Page 24 of Not Your Ordinary Shifter

I sighed. “I guess not. It’s much prettier down here, and I do love my new tail.”

Later that day, I lay on my bed and thought about my new life and how it compared to my old one. There really was no comparison; I was much happier in my new home under the sea. I hoped Marcel would become my steady boyfriend, but I wasn’t sure what that meant down here. The Mer-King had multiple ‘consorts,’ as the merfolk called his wives, but the consorts could have sex with whatever or whomever they chose, so… did the other merfolk marry? My divorce never got filed, but, of course, both Derrick and I were dead... so the marriage was officially over, thank goodness. It was all so confusing!

I heard a knocking sound and looked up to see three pretty mermaids gathered at my door.

“May we come in, Audrey?” the smallest one said.

“Of course!” I told them. “Come sit on the bed with me and tell me all about this beautiful place!”

They swam in, and I couldn’t stop looking at them. They were incredibly beautiful, and I was sure I was awfully plain in comparison. I hadn’t seen a mirror while I’d been in the sea, so I guessed I just looked like the old me: Not ugly, but no beauty queen.

The three made themselves comfortable on my bed and introduced themselves to me as Portia, Sheila, and Muriel.

Sheila stroked my tail, and I saw the mermaid’s hands were never still. They were always stroking their hair or their bodies or each other’s hair or bodies. It was vaguely hypnotic, like the way seaweed swayed gently in the ocean’s currents.

“Pretty Audrey, you must tell us all the latest gossip from the upper world! Is Warren Beatty still hot? Has he made a movie this year?” she asked.

“Is he still married to Annette Bening?” asked Muriel.

“Oh! And Paul Newman? Has he made any new movies lately?” Portia also wanted to know about Hollywood gossip.

I told them that Warren Beatty was, in fact, still married to Annette, but since he was 86 years old, his choices of film roles were quite small. And when I told them of the death of Paul Newman, there was a great chorus of sighs and wails that grew even louder when I told them Joanne Woodward was also deceased.

“Hey, maybe they became merfolk!” I told the sobbing mermaids. They cheered up a bit at that, and they insisted I catch them up on all the celebrity gossip. I didn’t really follow celebrities or have an Instagram account when I was alive, so the talk soon turned to local gossip. I gazed at them, at their perfect figures, their long wavy hair, their perfect noses. In Hollywood, minus their tails, perhaps, they would all have been starlets.

Two of them, Sheila and Muriel, had human-looking skin, like mine. Portia had scales like Marcel’s, that glittered like flakes of precious stone.Muriel had the most luminous brown skin; it almost glowed in the soft light of my beautiful cave. Sheila had long black hair that seemed to have a life of its own, undulating around her body. Portia had glittering, scaly tits that begged to be touched and stroked. I felt a bit sad I wasn’t mer-beautiful.

Portia interrupted my reverie. “You look sad, Audrey. Do you miss your old life?”

I thought for a minute. “No, honestly, I don’t. I love it here, and everyone is so kind to me. I just wish I was as pretty as all of you, but Marcel is kind and seems to like me.”

There was silence as the three sat and gaped at me.

“Audrey, you’re beautiful! I can’t believe you don’t think you’re as pretty as we are!” Muriel told me.

I blushed at the compliment, but I was pretty sure they were just being nice. “No, it’s okay. I was never beautiful the way you are! You look like movie stars!”

Sheila looked at her two friends, and they all smiled. “Obviously, you have no idea how you look.”

“What do you mean?” I asked her. “I surely don’t look any different than I did just before I...”

“Just before you died?” asked Portia.

“Well, yes. I guess I looked in the mirror at my house just before my husband and I drove to the lawyer’s office. Of course, we never made it.”

“Well, we’ll have to get you a looking glass,” said Muriel to her friends. “Aubrine still has one, right, Portia? Marius bought it from some mer-pirates. I took a glance in it last week.”

“You’re right,” said Portia. “Let’s take Audrey to meet her, and Aubrine can let her have a peek in the looking glass.”

The three swam up off the bed, and Sheila took my hand as we left my cave and went looking for the queen.

There were so many twisty corridors in the palace, I was sure I’d never find my way back to my cave unassisted, but I was so fascinated by all the beauty I saw around me, I didn’t worry about it.

When we reached the royal apartments, I heard the sounds of a baby crying, and a soft voice began to sing the most beautiful song I’d ever heard. My three friends stopped, and Portia whispered in my ear.

“That’s Aubrine. Her voice is famous for its beauty. She has charmed sailors so they’ve left their ships and joined our kingdom!”

The baby stopped crying and began to make happy, giggly noises instead, but I couldn’t stop myself from swimming towards the sound of Aubrine’s voice. It was like a huge magnet was drawing me closer. When I came to the doorway that led into a softly lit cave, I saw a woman with long, red hair holding the tiny baby I’d last seen in King Marius’ arms. I couldn’t see her face, as her scarlet hair drifted between us, but I saw that her tail was golden with a few red scales here and there.

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