“Beyond the Wave and Foam”, Part 19

Part 19


“You’re what?”

Calista saw on the edge of the patio, her nearly complete tail hanging over open water while she stared out across the lagoon. “I’m—” She blushed as she whispered the word. “Intersex.”

Izzy switched her point of view from her best friend to the bungalow then out to the lagoon before re-focusing on Calista. She didn’t seem as shocked as the transitioning mermaid as she was puzzled. “So you’re going to have a penis as well as your normal lady bits?” She tossed her head to the left. “If you can call what you have down there now normal.”

Hey.” Calista’s eyes betrayed the anger she felt. “I’m not a freak, okay? Yeah, my vaginal canal is a little twisted around now, but that’s to keep water out of my uterus. Otherwise I’m no different than you.”

Izzy shrugged. “Other than the fact you’ll have a penis.”

IZZY.” For a moment Calista tried to stand before realized those days were long gone. “That shit isn’t funny—got it?”

Izzy looked away for about a five seconds: when she turned back her cheeks were red from embarrassment. “You’re right: it isn’t funny. And that other thing doesn’t make you a freak. I’m sorry: I’m having fun at your expense and I shouldn’t.”

Calista nodded a couple of times. “Apology accepted. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Izzy grabbed a deck chair and pulled it closer to her friend before sitting. “So, why do you guys have, you know, both?”

“Because men can’t be mermaids—or merman, I guess.” Calista sighed. “Harmony said there’s something in their chromosomes that prevents full transition from occurring, and in the extremely rare instances it did happen, the mermen had all kinds of congenital issues that prevented them from living for any length of time—” She chuckled darkly. “Like more than a week.”

Izzy tapped her hands three times against her thighs. “Well, that certainly sucks.”

“Harmony said that since it was decided at the start of the project that the mermaid population would eventually become self-sustaining, in order for us to be able to procreate it was necessary to make us intersex. Ergo…”

“Having both indoor and outdoor plumbing.”

“Exactly.” Calist set her hands in her lap and turned towards the lagoon. “Though really, all my plumbing is indoor. Ever that would be.”

Izzy nodded in agreement. “Given that I haven’t seen anything on Harmony, I’d assume that’s true.” She allow a few seconds to pass in silence before asking the obvious. “Does she—?”


“She told you?”

Calista turned and locked eyes with her friend. “She showed me.”

“She showed it to you?”

“She felt it was the best thing to do.”

“Okay, well…” Izzy sat back. “So, how long before you get one of your own?”

Calista let loose with another big sigh. “Harmony said it should be developing now. She said in another couple of weeks it’ll probably be big enough that if I reach in through the vaginal slit I’ll feel it.”

A few more seconds passed before Izzy once again spoke. “Not that I’m being a perv or anything, but where is it growing?”

“Oh, yeah.” Calista spun around and stretched out on her side on the patio. “Just under the vaginal opening. That way it doesn’t get in the way of the clitoris.”

“All and all…” Izzy rubbed her chin. “That makes the most sense.”