Oh you magnificent bastard. XD
This is VERY similar to a story I was going to write involving a blowfish mermaid character of mine named Madrid. Looks like you beat me to it. XD
I must say, this was a delightful read. Insanely cute in every respect. Nicely done.
Brilliant!
I love flotation stories, and novel twists on them. Setting the inflation underwater makes the flotation much more believable, and a mermaid not knowing anything about the human world adds a lot of suspense, as the audience knows things the character doesn't. Being underwater also means the story doesn't have to end when the flotation begins, like most air flotation stories do.