Okawii Read online

  Mina looked up from her lunch in amazement. Nobody had told her about any kind of mermaid sporting competition. As a former competitive swimmer, this type of thing excited her.

  Halapua started to wade into the ocean and waved his hands at a few adults on the side. “Come on in guys.”

  Three women and three men joined him in the water, including Paul and Ana. “My assistants here will demonstrate six of the seven events, the seventh is a fishing competition that we will let everyone participate in after the demonstration.

  “The first event is a simple swim race. There are three distances we measure, 500 yards, one mile, and two miles. Alolelei here won the last Mermaid Games in the 500 and she will demonstrate.”

  Alolelei swam out a little ways from the island and bobbed there looking at Halapua for the signal. Halapua’s hand was in the air, then he abruptly brought it down, slapping the water. Alolelei took off, swimming faster than anyone Mina had seen in her life.

  “The second event is similar to the first in that it is also a timed race, but there are obstacles involved. A series of hoops are set up underwater and racers must zig and zag through each hoop. We call it the ring race. Again, whoever is fastest, wins.”

  Eloni waved his hand from the water.

  “Eloni will demonstrate,” boomed Halapua with his deep voice. A number of Mina’s class raced to the water and stuck their heads in to watch him. She soon realized why: Eloni’s demonstration took place completely underwater and she missed it.

  “Third is the high jump,” continued Halapua after Eloni had emerged 100 yards later. “We are not set up here, but at the games there is a bar set up, and contestants must leap straight up and grasp the bar so they are hanging from it. Paul will demonstrate the main idea without a bar.”

  Paul waved his hand so the crowd could see him, then sank down about 20 feet to the floor of the ocean. When he had composed himself he swam straight upwards and leapt vertically out of the water about 13 feet high with both hands extended up to grab onto an imaginary bar.

  “Wow, they can get that high?” Mina asked Maria.

  “He’s gotten to 15 feet before,” Maria replied. “But the world record is something like 18 and a half feet.”

  Halapua again stepped forward. “Our fourth event is the long jump. Here horizontal distance is measured in a jump instead of vertical distance.”

  Pekelo waved his hand, and swam back several yards. He sank down underwater, swam forward quickly, then leapt out of the water, launching himself some 20 feet forward before hitting the water in a perfectly formed dive.

  Mina was impressed and wanted to try this one herself.

  “The next event is spear throwing.” Halapua looked over at the 8 year olds in his class, “This also takes place underwater.” The class again ran to the shore and put their heads in the water. Mina joined them this time, not caring what people might think of her running over with the kids.

  When she put her head down she saw Ana underwater with a quiver of spears on her back. Mina didn’t see any fish in the area and wondered what Ana was aiming for. Ana pulled her spear behind her head and aimed it out toward the coral reef. When it hit, Mina was able to make out a small black ring sticking out from the reef that was about three inches in diameter. Mina squinted and saw four other small targets like the first, and Ana easily threw her spears through the targets, each of which ranged from 20 to 30 yards away.

  “The last event we will show you is show jumping. Competitors jump into the air performing various tricks and the judges then award points based on form. Hiva will demonstrate.”

  Hiva waved to her audience on the beach, then proceeded to leap out of the water 5 times. She completed a front dive, a backwards dive, a dive on her side, a flip, and a double flip. The other Okawiians clapped and whistled; this was clearly their favorite event to watch.

  “As I mentioned before, the seventh event is a fishing competition. For those who would like to practice that event, a barrel of fish will be released over in that area in about 10 minutes. Now the ocean is open to those who would like to practice any of the events. Remember that the Island Games will be held next Monday, a week from today, and that anybody over 8 may compete in any event.”

  All of the kids ran toward the ocean and dove in, changing their forms immediately to begin practicing the events. Some of the adults and teens also entered the water, but those who didn’t plan on competing in anything stayed on shore to clean up after lunch and enjoy the beach.

