The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [51]
The murkiness in the water lightened. Lena peered deeper into the mirror, able to make out figures. They seemed to be spinning slowly in a circle.
Lena's hands began to shake. As the mirror quivered in her grasp, she saw that by moving it in different directions, she could see different perspectives under water. Now she was able to look more clearly at the figures in the circle. There was no question: they were mer-people. Their chests rose and fell, breathing in the salt water. Their lower bodies consisted of glimmering tails instead of legs.
Lena twisted the mirror in her hands again, trying to see even closer. They revolved slowly in their graceful dance. There was one mermaid in the center of the circle.
Is it my mermaid? wondered Lena. Did she want me to see her world?
Lena's eyes were fixed intently on the images in the mirror. She no longer saw or heard anything around her. She was no longer even aware of being in her parents' bedroom. Her whole being was concentrated on the underwater scene unfolding before her eyes. It was like watching a live-action camera. The mer-people turned in their unbroken circle, swaying gently, hands joined to enclose the solitary mermaid in the center.
Now Lena could hear sounds, too. She could hear a mournful, sweet song reaching up to her ears from the depths of the sea. It was like no human song she had ever heard, sounding more like a thousand violins and flutes all playing at once. And now she could make out speech. It certainly was not English, yet somehow, Lena could understand it. The sounds whirled into her mind, and she knew their meanings: "child," "alone" "heart" "life."
The mermaid within the circle lifted her hands to her face, head tilted back, eyes open in silent supplication. Lena moved the mirror in her hand, trying to get a closer glimpse of"her" mermaid. The mirror, as if it could divine her wishes, as if sensing her destination, began to zoom in slowly on the solitary mermaid.
Long, floating hair ... a sinuous, silver tail ... slim white arms ... delicate hands covering her face, as if grief-stricken. What's wrong with her? thought Lena. What could make her look that way? Maybe this is how they have funerals.
The mermaid's hands came away from her face, and she stared mutely around at the circle of her people. Green eyes ... heart-shaped face with a delicately pointed chin.
It was Lucy. It was Lena's mother.
Her lips opened again, and Lena could hear her. "Selena ... Selena. I remember. I remember now."
CHAPTER 28
She's alive, was Lena's first thought.
Not "She's a mermaid." But "She's alive." Her mother had not killed herself, whatever that death certificate said.
I'mha lf-mermaid, was Lena's second thought.
As if the gold key had unlocked not only a dusty trunk, but dozens of mysteries in Lena's life, everything began to make sense, like an unseen hand sliding puzzle pieces into place.
Blood work ... We're not leaving Diamond Bay ... How do you think Lena's going to feel when she finds out the truth?...You're a natural...
It all made sense. Maybe it even explained why she fainted that day on the twenty-ninth floor. Maybe her body went into some kind of shock when she was too far above sea level.
"Lena, didn't you hear me? I've been calling you..." Her dad stood in the doorway. "What are you—?"
Lena realized that far back in her consciousness, she must have heard the garage door opening, then the back door opening, then her father's voice calling her. But she was so absorbed in the undersea world opening up in front of her eyes that she had not registered his arrival.
Her dad's face darkened as he saw the trunk sitting open next to Lena. Then the look of anger on his face was replaced by an expression of primal fear.
"You found the mirror!" he cried, rushing forward. He wrenched it from her grasp.
Lena stood up, her voice breaking as she cried, "She's alive! You told me she was dead. But she's alive! I can see her!" She tried to snatch the mirror back.
Her father held it above his head and stepped away from her.