Chapter Four

The cloth diaper the mermaids used was stretchy enough to pull up between her legs. Pawson helped pin it in place with an extra set of baby pins. It wasn’t a very secure diaper, but Aimes knew she didn’t have much of a choice. When Pawson was done, Aimes snapped up her swimsuit and shuffled side to side.

"It is comfortable," Aimes said. "It’s unlike anything I’ve ever worn, that’s for sure."

"I wonder where they get their clothes," Pawson thought out loud. "But we should be getting back. We’ve been gone a while."

The two adventurers hurried back to the edge of the beach, where Verdana was waiting for them.

"You have such a beautiful home," Aimes said, sitting in the wet sand and dipping her feet in the still water. Verdana was still halfway up the shore splashing her tail lightly in the shallows.

"Thank you," Verdana said. "It's a shame we don't have more visitors."

"You want more visitors?" Pawson asked. "Why would you want that?"

"It gets boring after a while," Verdana answered. "Sometimes I go up to the pool and move a toy around in the water. Sometimes I bring things back here for others to play with." She motioned at the half-dozen inflatables on the water’s surface.

"Why don't you talk to the people at the pool?" Aimes asked. "They would love to see a real mermaid."

"I'm... quite shy," Verdana admitted, blushing a little. "Many mermaids are. Haven't you noticed not many mermaids have spoken to you since you got here?"

Aimes and Pawson both looked at each other. They hadn't noticed, but it was true. Some would wave and smile, but none other than Verdana had approached.

"So we'll tell people where to find you," Aimes said confidently.

"No one would believe us," Pawson said. "Atlantis is kind of a myth to humans."

"Well it's hard to find an underwater city in the public pool of a quiet, charming town," Aimes argued. "It's quite literally the last place anyone would look."

"Well you found it," Verdana said.

"On accident," Pawson corrected.

"Well, no." Aimes tapped her finger to her chin. "I found it because of that sign. It said No Diving, and I thought maybe it was trying to hide something from me."

"Only you would think that," Pawson laughed.

"Hey, I was right! And maybe if the sign said Atlantis..." Aimes paused for a moment and grinned. “You know, if we made a big sign for Atlantis, I bet people would check it out! Other people always listen to signs!"

"We have some big lengths of cloth at the Tailers?" Verdana offered helpfully.

"That's a good start," Aimes said. "What about markers?"

"Ummm..." Verdana seemed stumped by the word.

"I have water crayons," Aimes thought aloud, but quickly shook her head. "I couldn’t make a very big sign with them though."

"On land, we usually use paint to make signs," Pawson said.

"Oh! Yes!" Aimes excitedly kicked her feet in the shallows. "Watercolors!"

"I think you mean colors," Verdana said with a smile. "We have those."

Pawson had only just finished drying off when Aimes pulled on her fishbowl helmet and took him by the paw. She pulled him into the water and followed Verdana out of the pool and toward the Tailers.

Amies and Pawson were both curious about the clothes worn by the mermaids. It looked like a light cotton with a satin-like shine. When they arrived at the Tailers, they realized why. Dozens of mermaids were having their tails cleaned by other mermaids, who were taking thin strings out of their scales and setting them aside.

"When we swim around," Verdana explained, "we catch these little fibers on our tails from some of the local plants. We come here to get our tails cleaned and they use the fibers to make cloth. If you go too long without getting your tail cleaned, swimming feels a lot harder."

Aimes was positively beaming. She wished she had a tail in that moment, not only so her diaper would fit properly, but also so she could get her tail cleaned.

"Once we get the fibers," Verdana went on, "the cleaners put them in those funnels there. They go through a little vortex and create strings. Then we use those strings to weave cloth.

"That is the coolest thing I've ever heard," Aimes said in awe. "Do they make banners? We need the biggest one so it can’t get lost, since a lot of stuff gets lost around here."

"Well, let's see if we can get a sheet of cloth," Verdana said. She swam down toward the bottom of the building where a few other mermaids were weaving strings together into cloth. Some of them were doing it upside down, and some were doing it sideways. No matter how Aimes tried to orient herself, her helmet made sure she stayed right-side-up.

"Excuse me," Aimes asked, waving to one of the mermaids.

"Oh... hi..." The mermaid looked more masculine than Verdana and he spoke timidly.

"No need to be shy," Aimes said brightly, which probably didn't make the mermaid feel any better. "We were wondering, what is the biggest cloth you have?"

"Um..." The mermaid thought about it for a moment. "We have a full sheet no one has claimed, if you want it."

"We do!" Aimes didn't know how big a full sheet was, but nor did she care. She would make it work. The mermaid swam a ways away and came back a moment later with a folded cloth. Aimes took it from the mermaid with a bright smile. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome..."

The mermaid went back to work and Aimes went back to her project.

"Good job," Pawson congratulated, when Aimes returned with the cloth in her hands. It felt like it was soaking wet, even underwater.

"Now for the colors," Verdana said, leading her charges to the edge of the city, toward the botanical garden.

"Swimming is a lot more work than walking," Pawson lamented, but Aimes waved her hand dismissively.

"That can't be true," Aimes said, "because we weigh less underwater."

The bear sighed and muttered to himself: "That’s easy for you to say; you’re not waterlogged."

The water muffled Pawson’s complaint and Aimes never heard it. But even if she had, she would have been too distracted by the sight of the botanical gardens to say anything. A whole city block was full of colorful plants and flowers.