  Mina waded into the water, not knowing if she wanted to compete in the Games, but definitely wanting to try some of the events. The high jump and the long jump both required great tail strength, which she knew she didn’t have yet, but she tried them both anyway. She was only able to go a fraction of the distances of Paul and Pekelo, but she felt that with the right training she could eventually work up her strength for these events. She wished she didn’t have to go back home so she could stay and train and perhaps compete next year in those events. A part of her wished she could compete in spear-throwing in order to beat Ana, but she never had been any good at throwing and aiming things.

  The fishing competition didn’t interest her much, but she caught sight of some people practicing show jumping and was mesmerized. The kids mostly belly flopped, but the adults and teens who would be competing gracefully leapt into the air doing various tricks.

  For her first jump she decided to try a regular front dive and promptly belly-flopped. The same thing happened on her second attempt, but as she fell she realized which tail muscles she had to use to launch herself into a perfect arc form. Her next dive was very good, and the fourth time she did it perfectly.

  “Wow, nice job!” Maria said, swimming up next to her.

  “Thanks,” answered Mina. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I can’t wait to try some of the other moves. Are you going to compete next week?”

  “Yeah, I usually enter in the ring race. Last year I got second place and I’ve been practicing all year.”

  Mina went back to her practicing and, after a few hours, was able to execute all of the moves she had seen in the demonstration, if not perfectly. In fact, the training went so well that Mina thought about potentially entering the Games, if only for the thrill of competing in something again.

  As she caught her breath, she watched a few mermaids leaping back and forth over the coral reef and decided to try it herself, now that she was sure she wouldn’t belly-flop onto the reef. After a few dives, she paused at the side of the reef to rest and looked down.

  Something looked familiar to her. Mina bent down close to the reef and looked hard at it. Two tiny fish swam in and out of some hollows in the reef. Then she realized what had caught her attention. The pattern on the reef looked exactly like what she had seen on her map.

  Mina swam back to shore, dried off, and took the map out of her satchel. She opened it and saw that the map was indeed a map of a reef somewhere. Her heartrate increased as she stared at the parchment in her hands. She knew the reef on the map had to be Okawii’s.

  Mina diligently practiced her show jumping every morning just off the shore of Okawii. Every day she trained at a different area around the island, looking for any part of the reef that might match what she saw in the map. The coral depicted on the map was not the same type of coral that made up the majority of Okawii’s reef, so she had to look for small patches that were different. She always packed her satchel with the map in it and a waterproof flashlight just in case.

  A few days after the field trip to Luta, when Mina was jumping around the area of the large rock, something caught her eye in the reef underwater. About 15 feet down from the surface there was a flat, shelf-like area in the reef on which grew a strange patch of shells. Looking closer she realized that they were exactly like the one on her necklace.

  She grabbed her satchel and opened up the map. Above and to the left of the patch of shells she saw a small opening in the exact shape of the one la
beled ‘cave’ on the map. Her heart was pounding as she took the flashlight from her satchel. Peering into the darkness she saw nothing but a thin tunnel that a person or mermaid could barely squeeze through.

  Mina looked behind her, and, sure that she was alone, got out her flashlight. She slowly started into the tunnel with her both hands in front of her, unable to fit with them at her sides. The tunnel gently sloped upward for a ways before it opened up into a small cavern the size of two Okawiians huts.

  Most of the cavern was underwater, with about two feet of air at the very top. At the bottom of the cavern was something that looked like a giant beehive. Mina swam down with her light to see what it was and found rows and rows of large clay jars, sealed with wax. She tugged at one and it came loose in a cloud of dust. It was heavy and unwieldy, but she put it in her satchel and continued to explore with her flashlight.

