The Suggestion Box, Vol. 4: A to Z Challenge

Letter U: "Unlucky Urcellus"

This is another short story associated with my fairy tale retelling, Princess of Undersea, which is available on Amazon!

In all of the universe, there was perhaps no one quite as unlucky as Urcellus Marin.

He should not have been so unfortunate, all things considered; his Uncle Urwin had been fishing the Channel between Overcliff and Crossway long enough to know the most under-trafficked areas, and with the upswing in the use of large nets for trawling, they were able to bring in enough fish to undersell the urban, single-line fishers. These ubiquitous "small-timers" would complain about the unfairness, but Urwin would shrug and, ultimately, they all would have to agree that it was "just business."

In fact, Urcellus knew that if anyone could build a case for the unfairness of fishing practices around the Channel, it would be the Marin family, as the one thing that severely hampered their fishing efforts was the continued existence of the mermaid kingdom, Undersea. As long as Undersea maintained its boundaries, the fishing wardens of the Channel would block off whole sections where fishing was not allowed. Uncle Urwin was smart enough to realize how unwise this was, as the fish would gather in these "unauthorized" sections, where common fishermen were unable to get to them, thereby drawing more fish away from the sections they should have been allowed. Day after day, Uncle Urwin would deliver the ultimatum that today would be the day he would urge the warden to unbar these sections, even for a few hours, just long enough for him to cull from the masses of fish and enjoy the unfettered freedom of less competition, but day after day, he would give up, and Urcellus would accompany him to the old trawling grounds, just bordering the unsanctioned areas. There, their voluminous nets would bring in an underwhelming number of unimpressive fish. By the time Urcellus was old enough to begin fishing himself, he was well and truly unhappy about the whole situation.

"Unconscionable!" He uttered, and stomped out the door. He would show those undeserving wardens just how underhanded his family could be! He would teach them to try and force the hand of an unstoppable trawling business! The young man gave vent to unbridled rebellion as he marched to the docks and unmoored his boat. Rowing straight out to the very edge of the "unauthorized" zone, all the way to the furthest buoy from the shores of Crossway, Urcellus made his protest known by jamming his mother's umbrella—a flamboyant, lacy thing whose loose ribs caused the contraption to undulate with even the slightest breeze—in the top of the small float. Unfettered and entirely undisturbed, Urcellus lowered the unwieldy fishing net, and undertook the task of waiting until the small bell on the underside of the boom began to ring, alerting him to the fact that the nets were full, and he could leave.

Urcellus sighed and leaned back in his boat as he brought up his father's ukulele. He strummed a few of what he considered to be chords, unmindful of whether they were actually in tune at all. The boat rocked gently back and forth; Urcellus felt the unshakeable weight of relaxation settle over him, and he soon fell under the spell of the soothing waves. Up in the sky, the sun beat uncomfortably, so much that Urcellus had to shade his eyes from the unrelenting brightness. He could rest his eyes; the unsuspecting fish would swim right into his net...

The shrill clanging of a bell jolted Urcellus out of his unconsciousness so hard that he nearly upended himself. The boat was unbalanced, leaning heavily toward the side with the net; he had definitely made an unwilling catch! Urcellus leaned against the winch, hauling the net toward the boat. He grunted at the unexpected weight, but he would not be undermined in his goal! As the net drew closer, Urcellus peered at the contents; it wasn't a net full of fish like he wanted, but the mesh wound tightly around a unique creature he had never seen before. The unmarred, white body encouraged him; the size of this fish alone was sure to produce plenty of meat to split into small fillets and sell to unsuspecting villagers. However, as the creature twisted, Urcellus glimpsed another feature that he was unequipped to handle: a single, wicked-looking, twisting horn protruding from the animal's head.