The Tail of Emily Windsnap

The tail of Emily Windsnap"everyone has a secret . mines alittle different. i figured out i am a mermaid.

But remember, it’s just between you and me!

Brightport looked so small: a cluster of low buildings, all huddled around a tiny horseshoe-shaped bay, a lighthouse at one

through, but my shoulders were too big to follow. This wasn’t going to work. Unless I swam through on my side. . . . I tried again, coming at the bars sideways. But it was no good. I couldn’t squeeze my face through the gap. I never realized my nose stuck out that much! I held on to the bars, flicking my tail as I thought. Then it hit me. How could I have been so stupid? I turned to face them. Just like before, I edged my head through the bars, as slowly and carefully as I could. All I needed to do now was flip onto my side and pull the rest of my body through. But what if I got stuck — my head on one side, my body on the other, caught forever with my neck in these railings? Before I had time to talk myself out of it, I swiveled my body onto its side.

Where did he go?” “That’s just it. No one ever heard from him again. The strain was obviously too much for him,” he said sarcastically. “What strain?” “Fatherhood. Good-for-nothing slacker. Never willing to grow up and take responsibility.” Mr. Beeston looked away. “What he did — it was despicable,” he said, his voice becoming raspy. “I will never forgive him.” He got up from the bench, his face hard and set. “Never,” he repeated. Something about the way he said it made me hope I’d never get on his wrong side. I followed him as we carried on along the boardwalk. “Didn’t anybody try to find him?” “Find him?” Mr. Beeston looked at me,