The Utopia

|Prologue|

Ashley
"Father! Father! Look at this sea shell Oakley caught in the nets." I hold the shell up for the Captain to see and he looks up from the map he had been studying. Father beckons me closer and I comply, my feet padding softly over to him. I set the shell in his open, waiting palm and he studies the iridescent shell with curiousity. It consists of a variety of different colors and it looked very from any other shell that would typically be found.
"Where do you think it came from? Perhaps, the very bottom of the seafloor?" I peer at him with questioning eyes, my blonde hair curtaining my face softly as I tilt my head.
"Mermaids." He says quietly as he puts the shell back into my waiting hands.
"Mermaids?" I repeat in wonder, looking at him wide eyed.
"Have I ever told you the full story of your mother?" He asks as he pulls me into his lap, it wasn't odd despite the fact that I am a nineteen year old boy.
"Yes, remember, you told me you met her one day in a little cove by the beach. You were waiting for repairs to be finished on your ship."
"And I visited her everyday, when the repairs were done I asked her to come with me. I was so happy when she agreed." Father's eyes twinkle at the memory.
"Eventually, she told you she was a mermaid." I fill in excitedly.
"It was after she had become pregnant with you, it was because she knew there was a possibility you could be like her."
"Unfortunately, I don't really remember much about her." I say dimly, looking down at my hands that gripped the brightly colored shell.
"Shortly after giving birth to you she became sick and frail. We still don't know what caused it."
"I wish I could've seen her as a mermaid. I bet she was beautiful." I whisper.
"She was son, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." Father says, his voice sounding far away and wistful.