Anthea, bulging with eight months of pregnancy, entered the bathroom. Water splashed her face and the front of her dragon-embroidered robe. She looked at the tub. Someone had left about four inches of water in it. Giggles roiled from the water. Then the mermaid appeared.
The mermaid twirled on her tail atop the water. She dove to unimaginable depths--considering the water was only four inches deep. And surfaced again, still giggling.
"Arrabella," said Anthea in her strictest voice. "It's my turn to use the tub."
"Use the shower," said Arrabella. "I'm having fun." She dove out of sight.
"I know you can hear me," said Anthea. "And I'm adding bubble bath. I know you hate bubble bath." She shook the magical powder into the water and turned the spigot.
Suddenly Arrabella stood beside her on the bathroom tiles. "Bubble bath is pollution!" said the mermaid. "I've half a mind to report you to the EPA." The she slapped her flippers against the floor and flounced out of the bathroom.
Anthea closed the door after her and immersed herself in the tub.
It had all started so innocently, with an ad in the paper: "Imaginary Playmates Found: Remember the fun you had as a child, with playmates your parents couldn't see. Your so-called imaginary playmates remember you, too. They miss you! Write to Spirit Catcher, P. O. Box DBG, Ames, IA."
"Sounds like Ghost Busters ... It's got to be a fraud," said Jeffrey. "They're just..."
"You never want to try anything." Anthea paused. "Nappy and Cordy were real, and I'd love to find them again. I'm going to write this spirit catcher."
"Just don't give them any money," said Jeffrey, turning back to his computer, where he was playing a serious game of Space Hunt.
"Didn't you have so-called imaginary playmates when you were little?" Anthea persisted.
"Well, there were the mermaids in the local fishing hole--but all boys see things like that when they are too young for real women." Jeffrey smiled lasciviously, then peered closely at his computer screen.
The warm bubbles relaxed her muscles, and her mind drifted into reverie. Ringing came from somewhere. Part of her mind said, the phone is ringing. Another part said, I don't care.
)
Anthea and Jeffrey decide to buy an imaginary playmate. When they go to the Elementals Emporium, who should they find, but one of Jeffrey's old mermaids from the swimming hole where he played as a boy. They buy her and bring her home only to find that some of that stuff adults blame on imaginary playmates is actually true. And imaginary playmates have powers that adults have never imagined.
