Webbed Feet.

“Go on then, you little freak. Show us how well you can swim!”

The loud splash of Eric hitting the water alerted a nearby couple.

“What on Earth are you doing? You could kill him!”

The three boys who had pushed him into the canal fled with their laughter trailing behind them, leaving the two adults to try to fish the boy from the water. It seemed as if the news had travelled, as Eric didn’t recognise the three boys.

“Are you okay?”

One of the adults reached his hand out, while Eric swam with ease to the embankment. He took the man’s hand and was pulled out. Eric smiled at the couple.

“I’m fine. Thank you for helping.”

The woman shook her head in disbelief.

“Those awful kids. Why would they do something like that?”

It had happened three days ago, while Eric’s class were on their weekly school trip to the swimming baths. Until that day, Eric had managed to avoid anyone seeing his feet. He’d made sure to put his swimming socks on in the school bathroom before they headed to the baths. This week, however, he had misplaced them and the teacher, Mr. Perryman, refused to allow him to skip swimming practise.

“If you don’t have a medical exemption, you get in the pool.”

Eric hated Mr. Perryman. He would often let the other boys bully Eric, pretending he couldn’t hear their taunts whilst smirking from behind his desk. Mr. Perryman taught English as well as P.E., and he always seemed to favour the students who excelled at sport.

Eric was not one of them.

He had two left feet when it came to football, couldn’t run far or fast, and had no accuracy when it came to basketball.

There was one activity Eric was better at than any other student at though.

Eric could swim.

He had told Mr. Perryman that his swimming socks were lucky, and Mr. Perryman was willing to entertain this as long as Eric kept swimming for the school at regional galas.

Eric won every time. No matter what stroke he was required to do, he would always win with ease.

He thought this would make Mr. Perryman warm to him, yet the old man still seemed to ooze disdain whenever Eric spoke.

When Eric won, the other boys would cheer for him, believing briefly in the myth of his magic swimming socks. The next day they returned to their bullying ways, but for those brief moments Eric forgot about how alienated he felt from the other boys, and from every person around him.

This day Eric had forgotten his socks, and the boys in his class would finally see the truth.

Eric had webbed feet.

This occurred not just between two toes, but between every pair of toes on both of Eric’s feet. Nor was the webbing minor, the attached skin spread his toes out like the ribs on a fan.

When the first boy saw them, he screamed.

This caused every other boy to notice too.

Some of them screamed, while others laughed.

But they all noticed Eric’s webbed feet.

He tried to leave the changing rooms, to head back to the school bus and wait in shame, but the boys frogmarched him out into the pool area. There, along with Mr. Perryman, were all of the girls in Eric’s class.

They all noticed Eric’s webbed feet.

The same scene played out again, a mixture of laughter and horror as they pointed at the boy with webbed feet.

Eric saw the smirk on Mr. Perryman’s face, and in Eric’s mind something snapped. He ran screaming at Mr. Perryman, hitting him full force and knocking him backwards into the water. Eric then ran in the opposite direction and out of the fire exit. He ran into the streets, wearing only his swimming trunks, and continued to run until he was sure no one would catch him. He knew the way home, cutting across fields and a golf course. The grass felt incredible on the soles of his feet, and though he felt great embarrassment in what just happened, his mind flashed an image of the sheer terror in Mr. Perryman’s face as he tumbled backwards into the water.

Eric smiled, feeling power when he had previously felt only weakness.

He snuck into his home, using a spare key hidden under the bin, before his dad came home. He changed into a spare school uniform, and went out into the woods.

Eric sat beside a large pond, watching dragonflies hover above the water. He took of his shoes and socks, placing his webbed feet into the water.

It was here, and only here, that he felt at peace.

The pond was small in width. Yet, when Eric looked into the deep blue water, he couldn’t see the bottom. He sat there for over an hour, imagining just how far its depth went.

When he arrived home, his father noticed how sodden the cuffs of his pants were.

“Where have you been, Eric?”

Eric began to sob.

“Dad… why am I so different? Why do I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere?”

Eric’s father took his son into his arms, squeezing in a tight hug.

“What do you mean, Eric? You’re not different, you’re just like every other little boy.”

Eric pulled away from his father, pulling off his shoes and pointing to his feet.

“These are not normal, Dad.”

His father hesitated, a heavy sigh falling from his lips.

“Eric… I’ve never told you this. It’s about your mother.”

Eric knew his mother had died giving birth to him, and he carried the guilt of that with him every day.

“Your mother… was a mermaid.”

Eric looked confused. His dad was prone to making up stories to comfort the boy, tales about knights and dragons, yet there seemed to be sincerity in his father’s tone.

