hanna's+story+for+feb.

The Mythical Thing That Changed My Life
I was just normal Isebella until that day...


 * July 18th, 2010**

I was all alone walking along the shore of the beach. I was searching for something. I didn't know what I was looking for but some part of me told me that something amazing would happen.....

I knew every part of Conwall Cove. I'd grown up here. I may not have had a family to grow up with, but I still had a home to grow up in. Ever since I'd ran away from the orphanage I'd grown very independent. I used to wait at night on the road for my mom to find me but she never did. I assumed she was dead so I continued on my way.

When people came and tried to buy the abandoned cabin I'd found last year I protected it in some strange ways. Let's just say it was more of a physical battle and that the real estate man would recover soon.

I knew every tree and animal that lived here. I knew the forest part of the Cove like the back of my hand. I knew every trail, every sound, and every grain of sand.

I went to go sit at the edge of the ocean, to feel the cool chill of the sparkling water against my bare feet. I watched as a seagull pryed open a baby oyster. I thought of how helpless it was. It couldn't protect itself at all.

Behind me something moved. I turned around to see what it was. It was a little puppy. That puppy was dark brown with little white spots all over. It looked cold. I went over there to see if it had a collar. That little helpless ball of fluff was shivering by the time I went over. She didn't have a collar so I assumed it was homeless. I slipped on my bright green flip flops and picked up the little puppy.

On my way home along the timber trail I caught a glimpse of a mother bear who was with her cubs deep within the forest. I turned around a little frightened. It seemed like that bear was everywhere. I started running down the trail. I could hear the little puppy whine.

When I reached my cabin I ran strait up towards my room. Up there I looked out on the trail and saw nothing. I looked farther and in the water I caught a glimpse of nothing but a little girl. "Oh my gosh," I thought to myself. It looked like the little girl was drowning. I put the puppy down and closed the door behind me as I ran down the narrow hallway and out into the fresh air. The breeze felt good through my hair. I couldn't let myself get distracted.

"Hello? " I yelled over and over to the girl but the girl wouldn't answer. As I got closer I noticed that she was about my age, a 16 year old teenager.

"Oh my gosh,"I gasped out loud as I realized she was unconsious. She had a red bump on her head. I pulled her out of the water and into the soft sand.

"Wake up! "I yelled out loud in a depressed tone.

I brought the girl up to my cabin. I laid her down on the couch that I had woven out of palm leaves. I went into the freezer and brought a bag of peas out and put it on the strange girl's head. I sat there for about five minutes but decided that she would regain consiousness in a while.

I went upstairs with a can of meat for the puppy which I named Pookie. As Pookie was finishing up her meat I heard a thud downstairs. I put Pookie in my backpack along with the litle bit of meat left as I ran out of my room.

"W hat the heck?!" I yelled as I was going down the stairs. The mysterious girl was rummaging through my fridge.

"Um, what are you doing? "I asked the mysterious girl,"What do you want?"

"Water," the girl replied, " I need water."

"Top shelf," I told the girl.

That strage girl gulped down my whole jug of water in less than a minute.

"Wow, umm.. what's your name?"

"Lauren. Lauren Finn," said the girl in a much more calm voice.

The girl, Lauren, had dark brown eyes and a mischievous smile all the time. It might have been the way my eyes worked or she had a not too clean criminal record. When Lauren asked me to help her find her mom I didn't know what to say. Instead of saying,

''Sure, I'd do anything to help," I said," Umm.. where do we start?"

Lauren seemed surprised at first but then the look in her eyes changed from a blank stare to a happy glance. Lauren headed right outside towards the ocean. I didn't know what she was doing so I asked, "Where are you going?"

"Down to the ocean. What did you thing I was doing?, "she said with a solemn tone to her voice as she walked down the path of the forest.

"Oh, just wonderin g."

"Uh hum..," said Lauren in a way that she knew I was lying.

"What are we doing in the water Lauren? We're not going in it are we? That's how you got here in the first place," I asked with an obvious sound of worry in my voice.

"I hope I don't shock you to death with this comment but.."

I cut her off, " But what? Are you a dolphin or something because.. I can't hold my breath for more than.. three seconds under water and..and.. that would just be weird."

"Close, I'm a mermai d."

Just as Lauren spoke those three simple words I totally blanked out. It was like I was paralyzed with shock. I woke up about twenty minutes later on a raft made out of palm leaves and wood in the middle of the ocean. I was frightened.

"This is my world," Lauren said, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. She was busy looking through my backpack. I saw that my puppy was about to jump into the water so I grabbed her at the last second. Lauren was listening to my tape recorder. I was a tad embarrassed because I recorded my singing on the tape.

