On the day of her 18^th birthday, Charlene woke up bright and early. By the time her sister arrived she had already put on her best pearls and combed her hair. Each of the sisters presented her with a diamond to wear of her tail. When they were done she had 18 diamonds to present her age. But she couldn’t wait to see her father, King Neptune, the one who can grant her wish.

Neither Charlene nor any of her sisters had ever seen their father so angry. When she told him her wish of becoming a human he pounded the sea-table so hard that the whole water world shook. He told her to never mention it and escorted her back to her chamber. Charlene was so sad and dejected that she missed the tear of an old man caring for his daughter. Everyone including Charlene knew that she was the old king’s favorite daughter. She always thought it was because she looked most like her mother but she had no idea that she was also the one most like her father. When King Neptune was young, he also dreamed about the human world and wanted to walk the human land. But reality was cruel in the human world and he had to learn the hard way. And now, all he wants to do his to protect his precious daughter.

Outside Charlene’s chamber, fish guards rotated day and night. The mer-servants would bring in her three meals and check on her. Charlene’s sisters also came to visit her and King Neptune himself came once a day. An uneventful week went by and Charlene was ready to make her move. During dinner time, one of the two guards would go and get her dinner so all she had to do was handle one guard. Charlene picked up a jelly fish and thought to herself: this is going to hurt. She swallowed the jelly fish whole and waited for the reaction. Minutes later she felt the stint of the live jelly fish as it try to find a way out in her stomach. She rolled around on her shell bed and called out to the guard. By that time, she was turning green from the pain already. The guard told her to hold on and went to fetch the Mer-doctor. When Charlene saw that the guard was gone, she quickly opened and inhaled a stomach full of water. With a loud barb, out came the jelly fish. Charlene scans the hallway and was quickly on her way.

Charlene stood rock still as the witch-queen circled around her curiously; she was starting to get goose bumps. Finally the witch-queen opened and asked Charlene for the last time: are you sure human is what you want to become?

Charlene nodded and answered confidently: yes, please make my wish come true. For the whole time, only one person was on her mind and very soon she could be with him.

Charlene never felt such pain in her life; it was as if a thousand needles were stabbing at her legs. Slowly she could also feel her lung beginning to fill with water and she was running out o breathe. Then, a strong wave pushed her out of the water and she could breathe again. Although it was very painful, she kicked her legs as fast as she could until she finally reached land. Her seagull friends noticed her and flow around her. They all thought sometime were different about her but they couldn’t put their finger around it until a young seagull laughed at her . Finally they all realized that her lower body was not covered by scales anymore. The seagulls get busy and found her a picnic clothes to cover herself just in time as some of the people from the castle started to approach. This was the first time Chun and Charlene met officially. The seagulls told her a makeup story about how she was the daughter of a captain and their boat were attacked by pirates. She had no idea how long she had been floating in the ocean until she reached the island. She could tell that he bought her story from the look of sympathy on his face. From the corner of her eyes, she could also see a few of her sisters hiding behind the rocks with tears in their eyes. Beyond them, a thunder split through the sky and rain drops started to pour. Her father must have found out by now and Charlene can only imagine how angry he must be. I’m sorry father but I know you will be happy for me as I find true love. Charlene looked up and smiled at Chun; he noticed and smiled back at her.