After the release shark swam over Coral Reef Middle School, Annelise waited for Daniel to come out of the “Study of Sea Creatures” classreef. As she was twirling her hair impatiently, two mermaids swam up to her. One of them had auburn hair and dark brown eyes. She was piercing Annelise with a judgmental look.
    “So you’re the girl who stood up for that autistic kid, huh?” She said with a smirk.
    “His name’s Daniel, and he’s coming up right behind you. So I suggest that you shut your mouth before you say anything stupid, and let us leave without bothering you,”  Annelise snapped. Both of the mermaids looked taken aback.
    “Excuse me?” the other mermaid said.
    “You’re excused,” Daniel said as he caught up with Annelise. “Are these new friends?”
    “No,” The mermaid replied. “We aren’t friends with misfits. Especially those who think they’re better at swimming than everyone else. You will never be a good swimmer because you’re not like the rest of us,” she said as she eyed Daniel.
    “I never said that,” Daniel replied. Annelise sighed and took hold of his hand as she stormed off.
    “Don’t listen to people like that, Dan,” she told him. “They only hold you back from your goals and keep you from achieving your dreams.” He eyed her with aspiration.
    “Come on, let’s go swim,” she added as they took off to home.
When they’d arrived, Mrs. Shrimpton was surprised to see a stranger.
    “Daniel, who’s this?” she asked, concerned.
    “This is Annelise,” he said as he turned to her. “She’s really nice and has come to swim with me!” Annelise made eye contact with Mrs. Shrimpton for a few seconds.
    “Ok,” Mrs. Shrimpton had said after she finished inspecting Annelise. “Have Murdock go with you guys.”
Murdock shot up from behind an anemone.
    “Daniel’s got a girlfriend? High five, bro!” Murdock held out his fin for Daniel.
    “No, he doesn’t. She’s just over to swim with him, and I think you should join them.” Mrs. Shrimpton explained.
    “Oh, ok,” Murdock said.
    “Would you like anything to eat before you head out?” Mrs. Shrimpton asked.
    “No, it’s fine, thank you,” Annelise interrupted her browsing.
    “Ok, then. Go have fun,” Mrs. Shrimpton replied giving them a wave goodbye.

    After they started swimming, there was pure amazement from Annelise. She watched Daniel zoom by past her like the speed of light.
    “He’s really good, isn’t he,” Murdock said to Annelise, who stood there in shock. “Cat got your tongue?”
    “What?” Annelise said. “ Oh, yeah. He is really good.” She sounded a bit dreamy.
    “You didn’t presume he was gonna be fast, did you?” Murdock asked, making Annelise a tad bit uncomfortable.
    “Well, no. Not this good. I had a feeling he wasn’t slow though… as everyone else assumes,” Annelise said. Before Murdock could answer, Daniel shouted at them as he flipped in the water.
    “Come on, guys!” Murdock and Annelise joined him.
The trio of friends were having the time of their lives together. However, the smiles faded from their faces when a deep voice shouted at them.

