Camille’s Mermaid Tale

Half In, Half Out

The next day, Willa is frustrated. She hates keeping the secret of the surprise from Camille. Ashlyn agrees that the secret is probably hurting their friendship with Camille, since they hurt her feelings yesterday when they kept things from her. Kendall says the garden is almost finished, so she’ll find out soon. Camille must know something fishy is going on. Emerson says that they’ve kept the secret thus far… they need to see this out.

And the girls are right. That afternoon, when Camille arrives at the garden, instead of going straight to her friends, she sits on a big rock. She feels glum and confused by her friends’ behavior. They ignored her questions and suggestions the day before. They must be hiding something from her.

Aunt Miranda sees Camille sitting there, and comes over. Camille explains she hasn’t been there as much because of her ballet classes. She likes ballet classes, but hates missing her friends at the garden. Maybe it’s better if she didn’t come to the garden at all. It’s hard being half in and half out. She says she feels left out, as if she doesn’t know what they’re doing. And she misses her grandmother, and she misses being at the ocean. She feels as if no matter where she is, she’s not where she wants to be.

Aunt Miranda gives her a big hug, and says she knows how Camille feels. Aunt Miranda likes to travel, but whenever she does, she misses her big garden. So, she’ll close her eyes and try to imagine what it looks like. She says that always makes her feel better.

That evening, Camille tries Aunt Miranda’s advice. She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath. Suddenly, she can imagine the ocean so vividly in her mind. She feels like she can even smell it. Not wanting to lose the memory, she starts to draw a picture. And when it’s done, she writes down one of the mermaid stories she used to tell her grandmother.

After doing all of that, she feels like a heavy weight has been lifted from her heart. So, she continues, drawing more pictures, and writing down even more stories. She writes so many stories that the pages begin to form a book!