A Merman's Tale 6

Chapter 6: The Call of the Sea



   On Tuesday morning, November 21st, Diane, Gizella, Yuki, and I finally 'checked out' of Lake Xanadu. It was not your typical hotel check-out. After waiting in line for around an hour and a half, we were told to come inside, then were directed to separate rooms. I found myself face-to-face with a sergeant (My father's rank when he was in the Army), who then proceeded to fire a long series of questions at me. Most were relatively routine, such as:

   Where are you planning to go?

   Beaufort, North Carolina.

   How may we contact you?

   Right now, by cell phone only.

   Don't you have an e-mail address?

   I do, but until we get a computer set up at our new house I won't have a secure connection. Librairy computers are not the recommended way to send or receive sensitive information.

   Understood.

   Following a further series of questions and answers regarding my changes, roles at the convention, 'weapons' and other matters, I was finally told "Mr Scott, we will issue you an official Xanadu Survivor's ID with before-and-after photos and a summary of your changes. We will also issue you a Florida driver's license conditional to the use of hand controls..." Mr Sergeant was actually impressed that I had already been able to get my car modified.

   "How did you get it done so quickly?"

   "One of my friends was able to speak directly with Eric Winters' office. That helped move things a lot faster".

   A little over two hours after we had gotten in the check-out line I was good to go; the others had just finished their own check-out process as well.



   Dan was waiting for us when we were cleared to leave. After we had finished loading  ourselves and our chairs into our cars, I called Janice to tell her we were now on our way to her place, which was about four miles from the Xanadu Center. When we arrived I took advantage of my new 'handicapped parking' placard and parked directly in front of her apartment. While I was wrestling my wheelchair out of the back seat and myself into it, Dan pulled Diane and Yuki's own wheels out, unfolded them and rolled them to the passenger side of my car where they were waiting. By the time they had deftly seated themselves in their chairs, Gizella and Janice were on hand as well, and another car pulled up moments later. The 'sub sandwich' deliveryman who stepped out was nonplussed to be greeted by a quartet of mermaids and a merman, with a single bipedal oddity thrown in for variety. After paying for the delivery, we went inside to eat. With six hungry mouths attacking it, the sub never stood a chance. Upon finishing, we compared 'checking-out' stories. Janice said she, Debbie, and Sally all took about an hour to complete the process, but then told us when she came to visit us on Saturday, she heard the average time was at least five hours.

   I thought 'We probably got out almost as soon as we would have by staying in the lake until today. Swimming is a lot more fun than waiting in line for five hours'. I recalled times when I was returning from Pennsylvania or upstate New York at the end of a summer or long holiday weekend, and the traffic was like morning rush hour at the Lincoln Tunnel! When I was able to delay my return by a day, mine would be almost the only car on the road.

   When Brian arrived we decided it was time to go swimming. After stripping down or changing into something appropriate, we walked, or rolled, out the back door to the pool, which had finally reopened that morning. Gizella's brothers promptly jumped in at the shallow end, the other five of us parked at the deep end before splashing in.

   It didn't take us long to discover to our dismay that chlorine and gills don't mix. Janice, Diane, Gizella, Yuki, and I all quickly surfaced, sputtering, with the same complaint: the chlorine was making our gills burn. The Super was walking by at the time and quickly offered his apologies, then asked if we would like to swim at a nearby swim club that had a lake. We politely declined because the four of us were only there for the one night, and Janice decided to continue her Lake Xanadu swims while other Mers were still there.

   Since we Mers could not really use the pool because of our sensitivity to the chlorine, we all soon went back inside to check the news on the television, we hadn't followed the news much over the last ten days. Brian told us Xanadu was still topic A on many of the news networks, but when we turned on CNN, we saw live coverage of a Coast Guard rescue taking place off the North Carolina coast. According to the anchor, one helicopter had just left the scene with four survivors from a commercial fishing boat on board; a second chopper had just taken over the rescue mission. The boat's rigging meant each crew member (all had on survival suits) had to jump into the sea, one at a time, a rescue swimmer then helped each into a harness.

