August 13 2025 tiktok live story

The Robinson’s had just built a pool, and it was the pride of the neighborhood. All of the kids came to play on the hot summer days when the sun beat down on the Mississippi community. It was so popular that the Robinson’s son, Noah, often got jealous and wanted to keep the pool all to himself.

Sometimes he would tell his fathers that there was something wrong with the pool so that they had to clear everyone out and clean it before anyone else could use it. Then, Noah got first dibs on the pool and was able to swim before any of the other neighbors could jump in.

Sometimes, he would say the pool was full of spiders and that no one could get in because they had laid their eggs in the filter. Other times, he would say that he saw a ghost in the pool, and the only way to get rid of her was to hold an exorcism in the backyard.

His dads knew he was lying but they also knew he needed the attention, so they let him tell his fantastic stories and they cleared out the pool every so often so Noah could swim on his own.

Then one day, Noah actually did see something in the pool. Something with eyes and teeth and claws. It lunged at him from the dark space hidden behind the filter, and Noah screamed and ran to his dads.

“There’s something in the pool,” he said. “Something that shouldn’t be there.”

His father looked at his dad with a knowing expression and nodded, then shrugged. His dad sighed and bent down to look Noah in the eye, then said, “Alright, Noah, we’ll clear out the pool and clean it again.”

“No!” Noah screamed. “Don’t go anywhere near it. It’s too dangerous.”

His dad looked back at his father with confusion in his eyes. Noah had never acted this frightened before.

“Well, we have to do something about whatever’s in the pool, don’t we, buddy?” said Noah’s father. He took a few steps toward the water and heard someone calling his name. Not, “Noah’s father,” but his real name. His true name. The name he had almost forgotten since becoming a parent.

“Stephen,” the voice said, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. Then another voice joined the first, and the two called in chorus. “Stephen, Stephen, Stephen.” His name had never sounded so beautiful.

He was drawn towards the water like a man possessed, moving slowly but inexorably closer to the pool, no longer in control of his own body.

“Honey?” said Noah’s dad. “What are you doing?”

The haunting call of the voices saying Stephen’s name didn’t stop as he reached the water and fell in.

“Honey!” screeched Noah’s dad, slipping off his shoes to dive in after his husband.

As he drew closer to the water, he heard his own name being called, for it had been years since he, too, had lost his name.

“Charles,” called a soft, but undeniable voice. “Charles.”

Then another voice joined the first, then a third. “Charles,” they all called. “Charles, Charles, Charles.”

Charles fell in the water after his husband, stiff as a board, completely ensorceled.

Noah watched in horror, tears pouring down his face. Soon, figures began emerging from the dark spaces of the pool. Claws, followed by webbed hands and long, blue arms pulled themselves out of the filtration system, allowing a woman’s torso and fish fins to grow impossibly from a space too small to hold them. Shadows shimmered and revealed two more mermaids who joined the first, cracking their necks and rolling their joints, as though they had been holding still for too long.

Lazily, they swam over to Noah’s fathers and began nibbling at the men’s fingers. The largest mermaid, who had emerged first, maintained eye contact with Noah the whole time. She drew in breath to say something, but Noah screamed before he could hear anything and ran away.

Noah ran to the next-door neighbor’s house and tried to explain what had happened, but the boy was known as a liar, and no one believed him. The neighbors tried to call his dads but received no answer. Confused, the neighbor parents walked Noah back home to try to talk to Noah’s dads, but found the house empty, and the backyard undisturbed. The pool was clean and empty.