Camille’s Mermaid Tale

Come On In, Camille!

The next morning, the WellieWishers meet in the garden. Kendall takes out her notebook and asks the girls which idea they should do first. Ashlyn looks up at the bright and sunny sky and mentions they’ll have to wait for a rainy day to do the picnic. Camille pipes up and says that she hopes she’ll be there when it rains, because she wants to do the picnic.

Willa, who senses Camille feels a little sad, asks Camille what she means. Camille explains that her mother signed her and her sister up for ballet each morning, so she’ll only be able to come to the garden in the afternoons. Kendall and Ashlyn exclaim they’ll miss her in the mornings, and save the most fun for the afternoons. Emerson is excited by the idea of ballet. She’s sure Camille will love it. But Camille isn’t quite sure.

Then Aunt Miranda brings out ice pops for all the girls. They laugh and chuckle as they lick their ice pops, but Camille still doesn’t feel very happy. Ashlyn asks her if she still feels sad about missing the mornings. Camille nods. She explains she misses her grandmother, too.

Before Camille’s family moved there last fall, they lived near the ocean, and Camille’s grandmother would spend the whole summer with them. They’d go to the beach every day.

Willa says she’s never seen the ocean, and asks what it’s like. Camille describes how it goes on forever and ever, and it changes color based on the weather outside. The air smells salty and fishy, and the sand is hot and the water is cold and bubbly. Sometimes they see turtles, crabs, or seagulls. And maybe even a dolphin or whale jumping farther out in the water.

All the girls are quiet, imagining what the ocean must look like. Camille continues. She and her sister used to pretend they were mermaids. They’d swim through the water as if their legs were a tail. They’d make up mermaid stories to tell their Grandma, where they were mermaids who lived in an underwater garden full of beautiful shells and wavery sea plants. They’d be friends with seahorse and dolphins, and they’d all swim together and come to surface to watch people and boats.

Emerson smiles. “Camille, I bet you wish you were a mermaid.” Camille nods her head in agreement. Emerson makes up a little song to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”:

One summer, Camille’s grandmother even made her a mermaid tail costume, but she outgrew it before she moved. Anyway, her sister says they’re too old to be playing mermaids. Emerson and Kendall respond that she must be wrong… you’re never too old to be a mermaid.

Camille knows her friends are trying to cheer her up. But it doesn’t work well—she knows mermaids can’t live on dry land, and the ocean can’t fit in Aunt Miranda’s garden.

Later, after Camille leaves for the day, Ashlyn suggests they try something to make Camille feel better. Then, Willa has an amazing plan.