Dream

I was walking across my swimming pool, when suddenly I saw a head and am arm floating on (or in) the water, in between the wave I was standing on and the next one, about five feet away. "Help me", cried the head and I took it by the hand and pulled it out of the water.

"Where is the rest of you?", I asked. "I'm only holding a head and an arm in my hands.".

"Don't you know that staying in the water for a long time makes you invisible?", asked the head.

"Really? What about the fish then?", I asked in return. "I can certainly see them!"

"They paint themselves.", the head said. "They like that, because it tickles.".

"But we can't just see the outside of the fish we eat, we can also see their insides!", I rebutted.

"Staying too long out of the water makes you visible again.", the head said and believe it or not, its body started to turn up. It appeared to be a mermaid.

I asked how it was that she cried for help being a mermaid an all and thus able to swim.

"Why not? I can do whatever I want.", said the mermaid. "Besides, chickens are birds, but they can't fly, can they? You see, when you stay too long in the water, you become fishy. Fish-tailed, that is.".

For a second I felt I had to cry out in anguish. This mermaid must have been an extraordinarily beautiful girl. "Is there anything that can turn you back again?" I asked.

"But of course. If I stay out of the water long enough I'll turn back into my former self.".

Thank god, I sighed and sure enough, I saw her change into what she had been before.

With a terrible scream I woke up.

I in fact wrote this one originally in English, inspired by the phrase "walk across my swimming pool" that I heard in a song. Since I couldn't find the original I had to translate it back from Dutch.