Based on a true story
JAKE SIGHED as he closed his theories of personality textbook for the evening. "That’s enough studying for one day," he said, yawning.
As a college student, Jake had landed in a psychology major after switching directions several times. Originally he had planned to take a trip abroad for a year and graduate with a French major, but that changed when he registered for a principles of economics course. Jake modified his plans to accommodate his newfound interest in economics, but then he enrolled in his elective introductory psychology course. The professor's ingenious teaching style opened a new realm of academic study for Jake, and psychology quickly became his major. Unfortunately, the path to the major involved many difficult nights of intensive study to understand the intricacies of the field. Tonight was no exception: an upcoming midterm exam on core theorists and constructs in personality theory demanded his attention.
Over the course of his studies, Jake developed a strong interest in the Jungian approach to psychology. Jung, a German psychologist, revolutionized the entire field with his unique perspective on the development of the psyche through a lifelong quest towards greater consciousness. Jake found Jung's emphasis on mythology in forming archetypal patterns of human experience particularly intriguing, especially because he thoroughly enjoyed reading tales from all branches of world mythology.
However, as Jake changed into a T-shirt and sweatpants, psychology was the last thing on his mind. He had already stayed awake until midnight, albeit reluctantly, but now he desperately needed sleep. While he brushed his teeth, he saw the tiredness overtake his entire face. Within minutes after shutting off the lights and climbing into bed, he was fast asleep.
*****
Miles of deserted beach stretched out before Jake. As far as he could see, there was not another soul on this coastline. A thick evergreen forest bordered the beach, adding to Jake's sense of aloneness. In the sky above, patchy clouds intermittently blocked out the brilliant rays of the mid-day sun. The air was pleasantly warm, despite an occasional gust of wind off the ocean. Except for the crash of the ocean waves breaking on the rocks and the occasional call of a gull, he was in a world all his own. Jake stood in awe of the awesome wilderness spread before him.
Slowly, Jake wandered along the beach. After a brief walk, he spotted a discarded tire lying on the ground, covered with seaweed. The nerve of humanity to use the pristine coastline as a giant, personal dumpster! More evidence of humanity’s insouciance for nature’s unspoiled beauty lay scattered on the sand: a broken plastic milk jug here, a frayed segment of rope there. With an audible sigh, he continued along the beach, taking in the aroma of the salty air.
After a long hike, Jake finally reached the end of the sandy beach. Catching his breath, he looked at the endless street of rocks that arched towards the horizon, stacked against a steep cliff. As a child, Jake had always enjoyed building fortresses out of the driftwood that piled up on the rocks during storms. He and his brother would always pillage abandoned strongholds for lost treasures, but today, he felt different. It was almost as if he were here to find something that he had lost on this beach many years ago. He agilely climbed up the rocks and started looking intently about, uncertain of the wondrous things he might discover during his exploration.
The glint of glass suddenly caught Jake’s eye, reflecting blinding sunlight directly into it. Intrigued, he approached the sparkling object to reveal its true form. As he neared, it became obvious that he had found an small glass bottle nestled between some rocks. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to be an ordinary bottle, but something about it captivated Jake’s mind.
Picking up the bottle, he noticed that it was not empty. It contained a few tablespoons of an unusually clear liquid, much too clear to be seawater, despite its similar consistency. Jake’s fascination with this strange bottle grew by the second. The bottle’s opening was sealed by a small, reddish cap, which he removed with a simple twist of his wrist. Carefully, he wafted the odor of the liquid into his nostrils, taking in the delicate fragrance of a young woman’s perfume. The scent enchanted Jake, and he was delighted to have discovered such a priceless treasure on his adventure.
But the sight and smell of the strange liquid did not satisfy Jake’s curiosity. Experimentally, he gently poured a small amount of the bottle’s contents on his right hand. Warmed by the afternoon sun, the liquid felt silky as it ran between his fingers. There was something special, almost magical, about this unusual liquid, but Jake could not put his finger on it. Lifting his hand to his face, he tentatively licked the sweet-smelling drops with his tongue. The taste matched the sweet smell perfectly, and without another thought Jake quickly drank the rest of the liquid straight from the bottle.
As Jake swallowed the mysterious liquid, feelings of warmth and happiness swept his entire being. Within seconds, these pleasurable feelings increased fivefold, and Jake found himself lost inside his own ecstasy. Through the intense pleasure, unconsciously he now knew why he had come to this beach in the first place. Driven by this unknown force, Jake removed all his clothes, stumbled down the rocks, and raced into the ocean.
The feel of the ocean waves on Jake’s bare skin triggered the awesome magical powers of the strange elixir. While the euphoric sensations reverberated through his body, the great goddesses of the sea surrounded Jake and directed his transformation into a mermaid.
Jake’s feet began to lose their rigid shape, the bones rapidly receding into his legs. The empty sheath of skin left behind by his feet grew into a flat, veined flap of tissue. Then, the flaps merged together at the base of his legs, marking the beginning of a mermaid’s tailfin. With remarkable swiftness, Jake’s legs flowed seamlessly together from the waist down, the leg bones melting away to form powerful new muscles to propel the new tail. Scales started to emerge from the human skin below his waist, initially peach-colored but quickly acquiring a bluish-green hue. They soon covered the entire length of his beautiful mermaid’s tail.
His tail complete, the great goddesses of the sea turned to bring changes to Jake’s upper body. His masculine torso and arms reformed to take a more feminine cast, pounds rapidly vanishing from his abdomen. On his chest, the tiny male nipples swelled to female proportions, while the surrounding flesh ballooned to form a generous pair of firm, perfectly formed breasts. The great goddesses of the sea delicately altered Jake’s facial features, giving him the pouty lips, cute nose, and deep blue eyes of the classical seductress. Long strands of brunette hair sprouted from his scalp.
