Title: "The Boy With Fins"

Status: Finished

Last touched: Mid-late 2018, submitted to a contest hosted by a Wattpad user

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Jack peered into the tank and felt his heart stop mid-beat. "What the-" He almost cursed, but knew his father was right there and wouldn't approve, so he managed to hold his tongue.

"Well, how do you feel about our newest member of the Palm Shore Aquarium, son?" His father asked, putting a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"It's.... Different." He answered blankly, staring into the tank at the hybrid.

"Isn't it? I'm sure it will bring quite a crowd. Think about it now, Jackson. Groups bustling about, struggling to buy their tickets.... The creature doing flips and spins in the air... Oh, and imagine the popularity! The advertisements!" He waved his hands around as if he was showing Jack a poster, turning his head to grin at his son. "We could be on TV for this!"

Jack looked down at the creature, a myth, a legend, in real life. The merman was swimming lazy circles, as if he had already given up fighting. It was almost sad.

His father smiled proudly at him. "You're an artist, aren't you? Go ahead, son. Make our first poster. It needs to be amazing, eye-catching, beautiful, majestic!" He was getting almost hysterical.

Jack nodded a little. "Okay."

The man cuffed the boy on the shoulder. "Great. You can start tomorrow. It's getting dark." He pointed to the sky, which had already begun to turn blooming colors of red and orange: a perfect sunset.

Jack smiled a little as he watched the sun slowly sink down below the horizon. There was a sound of gentle splashing, and he looked down to see that the merman had raised his head out of the water to watch the setting sun.

"See you tomorrow." He waved as he walked away, feeling as if the creature needed some sort of goodbye. But the man didn't move or even turn his head as he drooped back below the surface.

____

The next morning, Jack was up bright and early, way earlier than usual. Even though it was Saturday, he couldn't wait to start his next project: making the poster sure to bring crowds of people rushing into their aquarium.

He pulled out the things he knew he would need, the first being his tablet. He knew it might be a horrible idea to bring a piece of technology so close to the water, but he knew that this poster had to be perfect.

There was a knock on his door, and he lifted his head to acknowledge the sound. "C'mon in."

His father peeked in. "Up and at 'em. Today's a big day."

"Already up and ready for work." Jack replied with an excited grin.

"Wonderful. Eat some breakfast and we'll leave soon."

The man left the room, and his son quickly gathered his things and followed suit. As he sat down at the table, his mother rushed over with a plate of pancakes. She set them in the center of the table and laid out plates for Jack and his father.

"What about you?" Jack asked as he realized she hadn't put a plate down for herself.

"Oh, please! You both need to eat more than I do. Plus, heaven knows you two eat more like pigs than men."

He laughed as his father grabbed several pancakes and gave out an offended "oink".

Jack ate as quickly (and neatly, after his mother's comment) as he could, grabbed his things, and plopped down in his father's SUV.

They drove wordlessly to the aquarium, both too excited to say anything. As they parked in their usual spot in the back, Jack leapt out of the car and walked to the tank with the merman.

His father sidled up next to him. "So. I think he needs a name. Don't you? For the publicity?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah."

"Hmm.." There was silence as the man thought.

"Fin." The word popped out of Jack's mouth before he even had a chance to think about it.

His father chuckled. "So original. But.. Catchy, I guess. And it'll fit on the poster."

Jack didn't know what to think. His father didn't care about the actual living creature. All he cared about was the popularity the aquarium was sure to earn from it. "Mhm." He mumbled.

"Get going, then." The man strolled away, whistling to himself.

Jack nodded and sat down beside the tank. Unlike some of the tanks, this one was open and rather shallow. But I guess it was hard for a person with fins to somehow get out of it.

He brought out his tablet and drawing pen. "Alright, Fin. Pose for me."

The merman didn't even look up from where he lay curled up at the bottom of the tank. If Jack didn't see the bubbles drifting lazily from the creature's gills, he would never have thought he was alive.

The boy frowned a little as he adjusted his position. "C'mon.. My dad's gonna kill me if I don't make a good poster."

Still the merman didn't say or do anything. Jack was starting to wonder whether he was in coma without anyone realizing it. Did stress make animals pass out like that?

"Hello?" He murmured, scooting closer to the tank. He brought out his phone. Maybe he could take a picture of him if he ever posed, then use the photo for drawing reference.

Jack was aligning his shot as his fingers slipped and dropped the phone. He could only watch as the device sank into the water with a small plop.

"No.... No, no, no, no...." The boy started to put his hand into the water, and that was when the merman met his gaze. The eyes were hard, most likely sculpted by his survival in the wild. They were like nothing he had ever seen, two orbs of pure life, glass looking into the sea.

Jack fell speechless under the creature's stare, his hand resting uselessly on the surface of the water.

He watched as the hybrid bent down to examine the phone. The creature held it in his hand, then surfaced, the device still in his grip. He met Jack's gaze again, but this time it was pure fear, pure helplessness, that the boy saw in his eyes.

The merman set the phone on the side of the tank, beside Jack. Then he ducked under the water again and curled up, looking as dead as before.

Jack hadn't gotten the pictures needed, but he worked with Fin's curled up figure instead. He was proud of the final product as he handed it to his father, already bracing himself for the harsh comment he predicted.

At the top of the poster lay six words. Six beautiful words.

Save Fin the Fantastic Fish-Man!

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My Thoughts:

It's not super dynamic or plot-driven but, all in all, it's a pretty cute story. It's decently well-written and just intriguing enough that I feel like it could potentially inspire a longer story. 

Honestly, I don't have much more to say about this, as I don't think it's amazingly good or bad; it's pretty average, in my opinion.

The ending is kind of open-ended and leaves me wondering what would happen next. How exactly would Fin be saved? Would it be a Free Willy situation? Would the relationship between Jack and Fin grow at all? It's interesting to think about.