“Get off of my property!” The man demanded. His voice was loud, deep, and groggy. Murdock, Annelise, and Daniel froze. “You’re trespassing. Where are your parents?” he asked, gruffly. The three looked at each other for an explanation. Annelise then had an excuse, as she always does. She could always find her way out of a bad situation, even if she needed to lie.
    “That’s the thing,” she started to explain. “We don’t know where our parents are. We were on a search for them when we happened to stumble upon your beautiful coral reef. We weren’t aware that this was yours. Do you aquascape often?” She motioned to his garden. He ignored it and just eyed all three of them.
    “Come with me,” he said.
He led the three into a green piece of coral. The reef was hollow on the inside, and much bigger than it appeared to be from the outside. There were rocks for furniture, and the spongy holes were used for doors and windows. The merman told them to take a seat as he pointed to one of the rocks. For a few seconds, there was complete silence among them.
“Excuse me, sir. May I ask for your name?” Annelise finally spoke up.
    “Gryffin,” the merman replied.
    “You sure do look like one,” Murdock started to ramble due to nerves. “You’re strong, and your fire colored tail really gives a ‘Gryffin’ vibe.”
Gryffin inspected Murdock, starting with his head down to his fin.
    “How’s your mother, Murdock?” Gryffin asked.
Murdock was taken aback. How’d he know his name? He did seem a little familiar. Seeing Murdock was about to say something stupid, Annelise jumped in.
    “We don’t know, remember?” she said. “We’re looking for her.”
    “No, I know perfectly well that Tara is in her part of the ocean. So why aren’t you? I just visited your mother about ten minutes ago,” Gryffin said.
    “I knew I recognized you!” Murdock blurted out. Annelise shushed him.
    “Ok, fine. We aren’t looking for our parents. We were just out on a swim and we happened to come upon your reef. We’re sorry,” Annelise bowed her head.
    “Why didn’t you just tell the truth?” Gryffin asked.
“You were intimidating,” She replied, and awkward silence fell again.
“So does this mean we are excused?” Daniel finally spoke up.
“Of course not. I've been trying to find you,” Gryffin laid his eyes on Daniel. “You in particular.”
“Why me?” Daniel asked curiously.
“I’m going to help you with something,” Gryffin answered.
“Ok let's go,” Murdock said firmly. “Mom is probably worried about us,” he started to head out expecting Annelise and Daniel to follow, but Gryffin blocked the doorway.
“Get back and sit down!” he yelled. Annelise, Murdock, and Daniel slowly inched backward, not turning away from Gryffin. “Except for you Daniel. You come with me.” and Daniel stepped forward.

As Annelise and Murdock sat quietly, Gryffin led Daniel to another room. As the water currents swarmed past him, he shivered. He felt as if he'd never be happy again.
“Have a seat,” Gryffin said, pointing to a large rock. Daniel sat down cautiously. Gryffin didn't bother to sit. He just eyed Daniel. “I've been waiting to get you alone.”
In the other room, Murdock and Annelise were whispering into each other's ear. A lot of head shakes were involved between them.
“Why am I the one you're looking for?” Daniel asked Gryffin. “I'm no good for anything.”
His cheeks turned red and he straightened his posture. “I think you've got the wrong guy.”
“No, I don't,” Gryffin said. “You're the one.”
“Ok, can you just tell me why I'm here?” Daniel asked impatiently. Gryffin swam in closer to Daniel.
“I'm going to help you become and Oceanpic swimmer,” he said.
“Like, be a professional swimmer and compete in the Oceanpics?” Daniel asked.
“Yes. You'll be the best swimmer in the ocean by the time we're through,” Gryffin said.
“So how exactly are we going to get me in? I have legs, they'll probably be much faster than me. I'd be going against tailed creatures,” Daniel said.
Before Gryffin could answer, a clam fell from above and trapped him.

Annelise and Murdock came swimming in, laughing heartily. Daniel stood up.
“Guys! What'd you do? Get him out of there,” he said as he tried to pry the clam open. Annelise and Murdock looked at each other, confused.
“Dan,” Annelise put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “That man was kidnapping us. We need to get back home.” She started to swim off but Daniel stopped her.
“No.” He said. “He wants to help me become a an Oceanpic swimmer.”
Annelise and Murdock were taken aback.
“If he was trying to help you, why wouldn't he let us leave?” Murdock asked. That was a good question.
“Well… Maybe he thought you'd run to Mom and tell on him for…” Annelise interrupted him.
“Kidnapping us, yeah. Let's go,” and the three headed home, leaving Gryffin in the clam.

Once they were all home, Mrs. Shrimpton was waiting for them.
“Where in heaven’s name have you been? I was worried sick about you,” Mrs. Shrimpton said as she checked the three for bumps or bruises of any kind.
“We were swimming and we came across this man’s property,” Murdock started to explain; but Mrs. Shrimpton cut him off.
“What man?” She snapped.
“His name was Gryffin,” Annelise said. “I guess he knew you were at home. Do you know him?” Before they got an answer, she started pacing back and forth.
“Where is he now? What'd he want from you? Did he harm you?” Mrs. Shrimpton started breathing heavily. Daniel sat her down.
“He's at his reef, inside a clam.” Daniel told her.
“In a clam?” Mrs. Shrimpton repeated, checking to see if she'd heard him correctly.
“Yes. Annelise formed a plan to capture him because he practically kidnapped us. He took Daniel into a separate room. I don't exactly know what he told him…” Murdock said. They all looked at Daniel for an answer.
“He told me that he'd help me become an Oceanpic swimmer, and guide me on my path to success,” Daniel explained. “I don't know how he’s gonna do it but he sounded convincing.”
“Everything’s convincing to you, Daniel!” Murdock snapped. “You don't realize that there's danger and bad people in the world. There are bad people. But all you see is rainbows and butterflies,” he stormed off, leaving Mrs. Shrimpton, Annelise, and Daniel in shock.
“He’s just shaken up, hon,” Mrs. Shrimpton tried to explain to Daniel. “He's just worried and protective over you. Give him some time alone.” She turned to Annelise. “I think you should go.”
“I completely understand,” Annelise assured her, and she swam off.

