Salene is staring at him through the glass fish tank he has her trapped in. He's basically treating her like a fish, the audacity. She's a mermaid, she wasn't ment to live like this but he has her trapped two weeks now in this awful container. She had to find a way to get out.

Zade walks past just then, ignoring her like if she wasn't there, busying himself with something on a table. You wouldn't believe he had a huge 8 foot fish tank in his living room with her in it.

She calls out to him pounding on the glass but he continued to ignore her. He'd been doing that a few days now. He discovered she could talk on the second day when he stood at the fish tank talking to her absentmindly thinking she couldn't understand. When she responded back he had jumped and stared at her as if she was a fish caught in a net.

she pounds on the glass again, desperate to get his attention "Zade I know you can hear me. How long are you going to keep me here? You know it's not right. I don't deserve to be held like this!" she says through clenched teeth, tears springing into her tears. "Would you want to be trapped like this? Away from your people and the life you knew?"

Zade stopped what he was doing and turned around to face Salene. He saw the desperation in her eyes and it tugged at his heartstrings. He felt guilty for keeping her like that, but at the same time he was fascinated by her and wanted to learn more about her kind. "You're right, I don't want to keep you here. But I also can't just let you go. Remember I told you you're the first mermaid I've seen. I need to know more about your kind."

"Are you a doctor or something? Are you going to experiment on me?" She pressed her hands against the thick glass her eyes filled with fear. Salene had heard stories about some humans being cruel to some of her kind. Was Zade like them. She didn't think so. In the time she'd been there, he hadn't hurt her.

"I'm a marine biologist and I've always been fascinated by the creatures of the ocean that haven't been discovered yet." Zade moved towards the fish tank and pressed his hands on the glass over where her hands were. "I'd like to study you, but not experiment on you Salene like what you're thinking. Just talk to you, document a few things about your life and people. I'd like to learn about your culture and way of life."

"Would you let me go after?" She asked. Her voice breaking as she spoke.

"Yes of course I will. I can't keep you forever trapped against your will. I must release you sometime for it may have detrimental effects on you. I don't want that to happen. Regrettably, you'd have to return to your normal environment where you can express your natural behaviour."

She swarm around the tank, playing with the bubbles floating up from the air pump. Salene wasn't upset as she was before, although she was still a prisoner. Yes, she did miss her family and friends, but she knew she'd see them again. He told her he'd set her free once he got the information he needed.

Zade pulls a stool close to the tank amused by her antics. She was so playful and full of life, a true beauty, and he couldn't help but feel a spark of attraction towards her. He was drawn to her in a way he couldn't explain. He sat on the stool and taps on the glass for her attention.

She swam up to the glass, her beautiful red hair framing her face in a stunning way. Zade was mesmerized by the colour. She was truly a sight to behold. "I wanted to ask you a few things."

Salene nods and sits on the rock, watching him intently. "What do you want to ask me?" Salene asks softly her voice filled with curiosity.

Zade's heart skips a beat and he smiled at her, clearing his throat, trying to stay focused on the question he wanted to ask. "You told me about your family yesterday. That you had three brothers no sister and that your dad was a powerful man. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, I just meant that he is a strong and respectful man. He has men that work under him and follows his instructions. He's very strict and demanding and expects a lot from us, his children, especially his sons."

"But you're the only girl. Do you resent how he is?" Zade asked.

Salene shakes her head, trying to defend her father. "No, I don't resent him. I understand that he just wants what is best and is trying to protect us. I'm the youngest and only girl in my family, so I've always been treated differently than my brothers. But I don't mind it. I'm used to it."

Zade nods. "So you're nineteen. What do you do in your world?"

"I teach the younger ones."

Zade nods and smiles, happy that she wasn't offended by his question.

"We have our own language, and culture, and our own way of life. It's a very different world from what you're used to."

"So what language do you speak?"

"We speak a language called Sirenia, which is only spoken by mermaids. It's very beautiful, like music, filled with wonderful sounds and tones."

"Can I hear what it sounds like?" Zade asked, curious.

"Tu'a thir a'enpa kar, Po'ar thir thur r'aien A'ir yoae thir golra." Her voice was soft and melodic as she spoke in her language, and when she was finished, she looked at him and smiled.

Zade was fascinated by her voice and felt like he had fallen under a trance when the words she spoke flew around him.

She laughed softly, her hair dancing around her head, when she saw the effect her words had on him.

"What did you say?"

She smiles and leans in closer to the glass, and the contrast between her red hair and green eyes was amazing. "I said that I think you're very handsome for a human." She giggled.

He felt his face heat up. "Thank you. I....uh....I'm glad you think so. But why did you say, for a human? Are there males in your species?"

"Of course there are males. We're not so different from humans, although there are small differences. Our males though are extraordinarily handsome."

"Like you are beautiful." He interrupted.

She blushed.

"You know from small, we always heard stories of mermaids and we'd have this idea in our heads of what they looked like. Somehow in my mind, based on what I've heard. I thought that if there were mermen they'd be unattractive, with pointed ears and green teeth." Zade said.

She laughed. "I'm glad you think I'm beautiful and as I said, the mermen are just as attractive as me. I didn't know humans had such an inaccurate idea of us. Can I ask you a question?"

Zade nods and smiles , "Sure, go ahead." He leans forward, curious to hear what she wanted to ask.

"How does it feel to have legs and to walk? I've always been fascinated that humans had two legs, so different from our tail. How do they function?"

He lifted his legs and wiggled his toes and she watched in fascination. "Hmmm... I've never thought about having legs and being able to walk. It's sort of like a natural thing. We don't think much about it. They do a great job of holding us up, providing balance and help us do a lot, like walking, running and dancing."

"And standing?" She pressed her hands excitedly to the glass. The iridescent colour of her tail shimmering.

"Oh that's like a whole different perspective we get when standing. We can see see things from a higher point of view.

Her beautiful green eyes were wide in wonder. She couldn't help feeling envious of his legs. Salene wished she could experience what it was like to stand.

"You know what?"

She looked back up at him.

"Feet, help us to feel the world around us. The softness of grass, the grainy feeling of sand, the coolness of water....."

"Grass?"

"Yes grass. You've never seen grass?"

"Is it like seaweed or coral?"

Zade laughs softly and shook his head. "No it's totally different." He tried to think of a way to describe grass to her. "It's very soft and green, and feels nice to walk on."

"Oh. Your world sounds amazing."

"And so does yours." He waited while she continued to staring at his feet in fascination. Then he asked. " Can you breath out of the water? What depths do you live at?"

"I realise you can't stay out of water very long. When I caught you and pulled you out, after a while you stopped breathing and went totally pale."

She smiles at him and nods her head. "Yes, I can breathe out of water. It's not as easy as you are breathing air, but I can do it for a short time. Thank you for putting sea water in the tank, but is that why you came back that day? Were you planning on capturing me"

That day when I went diving with my gear and saw you, I was amazed. I still couldn't believe you exsisted. The problem was I always had to scuba dive down to a certain depth to see you. I wanted to know about you, so I ordered this tank made and paid for it to be completed in two days, then I filled it and you know the rest.