Satisfied with their work, the great goddesses released Jake from the elixir’s spell. The waves of pleasure subsided from Jake’s new body. Coming back to awareness, he realized that he was floating on the surface of the ocean, several hundred feet from the shore, without any trouble. Looking down, he saw his new tail slowly moving back and forth beneath the waves, keeping him buoyant. Jake shook his head in disbelief, causing his long brunette hair to dance about. How could he have suddenly become a young mermaid, just from drinking the contents of the small bottle?
At that moment, a voice spoke to Jake from all directions. "Jake, the great goddesses of the sea have given you a tremendous gift. They made you into a mermaid so that you may explore the vast ocean you so dearly love. In the kingdom of the sea, you will be known as Kristin. We love you, Kristin!" With those words, the new mermaid’s mind swirled for a brief moment.
Kristin made a broad smile. All she knew was that some supernatural force had changed her into a creature of wonder. She looked down again, admiring her flawless complexion and firm, generous breasts. Beyond them, her new tail curled gracefully in the water, the tailfin slowly waving back and forth. Kristin flexed her powerful new tail muscles in order to get a better look at her new body. The iridescent, bluish-green scales shimmered in the sunshine, scattering light in every direction. She reached out to feel her scales, and reveled in their sensitivity as she brushed her hand across them. Holding herself as still as she could, Kristin could just make out a reflection of her angelic face in the water. Not only was she a mermaid, but she was also positively beautiful. With youthful excitement, she blew a thankful kiss towards the sky and dove beneath the surface to explore her new home.
Under the waves, Kristin found that the great goddesses had not only given her a mermaid’s tail, but they had also enhanced her human senses. Her eyes now offered her crystal clear vision in the undersea world, and her ears now detected the distant calls of the whales and dolphins. Surprisingly, she found that she could also breathe underwater without trouble. The sea's energy flowed through Kristin's body, and in its strong but reassuring embrace, she knew immediately that she was home at last.
A vast forest of aquatic plants covered the whole seafloor, extending as far as Kristin could see. The colors of the underwater foliage ranged from light greens to deep reds, and swayed back and forth in the motions of the tide. With rapidly growing interest, she slowly approached the forest, wondering what unknown secrets might lurk in the tall columns of kelp. With expert precision, she navigated around towering rock formations and between strands of seaweed. She cherished the speed and ease with which her tail propelled her through the water, keeping pace with the small fish ahead of her.
Reemerging from the depths of the kelp, Kristin then discovered the submerged ruins of an old sunken ship sitting upon a coral reef. The wood of the ship's decks showed considerable signs of decay, and countless mussels and starfish clung to its exposed surface. As she got closer to the ship, she noticed a large crack in its bow, creating a gaping hole that would lead into the shadowy depths of the ship's hull. 'The captain must have run aground on this shallow reef during bad weather,' Kristin mused. She cautiously entered the ship through the hole in the bow, hoping to find some artifacts of humanity tucked away in the bowels of the ship.
The ship creaked softly in protest under the endless motion of the ocean currents, keeping Kristin on edge. In the limited light inside the hull, she could only make out silhouettes of the objects around her. Even in the darkness, she recognized the shape of a great oak desk and bookcase in one corner, and the matching chair in the other. On the far wall, a shattered mirror hung precariously to the rotting wood. Kristin swam up to the mirror, and as her eyes adjusted to the light level, she saw her whole figure for the first time. From her radiant face and sensuous curves to the shiny scales and wide fin of her tail, Kristin floated in front of her reflection in absolute amazement. She moved a hand to her face, to ensure that the mermaid in the mirror indeed did the same.
Kristin felt so alive that she darted out of the ship as fast as she could and swam towards the surface. With a huge smile, she exclaimed loudly, "I'm so happy... I just love being a mermaid! Thank you again, great goddesses!" Proudly, she bent her tail in every direction, forming arcs that would have been impossible with human legs. Excitedly, she leapt out of the water and dove back beneath the waves to enjoy her ocean paradise.
After swimming in the vast ocean for hours and exploring its many hidden secrets, Kristin finally felt exhausted from her undersea adventure. As the daylight diminished, she headed for the surface of the water to watch the beautiful sunset over the calm ocean. Turning her head, she noticed the distant shoreline where she had found the mysterious magical potion that had given her a mermaid's tail. This time, however, Kristin wanted nothing to do with the civilization she left just hours before. She now had everything that she could possibly want, as a young mermaid living in the ocean.
With a graceful flip of her tail, Kristin dove beneath the surface to find a quiet place to rest for the night. After a brief search, she spotted a sandy shelf free of sharp rock protrusions and unfriendly sea creatures. As she nestled into the soft sand, several schools of small colorful fish swam around her bed. Kristin watched them dart about with a smile, and looked at her own tail once more. Just below her waist, the skin of her body merged perfectly with the scales of her tail. Kristin smiled again, knowing that she would be totally happy with life as a mermaid. Protected by the warm embrace of the sea, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted to sleep, her tail curled tightly around her.
*****
Bright morning sunlight shined into Jake’s eyes as he slowly awoke from his slumber. For some inexplicable reason, he felt groggy despite sleeping eight long and peaceful hours. What had happened last night? He seemed to recall finding some strange bottle containing a magical potion on a deserted beach. After he tasted the unusual liquid inside the bottle, he became a voluptuous mermaid and explored the ocean depths. It all felt so real: the incredible intensity of his transformation, the realistic sensations of the mermaid’s tail, and the breathtaking beauty of the underwater world. Jake could not tell if he was really Kristin dreaming of life as Jake, or really Jake dreaming of life as Kristin.