The bright summer sun beamed down upon my neck and back. Several gulls sounded in the distance far below, some circling over the ocean, others scavenging along the beach. Far away I could just barely make out a group of dolphins jumping out of the water and then vanishing again beneath it's sapphire blue surface. The ocean itself was breathtaking.

From atop the cliff I was perched on, I could see endless blue everywhere in front of me; crystalline water that went on and on and seemingly faded into eternity. The sound of waves crashing on rocks far below floated up to me, distorted by the distance and warm breeze.

Slowly, I walked to the very edge of the cliff and peered down. Far below were jagged rocks, dangerous and perilous, though easy to jump over. Positioning myself to dive as I had so many times before, I thought of weightlessness, of birds. I imagined that gravity was a mere illusion, a handicap that only some people had.

I believed that if I imagined it hard enough, I could simply leap up and fly away into the sky, but I needed to save my energy for the jump. Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and leapt from the edge of the cliff. Not a scared, clumsy jump, but a strong, experienced dive. I felt the wind whip past me, causing a slight whistling noise in my ear.

I felt now that gravity was weighing me down; pulling me faster and faster towards the ocean water that loomed ever closer. With much effort, I closed my eyes, preparing for the impact. My hands still forward in a diving position, I waited to come in contact with the water.

Suddenly, I was no longer shooting down towards the water, but was in it. The smooth transition from air to ocean was hardly noticeable except for the wetness and the sudden feeling cool weightlessness. Opening my eyes, I saw different colored fish darting around and trying to avoid me. I floated for a few moments, staring in awe at the beautiful underwater scene, and then swam upwards to the surface for air.

At the base of the cliff I sighed with pleasure, having been able to escape the hot summer sun, which was now blocked from view by the massive cliff. As I swam in circles, sometimes just under the water's surface, sometimes above, I thought back to when I had first started cliff diving. I had been young then. Only 11. Now I was 16, and quite experienced in diving, but I still remembered the very first time I had dived into the water, and almost not come back alive.

It had been a hot afternoon, much like today. The gulls had been fighting over fish, and dolphin's had been leaping in the distance. I had come to a little, secluded area of the beach in hopes of finding a shady spot to relax in. A cliff had stood there, nothing out of the ordinary; not very high, but just high enough for an eleven year old to go wild with crazy ideas. One of those of course was to jump from the cliff.

It seemed unavoidable to me. If I walked away and tried to find shade elsewhere, I would have wondered for the rest of my life what the jump would've been like. So, soon enough I found myself climbing the precipice, stumbling over rocks and hurting my feet on dry grass and pebbles. The sun had seemed to double it's efforts to make me miserable, and soon I felt as if I would catch fire to anything I touched.

Standing on the edge of that cliff was both breathtaking and terrifying. I suddenly wondered if the ground had raised itself up higher as I had climbed. I stood there, at the edge contemplating whether I should jump or back out, when it happened. The dry ground beneath me gave way, and I found I no longer had any choice in the matter of jumping. Down, down I fell, tumbling and somersaulting in midair. Panic took me and I could not get control of my body as I fell ever closer to the ocean water. I heard the broken, crumbling earth from the cliff hit the water moments before I did. The cool water felt like shards of glass on the skin of my back. I felt the salty ocean invade my mouth and nose, and I was powerless to stop it.

I made an effort to swim upward, I'm sure, but the sea seemed to drag me down. It got darker and darker around me, and I felt myself choking on seawater and loosing air. I began to slip away from consciousness, to loose all thoughts and emotions. I no longer felt fear; I no longer felt anything.

Suddenly, there was a bright light that illuminated the ocean. I'm sure that if I had been aware of my surroundings I would've thought it was an angel. An arm wrapped around my waist and I was carried upward, towards the surface. I awoke with the sun shining on my face, lying on the beach. Immediately I doubled over, purging salt water and gasping for breath. I felt terribly weak, and foolish for trying to jump from the cliff in the first place.

Once I had rid myself of the terrible ocean water, I sat up, thoroughly exhausted. What I saw out in the shallows made me jump in surprise. Staring straight back at me, with wet, blonde, crystal blue eyes and long lashes, was a girl. She smiled at me, and I wondered if she had been watching the whole time, and had seen the embarrassing accident.

"Hello." She said in a melodious voice. "Uh.I." My own voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "Nasty fall you took." She continued. "You ought to be more careful around cliffs." She smiled again, and her blue eyes twinkled. "It was lucky I was swimming near where you fell."

" lucky." I mumbled. "Well, if you're alright I'll leave now. It's rather hard for me to breath out of water."

I puzzled at this for a moment. "Be careful. If you jump again don't open your mouth underwater!" And then to herself I heard her mumble, "Such feeble creatures humans are."

Before I could protest she flashed a last smile, turned in the water and dove underneath. I gasped in disbelief. When she dove, a graceful, beautiful dive, it wasn't legs that followed her body. It was a tail. A tail just like any other fish tail, except that it was attached to her.

I stared after her for several minutes, watching her come up out of the water and dive just like a dolphin would.

Once she had vanished from sight, I still sat there, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The girl had been swimming where I fell. She had saved me. The girl had a tail. Could she possibly be.a mermaid? The idea seemed idiotic, childish even, but to this day I still have dreams about the girl. Perhaps she herself was a dream, but I know I will never forget that first day I jumped from the cliff.