  At the top of the cavern, above the waterline, was another shelf formation. A line of cylinder containers were on the shelf, so small that she could fit at least 10 in her hand. These, too, were sealed with wax. Mina shook one in her hand and heard nothing, but when she shook a second, she heard a faint rattling inside. She broke the wax seal and poured the contents into her hand: four tiny orange balls, a little smaller than tic-tacs. They appeared to have the same consistency as the White Coral, so she smelled them and then stuck her tongue out and touched one.

  Immediately she dropped everything in her hands onto the shelf and fell into the water. She realized she wasn’t getting oxygen and tried to kick up with her tail, but found that she had legs instead. Kicking up to the shelf, Mina grabbed on and steadied herself, astonished at her immediate transformation.

  “Whoa! Nobody said anything about these little things on the island,” she said aloud to nobody. “I wonder if the others know about these.”

  Looking down at the underwater entrance to the cavern, Mina realized it would be difficult to get out with her legs. She would have to hold her breath for several minutes while trying to maneuver through the tight tunnel carrying her bag, now bursting with the large clay jar.

  As she was resting holding onto the shelf, she saw the three other orange balls scattered. Curious, she picked another one up and put it in her mouth, wanting to understand its full effect. Again, she instantaneously changed forms and found herself a mermaid.

  “Weird,” she said to herself.

  She ate the last two orange beads and respectively got first her legs back, and then her tail back.

  Mina put a few of the unopened small cylinders into her satchel and, satisfied that there was nothing else in the cavern, swam out the way she came.

  Out on his expansive, blue and white yacht, the Veni Vidi Vici, Hector Orr spent his days in the South Pacific scuba diving and fishing while waiting for the phone call from Simon Lanza. One of his favorite things to do was to wait silently underwater for a half an hour near a coral reef until he became part of the normal scenery. Then, when an interesting fish appeared, he would unexpectedly swing out his net and catch it. Back in Texas his guests were always amazed by his aquarium full of exotic fish not in any of the catalogues.

  Ever since his conversation with Simon, Hector only had Okawii on his mind. He knew better than to go too close, but he was always within a day or two’s reach of it and wherever he stopped, he got his bearings and always knew what direction Okawii was from there. A few times he had even made a pass by the uninhabited island close to Okawii where he had almost made his catch 15 years ago.

  Finally the phone call came.

  “Hector? It’s Simon Lanza from Venatus. I talked to my boss.”

  “And?” Hector asked impatiently.

  “I think you’re right. He didn’t come out and say it, but his body language screamed that the Okawiians know something about the mermaids.” Simon was glad he had good news for Hector. He knew that Hector was already in the South Pacific and didn’t want to disappoint him.

  “Excellent, fine job.” Hector looked out at the calm sea and half expected to see a mermaid leap out in front of him. This was good news.

  “I’ll meet you by Okawii then,” said Simon. “I can be there in less than two weeks.”

  Hector had almost forgotten Simon’s stipulation that he get one, too. “Okay, right.”

  Sitting next to her fire pit, Mina examined the contents of the other tiny cylinders. Each had four tiny orange balls like the first. Then she brought out the large, heavy jar. Picking up a stick from the ground, she started scratching at the wax seal until it popped. Inside were layers of dried food, including fish, seaweed, coconut, banana, and sugarcane.

  “I see you found the cavern,” said her grandmother, coming up behind her.

  “Yeah. What is this stuff?” Mina asked. She was surprised that after the great mermaid revelation the island could still hold some secrets.

  “The large jugs hold food for emergency situations. In the past there have been tsunamis and years when the crops fail or the fish are scarce.”

  “Hmmm,” replied Mina. In her world those obsessive people who stored food were considered fodder for reality TV shows. “And these orange balls? How do they make you change forms instantly, regardless of the presence of salt water? Is it some other type of coral?”

