Ocean View

Ocean View
Damp sand squishes between my toes, while I stare at the ocean. I recognize the ocean's extraordinary beauty.  I see it's crystal clear water, its vast expansion of sea life, and the soft translucent sand.  Every time I come to the ocean my breath is taken away. For some reason I am drawn here. Maybe by its beauty or by something else. I do not really care what it is I am just glad I have a place of comfort.
    Some people say their home is their comfort zone, but to me my home is a living hell. My father became a drunk when he found out that my mother died. On some nights he rants on and on about how beautiful she was or how she was a no good piece of crap. Then he would slump down and cry on my shoulder till my shirt was soaked through. I am the only one that can take care of dad because I'm his only child, and when I say his only child I mean my sisters where the milkman's babies. Which means my father does not care much for them. He thinks because my mom cheated on him he does not have to take care for them, so I became like their parent. I feed them, I clothe them, I stay home from school when their sick. So that is why the ocean is like my comfort place.
    One day I came to the ocean and I saw something that caught my eye. Like anyone would I ran to the edge of the ocean and picked up the strange object. With a closer look I realized it was a metal seashell. I immediately thought 'wow this awesome', so I decided to take it home. When I got to the house I fed my sisters and put them down for their naps. My dad was at work so I settled down in my bed and examined the metal shell. The shell seemed to have some strange language that my eyes could not read it, but my brain understood what it said immediately.
    It said:  You who have received this shell shall receive the gift of a mertail.
    I study these words very carefully and start laughing when I realize it means a mermaid tail. Soon when I reside my laughter I get a sense that this could have some truth to it. So a take a string brown leather from my old jewelry box and slip it through a little hole of the shell. When I got that set I change into my swimsuit and check to see that the girls were still asleep. I see the girls asleep so I slipped out the door and headed to the ocean that holds so many secrets.
    I arrived at the edge of the ocean when the sky turned black normally I don't come out around now but I had to find out if this shell was true.  Slowly I stepped toward the ocean and stuck my foot in. Carefully I walked into the water till it was up to my hip. When I open my eyes from the pain of the ice cold water I see the shell glowing. Warmth spreads from my chest down to my feet. I feel my feet shifting and the bones crackling. Then something sharp started to pop out of my legs causing tears to spring to my eyes. Suddenly I could not stand anymore. When the pain went away the water did not feel cold, it felt nice and comforting like how my mother used to hug me. When I glance down I see a blue translucent scaly tail. It was beautiful.   For some reason the tail felt oddly comfortable like I was supposed to have it.
    When I got the hang of having a scaly thing for feet I tried to swim. The swimming part was smooth and easy. When I got deeper in the ocean I felt free and like I had no problems in the world. It felt like all the problems I had never existed. I couldn't believe it but I could have stayed there all day.
        While swimming I saw whales and dolphins which swam right up to me and started playing with me. I even saw shark, but it did not touch me it just glared at me and swam away. I looked up at the sky and in a panic figured dad would be home soon. I swam as fast as I could till I reached the shore. Very slowly I drug my huge fin on the land. Suddenly, my tail makes a snapping noise fallowed by a sharp pain. The scales started to get sucked into my skin leaving little blood droplets on my newly formed legs. I looked down and I saw that I still had my clothes and I realized I was completely dry. When I was done being dumbfounded I ran home as fast as I could.
    When I got home I saw my father's car in the driveway and immediately I panicked. When I stepped through the door and saw my father sitting up on the couch all I could think was what's going to happen.
"Cala," he said, "Where were you?"
"I was at the beach papa," I whispered.
"Those little maggots are in their room screamin' about how they are starvin'," he snarled, "What do you think I'm going to do feed them?!!!"
    I stay silent as I watched my father stand and walk toward me with his eyes so bloodshot you'd think his eye color was red.
Right when he got in my face he said "I WILL NEVER FEED THOSE LITTLE PIECES OF CRAP!" Out of the corner of my eye I see my father's fist being raised right when I felt a horrid pain in my eye. Then he just kept punching me telling me that I was just like my mother a worthless piece of nothing. When I heard those words a force inside of me pushed my father off of me so I could stand. When I have complete balance I start to hear the ocean telling me to kill my father, so I look at him with my swollen eye seeing his nasty smile. Then simply I whisper "Die". And my father thumps to the ground as dead as a doornail. When I realize what I've done, I went see my little sisters. When I entered their room I see that their unmoving. I walked to their beds and saw their little necks twisted the wrong way. I broke down crying trying to figure out what to do.  Finally I realize what I need to do.
    After I cried I found myself at the ocean edge slowly walking into the water. I guess I realized that I belong in the water with no worries and no pain.