Three hours later, game has finally came to an end: Four to one, Gulls win! And Brandon became much more cautious during the game, having the first period merman incident as his only merman incident of the entire game.

An hour after the game’s end, Brandon is driving up the freeway in his Jeep. In the passenger’s seat is Nick, who is beginning to doze off; in the back seat is Joseph, who is silently sitting in the dark.

"Um, so…," Brandon starts off tentatively, "…did you see me get off the ice during the first?"

"Like a maniac?" Joseph grumbles. "Yeah."

Nick turns to him with lit-up eyes. "You turned into a merman?"

Brandon stares flatly ahead. "Yup." He sighs. "But Hacker helped out, so now he knows." He loosens up. "But hey, I didn’t turn into a merman after that!"

"Good," Joseph replies quickly.

Brandon looks ahead at an upcoming sign that is situated on the side of a bridge: BEACHES MERGE LEFT, it says with an arrow pointing diagonally down to the left lane.

He tilts his head in approval, then proceeds to merge into the left lane.

The Jeep speeds up the road that departures from the main freeway, curving toward the west.

"Wait," Joseph calls out in the dark, "where’re we going? This is not the way to my house."

"Oh, I’m taking another route," Brandon replies as the Jeep lowers down to a strip of road.

Joseph knits his eyebrows in the shadows. "Since when?"

Brandon taps his thumb on the steering wheel, debating whether to tell him the truth or not. He decides to tell the truth: "Um, because I actually wanna try out my tail."

There’s a pause. Then: "What? I thought you wanted to get rid of it."

"Yeah, but all this time, it’s been a burden to me. But I know it can be enjoyable as well. I wanna see the positive side of it."

Joseph stays silent for a moment. "So we’re heading to the beach, I take it."

Brandon nods his head. "Yeah."

---

Minutes later, Brandon’s Jeep rolls into the small parking of a park by the beach in Solana Beach. He parks the Jeep in front of the small park that is situated on the cliff above the ocean.

He turns the keys and pulls them out of the ignition, dropping them in the cup holder. He then faces the others. "You guys wanna come?"

Nick snores in reply.

"Fine," Joseph responses.

The two get off from the Jeep and step onto the sidewalk. In the dead of night with the street lights as their only source of bright light, they go down the wide stairs, through the straightaway past the park and shower area, then shuffle down the steep sand-sprinkled ramp to the sand.

They then both step onto the grainy, slightly soft sand.

"Do we really have to do this in the middle of the night?" Joseph asks flatly as he eyes his roommate.

Brandon steps deeper into the beach, toward the roaring ocean that could be heard crystal clear. "I just wanna try it out." He then stops to take his shoes off.

"You’re crazy."

"I’m a merman."

Joseph shrugs. "Still crazy."

Brandon nods toward the ocean. "Come on, follow me." He then puts his shoes by the foot of the cliff and bolts out into the darkness, toward the ocean.

With a huff and crossed arms, Joseph storms deeper into the pitch black area, having his eyes glued on Brandon’s fuzzy figure.

Brandon spots the waves of the ocean with the help of the moonlight glinting on it from the half moon. He jogs toward the lapping waters, feeling the brisk, sea salt-infused air brushing against his face and through his hair.

He then immediately feels moist, mushy sand beneath his bare feet in place of the rough, warm sand. He halts at the feeling and peers down at his feet against the foam-like ground.

Suddenly, a wave crashes against the shore and stretches out toward the sand, washing over his feet and running against his ankles.

Right away, the sensation bursts from inside him.

"HAH!" Brandon shouts at the vast ocean. "I’M GONNA TURN INTO A MERMAN!" He then dashes into the ocean, water splashing and spraying all over him as he kicks it up, having it drizzle into the lapping ocean.

As he feels his legs transforming into a tail, he dives with his hands one on top of another over his head into the lively water.

He immediately feels the frigidness of the waters rush through him as he becomes submerged into the Alaskan-native waters. He continues breathing under the surface like as if he is still in the air, blowing out bubbles every time he exhales. He gazes around the dusky, cloudy waters with fully-open eyes, surprised that they do not sting with the salt.

Brandon raises his head through the surface in a seal pose, since he is still in shallow waters. He spots his roommate at the shoreline, safe from the sloshing waves.

"Hey! Joey!" he hollers at him. "Do you wanna join? It’s so cool! I can breathe underwater and see underwater!"

"No way!" Joseph shouts back at him. "I’m not swimming in the ocean in the middle of the night! That’s insane--like you!"

"Alright…! You’re gonna miss out on all the fun!" Then with that, Brandon ducks back into the surface, makes a quick U-turn and begins propelling himself into the ocean.

He swoops deeper into the dark waters as the slope made of sand drops down toward the ocean floor. He then begins pushing through the waters in a straight light as he drifts farther away from the slope, farther away from shore.

