As far back as I can remember, I have loved the water.   My first recollection is 

of taking a bath in the really big bath tub at Pop Pop and Grandma's house.   I 

loved to drop colored pellets into the water and watch them change colors. 

Eventually, I figured out that if I added three colors - red, yellow, and blue, I 

made brown water!   Yuck!

I started learning how to swim in our pool on Windmill Lane.   But I really took 

off at Pop Pop and Grandma's pool in the desert.   All summer long I spent 

swimming in the pool with my family.   When the school year started, I was sad 

to say good bye to my daily swim in the pool.   I was pretty sure school was 

going to be boring compared to all the fun I was having.

To my surprise, on the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Conny, announced 

that for our first science unit we would be studying all about sea life.   Oh boy, 

was I going to love that.   She even said we would end our unit by going on a 

field trip to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point.

That night I went to bed thinking of all the wonderful things we would be 

learning about sea life.

So I   guess it was no surprise when I woke up the next morning to discover I had 

sprouted gills behind my ears.   Who was I kidding! I was laying in bed looking at the 

ceiling when I felt the first itch.   I started to scratch behind my ear to make it stop.   "Oh 

my," I thought.   "What is that stuck behind my ears?"   Into the bathroom I ran.   I almost 

knocked over my little sister Charlie who was just coming out of the bathroom.   "Out of 

my way!" I yelled.   "I need to use the bathroom."   With the door securely locked   behind 

me, I began to examine my head.   Crawling onto the counter top, I peered into the 

mirror.   "This will never work," I mumbled.   "I need another mirror to see behind my 

ears."   Rummaging   through the drawers I found toothpaste, used floss, old q tips , hair 

brushes and, finally, a mirror.   Holding it up to the side of my head I saw a bony flap 

sticking out behind my ear.   In a panic, I tried to pick it off, only to discover it wouldn't  

budge.   What was worse, I discovered that I had the same thing behind my other ear. 

Just then I heard my dad calling us for breakfast.   I quickly grabbed the hair brush and 

brushed my hair so that it covered my ears.   I checked the mirror to see if you could see 

anything.   Nope.   I was safe for now!

At breakfast mom asked if I would like her to put my hair into a pony tail.   "Not today, 

mom," I said as I took a big gulp of water.   To everyone's surprise water shot out of the 

sides of my head and landed on the wall.   "What was that!" my dad exclaimed.   "Did you 

just spit water on the wall?"   "No! No! I think it spilled from my glass" I replied. "That's it 

for water for you, young lady!" said my mom.   I ate my pancakes in silence,   wondering 

what in the world just happened.

At school, Frau Conny spent the morning teaching us how to subtract two numbers.   My 

friend, Ella and I got to practice together.   "I have something stuck behind my ears," I 

whispered while the teacher was helping other students.   " I will show it to you at 

recess."   Recess finally arrived and we grabbed our snacks and headed for the 

playground.   "Let me see your ears," chirped Ella.   She stared in disbelief as I pulled 

my hair back.   "Wow! Can I touch it?" she shouted. " Sh sh! I don't want anyone else to 

know. "I said,   as I took   a big drink from my water bottle.   And then it happened 

again! Water shot out from behind my ears but this time it hit my friend Ella right in the 

face! "That wasn't nice," cried Ella.   " I don't know what just happened but it seems like 

every time I take a drink of water it shoots right back out behind my ears!" 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful since I decided not to drink anything until I 

could get home and make a plan.   After dinner I went to my room to look for 

something to cover the holes behind my ears.   First I found my old swim cap. "Who am 

I kidding?" I mumbled to myself.   "You can't wear a swim cap outside of the pool! " 

Next I tied a big ribbon around my hair but it wouldn't stay in place.   Finally, rummaging 

through the closet I found an Angel's baseball cap that just covered my ears.   "This will 

definitely work," I murmured.   "Who isn't an Angel fan in this family!" 

Now for the trial run.   I needed to try out my hat to see if it would keep the water inside. 

First I tried a little sip of water.   Nothing!   Then I tried a big sip.   Still nothing.   I headed 

to bed with my Angel's hat still on my head.   When mom came in to tuck me in she 

asked, "Katherine, why are you wearing a baseball cap to bed?"   "I'm celebrating the 

Angels' win," I giggled.   "Oh," mom said as she kissed me good night.   I went to sleep 

thinking,"I can do this!   I'm sure no one will notice."   But that all changed the very next 

morning.

