DISCLAIMERS: Mermaid Pond is a fictional place and not based on any factual location. Crystal is a one-shot fictional character. This story does not feature any actual mermaids.
beep...beep...beep...
The alarm on the watch pressed against my ear dragged me into wakefulness. Lifting my cheek off of the sand, I took a moment to stand up and get my bearings. I was lying on the ground at the bottom of the cliff that frames Mermaid Pond. I was all alone. I was wearing a luminous watch and a bikini and had nothing else with me. It was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. The time was 5:32 on a Wednesday morning.
In short, everything was going smoothly for me. My name is Crystal, and I was a twenty-one year old woman on a mission.
Half-conscious with eyes wide open (as if it mattered), I climbed over large, smooth rocks along my memorized route to the lake. Was I scared? Yes, but I had three things going for me. First, I like being scared. Second, I was doing this for something I believed in. And third, I had done this close to a hundred times already. I knew every boulder, every crack and crevasse, every footstep and handhold, better than I knew the back of my hand. I had faith in my abilities. Coming to an opening in the rock about the size of a glove compartment, I undid my top, slid my bikini bottom off and stuffed them in for safekeeping. Where I was going, they'd only get in the way. Naked now, I continued climbing up and over the rocks, until I slid down the last one and into Mermaid Pond, my feet stopped by a familiar level stone, five feet down.
C-cold! The water was cold! Not a surprise, but still a shock. THAT woke me the rest of the way, and I stood in the water, hopping on one foot then the other, acclimating myself to the temperature. It was summer, so it only took a couple minutes; besides, Mermaid Pond never really got too cold. The lake was huge, roughly circular, with a high cliff on the west side, and a long, shallow beach stretching out on the other three. Those three sides were great for tourism, since they had very gentle downward grades.
Swimmers could easily go a hundred feet out with no risk of drowning and, as I just said, it never really got very cold. The west side was different. The cliff was high, slippery, dangerous, sharp, and fenced off. The water there had rocks near the surface of the water to kill divers, and deep water to drown in. But I knew the geography of the cliff. I knew the rocks, the water, the currents, and the weather.
I looked at my watch; 5:37. Through the mist over the lake, I could see a couple of the lights down in Mermaid Pond (the town), but not enough for me to see by. Summer has the disadvantage that it gets light early. No matter the time of year, I had to be ready the moment it got light, and that meant climbing down the day before and sleeping at the bottom of the cliff.
I waited. Slowly, slowly, the sky to the east began to lighten. Slowly, things around me became visible, starting with the top of the cliff above me. There! I could see Mermaid Rock now. I took a breath, bent my legs, and kicked off for it.
I forgot to mention Mermaid Rock, sorry. It's sort of round and fairly uninteresting. It juts about five feet up out of the lake and is within easy swimming distance of where I was. Not that hard to swim to from the beaches, either. I think it took me about half a minute to reach the rock. There were fish in the water, but none of them brushed against me this time. Reaching below the waterline at the rock, I gathered up the package I'd stashed there on Monday; this was not a casual endeavor on my part. The package was simple but essential: sunscreen, a hairbrush, a large white bath towel, and bright green sheer stockings with garter belt. Holding one end, I threw the heavy towel up over my head, and heard it land with a satisfying SPLAP over the Rock. Climbing up, I wrapped the garter belt around my hips, slipped on the stockings, clipped them to the belt, folded the towel in half, smoothed it out over the rock and sat down facing the rising sun.
I felt a shiver go down my spine, both because of the chill (somewhat lessened by humidity) and because of the thrill of being out there, naked and exposed. I squeezed a dollop of sunscreen into my fingertips and rolled over onto my stomach, keeping my knees together like any proper mermaid would. I worked it into the skin on my thighs and buttocks before sitting up again, knees bent and feet tucked demurely together. I was taking things slowly since I had all day to be here. I looked out at the town. I could see the shapes of the buildings now, which meant that shortly people would start being able to see me. Actually, framed by the reflecting light off the cliff, I was probably already visible. Taking a deep breath, I arched my back, pushed out my breasts, and leaned over to apply more sunscreen. The fronts of my thighs and hips, all around my pussy, my stomach and lower back. I did my upper back and neck, my ears, face, and stomach, ending with my size C breasts. I placed the bottle of sunscreen under a corner of the towel for later use; experience has taught me that sunscreen only lasts a few hours.
