***
Soon they were all back at the main pool. Ripper kept guard at the water’s edge while Star hurriedly donned her shoes and gathered up their possessions. Winston lay on the shore groaning.
“Hey lover boy,” Star said. “If it’s not too much trouble, can you help me?”
Winston struggled back onto his feet. “What happened, Star?”
“You know damn well what happened!” Star shot back.
Winston rubbed his head in wonderment. Never before had he heard Star use any sort of rough language. The occasional “gracious!” or “oh my!” was about the limit of her expletive vocabulary, but now she seemed really angry.
He looked back toward the bathing platform. The last thing he clearly remembered was falling into the water – or being yanked into it by ... something. After that his memory was a blur of watery images and overpowering sound. It had not been bad, quite pleasant actually ...
“Let’s get moving, already!” Star shouted.
Her clothes were dripping wet, her hair was “a fright,” and her makeup was smeared, but she seemed unwilling to spend another moment inside the enclosure.
“OK,” Winston said meekly.
He shouldered on his backpack and grabbed his scooter.
“You go first,” Star said.
“Sure,” Winston said. “Is something wrong?”
“Just get going!”
“All right.”
Winston was about to kick off when the three mermaids broke the water surface near shore.
“Go on Winston!” Star yelled.
But he couldn’t move. He merely stood, transfixed, as the lovely creatures pulled themselves onto the bathing platform. Two of them had flowing blond hair, while the third’s was a glistening black. All had pale, shapely faces, ruby lips, and large sensuous eyes. They held their arms out toward Winston in pathetic appeal, exposing their perfectly shaped breasts. Their siren song began to rise.
“Ripper!” Star cried.
The mech wolf advanced, growling, on the mermaids. The creatures stopped their song and clung together in terror, but they refused to leave the platform. Ripper looked back toward Star for instructions.
Tear them up! She wanted to cry.
But her own sense of rightness deterred her from uttering the command. And the stricken look on Winston’s face was something she could not stand to look upon. If she ordered the destruction of the mermaids, Winston would never feel the same way about her.
“Don’t hurt them, Rippie,” Star said.
She grabbed Winston’s arm and shoved him toward the exit. A pathetic wailing accompanied them out. The mermaids had pulled themselves onto the shore and were attempting to follow. Their bodies, not designed for land travel, made squishing noises as they flopped about uselessly.