{"id":838,"date":"2022-08-06T20:32:38","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T03:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/?p=838"},"modified":"2022-08-06T20:32:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T03:32:57","slug":"the-deep-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/?p=838","title":{"rendered":"The Deep End"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young woman finds herself changing after ignoring her mother’s warning.<\/p>\n

I typically only post one story a month, but the four I’m posting now are very short little things (like last month) so I’m dropping them all at the same time. Enjoy!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Come on, Lucy!” Shirley giggled as she splashed in the pool.\u00a0 “The water is amazing!”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucy sat on a plastic reclining chair at the edge of the pool.\u00a0 She watched her friends swimming and laughing and desperately wanted to join them but her mother’s words echoed through her mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucy, listen, if there is one thing you do for me, ONE thing, stay away from water.\u00a0 Never swim in water.\u00a0 Please.\u00a0 That’s all I ask.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For years, growing up, her mother would hammer that thought into her head.\u00a0 Years.\u00a0 Each time she wore a haunted look on her face that made Lucy want to cry and hug her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I can’t,” Lucy told her.\u00a0 “You know I don’t like water.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Just this once,” Shirley urged.\u00a0 “Really, it’s amazing.\u00a0 It’s heated and they use natural cleaning so there’s no bleach and it’s just- come on!”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucy hugged herself and silently cursed her mother.\u00a0 Her mother who had left her suddenly, five years ago.\u00a0 Without a word.\u00a0 One day, they had been together as usual and the next, nobody could find her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She still carried that anger with her.\u00a0 Abandoned without a word.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Yeah, Luce!” Donovan yelled as he dunked his friend.\u00a0 “You’re already dressed for it!”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucky toyed with the edge of her one piece bathing suit.\u00a0 It was gray and as dull as she felt for not joining her friends.\u00a0 She sighed, laying her head back on the warm plastic.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Lucy, you’re missing out!” Janine yelled.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Without a word, Lucy stood.\u00a0 Her jaw flared as she walked around the pool.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Yes!” Shirley yelled.\u00a0 “Come on, Lucy!\u00a0 You can do it!”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sharp concrete scraped Lucy’s feet as she walked the perimeter of the pool.\u00a0 She kept her eyes focused on the diving board at the head of the pool and her friends cheered for her as she took the first step.\u00a0 And then the second.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Damn you, mom,<\/span><\/i> Lucy repeated with each step up the tall ladder.\u00a0 <\/span>Damn you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Only when she stood on the diving board did she suddenly doubt herself.\u00a0 The wind was cold in the warm air as it whipped around her, carrying the encouragement of her friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She forced herself forward.\u00a0 One step.\u00a0 Another.\u00a0 And another until her toes curled over the edge of the board.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If there’s one thing you do for me<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucy jumped, bending forward with her arms out as she’d seen her friends do.\u00a0 The water rushed up to her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then embraced her.\u00a0 She opened her eyes after she hit the water and was amazed at how clear it was.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A second, transparent set of eyelids covered her eyes.\u00a0 She could see her friends in the water and the bottom of the deep-end of the pool below her.\u00a0 Lucy kicked, suddenly needing to touch the bottom.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Skin grew up between her toes and they cracked as her foot widened.\u00a0 The young girl glided forward in a sudden burst of speed as her lungs began to burn.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Her ears smoothed out and began to shrink, sliding through her billowing black hair as they pulled into her skull.\u00a0 The pressure of the water dug its fingers into her but she swam, rowing her arms as she kicked.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The webbing between her fingers pulled up, connecting her fingers at the second joint.\u00a0 And then the first.\u00a0 Her lungs cried out for air but she pushed further.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Almost there,<\/span><\/i> she told herself.\u00a0 <\/span>I- I can make it.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Her fingernail grew out into a clear, curved claw to touch the bottom of the 20 feet deep pool.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The girl twisted her legs, turning her face up to see her panicked friends trying to swim to her.\u00a0 She felt like she would explode.\u00a0 Her chest ached and her ears began to ring.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thin lines appeared along the skin of her unmarked neck.\u00a0 They traced around from the front of her throat to the side of her neck.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then the lines opened, fluttering to show pink flesh beneath.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And she <\/span>breathed<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Her gills opened and closed as her friends were forced to turn back from swimming too deep.\u00a0 She could hear their screams as they assumed the worst.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucy opened her mouth to expose rows of sharp teeth.\u00a0 She would have to show them not to worry.\u00a0 Her powerful strokes brought her to Shirley in seconds and the girl reached out to hug Lucy.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lucy’s sharp teeth bit into her friend’s thigh and the other girl screamed, reaching down to press her hand against the bleeding wound.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kicking away, Lucy made her way to Donovan, feeling herself warm at the thought of him.\u00a0 She opened her jaw wide as she closed on him.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behind her, the skin between Shirley’s fingers slowly slid upwards.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A young woman finds herself changing after ignoring her mother’s warning. I typically only post one story a month, but the four I’m posting now are very short little things (like last month) so I’m dropping them all at the Continue reading The Deep End<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[470,471,9],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story","tag-fish-monster","tag-gills","tag-transformation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42NMN-dw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hidden-shelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}