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Picture
Mermaid
​by James Austin Kerr

Dream Cast:  
Glenn Ford, Lee Remick
"Why are you still up, Lew?"  It was Rhonda.
He shuffled the receipts under the small desk lamp.
"Compiling my expenses from the trip to the Coast."
She un-shuffled them, lifted them. 
"No, you aren't," she stated.  "You're drawing pictures
of mermaids.  Has that fantasy started to recur after
all these years?"
He became uneasy.  "It was just something that came to
me on the plane on the way to LA.  A dream. And it sort
of stayed with me for some reason, through the meeting with 
O'Hara, at the hotel, at the airport and the flight back."
"In the form of a pert young stewardess?" she wanted to know.
"No, I was thinking about you sunbathing on that large rock
in Malibu when I first met you.  You in that metallic one-
piece bathing suit with sequin scales."
"Was this fantasy-- this dream 'R' rated?  Because I still have
that suit-- I saved it since it never saw surf.  It probably doesn't
fit as well now.  Too small."
He smiled that impish grin from years ago.
"That's a delightful prospect," he said, rubbing his strong jaw.
"Would you like me to model it for you--"
Like a stealthy intruder, the phone in the kitchen alcove rang.
She went to get it.
Lew's head dropped.  He clutched the receipts in his fist, cursed.
In five minutes, Rhonda was back.
"That was our Paul," she announced.  "He asked her to marry him."
"And?"
"She told him she needed more time-- a girl of her own mind, bless her,"
she laughed her throaty laugh.
"That's our son's social equilibrium you're making sport of," he objected.
But she was gone.
He wadded his sketch into a ball, tossed it, gathered the receipts again. 
The spell had been broken.  
Its magic had been usurped by another generation, a new one, their Paul's.
He put his head down on the writing desk, dozed, to wake with a start.
Rhonda was in the archway.
A vision in shiny metallics and shimmery sea-quins.
But the third thing he noticed about the mermaid was that she had grown
exquisite size six-and-a-half B silver ballet slippers.
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  • Home
    • Notre Dame
  • Contact
    • Roadmap to HEAVEN >
      • Suit to Kill, Slip to Thrill
      • Title Index >
        • A Letter From Your Secretary
        • 8086
        • A Woman's Pride
        • Aliens or Angels?
        • Alpha Beta Traitor
        • Amy And Amy And
        • Are You Telling Me?
        • Baby Blue Sunbeam
        • Ballpark Hero
        • Barn Quilts
        • Beautiful with Braces
        • Because it Still Rains
        • Bend
        • Better
        • Better Yet
        • The Big Yellow Elopement Machine
        • Blind Date
        • Brother
        • Cadmium Gold
        • Calico Charms
        • Caramels
        • Carrie Me Back
        • Cat in the Corner Chair
        • CATCH from 13 Stories
        • Cat's Eyes
        • The Cherry Spot
        • The Closer Wins a Steak
        • Cloud
        • Coffee Shop HEARTS 2
        • Company
        • Confessional
        • Confetti
        • Cover!
        • Cover Art Gallery
        • The Dad Who Was 24-Feet Tall
        • The Day the Avanti Didn't Start
        • Days of Christmas
        • The Devil Sells His Soul
        • Double Sugar
        • The Ebullience of Being Elaina Brightman
        • Escape
        • Everybody's Teddy
        • Fall of Winter
        • Fatal Flaws
        • Final Final: The Last Newspaper
        • Forgiveness Day
        • The Girl as Good as Mozart
        • The Girl Who Never Was
        • Girl With Backpack
        • Grand Lady
        • Guardian
        • Hard-Boiled, Soft-Headed
        • The Heart of an Unknown Soldier
        • Help Wanted, Hope Needed
        • Hurt
        • I Am Afraid of My Feelings
        • I Don't Care if I Ever Come Back
        • I Will Be Leaving
        • I Wonder Where He is Now
        • In the Throes of Coca Coma
        • Jailhouse Judy
        • Jigsaw
        • Kansas City
        • The Kid Goes 0 for April
        • KISS
        • Kiss Me, Kate-Lynn
        • klick-klock
        • The Last Elevator Girl
        • Lawyer Vs. Rodeo Rider
        • Library Doors
        • Lighthouses
        • Loft in Space
        • Lookalike
        • Love Nothing Novel
        • The Lunacy and the Lace
        • Man in the Big Pajamas
        • Mermaid
        • Morning Jog
        • Mr. In-Between
        • My Brother's Science Project
        • A Nice Quiet Space
        • Nine
        • Not Fields Afar
        • The Note
        • On Briarwood Roof
        • One-Two Punch//Delivered
        • One Way Ticket
        • Out of Limelight
        • Parallel You
        • The Passenger
        • Perfect
        • Physical
        • Pitch Count
        • Polaroid Manipulations
        • Portrait of Genevieve
        • Pretty Dresses, Petty Thieves
        • Pretty, Ugly
        • Proposal
        • PurgaStories
        • Red Chair to Mars
        • Reentry
        • Return to Fine Arts
        • The Ride of a Lifetime
        • Run-Run Runaway Caboose
        • Saturday
        • Secret Game Workshop
        • Shadows
        • Signals
        • Slideshow
        • Slugger
        • The Small of Her Back
        • Southpaws
        • Spelling Bee
        • Spring of Summer
        • Starry Night
        • Stewart Survives the 7th
        • Stuntgirl
        • Stopover
        • The Stowaway
        • The Super Secret Planet Finder
        • Tail of the Lake Monster
        • Team Bus
        • Tow Me
        • Turret
        • Telephone
        • Usherette
        • Varsity
        • Veranda Nights
        • Wicked Curves
        • We
        • Where's Your Faith?
        • You
        • You Kill Me
      • .005 >
        • Prayers Answered >
          • Postcards
          • Pitch Count
          • Where's Your Faith?
          • Spelling Bee
          • You Kill Me
          • Cruisin'
          • Casey's Comeback
          • Archives
  • Library
  • Omnibus
  • Parables
  • Love Stories
    • PRETTY WOMAN
    • Wait Worthy
    • A CUPA DONUTS >
      • THE JOURNEYMAN >
        • Strangers on the Shore
      • The Miracle at Multiplex 4
      • Moon Over November
  • 5-Minute Stories that Last Forever
  • Miracles
  • Healing
  • Meditations
  • PurgaStories
  • Scenes of a GT Hawk
  • Hole in One
  • First Date
  • Wanna Bet?
  • The Not-So-Lonely Cabbie
  • The Big Fight
  • A Parable of the High Seas
  • Lonely Girl
  • Mr. Almost