"YOUR WORLD!!! WHAT ABOUT MY WORLD, MY LIFE!! " I yelled so loud I think I might have made her deaf.

"You know what, I get that you're mad but I needed you to come with me. You said you'd help me find my mom so that's what we're here to do. First I need you to put on the scuba divers outfit. I have one for your puppy as well!"

"Wow, hold on. Where did you get a scuba diving outfit?"

"In the underwater scuba store silly. Da, " Lauren said sarcastically.

"Of course the scuba shop," I mimicked. I slipped on the outfit, attached the tank, and slipped on the mask. The big outfit was very heavy. I thought I'd die because of how much the thing weighed.

"Seems like it fits," said Lauren, "By the way, I never caught your name."

"My name is Isebella," I replied. "What next?"

"Well it's time to go swimming."

"What, are you going to sprout a tail or something when you get into the water?"

"No silly, all that happens is I struggle for a bit then I just grow gills. All that talk about fins and stuff is just a stereotype."

"Hey how come you needed water as a human then?"

"When you're human your throat gets kind of .. well.. dry. You know what I mean right?"

"Ya, I get it " We entered the water. I was holding my puppy because I didn't know whether she could swim or not. At first I thought 'oh no' but then I realized that if I just swam like normal nothing bad happened. From out of the corner of my eyes I watched as Lauren struggled in the water. She began to sink. I thought I should go help her but I just stayed there watching. When finally Lauren stopped struggling she swam over to me. She had a strange mark on the side of her neck. I realized it was her gills. Lauren was right. She had no tail or fins. Lauren motioned me over to follow her. I followed.

I thought there would be a beautiful sight down here, underwater, but instead there was just a bunch of cold, black, water ahead, behind, and on either side of me. Lauren swam into a cave. It had the words ' **Danger:Poisonous Creatures**' on it. Pookie froze with shock, fear, and she was just cold. Lauren told me that it was just to keep scuba divers away. We swam into that deep cave as if there was no end to it. When we finally reached a strange door I was freezing to the bone. Lauren typed in a number on the, what looked like water proof, control panel. The door popped open with a satisfying click. Inside was more black water but I saw a golden object in the center which glowed. The silver embroidered name tag read Copper.

Lauren motioned for me to touch it. At first I was afraid but I knew Lauren wouldn't risk my safety. Would she? The closer I reached the more I felt it tug me forward. When I touched it a stinging pain spread throughout my body. Luckily I let my puppy go to Lauren because I didn't think the puppy would enjoy the pain I was in. Lauren told me to follow her. We swam up to the surface. By the time I got to the top I couldn't breathe. Lauren pryed the suit off of me then she thrust me into the water. I felt the same transforming pain that Lauren must have felt spiral through me like it was on a roller coaster just waiting for the ride to end. The pain stopped just as I reached the bottom. I felt the side of my neck. I could feel those same gills. I swam back up to the top where the bump on my neck went away instantly.

"How do you feel Is? " asked Lauren.

"Not too bad..WAIT WHAT AM I SAYING? WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH THING?" I yelled way too loud once again.

"I had to Is. I didn't want to but I had to."

"Okay, I guess...NO that's not okay Lauren but what's done is done so... let's go find your mom,"I exclaimed, " Where to start?"

"Nowhere."

"Wait, what?"

"She can find us now. The //mer// scent is stronger now."

"Now what," I asked.

"We wait. "

We sat there for about half an hour when small bubbles started to appear in the water. Then came a face of a beautiful woman. She had bright blue eyes like the ocean and hair as black as the dark water in the cave. Her lips were like the rubies on a Queen's crown. She was amazing.

"That's your mom, " I said to Lauren.

"Yes, it is. I should go now. I've sucked you into this treacherous life far too much already. You should just head towards the lighthouse over on shore. Your house is two miles down the road "

"Wait..I.I'll come with you. I can't forget this life anymore Lauren. It's my life now."

"But what about your family?"

"I don't have family Lauren. I live alone."

"But what about your human life?"

"I can forget abou my human life. That is gone now Lauren. It's over. I need to come with you."

"There's absolutely no food down there for your puppy unless she likes kelp and sand. "

"We can head into a town to get some food every so often or we can give her the food we eat."

"Then I guess I can't stop you."

With those last words Lauren, Lauren's mom, and I swam away and promised we would one day return to Conwall cove.


 * That day was the day I met The Mythical Creature That Changed My Life Forever.**

By: Hanna Pahl Age 11 Grade Six, Mr. Ross's Class