Transformation

The cascading waters of the mountain waterfall gushed down with sprays drenching the petite form of Bena. She had turned ten and the rushing waters made her pupils dilate. The rainbow created against the rocky surroundings added with the lush green bushes made her heart pound. She wanted to be under the waters and take a bath. 

As she waded into,  the waters closed above her. The sudden cool response made her tremble. But, now she could feel herself changing. Her brown tresses were getting locked into something hitherto unknown. Her limbs gave away. 

In front of her eyes she found a portal opening, much like a mirror. She shrieked as she confronted an image of a horrible creature staring back at her! 

Had she found it at last? The parallel universe. A sudden torrent suck her in the portal. When she woke, it was dark around her.

The Awakening!

Time had passed. She saw around her. trees, the birds, the fishes and other ambhibians. She swam into a clearing. Far in the distance, she could hear human voices with which she had identified herself long ago. Now, she was a water nymph. She came and went, as she pleased. She tasted the green , slimy underwater weeds. Drank the cool waters . Her limbs were gone, changed into long fins and her face was that of a maiden. Only her hair was braided and trailed behind as she swam!

Hark! The humans were approaching. She positioned herself in the middle of the cascading waters, then, dived deep!

She waited till they left. Those above, could only see the green sparkling waters and the cascading waterfalls. They took pictures and some waded near the edges. 

" Would she appear before them? "

She decided against her thoughts. Suddenly, she felt very hungry. A knawing pain in her stomach made her body turn blue and red. She swam further into the depths. There were shoals of fish and weeds. She tore and crushed them between her jaws. 

The time for her soaring was nearing. She carefully trespassed the eyes of the tourists, and emerged from the cascading waters. 

" Mon! Look! A giant fish!"

One of the children had noticed her. It was too late! She could not wait to be discovered. She dived below. What they could see was a large fish suddenly disappear! Too quick and sudden to believe!

As they quickened their pace, she felt a long forgotten emotion get stuck in her throat... The doctor had predicted her early demise. She had overheard from the other side of the closed door. She had heard her father comforting her weeping mother. 

She had excused herself and had entered the waters during a short day out near the cascading waterfalls. She had vanished, without a trace for them. But, she knew! She had transformed, not left!

As she rested beneath the rocks that his her, she watched the small bubbles spring from the depths, the slow and fast movements of the throbbing life forms  passing her. From here, she could see the twilight approaching and the waters around her turning darker. Tomorrow was another day.