The Little Merman

Chapter 6: The princess's bridegroom

By dawn, the little merman was sitting on a sea rock near the palace. In his trembling hand he held a bottle of the warlock's potion.
Suddenly, a door opened and the princess stepped onto her balcony. She stretched, yawned and gazed out to sea.
The sight of the princess made the merman bolder. He swallowed the potion, jumped into the water.... spluttered, splashed and nearly drowned. His tail had split into legs.
The princess saw the splashes.
"Who's that?" she called. "Somebody help him."
A servant waded in and pulled the little merman to safety. Soon he was standing in front of his princess.

"Who are you?" she asked.
He couldn't answer. She asked again. He still couldn't answer. Instead, he smiled.

The princess smiled back.
"Find this young man some clothes," she said to her servant. "He's joining me for breakfast."

The little merman spent the whole day with the princess.

He was very happy but kept wobbling on his new feet.
"Take my arm," said the princess. "I'll show you around."

That evening, the little merman stood on the princess's balcony. Frothy waves danced on the rocks below. Five tails flipped by and he recognized his brothers.
"Come back!" they cried.
The little merman smiled but shook his head. He had made his choice.

"I don't even know your name," the princess was saying. "But when I saw you in the water this morning, I thought of my own true love."

The merman's eyes sparkled and his heart beat faster.

"I almost drowned once," she went on. "I was swept to a beach and woken by a lovely prince. Tomorrow I'm going to set sail and marry him!"
The princess's words were like a dagger in the merman's heart. She was everything to him, but she loved someone else.
"Don't worry," she said. "You can come with me."
But the little merman shook his head, sobbing silently.

Next morning, he watched his princess sail into the distance.
The world he loved was lost to him. "You can never go back," said the warlock's voice inside his head.
"Come to us," sang the ocean spray.

"Forever," whispered the foaming surf.
With tears streaming down his cheeks, the brave little merman disappeared into the welcoming waves.

—The End—