A bright pool of light spread across the water before disappearing.

 “What was that?”

 “So cool.”

 “I think it must be global warming.”

 “Neat. I love phytoplankton.”

 “Psst... Clary!” A few yards down the pier, a blue head peeked out of the water. “Clary!”

 “Coral? Is that you?”

 Coral offered me a tiny wave as she treaded water. “Hi... Clary...”

 “You’re a mermaid?”

 “Uh-huh.”

 Coral was no longer the angsty, goth princess she once was. Instead, her fierce, A-line bob, her blue and purple hair curled down past her shoulders. Her skin was tinged blue-green with thousands of tiny, jewel-like scales dotting her face and arms. She looked beautiful.

 “What am I going to do?” Coral gulped. “There’s no waterway by our house, so I can’t swim home. And it’ll take me at least an hour to dry off before I can walk home.”

 “Okay,” I said. “Let’s take a deep breath. We can figure something out.”

 I scanned the area looking for an industrial-sized hair dryer or a giant stack of towels. Instead, I found one, rust-covered wheelbarrow. “So? Up for a ride?”

DoreenQueen: Did you find the kid yet?

ClaryP: Yep. The situation’s a little fishy. We need an extraction.

DoreenQueen: You got it, boss.

 “Who was that?” asked Coral, as she swam to a nearby ladder.

 “Friend from work. She’s going to come to pick us up.”

 “Sweet.”

 A few minutes later, (frankly, it was a good thirty-forty minutes later, who am I kidding?) I wheeled Coral back home in the old, squeaky wheelbarrow. An old tarp was wrapped around her long, blue tail.

 A black SUV rolled down the road toward us. It was the exact type of SUV you see government guys drive in the movies. I tried my best to appear brave; I was the grown-up in this situation after all.

 “Need a lift, boss?” asked Doreen, rolling down the driver’s side window. A large cigar was clamped between her teeth.

 “Doreen!” I call excitedly. “You are a queen!” I rolled Coral quickly to the SUV.

 “Tell me something I don’t know...”

___

 “Mom’s going to kill me,” Coral groaned, drying her hair with a towel.

 I continued to dry her tail with a stack of towels. “She’s not going to kill you.”

 “How can you be sure?” Coral’s hair shifted from blue to its normal bob. “I only started shifting a few months ago. She was right. I still haven’t learned how to control my shifting yet.”

 “Hey. Hey. Hey. Look at me!” I dropped the wet towel and picked up a dry one. “Your mom isn’t going to kill you. You are young and made a mistake. Heck! I make mistakes all the time. The most important thing is that you learn from your mistakes. Okay?”

 Coral nodded shakily, trying to keep the tears at bay. “Okay.”

___

 Coral was halfway to her normal self by the time we reached her home.

 “I need help,” Coral begged. “My feet... They’re still fins.”

 “I got her.” Doreen hoisted Coral into her arms and hauled her to the front door.

 “Is everything okay?” asked Ginger, meeting them at the front door.

 “We need towels and hair dryers on the double,” said Doreen. “We got a fish to dry out.”

___

 “Hello everybody!” Gaia sang out as she came into the house. Cartoon birds and butterflies fluttered around her head. (I will admit I might have imagined those.)

 “Mommy!” called the twins in unison, attacking her with affection.

 “Hi Mom,” Coral said, softly. She had changed out of her soggy party clothes into her pajamas. The teenager looked more like a regular girl now than a teenage mermaid.

 “Did everything go okay?” Gaia asked, turning her attention to me.

 I looked over at Coral, who silently begged me not to tell her mother what had happened that night. “Right as rain!”

 Gaia sighed in relief. “Fantastic. I wired the money to your account.” She followed me to the door. “Did everything go okay? I was a little afraid Corie would try something.” 

 “Coral and I found an understanding tonight,” I replied. I jogged down the front steps. “Have a good night. Refer us to your friends!”