At my confused look she pulled a hand mirror from her handbag, and gave it to me, and as I looked at my face I started to understand. I looked like the mermaid in the painting, which was modeled after Mira, or maybe her sister. I looked just like them, as another sister.

They both started laughing now, going back and forth about magic, and what really happened, and I was drawn in the conversation, filling in some more blanks. It all made sense in a way, that is, if you believe in magic.

Long story short, they both were mermaids too, and they promised that at some point I would be strong enough to turn my tail back into legs. As a matter of fact, I could live with them, right here in the bay, on the beach, even have a job, as the bait and tackle place was looking to hire someone.

Apparently, my sickness was not a coincidence. No, let me go back a bit. Mermaids are real. Most live in the ocean, but some live among humans. They are an old race, still carrying some of the old magic that was more common under humans as well thousands of years ago. It wasn't like they could use that magic at will, although changing between legs and tail definitely was part of it, but the magic was always active in disguising them from recognition. That's why there are plenty of stories and fantasies, but no one has ever seen a real mermaid. Or if they had, the magic would make it look like foolishness.

Last Saturday, in the shop below, Mira had pulled deeply buried desires from my mind and the magic had picked up on it, and made me sick. It wasn't bad food, as Loraine, Mira's sister, who had prepared my lunch that day, pretty much guaranteed. It was the magic making me sick, causing Mira to let me use the bathroom. It was the magic that had caused my phone to drop in the trash. It was even the magic that had made these nights much colder than it normally would have been, nudging me to make decisions I normally would not have made.

It was the magic that had made the man whose car I had pulled from the ditch, ordering the smoked fish for dinner, Loraine remembered preparing it, and the man must have dropped it in my cooler, which gave me a taste and desire to eat fish.

The beach was cursed on Sundays, or so the locals believed, something that was established through the same magic many many years ago, so the bay could be used by mermaids to relax. Because of that, the bay had been mine all day, speeding up my transformation. Even going as far that I caught and ate raw fish without a second thought.

My desire to be a mermaid was only enhanced by the painting, something that hadn't been there before, Mira guaranteed me, it was the magic at work. Same with the diving suit and mono-fin, that Mira had never seen before, she didn't need that stuff, she was a mermaid herself!

The same magic that stimulated her talent in making her beautiful art, so strong that I had even felt it when I touched the statue I loved so much.

Even the mermaids agree, magic works in mysterious ways. I wasn't the first human to be transformed, as a matter of fact, years ago Loraine was human too. Mira was born a mermaid though, and her mom, destined to have three daughters, could no longer conceive after Mira was born. And through a combination of coincidence, magic, and perhaps destiny, Lorain became the second daughter, and I was now finally the third one.

Although it was still early, the first fishermen were out on the bank already. The beach itself was covered in fog however, and my sisters, what a weird thing to say for an only child, took that as a sign to move me to the bay, without being seen. Years ago it took Loraine about a month before she was a fully grown mermaid, and had gained enough control over the magic in her body to turn her tail back into legs, and started her half-life as a human.

A half-life, yes, as the sisters lived in a cave not far from here, where they would go after work and sleep as a mermaid. On weekends and holidays they would visit their mom, our mom now.

It was good that my tail wasn't fully grown yet, or I would have been much heavier. But now Mira and Loraine managed to lift me from the bathtub and carry me down the stairs. By the time we reached the water they were exhausted though. Mira had closed her shop for the day, but Loraine had to cook breakfast and lunch for beachgoers, so she had to stay behind.

Mira dropped her dress and underwear in the sand and walked bare naked into the bay. When she was knee deep she sat down, and I saw her transforming into a mermaid. Her tail was much longer than mine, covered in golden scales that reached her upper body as well. She went from beautiful human to gorgeous mermaid in a matter of minutes.

I managed to drag myself to deeper water and finally got a chance to test my tail. I simply launched myself and barely missed Mira. She laughed though. “Slowly does it darling. First get control, then we can speed up.”

It was easier said than done. Loraine yelled her goodbyes as we got farther and farther away, and I sort of figured out how much power it took to move at a speed I could handle. It's like riding a bike. Once you stop falling off, you go faster and faster.

When Mira was satisfied with my progress she steered us to the narrow strip next to the bank, into the fast current. And where it took multiple tries the day before, we swam hand in hand through it, like it was just a slight inconvenience.

Soon we swam away from the bank where there were deeper waters but also shallow areas, with lots of rocks. For boating this had to be a dangerous area, but we swam around the dangers, like you step around some dog poop on a sidewalk.

I was so concentrating on swimming properly that I didn't realize we hardly surfaced anymore, yet I seemed to be breathing normally. Unless you pay attention you breathe normal air without giving it a thought, and it's the same when you “breathe water”.

Now that we were in deeper waters, past the rocky dangers, I had the chance to look around more, while swimming became more and more natural. But my first encounter with something bigger than us gave me quite a shock.

I hoped it was a dolphin but when I saw the teeth I knew it was a shark. Mira wasn't concerned at all though and she squeezed my hand before she let go. Then she swam next to the shark, adapting her speed to match with the monster. And if I didn't know any better it was like she had a nice conversation.

That's when I noticed she had brought my old clothes, and as she held them out the shark took a bite and ripped the material in two. The same happened to my swim trunks, although it took a couple of rips. Eventually the shark went its way and Mira surfaced, as I followed her. She simply let the torn clothes float away, saying “Poor John. He went swimming past the sandbank and got in a bad encounter with a shark. In a day or so the remnants of his clothes will wash ashore, the shark bites clearly visible. They will soon add two and two together, as the driver of the rental car that never leaves the parking lot is missing. Within a month's time you will officially be dead. May you rest in peace.”

