Beauty and the Merman

Chapter 7

    When I woke up the next morning, I felt drained. But although I still feared the ocean and that which it held within it, I had to admit that the view outside my window was amazing. The ocean always looks different because of the gentle waves moving back and forth. I finally decided to put on something simple from the closet. Then I went to my door and bumped straight into Sorelen. "Oof. What are you doing outside my room?" He, at least, had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.
"I was waiting for you to wake up. Would you like some breakfast?"
"No." I didn't want fish for breakfast. I could eat fish for lunch and dinner, but breakfast?"
"Then there is something I would like to show you. Follow me?"
"Fine." I followed him along through the corridors. Really, it was probably best that he was waiting for me because I could never figure out all the hallways. I would be hopelessly lost. Then he stopped at a door and looked at me before he opened it.
Inside, was a huge room full of corals and anemones that together, looked like an underwater garden. It was breathtaking. "It's beautiful."
He gave me one of his beautiful smiles. "Would you like to go inside?"
"Sure." Everywhere I passed by, there was something to look at. I had never seen such variety. "Is this your garden?"
"Yes. Come here." He hurried over to the middle and when I caught up, I saw corals that looked just like roses. I was taken aback. "They look just like roses. They're my favorite flowers, I would never have expected to see some underwater."
"I hoped you would like these. Most of the specimens in this room are common varieties found all over the seven seas, but this species is very rare. They only grow close to where merpeople dwell, so humans never see them. You can visit this room whenever you like."
"If I can find my way here."
"I can always help you."
I could feel myself blushing. That made me upset. It felt as if he was one way with Dad and acts another way with me. It's frustrating. I believe in judging people by their actions. With that reasoning, I have hated him for his actions that led me here. But everything that he has done since then, contradicts that original action. He has been kind and considerate. I wasn't sure what to feel. "What do you do for fun around here?"
"Well, I do like to read."
"How do you read here?"
"I could show you. Come on." I followed him until we got to a door. This time, he let me open the door and when I did, it was an amazing library. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Instead of books, there were scrolls. Thousands of them. More than I could ever read in my lifetime. "How do these survive down here?"
"They are not made of paper like on land. They are made of a tough seaweed. We read scrolls instead of books because they last better in the water."
"Who wrote all of these?"
"A lot of them were written by other merpeople. But a lot of them, we have copied from land books. So, you could probably find some of your favorite authors here."
Immediately, I begin scurrying around looking for my favorite books and I find them. I could spend hours in this room. At home, I would read so many books. My room was full from floor to ceiling with books and the library was my favorite place to go. But when I look around this library, I realize how much I would have missed reading if it were not for this provision. Then I realized Sorelen was still in the room with me. "Do you have favorite authors here?"
"Yes, I do. Would you like me to point them out?"
"Yes, and maybe I could read some of your favorites and you could read some of mine."
"I would love that."
"That way we could talk about the books to each other. I love discussing literature. I used to be in a book club back home--" I stopped when I saw his face go from joy to immediate sadness at the mention of home. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"No. I should be apologizing for taking you away. I will do my best to read your books. And we can talk about them."
So we sat down, and it must have been for hours that we read together. We were silent, but reading a book with someone is a wonderful experience. When I begin to read, I become so engrossed in a book, I forget about everything. So I was surprised when I was in the middle of a good book and my stomach growled very loudly. So loudly, that Sorelen looked across the room at me and stood up. "I'm sorry. It seems I have forgotten the time. It's almost dinnertime. Would you like to go prepare yourself while I make dinner?"
"No. I don't need to prepare myself. I can help you make dinner."
"If you so wish." I left the library promising to myself that I would be back and arrived at the kitchen. Well, I call it a kitchen, but really it had no ovens, refrigerators, stoves, or microwaves. Nothing resembled a kitchen. It was really a pantry with food and a counter to cut it on. But Sorelen knew his way around and began pulling out food. Then he looked at me and realized that I didn't know what to do. He motioned for me to come over. He gave me some seaweed and showed me how to cut it. It seemed simple enough. But when I began cutting, I didn't hold down the seaweed and they just floated in front of my face. I began stupidly chasing the seaweed around the room when I heard Sorelen laughing at me. "I'm sorry for laughing. I should have explained how you cut in water. Look, let me show you."
He then helped me cut them while holding the cuttings at the same time. I used to cook at home all the time, so I can cut food, but it was difficult doing it this way. But I would get the hang of it. Just as I thought I was getting a rhythm, I nicked the corner of my finger with the knife. I screamed in pain and began sucking my finger. It was bleeding, and it stung a lot.
I didn't even see Sorelen swim over. He grabbed my finger and put it in some container full of what looked like water. My finger immediately felt better. Once Sorelen had my finger in the jar, he looked at me and said "I know it stings a lot. When you cut in the water, it stings a lot because of all the salt water." He motioned with his finger ambiguously around the room, as if pointing to all the water surrounding us. "I always keep a jar of fresh water for cuts. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Brings a whole new meaning to salt on a wound." I try pathetically for a joke but only get a small smile from Sorelen. It felt weird how worried he was. It really wasn't that bad. I'm not a wimp. But he wouldn't let me finish preparing dinner. He excused himself by saying he was almost done anyway, which he was. We had a nice conversation during dinner, and when I went to bed, I didn't cry this time.