   Just as the captain, who had followed tradition by being the last to leave his sinking vessel, was hoisted aboard the helicopter, the boat (Brian identified it as the Narosparo),upended and sank stern-first. Only the rescue swimmer was left still visible on the surface. A few minutes more, and he was on his way up to safety as well.

   After the CNN anchor commended the Coast Guard for 'a job well done', news coverage changed to Rush Limbaugh's latest bout of foot-in-mouth disease.

   "Augh!" Janice said as she surfed with the remote "That guy is a walking cesspool".

   "Not nearly as bad as a nonstop bombardment of Geico commercials" I countered.

   Janice soon found a channel with Xanadu coverage; after a couple hours of watching, we began to think we were perhaps among the more fortunate survivors, and it was time to think about dinner. Janice called a nearby seafood restaurant to make a reservation, when she said there would be five of us in wheelchairs she was told it was 'no problem, we will do what we need to do to accomodate you'. Despite our recent fondness for raw fish, we still enjoyed the cooked variety, at least in mixed company.

   Janice also called Marlon and Sally and invited them to join us for dinner. Marlon accepted, but Sally was working at Holy Family Hospital where her own medical experience and 'Vulcaness' were proving valuable support to the staff as well as Bones McCoy himself.

   Before heading out, Janice, Yuki, and Gizella put on blouses, I pulled on an Irish Aran sweater I had brought along for some now-forgotten reason, while Diane opted for a jacket. She was unique: unlike all the other Mers I had seen, her entire body was covered in green scales from her neck on down, except for her hands and lower forearms. She appeared to be wearing a form fitting turtleneck and nothing inappropriate showed, but she still felt more comfortable wearing something while in public.



   The staff didn't bat so much as an eyelash when the eight of us walked or rolled in. After we were seated or parked and had placed our orders, Janice told us of her plans while our meals were cooking. On Thanksgiving Day she and some friends, including Jackie Blue were going by boat to Abacos and Andros islands in the Bahamas for a two weeks' vacation that had been planned last spring. She had done this twice before and enjoyed these trips, even though she had had to remain topside whenever her friends went diving or snorkeling. Now the tables were turned: Janice and Jackie Blue would be in their element while the others were anything but in comparison, encumbered as they would be by air tanks and other diving paraphanalia; we couldn't help but gloat a little at the thought.

   When we returned to her apartment that night Janice asked us if we were interested in joining her on a Virgin Islands trip the following Spring.

   "Think of all the reefs and wrecks we could explore" she said. "No need to worry about air tank limits or the bends, we could stay down as long as we want, we won't even need (giggles) flippers. Who'd be handicapped then?"

   She had little difficulty persuading us to go.

   With only one spare bed, we had to improvise our sleeping arrangements in Janice's apartment that night, but we didn't mind; we were finally on our way. Diane and I sacked out at opposite ends of a sofa, Gizella collapsed into a reclining chair, while Yuki laid claim to the spare bed in Janice's office. We slept well that night nonetheless, the first in more than a week we did not sleep underwater.



   We hit the road mid morning the next day. Gizella rode shotgun with her brothers, Diane and Yuki were with me. Before we set out, Janice told us she would keep us informed on major developements in the Mer community after her return; we in turn promised to keep in touch with her on how we were doing.

   It was a subdued group that headed north on I-4 that morning. After the past days of frollicking, worrying, planning, and hoping,it was as if the party was over and we needed to get back to work, which wasn't going to be easy. Besides now being part of what the larger world called the 'handicapped community', we had been among the older Mers present, which probably wouldn't help us; we were all in our late forties, although we all now looked younger than we had. Nor did we have any real idea what we might do in the future. My trucking days obviously were over, Yuki didn't really want to go back to Japan as long as she was in her present condition, but didn't yet know if she would be able to stay in the US (at least her visitor's visa wouldn't expire for several more months). Gizella had been working at her cousin's ranch in Colorado, which was not exactly ideal mermaid habitat. Diane was perhaps the most fortunate: she had chosen the current school year to take a sabbattical from her teaching position, but even she had serious doubts about returning.

