You were exploring the edge of the water near your beautiful beach front home, your small pudgy eight year old feet shifting gently in the warm summer's sand, a bucket of sea shells in your tiny hands. You notice a orange glint contrasting to the peachy-brown sand, so you bend down to pick up a pretty orange shell examining it closely. Once you decided it was the prettiest shell you had ever seen you ran down to the ocean to clean it. Washing away the dirt, you notice the pretty gold sparkles mixed in with the peaches and oranges. Deciding your collection of treasures was enough for the day, you turned to make your way back home. Passing a stump with gnarled roots and semi-sharp stones surrounding the base, you hear a pained whine coming from the rotting base of the tree. "Hello?" You whisper, your pudgy hands gripping your pail tighter. Another whine suddenly cut through the silence of the ocean. Gently putting your bucket down in the warm yellow sand beside you, you step closer to the sharp stones and gnarled roots of the stump. Coming closer to the entrance of the mossy cavern you see a flash of yellow and gold that reminded you of the shell you found earlier. As you rounded up the front a pitiful squeak came from the creature inside, bending down slightly you see only what you believed to be in fairy tales. A small yellow mer was curled up in the corner of the stump with five beautiful yellow fins surrounding his head pinned flat against his flat round-ish face and his teeth bared in defense, and the poor guy was injured, silver blood staining the sand underneath it, it's tail flexing as you observed it. "Hey little guy it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Do you want to be friends?" The mer slightly perked up at your words, but still cowered. You slowly went into the stump, slightly jumping at a hiss behind you. Looking back to the ocean you see a blue mer with crimson colored eyes and one fin the reminded you of a night cap. Slowly turning back to the yellow mer you crawl over to him, pushing your arms underneath the scared fellow with care, you gently lift him up with kindness. Making your way carefully over the stones and to the ocean with the floppy mer against your chest. Once you get to the ocean, the blue mer starts swimming around your feet, so as carefully as possible put the yellow mer into the water. You watched as the mer dived in and as fast as a rocket they both swam off. Turning away with a content sigh you walk back up to the sandy beach and picked up your pail, giving one last look to the ocean you start the back trek back home...
(To be continued......)
