Without further prompting, the little girl did as instructed. Drue counted down, and Aliyah raised her head triumphantly, water streaming from her face. “I did it! I floated like a jellyfish!”

“You are the best jellyfish ever,” Drue assured her.

“When do I get to be a mermaid?”

“Very soon. Next, I want you to fly in the water,” Drue said.

“I never saw mermaids fly,” Aliyah said.

“It’s just an expression. So, I want you to scooch all the way down to the other end of the tub, and this time, when you’re doing your jellyfish, I want you to use your feet to push off from the end of that tub, and fly to the other end of the tub. Can you do that? Remember, face in water, blow bubbles, let your arms and legs relax, and then jet to the end.”

Aliyah jetted back and forth for the next ten minutes, giggling hysterically as she sent great waves of bathwater sloshing over the edge of the tub.

“Okay, I think you’ve got bubbles and floating and jetting down pat,” Drue said, drying her off with a beach towel.

“What next?”

Drue stood up and winced as her bad knee protested.

“We really have to get you in deeper water to get you swimming,” she said. “Do you feel like going back down to the beach again?”

Tears brimmed in the child’s big dark eyes. “Do I have to? I’m afraid.”

Drue sat down on the edge of the tub and hugged the child against her. “No. You absolutely don’t have to. But you know, mermaids are rarely found in bathtubs. Even pink tubs like mine. Mermaids swim in the ocean, right?”

Aliyah nodded solemnly.

“For your next lesson, I’ll show you how to stroke with your arms, and kick with your feet,” Drue said. “But in deeper water. Okay?”

“How much deeper?”

“It won’t matter how deep,” Drue said. “Because your body just naturally floats. It’s okay to be afraid at first, but then, after a little bit, I’ll let go of your hand, and the next thing you know, you’ll be in the water and you’ll be swimming like a mermaid.”

“Okay,” Aliyah said.

“Are you hungry?” Drue asked. “Do you happen to like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as much as I do?”

“I only like strawberry jelly,” Aliyah said. “And chunky peanut butter.”

“Me too!” Drue exclaimed. “Let’s eat!”

They had lunch on the deck, eating off paper plates and enjoying the stiff breeze coming off the beach.

“Look!” Aliyah said, pointing at a billowing orange and green kite floating through the sky just past the treeline. “What’s that?”

“Let’s go see,” Drue said.