Step right up! Come on, right over here—yes you, come on over. For just a few cents you could win a giant stuffed tiger for your lady friend there. Or you, little lady! Want a try at winning a frog you could kiss and turn into a prince? Hello, young man! Yes, you. Three balls, three bottles. You look like you’ve got a pitcher’s aim.

I’m Maureen. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. But I have to talk to all these people, get them to come over and spend their money. It’s my job. But hey, maybe in a few hours when my shift is up here at the carnival we can go hang out at the pier. Get some pizza, drink a beer or two, maybe even find a party if you’re up for it, one of those beach bonfires with iced-down wine coolers and an endless game of volleyball.

I came here to Opal Beach for the summer, working the traveling carnival, but already I feel like I might just stay forever. It’s been so magical. Don’t you agree? It’s the kind of place where anything can happen—where you can find your destiny.

Maybe it’s just being near the ocean. It’s so large and wild, so dark and mysterious. Let’s go sit at the end of the pier, dangle our feet over the edge, watch the sway of the surf fade in and out. Don’t lean over too much, though. It’s dark down there. If you get too far into the shadows, they have a tendency to swallow you up. You could just disappear.

And yes, of course, Opal Beach isn’t perfect. There are the rich boys, who treat you like you’re just a prize they can pluck off the top shelf and later discard. There are the crowds of tourists tossing their trash in the streets and howling off their balconies. It’s loud, and it’s hot, but it’s so perfectly summer that you just have to love it.

Hey, let’s walk a little on the beach, can we? I just want somewhere a little quieter. Somewhere a girl can dream. Have you noticed the shimmers under the surface of the water? Those glossy edges, the flicker of greens and golds that shine and then disappear? Those are the mermaids.

When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me a bedtime story about the mermaids. She told me my real mother was a mermaid, and that she had entrusted my mother to raise me. But one day my mermaid mom is going to come back for me. She is going to rise up from the depths and find me, and take me back to that castle under the sea.

Come on, over here. Just a little closer to the waves. See? It’s beautiful. Let me know if you see the flick of a tail. I’m always watching, waiting for my true destiny to come and take me away from these shitty part-time jobs and broken promises. I know there’s something better out there for me.

Yes, I think I’ll stay in Opal Beach for a while. I feel like something big is going to happen here. And if—when—the mermaids come, I’ll be ready for them.

You can read more about Maureen in One Night Gone, a novel of suspense, released October 1, 2019.

It was the perfect place to disappear. . .

One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew—to achieve her destiny. There, she finds herself lured by the promise of friendship, love, starry skies, and wild parties. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes.

Decades later, when Allison Simpson is offered the opportunity to house-sit in Opal Beach during the off-season, it seems like the perfect chance to begin fresh after a messy divorce. But when she becomes drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a girl thirty years before, Allison realizes the gorgeous homes of Opal Beach hide dark secrets. And the truth of that long-ago summer is not even the most shocking part of all. . .

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Meet the author
Tara Laskowski is the award-winning author of two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders, which was named a Best Book of 2017 by The Guardian. Her debut novel One Night Gone was published in October 2019 by Graydon House Books. She is the editor of the online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly, an Agatha Award winner, and a member of Sisters in Crime.

To learn more about Tara, visit her website at taralaskowski.com.

All comments are welcomed.