In the shadowy waters, the only source of light is the dulled moon, which is weakly shining its rays through the surface. The waters have now grown moderate in temperature according to the merman, making this experience much more enjoyable.

In the rays’ range, he would spot a whisking fish or a speeding school of fish, even a menacing shark. He would trace his fingers along the rough coral, feeling its bumps and soft spots. He would reach out to run his hands through stalks of seaweed, wrapping his arm around its smooth leafs. Sometimes a sea anemone would pop into view and he would give into the temptation of sticking his finger into its soft, squishy inside to get it sucked on.

He would flap his tail to his desired pace, going neck-breaking speeds one could only dream of, leaving a dense trail of bubbles behind. He feels the soft, round, ticklish bubbles brush by him as his hair streaks behind him. He would then spin around in circles parallel to the surface like a torpedo, flip around in loops like a gymnast, even swim backward with his eyes locked on the mesmerizing light from above.

He then would dare himself to go deep down into the abyss below, wondering if he would find anything valuable such as treasure or a sunken boat. With a deep breath of courage, he blasts down into the pitch blackness, eager to touch the bottom of the ocean. Yet as the layers of darkness continues on and on and on, the layers of hope he had wash away one by one. He then knew that even if he was near treasure or a sunken ship, he would not be able to know it or see it due to the inky waters.

If only he had night vision.

So with that, Brandon makes a flip to face the surface and bursts higher and higher, back into lighter waters, back into "civilization." He then continues speeding closer and closer to the surface, intending to reach it.

His head explodes through the surface as the cold morning air hits his soaked head. He wipes his plastered hair from his eyes while taking in the fresh air. Once he could see fully, he quickly notices that the time had flown: The sky is now brighter with splashes of pink, orange, purple, and light blue as the sun slowly rises from the horizon. The sky reflects the rolling waters, giving it a pink tint.

"What?" Brandon sputters. "It’s already morning?" He gazes around his surroundings, dumbfounded. "That felt like only ten minutes!" Then with one last look at the early morning scenery, he dives back into the water, his deep blue tail following behind him.

He begins swimming east to get to shore, hoping to beat the beach crowd so that no one would spot him. He notices the ocean waters becoming much more vibrant, opening up its wonders as the sun begins casting its luminous rays through it.

Brandon smiles as the sight of rushing, colourful fish, passing dolphins, and vibrant coral jutting from the ocean floor. It is such a refreshing scene to see after experiencing the solemn ocean night.

He then spots the slope, notifying him that he is quite close to shore. He swims toward the slope and begins following it upward until it touches the surface of the water.

At the edge of the slope, Brandon breaks the surface above him. He spots the empty shore many yards away from him, then ducks back in. He slides through the shallow waters, gliding under the mountainous waves.

He then senses the current pulling him toward the shore. With that, he stops his motions and lets the current thrust him forward and slide onto the shore.

He emerges from the water, the moist sand on his stomach. He raises the tip of his tail and his fin as the waves retract back into the water so that the waves would not wash him back into the ocean. His tail glints majestically in the morning sun due to it sprinkled with water.

"Alright." Brandon sighs. "Time to dry myself." He peers around his empty surroundings.

He quickly spots his pair of shoes and a folded beach towel in the sandy part of the beach. His eyes light up at the sight. "Nice!"

---

A few minutes later, Brandon is in his human form, ambling up the wide stairs toward the parking lot. He then halts in his tracks when he sees the vacant parking lot the Jeep was once parked in.

"Uhhh…" Brandon darts his eyes in search of his Jeep. "Where’s the Jeep?" With the Jeep nowhere in sight, he lets out a sigh. "The guys must’ve taken it to go home."

Brandon stuffs his hand in his jeans’ pocket and pulls out his phone. He then calls up his "sane" roommate.

"Uhhh…Crammer?" Brandon starts off warily, standing on the corner of the sidewalk and the edge of the park.

"What?" Joseph remarks harshly from the other end of the line.

"Where’s the Jeep?"

"At home. Where else?"

"Oh, um—" Brandon flicks his eyes down. "I need it."

"Finally done with your little swim?" Joseph tauntingly asks.

He lets out an embarrassed chuckle. "Heh, sorry, uh, I got carried away—"

"DON’T YOU KNOW HOW LONG I WAITED FOR‽" Joseph roars through the phone, making Brandon pull his phone away from his ear.

"Sorry—" He presses his phone back against his ear. "—sorry, I said you could swim—!"

"I DON’T SWIM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!!!"

Brandon grimaces at his phone. He then slowly puts it back next to his ear. "Joey. Can you bring the Jeep—?"

"Fine." Then with that, Joseph quickly hangs up.

Brandon turns off his phone and slips it in his jeans’ pocket. "At least he said he’d pick me up," he mumbles to himself.

Notes

E.7 "Imma Merman"
Part 5/8
Episode 7/20