I Wish I was a Mermaid

When I was little I spent an extensive portion of my life pretending I was otherworldly creatures.  I had a group of friends that I role played as a witch with, a few people with whom my choice race was alien and the first incarnation of it all was the mermaid.

I was in second grade and my friends and I created drama about all the complexities of being mermaid princesses.  I remember actually having conversations with my friends so entrenched in this fantasy world that my awareness that this was reality and the mermaid was the farce was not clear to me.

There were always evil forces working against us on our quest to become mermaids.  So, we often ran around the backyard working against the enemies in our collective imagination.   

I tried to do little, mini ceremonies and chants that would turn me into something mystical.

I cannot be completely sure that it didn't work, because I stopped trying.

Eventually, I resorted to drinking salt water because I thought it would turn me into a mermaid.

I poured salt in my water because I desperately wanted to swim in the sea and have talking turtle friends.  I did a bunch of other weird things when I was little, mostly pertaining to being a witch, but this is what I wanted to express to you the most.

The salt water I drank was out of a Little Mermaid cup, too, as to increase the probability that this act would work. 

I drank salt water until my parents informed me that it was just making me thirstier and not giving me a fin.