Santa's elves on television. The little man looked at him and his eyes grew wide.
"The jacket." He shouted, "Take it off, now!"
For a minute he couldn't comprehend the words. Eric choked, struggled again. The world was getting dim and far away, and hallucinating wasn't going to help him.
"Damn it, take it off. Take it off or you will die!"
The sharp tone of the voice triggered something in his mind. He could feel
himself losing the last shreds of his consciousness. Really at this point he had nothing to lose from trusting the hallucination.
With the last vestiges of his strength, he managed to struggle out of his jacket. The effect was immediate. He felt as if a great weight had been lifted.
"Good. Now come this way. Quickly"
He had a minute to wonder how the little man expected him to follow him, and then he was moving. Faster and faster, the water rushed by him. His ears were filled with a deafening sound.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Then a vague hazy light appeared. Rapidly it brightened, and soon it became obvious that it was the surface.
Hold on, he thought. Only a little more. I just need to hold on.
Then amazingly, impossibly, he was out. With a solid thud he landed on the shore and immediately began puking water and other dark things.
The darkness on the edge of his vision threatened to consume him. As he passed out, the face of the little man filled his vision, and then nothing.
*************************************************************************
Billy bounced as they walked down long, dark corridors in the back of the aquarium. Everything had worked out perfectly. He could taste his destiny.
Ms. Mckillop had been quiet since her boyfriend offered to take them. She kept looking over at him while he was busy answering the endless questions that streamed from Rose's mouth.
"So, it's a boy mermaid?" She asked for the tenth time.
"Yes"
"That doesn't make sense. That's false advertising. Why don't they just say it is a merman?"
"It's a generic term. I mean, hu-man technically has the word man in it, but there
"The jacket." He shouted, "Take it off, now!"
For a minute he couldn't comprehend the words. Eric choked, struggled again. The world was getting dim and far away, and hallucinating wasn't going to help him.
"Damn it, take it off. Take it off or you will die!"
The sharp tone of the voice triggered something in his mind. He could feel
himself losing the last shreds of his consciousness. Really at this point he had nothing to lose from trusting the hallucination.
With the last vestiges of his strength, he managed to struggle out of his jacket. The effect was immediate. He felt as if a great weight had been lifted.
"Good. Now come this way. Quickly"
He had a minute to wonder how the little man expected him to follow him, and then he was moving. Faster and faster, the water rushed by him. His ears were filled with a deafening sound.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Then a vague hazy light appeared. Rapidly it brightened, and soon it became obvious that it was the surface.
Hold on, he thought. Only a little more. I just need to hold on.
Then amazingly, impossibly, he was out. With a solid thud he landed on the shore and immediately began puking water and other dark things.
The darkness on the edge of his vision threatened to consume him. As he passed out, the face of the little man filled his vision, and then nothing.
*************************************************************************
Billy bounced as they walked down long, dark corridors in the back of the aquarium. Everything had worked out perfectly. He could taste his destiny.
Ms. Mckillop had been quiet since her boyfriend offered to take them. She kept looking over at him while he was busy answering the endless questions that streamed from Rose's mouth.
"So, it's a boy mermaid?" She asked for the tenth time.
"Yes"
"That doesn't make sense. That's false advertising. Why don't they just say it is a merman?"
"It's a generic term. I mean, hu-man technically has the word man in it, but there