   We all had our crosses to bear.



   After about two hours our little convoy pulled over to change drivers. I slid out, then crawled around to the front passenger seat while Diane slid over to take her turn at the wheel. After relinquishing driving duties to Brian, Dan came over to check on us.

   "How are you doing so far?"

   "We're OK" I said.

   "Are you sure you're alright?" My tone had Dan a little worried.

   "We're OK...we just have a lot on our minds right now".

   "Yeah, I should have thought of that. Giz has been pretty quiet too so far. We can only guess what you must have been...what you are still going through".

   "It's not every day someone gets turned into a Mer...and we still have no real idea what we are going to do..."

   Dan looked thoughtful as he tried to reassure us "I'm sure something will come up that only someone like you four can do, or you can do better than anyone else".



   After a stop near Jacksonville for gas, lunch, and another driver change (Yuki was now at the helm), we made a late afternoon arrival at the Hardeeville, South Carolina motel where we planned to spend the night. I had stayed there on my southward journey early in the month and recommended it partly because it seemed quite popular with wheelchair users - three had rolled in right behind me to claim their own reservations. Dan went in to claim our rooms (this reservation was in his name), then came out a few minutes later, almost doubled over in laughter and waving at me to come on in. All four of us Mers finally crawled into the lobby. Foxman didn't know the others but he instantly recognized me; I had been the only male Mervulcan at the Kubla Con. He shook hands with Brian and Dan, then came out from behind the counter to greet Yuki, Gizella, Diane, and me. After recommending an adjacent restaurant for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning, Foxman told us he had finally left Orlando early that morning and had been back at work for only an hour when we arrived. He then extended a standing invitation for us to stay at his motel whenever we might be in the area in the future. Knowing we had that kind of support was a major boost to our spirits.

   We made for an interesting sight when we went to bed that night. Because our beds had not been made with Mers in mind, our fins flopped over the ends as we slept; we were rather amused by the sight we thus presented.



   We were up, fed, and on the road early the following morning, Thanksgiving Day. We were more gregarious than yesterday, but still reluctant to show our tails in public more than we had to, Monday's news was still much on our minds. Getting lunch at drive-thrus and having Dan or Brian pump our gas did much to reduce our exposure.

   After a couple hours we stopped near Florence to change drivers, and it was then that the inevitable finally happened. We were on the road, and we had to 'go'.

   Even less so than beds, standard toilet facilities were not made with Mers in mind, and we approached the appropriate restrooms with trepidation. To my surprise and relief, I had only to plant my rear end atop the toilet tank, the rest then went smoothly. Diane, Gizella, and Yuki didn't say how their restroom experiences went, but they didn't appear to be upset either.

   Getting out took me considerably longer than getting in. No sooner did I exit the men's room than I found myself face-to-face with a mom and two boys who looked about seven or eight years old. She actually seemed to take my 'alien' appearance in stride, while the boys were instantly wide eyed, ooing and ahing.

   "Is your tail real?" the older one asked.

   "Yes it is" I replied. I twisted my tail and wiggled my fin, then scrunched the fin up before letting it spread wide again (it's natural posture) like a tom turkey's tail. All three were impressed by what they saw. Finally their mom asked me if she could take a couple of photos of her boys with me. I was agreeable, so she had one stand on each side of me for her photos. Both boys thanked me enthusiastically, and after some more questions and answers they were on their way.

   Both Mom and her kids were so distracted by me they never noticed the trio of mermaids wheeling behind them on their own way out of the building, it was all I could do to keep a straight face as they did so. Diane, Yuki, and I were howling with laughter after we had gotten back in my car.



