People with Fishtails

By Anne Seaworthy

Gayle has mommy issues. Her mom left when she was eight, abandoning her in the hands of a drunk and unstable father. Oh, and her mom was also a mermaid.
Sander has daddy issues. His dad is the CEO of KrakenGo, the largest renewable fuel company on the planet. Oh, and he's also destroying the planet.
When Gayle and Sander find themselves on an environmental pirate ship, bound for the four corners of the earth to pillage and plunder what's left of the ocean's magnificent creatures, they agree to band together to stop this madness. Oh, and they still have parent issues...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anne Seaworthy
• Release date: Jul 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310415272

Anne Seaworthy

Anne Seaworthy grew up in a quaint little beachside town called Santa Monica. She has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. When she's not writing, she enjoys passing the time with her cat, Artemis, doing nail art, and baking.

Book preview

PEOPLE

WITH

FISHTAILS

~~~

by

Anne Seaworthy

PEOPLE WITH FISHTAILS

by Anne Seaworthy

Published at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 by Anne Seaworthy

Cover Design Copyright 2015

by http://coversbykaren.com

Cover illustration by Anne Seaworthy

The characters and events in this book are fictitious, even those referring to actual or well-known entities. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Prologue

Gayle

Daddy, Daddy, look what I drew in school today! I took the paper I’d carefully tucked in my folder and ran over to the mound on the couch. She came to me in a dream, Daddy. She said she was going to come back for me. Since two days ago, I practically worshipped the woman with a silvery fishtail and pastel orange hair who’d wrapped me in a clammy wet hug and called me pet names like my little bubble baby.

He studied the drawing carefully, brought it right up to his squinty red eyes and looked it over, top to bottom. You’re too old for this kind of crap, he sneered, taking a swig from the bottle on the coffee table. Mermaids don’t exist!

Well, this one was pretty sure she existed, I said defiantly. She even gave me a scale of hers. I indicated the necklace I’d fashioned.

Mermaids don’t exist! he roared, rearing up from under the matted blanket. How am I going to get that through your head?

All that night, the sound of the paper ripping echoed against my skull, louder than it had been in front of the blaring TV news. The sight of the two halves crumpling like two pieces of a broken heart haunted my closed eyes. And I begged the mysterious mermaid to come to me in a dream again, so I could see her likeness whole, not broken by those meaty paws belonging to the man I had to call my father.

Prologue

Sander

I knew I was using the last of the battery power, but I turned on the flashlight. I was scared and I wanted to know what Daddy was doing.

Outside, he had a saltwater pool with conditions he’d matched perfectly to the ocean. He’d told me with pride the other day, I think I’m getting close to figuring out the secret to breaking a kraken. And once I do, we won’t have to worry about fuel anymore. In his office, he had all kinds of scientific charts and books. He said they were all pointing the way to the future.

I peered out the window at the kraken pool, where Bessie lived. She lifted her tentacle-covered head out of the water, letting the rain wash down her pink skin.

Daddy came out of the shed, pulling on a pair of gloves. With his jeans and tee shirt on, he hopped into the pool. He reached towards Bessie’s underside.

She complained, groaning at the sky.

He petted her, spoke softly to her, and slowly began to tug at her teats.

Lightning lit up the sky. Thunder cracked and I was under my bed, praying Daddy’d come back inside.

And he did. Sopping wet, sneakers squishing water all over my bedroom carpet, he beamed at me as I crawled out to meet him.

Son, I’ve found a way to harvest the milk, he said. The trick is gentle coaxing, and you have to hold your hands just right and massage her properly. Now we have a sustainable, alternative fuel that will never run out like oil and can be produced en masse! And I’m the one who started it all. His grin looked grotesque in the weak flashlight as he told me, This is going to be big.

Chapter One

Sander

My college graduation was a joke.

When the tired, old school band started halfheartedly playing Pomp and Circumstance, all