Let This Dream End Tonight

Ariel's New Legs

"Why am I still here?," Ariel whispers to herself.

She's lying on her coral bed staring at the ceiling. Her eyes are now dry, but her cheeks are as wet as they could be with tears. It's the middle of the night and no one is up. It would be the perfect time to leave, Ariel thinks. She gets up and swims over to her closet. Inside are millions of skirts for her tail and shell bikini tops.

"It's like a uniseahorse threw up in my closet," she murmurs.

It didn't take long for Ariel to pack what she needed into a small coral blue suitcase she had made when she was little with seaweed. She lifts the small suitcase and throws it over her shoulder. Time to go, Ariel thinks determinedly. It was easy to get the window open, it was only shut because of the mucky water outside messed with the clean, fresh water inside. Ariel swam as hard as she could, she didn't want to be caught leaving by one of the other merpeople.

She was out of the city in less than fifteen minutes, but she was tired and panting. She looks around and sees no one around, so she sits down on a rock to think things over. She had just ran away from home and had nowhere to go from here. Ariel sighed and just sits there for a while. Eventually she heard the hiss of an eel. She jumps up, the hiss sounded closer this time. She tries to swim away, but two eels slither towards her.

"Sssstop, young one, we just want to talk to you," one of the eels, he had a scar across his face, said.

"Ok, what is it you little snake," Ariel snarls at the two eels, they were known for their trickery.

"We just wanted to help you. Why are you all the way out here, princess?," the other eel, he was a bit smaller than the other one, said.

"I ran away, I didn't want to stay there any longer. I couldn't take it," Ariel cries.

"It's alright, we will help you. Come on, come with us to our mother's house. She will help you like she helped us," the scarred eel smiles, if eels could smile.

"Ok, I'll come with you," Ariel nods towards the two eels.

It was better than not having anywhere to go. At least now she knew these two eels were willing to help her. Her father would kill her for letting these two creatures help her. He would always say, eels are no good little imps with no idea why they are here. Now Ariel knew her father had been wrong about them, too. The two eels led her to a cave hidden in the rocks. It was hidden, but it had colorful lights decorating the entrance. It was beautiful.

The eels led her inside the cave. It was even prettier on the inside. The front room had a giant couch and a glass coffee table. There were pictures of a woman and the two eels who had led her here. Ariel suspected the woman was there "mother", but from further examination, she could tell their mother had adopted the two eels. She was a merwoman.

She had coral green eyes and long blonde hair. She had wrinkles in some places, so she was an older woman. She was either hugging the eels or playing games with them in every picture. Ariel smiles sadly and wishes she could have had that kind of childhood. A mother that would love her and hug on her and play games with her. But she didn't even have a mother.

The two eels came back with the same woman in the pictures. Her pale green tail sparkled as she swam. She stops and stares at Ariel for a second then swims even faster towards her. The two eels stop in the doorway and watch.

"Why did you come here, princess. You should be in the castle, asleep in your bed," the woman looks worriedly at Ariel.

"I'm never going back there again. I'm no longer a princess, so you can call me just Ariel," Ariel points at herself shaking her head.

"Well, Ariel, my name's Ursula. I'd be happy to help you, kiddo, but why did you leave. You seemed so happy at the castle," Ursula asks Ariel softly.

"My father is a much crueler man behind the scenes than in front of his people," Ariel whispers, tears had started to form in her eyes.

"Shhhh, it's alright, child, I'll help you. I know just what you want. You want to leave the kingdom, don't you?," Ursula asks her, her voice is soft, like a mother's voice.

"Yes, I want to leave and never come back," Ariel's head bobbed up and down fast.

"Very well, I'll give you legs so you can go where the people go," Ursula sighs sadly.

"Oh thank you so much," Ariel throws herself at Ursula, hugging her tightly.

Ursula smiles warmly and hugs Ariel back and pats her head. She hushes Ariel again and places a hand on Ariel's forehead. Ursula looks calmly at her and asks again if this is what she wants. Ariel nods nervously. Ursula, a hand still on Ariel's forehead, starts to chant. The words all string together to form a spell. Before long, Ariel is sleeping in Ursula's arms. The eels bring her to the surface and lay her on the beach. Her pale, new legs shining in the bright morning sunrise.