“She was beautiful, and though we knew we could never be together we still could not help falling in love. I remember how her eyes were huge black oceans I would instantly fall into, how beautiful and kissable her lips were, and…”

Eric’s father wiped away a tear that had appeared in his eye.

“I’m sorry I never told you, Eric. But being different is not a bad thing. You’re special, and one day all of this will make sense.”

Eric nodded, though he was unsure what any of what his father had told him really meant.

By his sixteenth birthday, puberty had hit Eric hard. His body no longer felt like his own. His proportions had changed dramatically, and his voice was caught in the embarrassing stage where it wobbled between breaking. Aside from that, his vertebrae felt far more pronounced. If he ran his hand down his back, the bones felt sharp. It was as if sharp spines were trying to push out of his skin. The flesh around his neck had become incredibly flaky too, and Eric now wore a scarf even on the hottest days to hide his shame.

The evening of his birthday, his father had been acting strange. Birthdays were never a huge celebration for the two of them, both ruminating on the passing of Eric’s mother, yet this year his father seemed even more distant. His father had spent the entire night sat on his chair, staring at the television. He’d been watching a documentary on ocean life when Eric walked in, and didn’t respond when Eric said hello.

Although Eric didn’t know what the issue was, he wanted to try to cheer his father up. He took a beer from the fridge and opened the can, pouring it into a glass. As he handed the drink to his father, he noticed the tears.

“Dad… what’s the matter?”

Eric’s father turned to his son. His eyes were completely red with bloodshot.

“Eric, my son. There’s something I never told you. Today is a day I wished would never come.”

Eric placed his hand on his father’s shoulder.

“What is it, Dad?”

His father wiped away his tears.

“You’re changing, Eric.”

Eric rolled his eyes.

“It’s called puberty, Dad. It’s not that big a deal. I know I’m not your little boy anymore, but…”

His father shook his head, silencing Eric.

“You’re changing, Eric. You must leave tonight. If you stay any longer, you’ll die. The change will have gone too far.”

Eric’s brow furrowed with confusion.

“Knock it off, Dad. Don’t say things like that.”

“It’s true. I told you your mother was a mermaid, and that lives within you too. She told me before she died this day would come, that you’d become more like her, and that you’d have to return to the waters where you were born.”

Eric shook his head. A thousand thoughts were racing, and anxiety clogged up his throat.

Then, through the fog of distress, he found calm.

He loved his father, yet he’d never been happy as a human.

The constant feeling of emotional discomfort, the crushing weight of his existence, all it now made sense.

He’d always thought that experiences as a child, bullied by his peers and further alienated by Mr. Perryman, had caused him to feel the way he did. But it was more than that, it wasn’t something external that caused his isolation, and he knew now what he must do.

He hugged his father.

“I understand, Dad. I know it’s hard, but it’s okay. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

He paused, a small smile appearing across his lips.

“It’s time for me to go home.”

Eric didn’t need direction. He knew exactly where he had to go. He could feel the waters calling to him.

He headed through the woods, finding the small pond with an impossible depth.

The only place he’d ever felt peace.

The surface began to bubble. Rather than fear, Eric felt an excitement at what would appear.

As the water broke, he saw the face of a huge catfish. Its eyes were huge black oceans, its lips plump and almost humanlike.

The two looked at each other, until Eric finally spoke.

“…Mum?”

The catfish frowned. Its eyes reflected the pains of grief.

“No, Eric. I’m not your mother. Your father kept a lot of things from you, but what he said about your mother’s death is true.”

Although he’d known it his entire life, hearing it again caused a great pain in Eric’s heart.

“Who are you?”

The catfish smiled.

“Your mother was my sister. Or, more accurately, my identical twin. Only your father could tell us apart, he saw something in your mother that no one else could.”

The catfish began to move closer towards Eric. It placed its huge chin onto the edge of the pond and began to inch further inland, using its chin to pull itself forward. Eric noticed the legs of the catfish as they thrashed at the surface.

A juxtaposition of shock and understanding filled his body.

The legs were visibly human, yet the feet were webbed.

The catfish struggled, but soon managed to stand. Eric saw his future in full view. His auntie, the catfish, motioned with its fins much the way humans often spoke with their hands.

“I don’t know exactly what your father has told you, but you’re here so I can assume you know what happens next.”

Eric nodded.

He stripped off all of his clothes, including his scarf, revealing the small gills that had started to protrude from his skin.

“I’m ready to come home.”

The catfish smiled, and dived back into the impossible depth of the pond.

Eric took one last look at the land, and followed his auntie into the deep blue water.