Free Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) by Amey Coleman

fingers.
                  I grabbed a handful of sand, and lifted it up to the sky. I watched as the sand slid between my folded fingers and swayed with the wind. I realized where I was.
                  I exclaimed, “Land, we’re on land!”
                  I heard a man’s voice chuckle. I turned my head and did not see anyone around. I sat up to shake my hair free of sand and saw a flash of movement to my right. I looked closer and saw a man’s chiseled torso and arms folded lying next to me.
                  I jumped back a little in surprise to see a strange man staring at me. His green eyes were big, and his face was inviting. I did not feel the need to be scared.
                  He smiled at me and said, “My name is Murphy the Nen.”
                  I looked at his long fingers, as he held out his hand, and hesitated, “My name is Milly James. How did I get here on land?”
                  He looked at me and answered, “I saw three bodies floating on the water and knew I had to help.”
                  “Thank you,” I told him. I looked down at the sand and then back to him, “Why?”
                  He smiled at me and answered, “You guys saved us sea creatures.”
                  I scrunched my eyebrows together, in confusion, and asked him, “Are you a sea creature?”
                  He nodded, “Yes I am.”
                  I looked back to see behind and saw that half of his body was the bottom half of a frog. The legs had fins, which I assumed helped him swim so fast. I exclaimed, “Oh! What are you?”
                  “I already told you,” he said.
                  I shook my head, “No. You said your name is Murphy the Nen.”
                  “Oh, I see the confusion. Obviously you are not a man of some sort,” he laughed and continued, “In Cumberland; our last names are what we are. A Nen is a sea creature who is half frog and half man.”
                  “Oh!” I said again.
                  Feeling alone in my new discovery, I looked around for Mason, Jack, and Olivia. About three arm lengths away, I saw each of their bodies lying side by side. I looked at Murphy and tried to grimace at his enchanting smile.
                  “Why are my friends not awake?” I asked him.
                  He looked over, to where I was pointing, and shrugged his shoulders.
                  I asked him frantically, “What is wrong with them?”
                  He looked at me and said, “They almost drowned. Right now they are resting.”
                  “For how long?” I asked while standing up and brushing the sand off of my jeans.
                  “Couple hours,” he plainly said. He shrugged his shoulders again, and then he jumped up in a frog-like position.
                  “No one rests for that long!” I exclaimed. Looking back at them, I noticed they were breathing faintly. I stood there trying to focus on them to see if they were going to move, but nothing happened.
                  I ran over to them, trying to shake them awake. I grabbed hold of Mason’s shoulder and didn’t see him budge. Olivia and Jack did not seem to respond to me as well.
                  I felt unsure about this sea creature. So I decided to get my shoulder bag that lied where I was lying. I checked it quickly, looking for my grandpa’s book. Soon after digging in the bottomless pit, I recovered the once hard back journal.
                  I lifted it up to see the water had ruined the front and back cover. I opened to the pages, and found them to be a mess of blue and black ink smeared across every page. I threw the book down in disgust, and sighed heavily.
                  I