe. I was probably saying ‘Please don’t leave, we’re here to help,’ or something. What of it?” I reply. 

“Mmm. The time has come.” My dad says as he starts walking toward the stairs. I tilt my head in confusion. 

“What time? Does this have anything to do with the blue moon?” I ask, following him, but he doesn’t answer. I keep asking him to tell me what’s going on, but he doesn’t say a word. Finally, we reach his bedroom and he pulls out a white box from the closet.  

“What’s that?” I ask. 

“It’s your mother’s birthday present to you. She had it specifically planned for your sixteenth birthday.” My dad replies, handing me the box. He gestures for me to open it, and hesitantly, I obey. Inside are a bunch of beautiful silk dresses, ranging from pastel pink, pale yellow, soft blue, caribbean green, deep sea green, deep blue, and many more colors. The best part is that they all seem to be my size.

“Wow! These are gorgeous!” I exclaim in awe. 

“They’re a special type of silk.” He pauses. “She really does love you, even though she can’t be with you. She hopes you know that.” I hug the box filled with the dresses. 

“Wait, come to think of it, you’ve never told me Mom’s name.” Dad raises an eyebrow. 

“Oh, I haven’t? That’s strange. Well then, her name is Iaira.” 

“Iaira? Like the Nereid?” 

My dad nods. “Yeah. You’re not the only one who researches ocean myths from every pantheon ever, you know. Your name is also of Greek origin. It means ‘lyre’. It was actually her idea to name you that.”

“Really?” 

“Yes. Now, go take these dresses to your room and do your homework while I make dinner.” I enthusiastically nod and run to my room.