Lessons in Tree Climbing

Tree climbing is not something mermaids are particularly good at, but anything is possible when you've been chased ashore by an angry critter.
Looking down at the mass of tentacles framing the neck of a walrus-like creature, the mermaid isn't sure which is stranger; that she managed to not only climb higher enough in the tree in under a minute to get out of reach of those tentacles; or the creature itself.
She had a good catalogue of the creatures in the deep, and this thing wasn't on any chart she'd compiled.
Now that she could take a moment to study it, she wondered what creature its tentacles were similar to. They were writhing around too much for her to get a clear view, especially from up in the tree.
But she was not coming down while the creature was still lurking on the beach.
Nope.
No getting out of this tree...
How did one get down from a tree?
With a groan, the mermaid lean her head back against the trunk, careful not to let go of the branches she was using to help keep her balance.
Trees really weren't designed for someone with the lower body of a flying fish.
Hmm, maybe that was how she'd gotten up the tree so fast. With enough speed, she had skimmed the ocean's surface before.
Still, climbing up was one thing. Getting down would be so much harder.
And the tentacle-maned walrus wasn't alone anymore. When had so many more of them gotten here?
Oh no, what if this was their beach?
Groaning again, the mermaid shook her head as the tentacle-maned walruses began conversing in a ruckus that was part typical walrus serenades (if you enjoy a serenade that makes it impossible to hear yourself thing), and part writhing tentacles.
She was going to be stuck in this tree for a while.
Unless, of course, she learned how to fly.