Building Bridges/Cuentos Y Puentes

THE ODD STORY OF
KATESON AND CRAIM
by Ruwayda
“Fine,” she said. “I go to Selena’s
house.”
“No, you don’t. I was there too, playing
with Selena’s brother.”
“Okay, fine, I was somewhere else,
somewhere you don’t need to know
about.”
After the conversation, she snuck off and
jumped in a magical water fountain to
go to mermaid school. There was a new
student at the mermaid school. Kateson
had been staying late catching her up,
which is why her brother was suspicious.
When she came home so late, at eleven,
her brother, who had seen her tail when
she was coming out of the shower,
caught her and said, “I know your secret.
I know you’re a mermaid. I’ve seen your
tail.”
Once there was a normal, 17-year-old girl
named Kateson. One day, a sea creature
teleported to her in her bedroom. He
was a very small, magical starfish, and
he gave Kateson a special red bracelet,
which she thought was nice. Then he
teleported back to the sea.
Kateson put on the bracelet and went
to take a shower. The second she
touched the water, she transformed into
a mermaid. At that point she was very
shocked (I would be shocked too!). She
finished showering. Her little brother
tried to come into the washroom.
She took off the bracelet and turned
back into a human. She thought it had
probably been a one-time thing.
She put the bracelet back on. The next
day at school, her best friend Selena
threw water on her as a joke. The
bracelet beeped—it was counting down
for four minutes before she turned into a
mermaid.
She hid in a storage closet and
transformed into a mermaid. Selena
found her there and was shocked.
Kateson explained, and Selena thought it
was really cool. Kateson asked Selena to
help her turn back into a human. Kateson
took off the bracelet and turned back
into a human. Selena asked to try the
bracelet on, but when she did, nothing
happened. It only worked for Kateson.
Fast forward one year into the future.
Kateson was more comfortable with
her powers. She travelled to the ocean
every day to teach mermaid school. Her
brother, Jackson, was getting suspicious
that she was a mermaid because Kateson
was always leaving school early and
coming home late. One day, her brother
asked her, “What do you do after
school?”
She said, “I go to the library and study.”
“I went to the library yesterday and you
weren’t there.”
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