Blinking, she gazed up at the sky.

Water surrounded her, but she was close enough to the surface to barely make out the clouds. Nearby, a small boat drifted lazily along. Curiousity tugged at her, but she knew better than to investigate the activity of humans. Letting herself sink in the water, she flicked her golden fish-tail with irritation. Her older siblings had sworn to protect her ever since their parents had passed away, but their rules were restricting and made her life boring.

An idea entered her mind, and she smirked. Swimming close to the boat, she surfaced briefly and splashed the boat playfully by slapping the water with her tail, then vanished back into the water almost immediately. A face peered curiously into the water from above, and her heart shuddered when their eyes made contact. Slowly the human drew away from the edge of the boat, and she watched paddles enter the water and push the boat along, back to shore.

Normally, merely teasing a human would be enough, but she wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to see what this human was like. So she did just that, and followed the boat.

Suddenly, vibrations pounded her, and she covered her ears. Looking around, she spotted an enormous ship above the surface, blaring its horn at the boat, which was in its way. The small boat quickly moved, and too late the mermaid realized that the ship was a ship that caught fish. Trying to dive down into the depths of the water, she felt the swish of water and gasped when a net pulled her back up toward the surface, piercing into her skin and restricting her from moving.

When the net pulled her up into the cold air, she heard shouts and exclamations, and squirmed uncomfortably as the net pinched her. Slowly the net lowered, and she felt someone loosen the net. Pushing her hair from her face, she shivered and gazed around at the humans with fear. Many of them regarded her with awe, some with shock, and still more with curiousity.

“What are you doing to me?” The mermaid asked. The humans seemed startled, either by the fact that she had a foreign accent, or that they could understand her.

A tall man with a wide, flat nose and dirty brown hair stepped forward. “I’m Lewis Cane, the manager of this crew. And who are you?”

“I’m Kelpi Shorewaters,” she said. “I wanted to see what the humans in that small boat were doing.”

Waving it off, he murmured, “she could be the solution… worth 40,000, maybe more… she could lead us to the others…”

Pulling the net off her shoulders, Kelpi looked down, self-conscious from all of the stares. “Could I go now?”

“No!” Lewis cried out, then froze. Smiling strangely, he said, “I have something to show you, in my office.”

Sighing, Kelpi pointed out, “I can’t walk.”

“Right…” shrugging to himself, Lewis knelt and wrapped his arms around her waist, standing up and grunting from her weight; she assumed that with her long, flailing fish-tail, she was somewhat heavier than an average human. Stumbling across the polished deck, Lewis shouted to the others, “get to work!” They snapped from their trances, and scurried across the deck. Finally entering a small room, Lewis slammed the door behind him, then set Kelpi down on a bench.

Looking around, Kelpi saw odd boxes with handles on the walls, and a silver basin next to a tall white compartment with whirring noises. “What’s that?” She asked.

Lewis removed his coat, then looked at the white compartment. “That is a refrigerator; we’re in a kitchen, where the food is made.”

“Intriguing,” Kelpi whispered, peering around.

Slowly kneeling, Lewis slammed his hands down on either side of her, with a crazy grin. “You will make me a fortune.”

“A… what?” Kelpi gulped, heart racing.

His eyes seemed to look at something in the distance, unseen by everyone but him. “A long time ago, people believed in mermaids, then they started assuming they were a myth. Recently, within the last three decades, mermaids have made sudden appearances, startling the people. My crew and I hoped to catch them and protect the people.” His eyes zoned in on her. “You’re our ticket to fame.”

Gasping in rapid breaths, she searched for a way out, but he slowly stood, and patted her shoulder. “It’s not bad… you’d be in captivity, but you’ll be safe…”

“What’s captivity?” She asked him. She was starting to feel dry, and wished for water.

“It means a very safe place where you can discover new things. It’s quite fun, really.”

She smiled. “That doesn’t sound so bad.” Lying down on the bench, she closed her eyes and thought to herself, this is it. You can finally live a life with adventure and fun, and your siblings can’t control you anymore!

She felt Lewis lightly brush as a hand down her fish-tail, as though for sympathy, then he straightened up. When she opened her eyes, she saw him staring at her.

“Will I meet lots of people at Captivity?” She asked.

Smirking as though she’d fallen for some dumb trick, he pulled out a small screen and tapped it several times, then raised it to his ear. He began talking excitedly in a low voice, and she felt anxiety tug at her.

What if he was lying?