The next morning, Daniel could see that Murdock hadn’t cooled off quite yet. As he could hear his brothers voice in his head, he sat thinking of the world in a different perspective. Every moment he'd been bullied had flashed through his mind all at once. He glanced down at his legs. Those were the only human legs in the ocean. How'd he ever think he could become a professional swimmer. He looked up and watched the sailfish and swordfish zoom around, barely visible.
“Hi,” a small voice come from behind. Daniel turned around.
“Oh hi, Murdock,” Daniel said. “You scared me.”
“Yeah. You were in deep thought,” Murdock said. “What were you thinking about?”
Daniel turned to Murdock in all seriousness.
“I was reflecting on what you said,” Daniel answered. Murdock sighed and looked away.
“Forget I said any of that,” he said.
“No, you're right,” Daniel said. “I am oblivious to the world. I never realized that the people who make fun of me aren't my friends. I have none. And how'd I ever believe I could be a swimmer?”
“Well, first, don't say you don't have any friends. You have Annelise and me. Second, because you can be. You're crazy fast,” Murdock said. They sat in silence for a little. “Come on, let's go swim.”
“You go ahead,” Daniel said. Murdock gave him one last long look, then took off.
Immediately after Daniel checked to see if anyone was near, he went to find Gryffin.

When Daniel had arrived at Gryffin’s, he heard a familiar voice. However, it wasn't Gryffin's.
“You can't just come back into his life like you'd never left and make him join the Oceanpics because you want him to.”
It was Mrs. Shrimpton.
“He wants to be a swimmer, Tara. I'm only helping him because you aren't,” Gryffin said.
Daniel stood thinking about what he'd just heard. He knocked on the reef. The voices stopped and Gryffin opened the door to see Daniel. Mrs. Shrimpton was shocked.
“Daniel what are you doing here?” she asked as Gryffin let him in.
“I didn't think Gryffin was a bad guy,” he said. “I came to accept his offer. But what did you mean by him coming back into my life? Was he already in it?”
Mrs. Shrimpton told him to take a seat.
“Gryffin is your birth father,” she said grudgingly.
“What?” Daniel sat up. “Why didn't you tell me this?”
“Because I didn't want him to hurt you. If you knew this I knew you were just going to go off to find him,” Mrs. Shrimpton said.
“How would he hurt me?” Daniel asked.
“He was the one who abandoned you when you were four, and now he just wants to come back into your life. I don't want him to do that again,” she said.
“Ok, well I want him to help me become an Oceanpic champion. He doesn't have to stay, but at least he'd help me. Which is more than I can say for you. You haven't done anything to help me achieve my dreams.” Daniel said.
Mrs. Shrimpton was offended.
“Fine. You have him do that,” Mrs. Shrimpton said and swam away without looking back, leaving Daniel and Gryffin alone. Daniel looked down at the floor.
“So you're my dad,” he said, trying to soak what he had just learned in. “I've got a few questions for you.”
“Alright,” Gryffin said, ready to answer them.
“Why'd you abandon me?” he asked. Gryffin instantly looked away.
“We couldn't afford it. With all of your extra costs your mother and I fell deep into debt.”
“Why couldn't you have put me up for adoption or something? You just left me with no food or shelter or anything,” Daniel said trying to hold back tears.
“That just didn't cross our minds,” Gryffin said, ashamedly. Daniel had to sit down because his legs were growing weak from his weight.
“Ok,” Daniel said, regaining his composure. “Who's my mom?”
“Her name’s Becky Dayton. She's a human,” Gryffin answered.
“Well that explains why I'm a human who can breathe underwater. I'm a hybrid.” Daniel was unable to hold back his tears any longer. He had no more questions. Gryffin swam up to him and laid his hand on his shoulder. Daniel shoved it off.
“I'm still not completely sure about you,” he said, and Gryffin let him be.