   Back on the road, we pretty much lapsed into silence for a while, content to just listen to a rock music station (we found we were all longtime Springsteen fans!). Following a stop for lunch at another drive-thru, and another driver change, we got off I-95 and as we headed east on US 70, we could sense the sea calling to us, beckoning us onward. Yuki recited several verses of haiku, a popular form of poetry in her native land. I had dabbled in haiku during my high school days years before, and eventually came up with some of my own;

                                    The call of the sea
                                    Is getting stronger each day
                                    We mers can't resist

                                    Tails we mers all have
                                    Spinning high and leaping far
                                    Swim fast yes we do!

                                    We mers know its true
                                    Splashing days are here for us
                                    Our tails say its so

   We detoured briefly into New Bern to disembark Brian to join his wife and kids at a family get together at her parents' house, then we were back on the road. About an hour later we pulled up in front of our new home. The setting was even better than we had anticipated: at the end of a driveway that curved through some woods, with Dan's new house flanking ours on one side and Brian's on the other. Dan's wife Sylvia and their children Kelli and Alec (named for the Star Wars actor!) were on hand to greet us and help us carry our bags in. Sylvia and Dan then gave us a tour of the house: a large living room, a spacious kitchen-dining room, a den complete with combination sofa/bed, three bedrooms with beds, and two bathrooms already adapted for our new bodies. We were impressed that everything we needed was within our reach; Janice's advice to Dan after his arrival in Orlando, which they had phoned on to Sylvia, had proved invaluable. Dan and Sylvia had contemplated renting their old house out to vacationers, so they had left it still partially furnished when their new house was completed. Once we had returned to the dining room and got our first look out back, we could wait no longer.

   "We need towells!" Gizella said.

   "What for?" Sylvia asked after bringing four large towells out for us.

   "What do you think?" With that, we Mers were out the back door, wheeling ourselves down the plank pathway and onto the dock. We parked our chairs and splashed in. Salt water under our tails at last! We cavorted about, jumped over and over, slapped the surface with our tails and danced before our rapt audience. When we finally swam back in to haul out and dry off, it was to enthusiastic applause.



   "You were on a mission, were you?" Dan asked us as we headed back up to the house. "I mean, as soon as you four got your first look out back, you knew what you were going to do and you weren't stopping for anything".

   "That's because we are not land animals anymore" Gizella said "We're sea creatures now, this is where we really belong."

   "As soon as we got off 95" I added "We could hear the sea calling to us, over and over".

   "It was like music to our ears", said Diane and Yuki together.

   "You could hear the sea all the way from Smithfield?" Dan didn't know what to make of what we were saying to him. Finally he turned to his sister, a look of bewilderment on his face.

   "It's kind of like a sixth sense in humans" she told him.

   "Aren't you still half human, even him (pointing at me)?

   "Oh, we're still human alright, we're just not human the way we used to be. It's much more than simply losing our legs and gaining tails and even gills..."

   Dan still looked perplexed. "I guess unless I become a Mer I'll never fully understand what you are talking about". Then he changed the subject. "Why don't you four freshen up, unpack and rest up a bit, then come over to our house for dinner in a couple hours".



   Sylvia, Gizella, and I went shopping for groceries and other essentials the following morning. Yesterday afternoon's salt water swim and last night's dinner had us feeing positively boyant, almost estatic (any more so and we might have bouncing in our chairs). Being in wheelchairs and having tails, the two of us got plenty of looks, but most people were friendly enough. The main exception was some guy who said if we did not repent for our sins and join his church we would burn in Hell. He was persistant with his harrangue too. We were finally ready to tail-slap him, but Sylvia kept us apart - Dan later told us she's a lot tougher than she looks. Store security and a sheriff's officer took the misanthrope away and the store manager offered profuse apologies, then accompanied us until we had finished our shopping and were ready to depart.

   By the time we had returned home and got everything put away, Dan, Diane, and Yuki had finished attaching four 'anchorages' to some of the dock pilings. Now we could sleep underwater whenever we wanted without the current sweeping us away. We fully intended to do so as much as conditions permitted.