Chapter 3

 A couple of days later and we are laying in my living room. We sit in the room , taking sips of fresh tea, my favourite drink. Through the window, a strange breeze covers the buildings in the distance. Inside, we are covered up in the cosiest blanket. However, Ezra had other plans, rather than sitting in a little warm cottage. “ Olivia, you must help me find the Mermander.” Ugh, not again, I think, rolling my eyes. “ I know where it lives! You must trust me!”

 It really does turn out that Ezra wasted his time standing outside with the freezing wind. He claims to have seen it in the distance. It is very clear in front of the abandoned fair for some reason. We all thought that it didn’t have feet, just a mermaid tail.

  I start to lock up the zoo and make sure everything is secured before I leave. At this time of night , the Mermander would be out, so I grabbed a torch and left. Whilst I walk home, I bump into Ezra. He wouldn’t stop begging for me to help him find where the Mermander lives. “For the last time Ezra, no!” I shouted. Ezra just thinks that I don’t spend a lot of time looking after the animals and cleaning up. He’s so selfish and stubborn, but then I find myself following him…

I hadn’t believed him, but the footsteps are very , very clear. There are two sets, one that is big and the other looks like somebody had been dragged into the sea. “Come on, let’s have some fun while we can!” Ezra cries out, flashing his torch. I’m not feeling like having fun , I just wanna go back home, but I still do have the feeling that Ezra is going to lead us into trouble.

 The beach is rusty. Very rusty. It smells like rotten human flesh. Street lights shine against the empty street. My heart skips a beat, a sign of being scared. Just as I’m thinking that we are going to get killed by the mander, Ezra finds it. There it is, in the distance, with hard rain smashing against the ground. We find a stranded egg, glowing bright blue with seaweed on it. We freeze and glare in awe. The Mermander has an egg.

In that exact moment, I feel a hard stab of guiltiness. We shouldn’t be here. “Let’s go,” I say, dragging Ezra towards safety, away from the egg. But our only way is blocked by something, something familiar. It slowly shifts, having big feet, coming towards us with a soft purr. It doesn’t sound polite. We’ve heard it before, in the abandoned fair. We both shine our torches in front of us. There it is. “The Mermander!” I say with a loud voice. Ezra and I step back, trying to escape…