Alexander hadn’t stopped running until he’d gotten to the beach. Okay, that was a lie. He’d stopped a few times to rest or catch food. Other than that he hadn’t stopped. Afterward, he’d swam as far as he could. By now he’d found a place he was fine staying in. He’d turned an underwater cave into a home, and hunted fish at a nearby reef. Simple and boring- just the way he liked things. He didn’t have to deal with society. He didn’t want to. Nobody could betray him if he didn’t meet them to start with, right? Sort of. He’d encountered a few other people, but not many. A merman named Liam had spoken to him once, but only for a brief minute. Another time, he’d had a run in with a diver. He’d then swam away from them as fast as possible because he didn’t want to have to explain himself to some adults- He didn’t miss anybody. Who was there to miss? All people had done was wrong him. Well, except.. No. He wasn’t going to think about that. He wasn’t going back. Never. Nobody could

make him do that. Nobody could make him do anything. For all Alexander cared, the surface world didn’t exist. He was perfectly happy down here. He just couldn’t help but feel that something was off.

e

Yep-