She said it so matter of factly I had to laugh, but then reality hit me. “Does that mean that once I get my legs back I won't turn back into John?”

And Mira laughed now. “No darling. You'll be looking very similar to Loraine and me. Everyone will assume you're our sister, and thanks to the magic that will be the truth of it, even if they're comparing our DNA. Mom will name you, we'll be there soon.”

And as she dove under again I followed.

We were no longer swimming hand in hand, but we were perfectly at the same speed, right next to each other. It was like I could sense where she was, even without looking, and when she changed direction I followed suit without thinking. Likewise she was fully aware of my limited speed compared to her, and her much stronger tail matched effortlessly my own tail strokes, so she remained on my side.

It was a wonderful experience and for the first time in my life I experienced the simple pleasures of having a sibling. Just a few days ago I was clearly attracted to her, and fell in love with her artwork, which was all self portraits I figured. But now the love I felt for her was family. A sister that was also a friend. And suddenly I could clearly hear in my head, "I love you too, sister”.

I was so shocked that I stopped swimming, and so did Mira. Was that her voice in my head? Or was I going mad from the water pressure? Then I heard her clearly again. “You're not going mad, darling. How else do you think we communicate underwater?”

I still didn't believe it, and I thought hard, “Say one-two-three”.

And I could even hear her laugh in my head as she said “One, two, three”.

Then she said, “It will get easier. You'll even be able to tell the difference in voices. And the ‘louder’ you think, the farther it will reach.”

Then it hit me. “This morning. Loraine said you had yelled to come. But I hadn't heard anything, or that would have woken me up. You called her with your mind?”

And she simply nodded. “So even in human form you can read minds?”

Her answer came right away. “We're not human. We're mermaids, temporary with legs, so we look like humans. Even with legs we can breathe underwater, or sustain the cold and pressure of deep water diving. And we don't read minds. We pick up on thoughts that were ‘transmitted’. When you mean to talk I will hear, but your private thoughts will remain private. Unless you ‘think them out loud’, like you did a minute ago.”

In a way this was amazing. “But what about the shark? Did you talk with him too?”

“It was her. Their brains are not as advanced. But yes, it's like talking to a pet. Sometimes they do what you ask.”

“Why didn't she rip us up, for breakfast?”

“We're always under the protection of the magic. It won't save our lives unconditionally, but otherwise we live relatively long. For example, if right now, under the ocean floor, a volcano would erupt, we're gone. Nothing the magic can do. But, if we swim towards an area where a volcano is about to erupt, we feel nudges to slow down or turn around. A sort of instinct. If we don't react to it we'd probably die. So, always follow your instinct!”

A completely new approach to life. Is that how instinct works? Like a whole school of fish all go in the same direction and change direction all at once?

In the meantime we kept on swimming and then I saw structures, perfectly camouflaged by the surroundings, but clearly not naturally made. It was a small mermaid community, it seemed. “It's home!” I heard Mira's voice in my head.

She could have warned her mother that we were on our way, but she didn't. And thus it was a total surprise when our mom swam out of one of the structures and saw us. Mira had a huge smile on her face, but mom had only eyes for me.

Then, with one slap of her tail she was holding me in a hard hug, and in my head I heard her lovely voice. “You're there. Finally! My last daughter. And so beautiful. What a wonderful surprise…” And I could hear her voice break in a sob, so I wrapped my arms around her, and I said, “I'm so happy to meet you, mom. Becoming your daughter made a deep wish come true.”

I guess I opened up my mind too much, because suddenly she realized I was a human male before. But it didn't matter, once you're a mermaid you are one-hundred percent female. As she looked at me, clearly approving my looks, she said, "I thank the goddess for this gift. I will name you after her. You will now be known as Nerissa, daughter of Clio.”

“It's a beautiful name, definitely beats being John”, I joked, and we all laughed. Once more I had to tell my story, Mira kicking in now and then with her part, and I found that articulating my thoughts was actually easier than using spoken words. Clio, as mom insisted I called her, pointed out clearly where the mermaid magic had taken action, but still given me a choice. She could also sense how strong the magic inside me already was, something I had been clueless about.

Apparently it meant that I had a good chance to live a long life, and I had to adjust my thinking when she said that she herself was already one hundred and sixty years old. In my mind she didn't look a day older than forty, with her gorgeous purple tail that shimmered from almost black to a close pink, depending on how the light fell.

It was Mira who said that she needed to go back and open her work shop. She was still going to sculpt me, the new me, and she wanted to start as soon as possible. Mom would take care of me for the next couple of weeks, until I had reached full size and could control my tail transformation back to legs. And with a quick kiss she said, “See you this weekend Nerissa”, followed by a “Bye mom!” And she was gone.

So, life as a mermaid is totally different from living as a human, either male or female. Thank the goddess that I had Clio to teach me. Having said that, both teaching and learning goes much quicker when you have a mental link. She would explain what was what and often project the picture in my head. For example, a small type of squid that soon would be my favorite snack. And my mouth was drooling in anticipation already, so strong was the visual, the smell, the taste, before she gave me my first to eat. I knew what parts to eat first, what to savor for later, and what to discard, and my first taste didn't disappoint.

Then she taught me how to catch one and kill one. You could eat them as-is, or mix them with spicy weeds, or stuff them with crab meat. The squid meat would provide the necessary fluids as well, as we would maybe breathe the salt water, but not drink it.

She would show me the gardens where different seaweeds were grown, the shrimp yards, and the crab and mussel fields. But for a decent sized fish for dinner, hunting techniques were needed. Catching a fish by hand, like I'd done before, is possible, but the fish are more agile at these depths compared to the shallow waters in the bay.

We used sharp sticks, around three to five foot length, so you had to get close before you could pierce them. We were at it until dark and I caught one against Clio's six.