Floundering in the Pool~a Photostory

It was a perfect summer day, and I was about to spend it at the pool with my sister Ruthie. I caked on sunscreen, then settled down to relax in a lounge chair. 

“Ahhhh… I could get used to this.” 

Ruthie then poked my shoulder and I sat up. “Are you going to actually go in the pool?”

I replied, “Well…” Looking at the inviting chair loaded with snacks and towels, I hadn’t planned on it.

“That’s why we came here.”

“Okay, I guess. I dipped my legs into the water but jumped back immediately. “It’s f-f-f-reezing!” Finally I decided to just take a chance and jump in. Here goes nothing…

It wasn’t so bad! I swam around a bit, until I saw something cool- a raft! Score! Now I could relax-and Ruthie couldn’t complain,  I was in the pool, after all. I yawned. I’ll just lie here for a while. Closing my eyes, I slowly drifted off to sleep.I was once again rudely awoken by splashes of water on my face. I sat up on the raft- I couldn’t believe my eyes! This is what I saw, sitting on the edge of the pool.A mermaid, combing her hair…with a fork? She cheerfully slapped her tail against the water again, sending shimmery droplets flying everywhere. “Hi! She waved. I’m Ariel!” I swam under the surface to get a better look at her tail.

Oh. My. Gosh. THE Ariel? As in, my favorite disney princess, Ariel?! “H-h-h-i!” I stammered. I scolded myself mentally, You’re meeting a princess, and now you choose to be shy? Loosen up! Pretty soon, we were swimming around and having TONS of fun. 

Ariel told me all about her friends, Sebastian and Flounder, as she combed out her already flawless red curls. I was in awe watching the princess swim gracefully. We started horsing around, and I thought I might never get out of the pool! Then, Ariel flipped my raft over and sent me under the surface. I was not expecting that!I swam around, trying to get to the surface, but Ariel was gone. I shrugged and climbed up on the raft, smiling to myself.

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I woke up on the raft. Sitting up eagerly, I scanned the pool for the Little Mermaid. She was nowhere to be seen…I was disappointed. I carefully climbed out of the water and onto the lounge chair, where Ruthie was shamelessly eating my Cheez-its. “Oh, there you are!” She said. “I thought you were going to stay on that raft forever.”

Confused, I asked, “Where’s Ariel?”

“Who?”

“C’mon, Ruthie, stop playing games!”

“I’m not!”

“Well, I met the Little Mermaid and I want to know where she went!” I was hysterical by now. 

She was silent for a second and then burst out laughing. “Brookie, you fell asleep! You were dreaming.”

“Wait. You mean I didn’t actually meet Ariel? I didn’t see a mermaid tail?”

Biting her lip, Ruthie answered, “Nope.”

“Oh. Well. I guess we can leave, then…” I finished awkwardly. As I walked out disappointed and wrapped in a fluffy towel, I glanced at the pink raft floating around the pool.

On top lay a shiny sliver fork.

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~Rutvi ❤