“You were doing something else, and Steve was saving seats and Stella was in line with me so I asked her to join us. Well Steve and Stella were deep in conversation and I overheard Sara talking to that Jason kid, he gives me the creeps, and she said her mom told her there were mer-people in the pond. Jason said the same thing I was thinking, there’s no way, but she insisted that there were. That’s why I asked you.” She turned to Doug and almost gasped, he was as white as a sheet. “Doug, are you alright?”
“Oh man, this is bad.” He sat down on a stump and started to rub his head. “Listen, no one is supposed to know about this, I mean no one! This is one of the most highly-guarded secrets in the wizarding world.”
“What is?” Steve asked.
“Oh man, I shouldn’t even be telling you guys this, hell! I shouldn’t even know!”
“What?” Steve asked again.
“OK, you know there are two main types of mer-people, freshwater and saltwater.” Doug looked up to make sure Ronnie and Steve were listening. Their eyes were glued to him. “So it’s not like they can only be one or the other, it’s just like they are either born in the fresh or the salt water, and the cultures tend to keep to themselves.” He stopped and rubbed his head again. “The saltwater tribes can travel the oceans freely, I mean they just swim to wherever they want to go. But the freshwater tribes have the problem of being land locked. Once they are in a body of water, if someone really is trying to hunt them then they will probably catch them. I mean there’s no place to hide. So a long time ago they started building canals, underground canals that linked all the major bodies of water. This way if they needed to escape there was a place to go.”
“Are you serious?” Steve asked.
“Yes, and all along the way, they found little ponds where they could connect. It gives them fresh water, and a constant supply of oxygen, food, and connection with the outside world. They don’t live here, but if they want to they can stop to rest, eat, or more importantly, share news. It’s the water nymphs that told me about it, and I asked the groundkeeper. He said he had heard the theory, but never actually saw a mer-person for himself. Of course, he’s about as patient as a Chihuahua on espresso. But about a year ago I decided I wanted to see for myself. So every night for the entire summer I came out here and waited, and watched. It wasn’t until the end of September that I finally got my first glimpse of a mer-person. It just motivated me to come out again, before long I was seeing a few mer-people a week, sometimes entire families. I never showed myself because I was afraid they would stop coming if someone knew about them. But now… I think we need to let them know.”
“Wow…” Steve said very seriously “I guess learning one of the most important secrets of our day, was worth the knee deep sludge…”
The three of them half heartedly chuckled as the severity of the information sunk in.
“Oh man, this is bad.” He sat down on a stump and started to rub his head. “Listen, no one is supposed to know about this, I mean no one! This is one of the most highly-guarded secrets in the wizarding world.”
“What is?” Steve asked.
“Oh man, I shouldn’t even be telling you guys this, hell! I shouldn’t even know!”
“What?” Steve asked again.
“OK, you know there are two main types of mer-people, freshwater and saltwater.” Doug looked up to make sure Ronnie and Steve were listening. Their eyes were glued to him. “So it’s not like they can only be one or the other, it’s just like they are either born in the fresh or the salt water, and the cultures tend to keep to themselves.” He stopped and rubbed his head again. “The saltwater tribes can travel the oceans freely, I mean they just swim to wherever they want to go. But the freshwater tribes have the problem of being land locked. Once they are in a body of water, if someone really is trying to hunt them then they will probably catch them. I mean there’s no place to hide. So a long time ago they started building canals, underground canals that linked all the major bodies of water. This way if they needed to escape there was a place to go.”
“Are you serious?” Steve asked.
“Yes, and all along the way, they found little ponds where they could connect. It gives them fresh water, and a constant supply of oxygen, food, and connection with the outside world. They don’t live here, but if they want to they can stop to rest, eat, or more importantly, share news. It’s the water nymphs that told me about it, and I asked the groundkeeper. He said he had heard the theory, but never actually saw a mer-person for himself. Of course, he’s about as patient as a Chihuahua on espresso. But about a year ago I decided I wanted to see for myself. So every night for the entire summer I came out here and waited, and watched. It wasn’t until the end of September that I finally got my first glimpse of a mer-person. It just motivated me to come out again, before long I was seeing a few mer-people a week, sometimes entire families. I never showed myself because I was afraid they would stop coming if someone knew about them. But now… I think we need to let them know.”
“Wow…” Steve said very seriously “I guess learning one of the most important secrets of our day, was worth the knee deep sludge…”
The three of them half heartedly chuckled as the severity of the information sunk in.
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