Beneath the Blue: Change

I’m only a 13-year-old boy named Cole, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do things that grown men and women can. You see, I was born with a gift. I was born with the ability to know when something bad was about to happen. I saved myself and my mom with that. When we were about to drive across a bridge, I sensed danger and told her not to cross it. She stopped right before the bridge collapsed right in front of us. Because of this power, my life changed. I may have gone through many challenges, but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad. I think my life changed in a good way. Here’s my story.

I was at home, playing video games. It's my favorite thing to do, other than swimming in the backyard pool. The pool is relaxing in a beautiful way. After about an hour of games, my mom asked me if I wanted to swim, and I said yes. It was amazing. I had fun with my sister named Cara, and my mom was watching us with a smile. Then, it started raining, so we got out and I got back to my video games. I eventually got tired, so I went to bed.

I slept late. It felt good. I was dreaming about the ocean before I started to feel a small sense of danger. Then, I suddenly woke up. I sensed something bad outside my room. However, this was not the feeling I was used to. My senses were telling me there was extreme danger, right outside that door. I was tempted to open the door because I could hear a loud noise outside, so I slowly crept to that bedroom door, and put my hand on the handle. Little did I know, I didn't even need to open it.

The door flew inwards, causing me to fly with it because I was still holding on to the door handle. There was supposed to be a hallway outside the door, but it was gone. Turns out, a tornado had formed right on top of our house, and I knew I was probably about six to eight miles in the air because an airplane flew right past me. I could see the debris of my house, but luckily it didn't hit me. Then, I was falling. I fell for about two and a half minutes, then I finally hit something. It hurt so bad, I must have passed out.

I woke up in a hospital. However, this hospital was not any ordinary hospital. This hospital was somewhere in the ocean. I looked around and found myself on a hospital bed. I was covered with a blanket. It was probably there to keep me warm in the ocean. I also couldn’t move my legs for some reason. Suddenly, I realized that I was breathing. In the ocean. How is this possible? I didn’t know if there were other people here, so I decided to speak.

“Hello? Where am I?”

I heard a voice behind the door of my hospital room, but I couldn’t hear what it was saying. The door opened, revealing a teenage girl with long, reddish brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. She started to talk.

“Hi, I’m Kristina, spelled with a ‘K’. I saw you fall into the ocean, so my father brought you here. I was just coming in to check on you. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Cole. Where exactly am I?”

“You’re in Aquarius City.”

“And how am I able to breathe underwater?”

“Oh, I forgot that you used to be human.”

“Excuse me?”

“Look at the lower half of my body.”

I looked and saw a beautiful, blue tail. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was a mermaid! Then, I realized something: if she could breathe underwater because she was a mermaid, and I could also breathe underwater, then that could mean only one thing. I slowly took off my blanket and started to see a bright, yellow tail where I should be seeing my legs. That’s why I can breathe underwater. That’s why I can’t move my legs. I don’t have any legs. I’m a merman.

I must have passed out again because when I woke up, nobody was there. Just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I took my blanket off again. Yeah. I've turned into a mythical creature. Then I realized: that’s pretty cool! I wanted to make the most of this situation, so I got out of that hospital bed and started learning how to swim. Turns out, I didn’t need to. I could swim just like a human. Plus, I swam quickly because of my tail. I still couldn’t believe I had one. After a few minutes of enjoying myself, Kristina came in.

“You doing OK, Cole?”

“Yeah, I was just enjoying myself.”

“That's good. I’m glad you like it.”

“So why do I have a tail? What happened?”

“We don’t know. Right when you touched the water, you grew that tail.”

“That’s strange. Has this happened to anyone else?”

“No, just you. You must have some kind of power.”

“Well, I was born with the ability to know when something bad is about to happen, but I had no idea about this.”

“You know when something bad is happening?”

“Yeah, is that a bad thing?”

“Come with me. This is important.”

We swam through a bunch of hallways, all of them filled with mermaids and mermen. They must have been waiting for me to wake up. We proceeded outside the building, then stopped at a door, decorated with a bunch of “Thank You” notes.

“What’s this?”

“This is the mayor’s office. He’s my dad.”

Kristina knocked on the door. Suddenly, it opened, revealing the mayor of Aquarius City. He kindly greeted us, then closed the door behind us. He started asking us questions.

“So, this is Cole?”

“Yeah, he’s got something to tell you. Cole, tell him about your power.”

“Okay, so I was born with a gift, which allowed me to know when something bad is about to happen. I saved my mom’s life with it.”

The mayor looked surprised as if I told him that the Earth was the center of the universe. Kristina explained what was happening.

“Cole, we were looking for you. You’re the One.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know who Poseidon is, right?”

“The Greek god? Yeah, why?”

“He accidentally destroyed our city a long time ago in a fight. He scattered five precious gems called Power Gems across the planet and ordered us to find them. You see, the Power Gems are so powerful, they can destroy the universe if used incorrectly. We need them back before someone else finds them.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was chosen to save the universe. I hesitated, then made my decision.

“You saved my life. You helped me. Now I’ll help you.”