  Nukuluve smiled. “This was sort of a pet project of your grandfather and I. He was interested in the mechanics behind the regular White Coral and wanted to isolate whatever it was in it that made us change forms, so we experimented with it: pulverizing it, boiling it down, etc. One morning, after we left a trial to cool overnight, we awoke to find these orange balls in the pan. Your grandfather picked one up, smelled it, and put it in his mouth. He turned into a mermaid right here on land.” Nukuluve chuckled. “It was funny to see his tail flopping around in the dirt and him trying to avoid the fire pit, which was still warm. He laughed and said, ‘Let me see one of those again.’ I gave him one and he put it in his mouth again and got his legs back. We worked some more on it and perfected the recipe, then hid some in the cavern for emergency situations.”

  “Did you tell the others about it?”

  “We were still debating it when your mother passed away. I thought we should share it with everyone; he didn’t think it was wise to disrupt the status quo on the island. Konala was afraid of abuse and thought that its instantaneous effect might cause us to be discovered more easily by outsiders. After he died, I thought it best to respect his wishes. I had forgotten all about it until just before you came—I was cleaning out your mother’s old hut to make room for yours when I ran across the map among her things.”

  “Does anybody else know about the cave? It didn’t look like it had been disturbed recently.”

  “No, the last person in there was your mother. Knowledge of the cave has been a part of the chiefly lineage for at least a hundred years. Nobody else has found it yet simply because there are other more interesting things to do when one is a mermaid than to explore the coral reef with a magnifying glass. As you could tell, it’s pretty well camouflaged. Your mother created the map for herself so she wouldn’t have to spend ten minutes looking for it every time.”

  A tear formed in her eye as Mina looked down at the items in her lap. A minute ago they had just been interesting things she had found, now they represented a precious link to her mom.

  Chapter 9

  Apart from her early morning mermaid practice sessions and her language lessons, Mina spent her days with her peers at Vai Place. She had become quite skilled at changing hands on the vines and had explored every corner of the pool. While all these activities were the coolest things she could think of to be actively doing, the highlight of her day was when Keoni arrived with Taha at the kiddie pools for an hour before lunch. She enjoyed watching him with his brother, but was very careful to hide that from Ana, who had warmed up to her slightly since she showed no signs of ‘taking’ Keoni.

  Although she had had a crush on him since she arrived, somewhere in the third week of language class
es, she had had a sudden epiphany that she loved Keoni. As soon as she had understood that, she realized that she had been emotionally off-balance about something, but didn’t know what it was. Defining this love seemed to settle her down.

  Since her revelation, every time she saw Keoni she had a pit in her lower stomach and compulsively clenched her calf and thigh muscles until she got into the lesson enough that she could focus on the language. Thankfully, he seemed to have no inkling about her secret love. While remaining stoic herself, at every lesson she searched his face for any sign of his returning the feeling. He smiled often enough at her, and one time when they were laughing together about her poor pronunciation of a word, he touched her arm. These little things, though probably nothing, gave her hope. She dared not express her feelings to anyone around her, partly because the feelings came on so suddenly that she didn’t expect them to last within herself even, and partly to avoid the wrath of Ana.

  A few days after Mina found the cave, Chief Akolo appeared at Vai Place. After watching his people play for a few minutes, he approached the teenagers.

  “Paul, Maria, Ana, Filipe, Keoni, and Mina. Come here please.”

  Mina was nervous—she had never been summoned by the chief before.

  Akolo addressed them only briefly.

  “The Island Harvest Feast is coming up in a few days. I would like you six to go on a fishing trip for this feast. Tuna would be preferred, but they have not been seen in our waters for months. Damn commercial fishing boats. Keoni, Ana, Maria, and Paul, you are the senior folks here as you have all been on long fishing trips before. I would like you to teach Mina and Filipe in this fine art. You are to leave after the games, so on Tuesday morning at first light.”

  Mina rushed home to her hut to pack. She couldn’t believe her luck: she, having just graduated with the 8-year-olds, was invited to go on a big trip with the others!

  Mina rushed around her hut looking for the things Keoni had told them to bring, but found that she had none of them.