Mermaid Cove

Day 24: Mermaid Cove
The hot-air balloon ride continued beyond the sunset, into the darkness of the night. As the night came, however, I couldn't see anything but darkness. I couldn't feel anything, either; not even the feeling of the carriage beneath my feet.

As I tried to move around, I felt the same resistance of water I'd felt many times before, whenever I was trapped beneath the ocean. I started to swim forward, seeking the message I was gonna be sent this time. I knew I was moving forwards, but there was no visual indication of such; only the same lingering light shining down from above. After a little bit, though, I did see quite a few fish, swimming in their own schools, minding their own business.

I couldn't hear much at first, either, but around when I first saw fish, I could hear the sounds of a woman singing, her gentle voice echoing through the abyss. It seemed that the fish could hear something too, because they also started heading in the same direction as well. Following the tails of the large quantity of fish, I could hear the woman's voice grow louder and louder, to the point where I could tell exactly where it was coming from.

As I turned around, two mermaids emerged from the abyss below, illuminating their path with a graceful light. They swam around, revealing the ocean floor beneath me, as the fish began to follow their trails of light. As they swam, they continued their graceful serenade, singing about the beauty of the planet and the wondrous color brought into it.

With their song and their exquisite show, I was well-inclined to agree with what they were singing about.
As I was pondering this, they noticed my presence and started approaching me. Despite the fact that they weren't singing, the music continued, as if there were others singing it as well. I hadn't even noticed that they stopped until they were right in front of me.

As they got up to my face, one of the mermaids scratched her head. Neither of them said a thing. We all exchanged looks of confusion, until one of them immediately snapped with a thought. She started swimming away, signaling both me and her friend to follow. We quickly agreed and stuck behind her.

The mermaid leading the way pointed upwards, as I noticed we were directly underneath the light shining above. Both of them signaled me to swim up, wished me well, and swam away.

I suppose I had no other option, so I did what they said to do. As I swam up, however, I could feel something else pulling me up out of the water, and far beyond it, too...