I draped the ends of my hair over my shoulder and onto my breasts and started brushing them. I needed a ritual to do while sitting there, something to keep my mind occupied. I kept my back arched and my tits pushed forward. Part of this project I had undertaken was maintaining a constant state of being sexy and presentable and I was going to be on constant display for several hours if all went well. When I had done all I could with my hair draped forward, I pushed it back behind me, leaned far back so that the tips dipped into the fresh water of the lake, and started on the top half of my hair, my left arm supporting my weight and my face towards the sky. Once a person's hair gets used to being brushed regularly, their scalp starts to itch if they slacken off. It took me maybe half an hour to finish my ritual. I set my brush aside, but kept my current pose, back arched. I supported myself with both arms, looked up and felt the morning sun light up my body.
With a start, I realized that I had dozed off. The sun had risen in the sky, there were people already on the beach-slash-beaches, and I had a funny *blech* taste in my mouth from sleeping in the sun like that. It was already 9:31. Lying on my stomach, I leaned forward (east), and cupped my hands to take a drink of water, more to clean the taste out of my mouth than because of thirst. The water in Mermaid Pond is very clean. One of the nearby lakes got polluted and all the fish there died. We have several of the same species living here, so we passed some extra laws to protect the purity of this lake. For one thing, boats aren't allowed here anymore, since they disturb the fish and always leave at least a little oil behind. It's hurt tourism, but helped ensure my privacy. I mean, anonymity.
I gargled, spat, and repositioned myself looking north this time, legs curled in front of me, and pantomimed brushing my hair some more. Varying my poses gave people variety if they chose to look at me (I wasn't forcing anyone), and who wants to stay in the same position forever? I took a quick look down at my pussy, indecently framed by the green stockings and garter belt. My hair was blonde, but my pussy hairs were dark brown, almost black. I kept them lightly trimmed into a triangle that fits properly into most swimsuits, but isn't so shaved that I feel like I don't have a bush. Women who shave themselves down there... I've always considered it to be like unnecessary breast reduction. Where's the fun of getting rid of your "naughty areas?"
Time passed. My watch beeped noon. I took up my sunscreen and reapplied. Looking out at the beach, I saw the tourists and locals sitting on the sand and splashing in the water. Someone looked like they were waving at me so I waved back. There was a lesser fog bank over the river, so I couldn't see them very clearly. This was actually good, since it meant they couldn't see me clearly either. Not enough to identify me, at least. I check the weather reports regularly, so I knew in advance what the visibility that day would be like. Not rainy or overcast, but just the right amount of mist over the lake. There's generally about two good days per month and I try to come out here once a month, so it works out. Maybe if I kept doing this they'll start to call this "mermaid weather."
The town of Mermaid Pond has indecent exposure laws that outlaw public nudity such as, oh, sitting in the middle of Mermaid Pond naked like I was doing. I was breaking the law doing this and could go to jail or be fined if the authorities ever got around to arresting me. This risk was real, and though I wasn't worried about the legal punishments, (A fine? A few days in jail? I'd survive it), I preferred that people just not know. I was really curious about how much my friends and neighbors suspected, but that wasn't something I could just ask, was it?
I finished the coat of sunscreen, rubbing the remaining smear into my breasts, and waited. I take yoga to keep in shape. Staying in pretty much the same place for hours is more difficult than it looks. 1:33. I turned to face south-east and put on another layer of sunscreen. There seemed to be about twice as many people visiting as last summer, which was reassuring for me. I've seen the website for the town and read four places where the town's "mermaid" was referred to. I've seen pictures of "the mermaid" for sale in town, just blurry enough to protect my anonymity, but with black bars over my breasts and pussy. Some of the pictures even had "swimsuits" inked onto them to avoid making the pictures "pornographic." As if my nipples would have been clear anyway.