After Daniel had soaked all of this new information up, he sat next to his dad.
“When do we start training?” He asked.
“Whenever you're ready,” Gryffin said.
“Wait a minute, are you even a good swimmer?” Daniel asked, wondering why this hadn't crossed his mind already.
“Yes. I myself was an Oceanpic swimmer,” Gryffin reassured him. Daniel was relieved.
“Let's start now,” Daniel said, and the two took off.
Many sunrises and sunsets passed as Daniel worked his legs off. Gryffin worked Daniel from the wee hours of the morning until late at night. On weekdays, Gryffin took Daniel out of seaschool during lunch and swam to as many restaurants as they could and got back in time for the next class. Deep breaths were all that came from Daniel nowadays.
“Can we take a-a break?” Daniel asked after he finished some reps.
“No. You have to train in order to be the best you could be,” Gryffin said sternly.
“We've been training non-stop, and I'm going to hurt something, and I've already reached my goal for a mile. Plus, I never get to see Annelise and Murdock anymore, and I get no time for homework.”
“You've already committed yourself to swimming, Daniel,” Gryffin said. “There's no quitting.”
“I need balance. I need to make time for seaschool and friends,” Daniel said and he swam off to home.

The next day at seaschool, everyone looked at Daniel. He heard his name in whispers as he swam down the hallways. Annelise swam by his side and helped distract him from nosey peers.
“So you're just giving up?” Annelise asked Daniel.
“No,” Daniel said. “I'm just taking a break. He was working me so much and I don't think it's healthy. And I missed spending time with you and Murdock.”
“Yeah,” Annelise said. “Me too. So does Murdock, believe me.” She rolled her eyes.
“Well the Oceanpics are coming up fast. I get to register for them tomorrow.”
“Then you should seriously start training,” Annelise said. “Swimming is important to you.”
“And so are my academics and friends,” Daniel told her.
“Well friends support each other. Murdock and I want you to be in the Oceanpics,”
Annelise said. Daniel took a second to answer.
“Ok,” He said. “I'll talk to Gryffin and pick my training back up. I'll meet him after seaschool.”

After seaschool, Daniel swam to Gryffin’s coral home. He smelled the usual smell of fish.
“I knew you'd come back,” Gryffin said.
“Yeah…” Daniel said, a little embarrassed.
“Ok, look. I realize now that I'm pushing you too hard. I'll cut back a little, but you have to understand we need to work hard. All of this training has gotten you so far and could put you in a winning position. You could get a gold metal, Dan,” Gryffin said. “You just have to think positive about it.” Daniel took a seat next to his dad, who continued to talk.
“You see, being an athlete isn't only about talent. Your mind plays a big role in success. You've lost that.”
“I know,” Daniel said. “But how do I get it back?”
“You have to put your head in the game. We need to work on competitiveness, determination, and your love for swimming,” Gryffin said.
“Alright…” Daniel said. “How?”
“Well first we have to look deeper into why you love swimming.” Gryffin said. “What motivates you?” Daniel’s stomach got uneasy.
“I - I just love to swim. I'm good at it and when I swim I get this feeling of accomplishment and freedom. I leave my mind and my problems behind,” Daniel answered.
“Ah. The feeling of accomplishment,” Gryffin repeated.
“Ok,” Daniel let out a deep breath. “I wanna show people who don't believe in me that I - I can do it. I wanna show them that being different and having disabilities doesn't make you unable to achieve your dreams,” he said. Gryffin smiled at him.
“Let's show them,” he said. “We now have your competitive aspect.

