What the Tide Brings

Chapter 1 - Liam - Washed Ashore

The beach was devoid of human life so early in the morning. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, lighting the sea with its orange glow. Liam liked the serenity this time of day offered. He enjoyed the solitude, being the only one getting to enjoy it. Morning was his favorite time of day, the time he felt most relaxed and productive.

Most beach-goers didn't get out of bed so early during summer. Especially the many privileged patrons that visited Linda Cove, a small island community five miles off the coast of South Carolina.

Only a couple hundred permanent residents occupied the island. That number multiplied by almost five during the summer months. The celebrities and socialites that owned the enormous beach houses on North Shore Drive came in droves between June and August. At the end of the season, they evacuated back to whatever mansion or penthouse awaited them. During the off season, the entire street lay deserted. That's the way the locals preferred it. At least, according to Liam's grandfather.

Liam's family came to the island every year to visit the old man. They stayed for two months every summer. Liam's mother worried about his grandfather living alone, since her mother passed away, five years ago, when Liam was twelve.

The wind whipped at his tousled brown hair as he kicked a small round rock along the shore. With one swift kick he sent the sand scattering into the wind. The rock sailed through the air to land in the surf. That last kick deposited sand in his shoe, but he didn't want to stop. He wanted to make it to the lighthouse and back before the beach became too crowded to maneuver, so he walked on for another ten minutes until he couldn't take the gritty nuisance any longer.

He plopped down and pulled his shoes off, turning them upside down to let the sand pour out. While he sat there, the tide flowed in. The wave barely brushed the tips of his toes. The frigid water caused a shiver to shoot through his whole body.

He stood, dangling his shoes from his fingers, before the next wave soaked his clothes. He brushed off the seat of his shorts and continued on to the lighthouse. It was about the height of a three-story house, but its location on the bluff allowed it an amazing view of the entire island.

Liam had loved this place since he was little. His grandfather brought him to watch the annual sailing race around the island, holding him up to the glass in the lantern room. The brilliant, colorful sails were a sight to behold. The memory brought a smile to Liam's face as he entered the building. He dropped his shoes by the door and climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time, in a rush to get to the top. As always.

He took a deep breath of the salty air when his foot hit the top step. It surprised him to find all the windows open. Mr. Gulch never opened the windows in the lantern room. Unless he was doing maintenance.

But the crotchety caretaker was nowhere in sight.

Liam gazed out at the sparkling water. Apart from a lone fishing boat—which he used Mr. Gulch's binoculars to identify—the water was perfectly calm and clear today.

A glint of light caught his eye, so he scanned the water, searching for the source. Another boat, maybe. Some trash floating in the waves. A glass bottle, perhaps. He saw it again, but only for a moment.

Still, it was long enough to confirm that it originated from a sandbar twenty yards out from the beach. He squinted his eyes in the binoculars, adjusting the view, to see it better. All he could make out was a shimmering lump of seaweed. Just junk, he thought.

He was about to put the binoculars down when a wave crashed against the lump. A tail fin flapped as the water receded. It was some kind of creature caught up in a net.

Liam dropped the binoculars on the map table, where he got them. He rushed down the stairs and out the door, forgetting his shoes in his haste. He ran across the sand at top speed.

Instilled with a sense of duty to protect all living things by his eco-loving mother, he knew he needed to help the poor creature.

The waves crashed against him, occasionally throwing him off-balance, as he made his way toward the sandbar. The water rarely rising above his thighs. He took out the pocketknife his grandfather gave him for his sixteenth birthday last year and dropped to his knees. He hacked and pulled at the net until his fingers were sore and raw.

The clouds overhead rolled away, bathing everything in sunlight. The glint off the creature's long silver tail distracted Liam, and he nicked his finger with the blade. He squinted against the blinding glare of the sun's rays reflected off the scales, trying to see through the colorful spots in his vision to cut away the last strands of the cord.

Once freed, the creature rolled down the incline away from him, halfway into the water.

Liam tossed the scraps of net aside and crept toward the thing, shielding his eyes against the light. He didn't know what it was, but it was definitely not a dolphin. No dolphin he'd ever seen had mirrored skin, or such a large fishlike tail fin. Whatever it was, he planned to push it back into the water. Then it could swim away, and he could go home with his head held high, knowing he'd done a good deed. He might even share the story with his mom to earn some points for good behavior, which he needed after the last year.

But things didn't go exactly to plan. When he rolled the creature over, blinking to clear his vision, he got the shock of his life. He could not believe his own eyes. It wasn't a fish. Not even close.

It was a girl... with a tail where her legs should be.