I woke up so sweaty I felt like my bed was a pool.   And it wasn't just sweat.   IT WAS ICKY, 

SLIMY SWEAT!   I literally slid out of bed and onto the floor.   Even the bottoms of my feet 

were slimy and sweaty.   I almost crashed into the breakfast table as I walked into the dining 

room.   "Kate, you're all wet," exclaimed Charlie.   "Did you get in the shower and forget to 

take your pajamas off?"   "Uh, sure, yes," I stammered.   "Go change into some dry clothes for 

school," said my dad.   "And what's with the baseball cap?"   "I'm a big Angel's fan, Dad.  

We're playing baseball at school today and Frau Conny said we could wear hats from our 

favorite team."   That was just a little white lie, wasn't it?" I thought to myself.

I ran to my room to change my clothes.   Try as I might, I could not get my arms and legs to 

dry off.   As soon as I would wipe them off more slimy sweat would appear.   This was definitely 

a day for leggings and a long sleeved shirt, I decided.

At school, the new hat worked wonderfully to keep water from shooting out every where but by 

the end of the day my clothes were soaking wet.   "Are you feeling ok?" asked Frau Conny.  

"You look all sweaty."   "I might be coming down with something," I replied sadly. 

"Maybe I just need to cool off.   I'll go swimming when I get home."

When I arrived home, I could hardly wait to get off my sweaty clothes and get in the pool. We 

have a "no hats in the pool rule" but swim caps are always allowed!   As I dove into the pool I 

realized how amazing it felt to be in the water.   I dove to the bottom and began to swim 

around.   Suddenly, my dad's arm reached down and grabbed me and pulled me out of the 

water.   "Kate, Kate" he screamed.   "Are you alright?   You have been under water for fifteen 

minutes!"   "What" I sputtered. "That can't be possible.   I never came up for air?" "Don't do 

that again," said Dad.   "You scared me!" 

 "What is happening to me?" I wondered.

By now it was getting late.   Time for dinner - shrimp salad.   I had been craving shrimp all day.   It 

is my new favorite food.   After dinner, we got to choose a movie to watch before going to bed.  

"Let's watch Frozen," giggled my little sister Charlie.   I suddenly had an   overpowering urge to watch 

Finding Nemo.   "Let's watch Finding Nemo tonight.   We have seen Frozen a ZILLION times," I said. 

And surprisingly, there was no argument. "Ok, " replied Charlie.   "But I get to pick tomorrow 

night."

As the movie started, I had this crazy feeling that I was watching something so familiar.   My mouth 

began to open and shut, open and shut and I felt all wiggly.   My whole body seemed to be moving 

slowly back and forth.   "Quit wiggling!" Charlie shouted as she poked me in the side.   "Ouch!" I 

cried. "That hurt."   "Enough girls," said my mom.   "Either get along or we'll turn it off."   So for the 

next hour I sat in tortured stillness as I watched all the beautiful fish with their amazing fins swim 

through the water.   And that's when I felt it!   It felt like I had something on my back.   "It's 

probably just a lump in the sofa," I thought.

Little did I know what was coming next.   You guessed it!   I woke up with a fin in the middle of my 

back.   There seemed to be no denying it now.   Something fishy was going on!   By carefully folding 

the fin I could put on my top.   To my dismay, I felt like I was all off balance and could only make 

right turns.   I adjusted the fin to the left which only increased my frustration.   Now I could only 

make left turns.   So now I walked in circles in my bedroom.   This was getting me nowhere!   If only 

I could make the fin stick straight out I might be able to solve the problem.   I needed to put on 

my thinking cap but since I already had on my Angel's baseball cap I decided that would have to 

do. 

What if I cut a   little slit in the back of my top?

It was a little bit of a struggle getting my top off and on by myself with the slit 

down the back.   But who was I going to ask for help?   "Oh mom, could you help 

me put my shirt on?   I've grown a large fin in the middle of my back."   I DON'T 

THINK SO!

Now I could walk around easily.   My fin seemed to sway in whichever direction I 

turned and I no longer walked in circles.   Great news except - WHAT ABOUT THE 

LARGE FIN WHICH STUCK OUT OF MY SHIRT?