The Oceanpics finally arrived. Daniel, Gryffin, Mrs. Shrimpton, Murdock, and Annelise swam into the Oceanpic Stadium. There was an underwater track surrounded by rows and rows of seats. As Mrs. Shrimpton, Murdock, and Annelise took up part of a row, Gryffin and Daniel headed to the track. Daniel could only see colors and hear the low hum of cheers. He felt as if he had a thousand butterflies in his stomach.
“I’m really nervous,” Daniel said.
“Well you should be,” Gryffin told him. “You’re competing in the Oceanpics. You’re swimming against the best swimmers in the world.”
“Way to calm me down,” Daniel said.
“Ok,” Gryffin said ignoring Daniel’s last remark. “Remember why you’re here. We are going to show all of these guys that having disabilities doesn’t prevent you to achieve your dreams.” He pointed at the crowds. A conch whistle sounded.
“Time to go and show us what you got,” Gryffin said, and he patted Daniel’s back.

Daniel swam over to a curvy mark in the sand - presumingly made by the ocean currents. Four other merpeople lined up with him, representing their oceans. The swimmers prepared for takeoff. Everything fell silent. All Daniel could hear were the breaths coming from his opponents. He only looked into the distance, ready to launch. The conch whistle sounded, and immediately,  the competitors disappeared and the crowds grew wild. Daniel could feel the numbness in his legs growing, and kept an eye on the bubbles before him. He could hear Gryffin saying, “If there’s someone in front of you, don’t get far enough to where you can’t touch their bubbles from the kicks.” He sped up. The applause from the crowds grew louder and louder. Daniel heard the commentator speak.
“Daniel Dayton - from the Pacific Ocean - makes his move into first!” The commentator said. Daniel envisioned all of the glory he’d get after he finished, and the gap between him and the one behind him only increased. There, he could see the finish.
“Here he comes!” The commentator screamed. “Dayton is speeding to the finish. I think we may have a new record for the Pacific Ocean!”
Daniel couldn’t feel his legs any longer, although he knew they were kicking as fast as they could. He was ten feet from the finish line. Two feet. He finished.
“THAT’S A FIVE MINUTE SWIMMING MILE. IT’S A WORLD RECORD SET BY DANIEL DAYTON OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN!” The commentator said.
Daniel sunk to the sand. Murdock, Annelise, Mrs. Shrimpton and Gryffin came to meet him. After thousands of congratulations, Annelise got him alone.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said. Daniel gave her a smile, because he was too short of breath to say anything. She took Daniel’s cheek and looked into his eyes.
“I really am,” She put her hands in Daniel’s sweaty, red hair, and pulled him into her until their lips met. The world froze, and he stood smiling. Not much later, he realized Annelise was pointing to the commentator, who was ready for him to make a speech. Daniel swam over to the stand and stood in front of the whole stadium.
“I would like to say a - a few words,” Daniel told them. After the mutters in the crowd died down, he began, “I just want to let you all know that being different doesn't keep you from achieving your dreams. I have a - autism, and all my life people made fun of me for believing in myself. I proceeded to - to prove them wrong and achieve my dream, and to show you that I can do it. I persevered through all of the very hard - hard training. It took grit, it took patience, and yet I got here, in front of - of you all, and I proved to those who didn’t believe in me that I c-can do it. I won the Swimming Oceanpics. Just because I have a disability, doesn’t mean I’m any lesser than any other in this world.”
The stadium blew up in applause. Daniel was picked up and brought to the cheering crowd. It was the most glorious moment in Daniel’s life. He had proved the world wrong.

Gryffin, Murdock, Mrs. Shrimpton, Annelise, and Daniel arrived at their section of the sea. Immediately, Daniel laid on a rock and fell asleep. 
    “Would you like to move into my reef?” Gryffin asked Mrs. Shrimpton while Murdock and
Annelise were off talking about the kiss. Mrs. Shrimpton was taken aback.
    “Wow,” she said. “That’s… that’s really nice of you. I’m sure that the kids would love to. It’s up to them.” Daniel suddenly seemed to be awake.
    “Yeah! Let’s move in with Gryffin!” Daniel said, which, of course caught Annelise’s and Murdock’s attention. They were all for it.
    Once they were all settled in, Mrs. Shrimpton was informed of Daniel and Annelise’s little kiss.
    “You’re a lucky boy, Daniel,” Mrs. Shrimpton said. “You’ve got a wonderful girlfriend, and you opened people's eyes and showed them that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.” Daniel looked around at all of his loved ones and couldn’t help but smile.
“Thank you all. I love you guys more than anything,” he said, and hugged them all, stopping at Gryffin. “Thanks, dad,” he said.