Writing Entries

A Modern Retelling: The Little Mermaid

WARNING: There might be a  trigger, so please take note.

She enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing on her face, the waves lapping on her feet as she breathed deeply. It always managed to calm her, no matter how many times she came to the beach. It was addicting, she admitted to herself, when there was no one there but her. 

It felt as if the world was against her when she was down. No one understand her, not even her own family. They named her Ariel after her bright red hair, but fate seemed to deem it fit to play a cruel joke on her.

For the moment she was born until now, seventeen years had passed.

And for that seventeen years, she had never spoke a single word. 

They mocked her behind her back, saying that she was cursed for her mother's sins. Oh, she knew, she knew what they said, but what does it even matter now? There was no feeling, except for a numbness that strive deep inside her bones. Nights when she was alone, she would stared with disgust at herself in the mirror, at the scars on her wrists that spoke of pain and loneliness, at the hatred of everyone and the unfairness of the whole world.

Her family tried every possible way to make her vocal cords work again, but nothing worked. The doctors' report said that she was born mute, and nothing could change it. They thought she didn't notice, but she saw how they distanced themselves from her. She was the black sheep in the family, a family where her sisters were the pride and joy, while she was the shame of them all.

How many times had it been? How many times would she suffer, again and again?

Tears streamed down her face as she cried silently, her heart breaking, piece by piece. She clutched her chest. It hurt so much, everyday when she tried to put a smile on her face to disguise the broken heart she hide within her own self.

Standing up, she waded into the sea, the waves surrunding her in an almost gentle way, as if it was welcoming her with open arms. She was consumed in a bottomless void of pain and silence, where she could never voice out her own opinion. At least now, she would be free.

Closer, and closer. The water reached until her shoulders, and then her chin. She smiled happily, her eyes empty of any emotions.

Releasing her own breath, she curled up into a ball and let herself drown. She shut her eyes tightly as she sank to the bottom of the sea.

The last thing she saw was a flash of brown before her vision turned black.

..................

Can you hear me?

A voice, calling for her. So distant was it that she sought to slumber again in peace.

Please, wake up. It was closer now, loud enough to reach her. She tried to chase away the voice, but yet she felt herself close to tears. How much time had passed since anyone had spoke to her so tenderly, almost pleading for her to answer?

She struggled between reality and her subconcious. She never want to experience the pain again. Why? Why was it that no one would let her die? Had she not suffer enough? She was Ariel, the little mermaid whose ending was only to become the sea foam.

Please.

She found herself reaching up to the source of light that had appeared in her mind. Some part of her refused the comfort of the light, wishing to hide behind the shadows. Persisting, she touched the light and opened her eyes.

..................

Her eyes fluttered. Once. Twice. She woke up, coughing as she gasped for breath. A hand steadied her around her waist as she breath in deeply before an alarm rang in her head as she immiedietly fling the hand away from her waist.