The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [17]
Lena poured a glass of red wine and handed it to her mom.
"Ohhh, Lena, you're the bearer of nectar and ambrosia tonight." She took a sip. "Delicious."
Mom must know, thought Lena. Dad would have told her how my mother died.
Scrolling through recorded shows on the DVR, her mom said, "Oh, Project Runway! Excellent! You know I love to watch that show while I eat. Those size-zero models make me feel hungry." She pressed Play on the remote. "Want to watch with me, sweetie?"
Lena regarded her mom, exhausted after a long day of work ... now relaxing with leftovers and reality TV. "Sure," she said, and sat down next to her. The old sorrows could wait.
CHAPTER 9
Lena felt a flash of panic when she woke up. Am I on the beach again?
Then she felt her mattress beneath her ... solid, not sandy. She saw the four walls of her room, covered with glossy waves ... not the vast expanse of the Pacific. She relaxed, rolling over to see her clock radio. 5:40.
Earlier than usual, she thought, closing her eyes.
She tried to recapture the remnants of her dream. A woman's voice had been singing: "By the light ... of the silvery moon..." But wait, it wasn't a silvery moon, in her dream. It was some other word—blueberry moon. Lena smiled in the darkness. The mind was a mysterious thing.
Oh! Lena's eyes flew open. Today's my birthday.
She climbed out of bed and went to her window. She pushed the curtains aside and gazed out at the darkness. A full moon hung in the sky, looking enormous. The harvest moon, thought Lena. Then she smiled. A silvery moon.
She climbed back in bed, snuggling down under the covers, but sleep would not come.
I guess I'm up, she thought. Might as well go for a walk.
She pulled on warm clothes and paused by her desk, looking down at the photo of Lucy she had removed from the photo album. She touched a finger to the image, and felt a surge of longing for her mother. "It's my birthday, Mama," she whispered. "I'm sixteen today."
Padding quietly down the stairs, she wrote on the dry- erase board:
OCTOBER 10!—went for birthday walk—back
for pancakes—chocolate chip!
She slipped outside and hurried down to the beach. She took a deep breath once she reached the sand, filling her lungs with cold salt air. My first present of the day, she mused. The beach.
She headed north, in the direction of Magic Crescent Cove. The beam of light from Pelican Point Lighthouse winked at her over and over, as if beckoning her. "I'm coming," she whispered.
Why don't you ask my sister to teach you to surf? she heard Kai's voice in her head. Lena stomped her feet on the packed sand. I should have said yes.
She grabbed a long, pointed piece of driftwood and dragged it behind her as she walked. She stopped and wrote the words I WILLS URF in the wet sand.
The tide was still out when Lena came to the bend in the cove where Shipwreck Rocks loomed. She walked close to the water's edge, then climbed across the wet rocks and jumped down on the other side.
The sky began to lighten, imperceptibly at first. Just blackness, then a dark gray color, then pearl gray. Lena found a dry log farther down the beach and sat down. She rested her eyes on the sea, listening to the endless roar of the ocean, feeling tiny on the earth.
The sun rose, casting a weak October light through the clouds. Seagulls appeared as scribbles in the sky, wheeling and flapping. It must be getting close to seven now, thought Lena. I should probably head back.
But she lingered, gazing out to sea, her soul peaceful and open.
After another moment, her eyes focused on a distant rounded shape beyond the breakers. Two shapes. Dolphins.
She stood up, trying to see better. It was rare to see dolphins along this stretch of coast,