The Little Mermaid

This was it, he was getting married and I would die. My prince, my wish, my tail, my voice, all stolen from me. How was I going to continue on? I had no hope to ever see my father's palace ever again, my sweet sisters I will never sing with you again. I'm so sorry for breaking your hearts, and now I will just watch as my prince marries another woman, I am not angry at him or his princess. I was foolish for believing a mermaid could capture the heart of a human without her voice. My prince is wearing a stunning purple suit, his handsome features smile with pure unadulterated love, his bride the illustrious princess, who has captured his heart, is clothed in the prettiest white gown I have ever seen. They hold nothing but love in their eyes, so innocent, I wish I could once more return to when my eyes shown like theirs. Yet I know he'll be happy so no matter how my heart breaks on this day I will smile.

The priest begins to speak asking for the young couple's vows, which are exchanged with beautiful rings inlaid with pearl. How cruel lady fortune is to have made me watch my love who I found at sea, be lost to another at sea. To watch my domain's most valued treasure, the pearl be given to my rival in love, shattered my soul. If not for the sorceress stealing my voice, I would have cried and screamed at this binding of their souls. This pain I feel in my chest is much worse than the curse of feeling like I'm walking across knives constantly. Cruel, Lady Fortune, cruel Lady Love, cruel sea witch, they have all gotten me into this dilemma. Raging against the dying of the light will do me no good, I will go gently into that dark night and leave my beloved and his bride to their happily ever after come morn.

I was happily taking care of my flowers in my pretty round flower bed, the flowers inside as red as the sun's rays. I had always been a quiet mermaid, compared to my five older sisters I was peculiar. Making my garden look like the sun, an object revered by those above ocean level, while one of my sisters made her's into the form of a whale and another made her's into a the form of a mermaid. My sisters loved their trinkets they obtained from ship wrecks, while I only cared for my garden and a pretty marble statue.

The marble statue resembled a handsome human prince, the statue had fallen to the bottom of the sea after a shipwreck. I had fallen in love with the beauty of it and brought it to my garden. After that statute had come into my world, my interest for the world above the sea began to expand and I questioned my grandmother, father and sisters about it endlessly. The towns, the people, the animals the plants, I wanted to know it all. My grandma described the fish that sang sweetly in the trees and that the land had flowers with actual senses, unlike the flowers we have down here.

"When you reach fifteen years of age," my grandmother started, "you will be allowed to go to the surface, sit on the rocks at night while the ships go by, then you will be able to see to world above the sea."

My eldest sister had just reached fifteen, and I was five years younger than her so that is the amount of time I had to wait. Though each year when another of my sisters got to go up and see the world, they came back with stories that they would tell me that fuelled my interest. None of my sisters wanted it as badly as I did, quiet and thoughtful, I would be the last to go. There were times where I would stare up out my window as if I could see beyond the water. All I could see was the faint shine of the moon and stars. I knew that the ships that would pass overhead were filled with men,who could never imagine a little mermaid was under them.

I longed to be above the water, to see the towns and the human beings. I would love to hear their conversations, to hear their song and the sound of the animals. To see a carriage, to go to a store, to eat human food. I felt so close to it I could almost reach out my hand to feel it, but I had more years of waiting ahead of me before I could dream of seeing civilisation.

At last I reached fifteen years of age, my grandmother dressed me up like she had for my sisters. I would have preferred bringing my own flowers, but the white lilies grandmother put in my hair would do. I was too impatient and gracefully I began swimming towards the surface. The sun had set moments before my head broke the surface of the water, leaving me with the magical sky, the clouds were gold and crimson. The sight took my breath away, and all I could do was stare. The ocean was still as I took in my first ever breath of oxygen. A ship was not to far from me, one sail set out of three, it was still due to the lack of a breeze.