You were a little mermaid with the tail of a goldfish. You were in a small pond in the yard of a man who was a military man. He himself did not know that you lived in his pond. When he came home from work, you played and jumped out of the water. This man noticed you and quietly approached, starting to examine and study you

—What are you?..

You got scared and dived to the dark bottom, but the pond was shallow, so he easily took a jar from the house and caught you