Back to the closet I went to find yet another item to camouflage my growing 

collection of oddities: my hat to cover the growth behind my ears, my long 

sleeved shirt and legging to cover my sweaty, slimy skin, and now what?   Aha , 

my favorite jacket.   That should do the trick.   I slid my arms into the jacket and 

turned around to look at my reflection in the mirror.   Not perfect but ok.   Just a 

little bulge in the middle of my back.   No one will notice.

And as luck would have it, no one did notice.   The weather had gotten a little 

cooler overnight and everyone was dressed warmly.   "I'm glad to see you are 

wearing a jacket", my dad commented.   "It is going to be cooler today than 

yesterday.   We won't be going swimming after school today.   That is for sure."

I thought it was going to be a pretty uneventful day at school.   Since the weather was 

cooler I didn't need to drink as much water, drastically cutting down on my accidentally 

shooting water from behind my ears.   My skin seemed to stay moist but not as bad as it 

was before.   At recess, I noticed that the wind was picking up.   Leaves and paper on the 

black top were flying all over the place.   Before I could stop myself - so was I.   Even 

though my fin was safely tucked inside my jacket it still seemed to catch all the breezes 

that blew by.

I found myself spinning out of control towards the jungle gym.   Luckily, Orah caught me 

just as I was about to crash into the bars.   "Kate, are you ok?' shouted Orah.   "Why don't 

you sit on the bench for a minute and catch your breath?"   "Good idea," I gasped. 

For a few minutes I tried to think about my next move.   Seriously, how was I going to 

move without looking silly?   Recess would be over soon and I needed another plan.   And 

that was the last thing I remember thinking before I woke up in the nurses office.

"Kate, Kate wake up!" said Frau Conny. "You've had an accident. You fell off the bench 

and hit your head and landed in the mud." We will need to send you home. You are 

covered in mud. We called your mom and she is going to come and pick you up.

I looked down to see that, in fact, I was covered in mud.   But, to my surprise, instead of 

feeling dirty and yucky, it felt wonderful. It's hard to explain but at that moment I 

thought it was just about the best feeling in the world!

The ride home was not so wonderful. The mud had started to dry and crack and it was 

making a big mess all over the car. The biggest mess was yet to come. Life was about 

to get even stranger.

I took a long, hot shower. A bath was out of the question with all that mud.   It felt 

glorious and sad all at the same time. I was all clean again but that amazing mud was 

completely gone - down the drain.

With a clean towel I rubbed my arms, legs, face and hair. The room was steamy from 

my extra long shower. I needed to wipe the mirror so I could see to comb my hair.   I 

made slow, little circles with the towel as the shape of my face came into view. "Wait!" 

I think, "Those can't be my eyes!They are big and round and funny looking." But there 

they were blinking back at me like some amphibious creature. "Get a grip," I muttered 

to myself." Boy, does this call for a plan!"

I tip toed out of the bathroom and into my little sister Charlie's room. She loves sun 

glasses. She has at least 10 pairs of them. She loves to play dress up and pretend 

she is a movie star. 

I tried on about four pairs of sunglasses before I found a pair that covered my big 

eyes.

I tip toed back to my room with the glasses.   Slowly I laid out my outfit for school the 

next day.   My Angel's hat, leggings, long sleeved shirt, jacket and sunglasses.   "What 

is everyone going to think?   What else can possibly happen?"

Mom came to the door just as I finished laying everything out.   "Time for dinner, 

Kate." she called.   "I'm not feeling well, Mom.   I'm going to bed early.   I will see you 

in the morning." I said from behind my closed door.   "How about a goodnight kiss 

then?"called mom.   I   grabbed the sunglasses and quickly put them on as I opened 

the door. "'Night Mom," I whispered as I quickly shut the door.

The next morning when I sat down for breakfast the first voice I heard was my little 

sister Charlie's.   "Kate, what are you doing with my sunglasses?"   "You left them in my 

room" ( I think this is little white lie number 2!)   "Frau Conny said we should wear 

sunglasses today because we are going on a field trip to the Ocean Institute in Dana 

Point.   We will be studying about sea life." (Okay, so part of this was white lie number 

3.   We were going to study about sea life but she never said we HAD to wear 

sunglasses.   She did say that sunscreen and a hat was a good idea.)

When I got to school all I could think about was our field trip.   The time seemed to 

pass so slowly until it was time to get on the bus.