Mermaid Pirate Dispatch

Lauri paused at the door, glancing over her shoulder to listen. Her daughter was sound asleep and all was quiet. Her mother-in-law smiled at her from the couch, making shoveling motions with her hands, urging Lauri outside.

Grinning gratefully, she slipped out and carefully closed the door behind her. The weather had been so unpredictable lately, with random rainstorms and unseasonably cool weather frequently frustrating her plans to go for more walks. Today, though, the weather was nice. The sky was clear, except for a few scattered puffs of bright, wispy white clouds drifting by lazily high overhead. There was almost no breeze, and the strong spring sun bathed her skin in the kind of warmth that sparks an inner glow.

Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the street and headed deeper into the neighborhood. Her street wasn’t the best place to walk, given the lack of sidewalks, but it was a nice little community. Lawns wore vibrant green grass and houses were quaint and simple. She heard birds chirping excitedly, making their spring time preparations. She watched squirrels dash up tree trunks and disappear into the thick cover of leaves. A neighbor was running their sprinkler while a dog and a child played gleefully in the glistening shower of mist that wafted toward her. She smiled and let the fine spray wash over her cheeks and arms as she passed by at the edge of the dark pavement.

As she turned and strayed further from the main roads, the neighborhood grew quieter. No more laughter drifting through the air. No growling engines or barking dogs. It was peaceful, quiet.

“Hey!” a small voice called out. “Watch where you’re sticking those huge feet of yours!”

Lauri’s heart jumped and she froze, a rush of goosebumps rippling through her flesh. Silence. She glanced around. A bird fluttered by, but there was no other movement. Carefully, she took another step.

“My goodness! Are you trying to flatten me?”

Her heart was pounding. “Who’s there?” she asked, immediately feeling silly. She looked down and didn’t see anything.

“Nobody you need to concern yourself with. Just watch where you’re stepping!” The voice ended on a shrill, tense note.

“I’m sorry,” she said slowly, scanning the area around her feet carefully, shifting her weight and checking around her legs and behind her.

“Yeah well you’ve got a lot of nerve walking here anyway. Nobody walks around here. This was a safe neighborhood until you came stomping through in those massive murder weapons.”

Something about the way the voice sounded tickled Lauri. She tried hard not to laugh, but a small chuckle slipped out.

“Oh you think this is funny?”

She looked harder, really trying to see where this voice might be coming from. She moved her feet a little, being careful not to lift them too high.

“Lady I wish I was a hundred times taller than you so I could come trampling through your yard and flattening your lawn.” He sounded disgusted, spewing pure contempt up at her. But her ears couldn’t corroborate the story her head was trying to believe. The source of the sound wasn’t coming from directly around her feet. She widened her search area a bit, and that’s when she saw him.

Lauri smiled and peered down at the little fellow. He’d been easy to miss, sitting low in the grass and matching its color nearly perfectly. He was shiny, smooth, and hardly moving. His mouth was slightly agape with the shock of being spotted.

“Hey now,” Lauri said, grinning from ear to ear. “I didn’t almost step on you. You’re all the way over there!” She got on her knees and bent over to get a closer look.

“Not too close!” he cried, his little frog lips moving in a most peculiar way. He scuttled back a few steps, his eyes wide with terror. “I might… I might be… contagious!” he exclaimed dramatically.

“Contagious?” Lauri questioned. “What, like the condition where you can talk? It’s too late for me, I can already talk!”

“Well,” he stuttered, his little eyes darting around frantically. “Maybe I’m a prince who’s been turned into a frog, and if you get too close you’ll be transformed as well!”

She laughed, getting comfortable in the grass by his side. “Fine with me,” she said. “I think I’d be perfectly content to become a frog. Are you really contagious? What do I have to do to catch what you have?”

The frog squirmed uncomfortably. “Well,” he began, “I have actually always been a frog. I don’t think…” He shook his head. “I don’t owe you any explanation! Go on now, get out of here! You’re dangerous. You could squish someone my size without even giving it a second thought!”

“But I wouldn’t,” she assured him. “I happen to love frogs.” She paused. “How is it that you can talk?”

He wiggled his body, settling deeper into the cool blades of grass contentedly, closing his eyes. “I’m not telling you,” he said with resolve.

Lauri sprawled out and let her head fall back, resting on the grass next to the talking frog. “No matter,” she said dismissively. “I was just curious.”

“Hey!” he yelled. “What are you doing? Don’t get comfortable! You need to go!”

She turned her head toward him and squinted. “Why?” she asked, looking back up at the sky.

“Well why are you staying? Why not just keep walking?”

“Because I like you,” she said. “I want to spend some time chatting with you. Can’t I hang out a while?”

He threw his hands up and brought them down on his closed eyes with a tiny thwap, deflating like a balloon. He groaned and grumbled to himself for a moment before finally saying, “You really should go. I don’t want company. I want to be alone!”

“Why?” Lauri asked, rolling onto her elbow and propping herself up. “Why do you want to be alone?”

The little frog stared blankly at her, his tiny eyes scanning her huge, imposing figure. She was like a whole mountain range, towering over him and blocking out the sun. She watched his body closely, noting how he trembled and twitched. He had a nervous, jittery disposition, and she half expected him to turn and run, hopping away to some tiny shelter where she couldn’t follow him.

Finally, after a long moment had passed, he whispered, “I guess I don’t want to be alone. It’s just the way things have been since…” His forlorn eyes drifted to the road and a twinge poked uncomfortably at her heart. She knew that look, it was the same way she looked at her bedroom.

“Will you come home with me?” she asked suddenly. Her mouth had blurted out the words before she had a chance to think about it.

The little frog lurched back abruptly and stared at her with wide eyes.

She slowly extended her open hand, palm up. “We can keep each other company,” she said softly. “We can tell each other stories, talk about our memories, and…”

Before she could finish, the little frog burst up from the grass and flew onto her hand, landing with a small plop right in the center of her palm. His cool, smooth skin was relaxed and soft. He nestled into her and closed his eyes with a gentle smile spreading along his long, wide lips.

Lauri carefully got to her feet, beaming. She had to fight the urge to pull the frog in close for a hug that would surely smother him. She smiled all the way home, thinking of all the wonderful tales they would tell each other, wondering what kind of fun little home she would build for him, and daydreaming about how excited her daughter would be to meet him.

The end.