The wave lapped up to greet Mallory, and thusly engulfed her body in a single sweep. The girl’s hair, carefully and almost lovingly bleached by hours of sunlight, wafted through the clear water like weightless strands of gold. Once submerged in her element, the routine morphing began. A gorgeously shimmery tail was created from Mallory’s tanned legs. Gills sprouted along her jawline, mimicing ivy on an old tree.

Mallory felt the familar call of her kin ripple through the water. The woman descended quickly through the ocean, until she reached the cove that served as basically everything to her kind.

As Mallory arrived at the familiar site, her heart instantaneously sunk. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, but were soon swept away with the impending tide…