Fish Tails

Chapter Three

K

The sky is painted yellow, orange and pink as the sun sets. The large fiery orb rests just above the dark blue ocean. A seagull cries and flies away from the sun; he soars over the ocean before landing on the rocky shore. Behind the seagull, who picks at the cracks in between the boulders, stands a castle made of pale stone.

Sandstone.

The castle stands magnificently against the ocean. Above the wall that protects the castle from enemies and sea spray, are many windows and balconies to peer into.

At the front gates, there's a commotion. A carriage has arrived. A woman steps out and guards immediately shield her from sight. A man in a red robe leads them into the castle. No one else can be seen except for guards and the red robed man.

They walk through the castle which is not as grand as the outside. Cobwebs and dust cover almost everything. Guards open large ebony doors and the ocean winds blow into the castle.

The entourage walks onto a sky bridge that leads to a tower. The tower, almost as high as the castle, stands alone on a rocky island. When they arrive at the other end of the bridge, the guards step aside. They open the large door with struggle and with a hand motion from the red robed man, the woman enters the tower. As soon as she's inside, the doors begin to close. With sad eyes, she turns and looks at the robed man. She does nothing to stop the doors from closing.

When they finally close, the sun whispered goodbye before finally disappearing.

The woman, left alone in the tower, walks to the large balcony. With tears in her eyes, she watches the orange and pink disappear from the sky.

***

It's been many lonely months now. The woman still stands at the balcony, her gown now dirty and fading. She sings to pass the time but mostly, she dreams of freedom. Of a life beyond the tower.

***

She wakes in the middle of the night. The air is cold and the night is dark. As she lays in her bed, tremors shake the castle and the lonely tower. She leaves her bed and runs for the balcony.

The clanking of metal followed by pounding on the ebony door makes her heart race. The door creaks as guards begin to pull it open. The tremors continue until a column below falls. The tower sways before rocks and balconies begin to fall into the ocean. With one last look at the door, she bunches up her gown and sits on the railing. With the next tremor and swaying of the tower, she jumped.

The ocean, who watched her all these months and gathered up her tears, took pity on the woman. As the woman fell, the ocean caught her. The ocean cradled her in her arms as she decided what she would do with the young woman.

The ocean pondered for many hours until she decided she would allow the woman to take refuge under the water. But to live there, the woman would have to change.

To swim fast and with power, she would need a tail.

To breath underwater, she would need gills.

To survive against large predators, she would need an armored body.

And to survive the cold, she would need blubber.

The ocean called on her children. An eel, a fish, a lobster and a sea otter. She asked them if they would help save the young woman. They agreed.

The eel gave his tail for the woman, the fish gave his gills, the lobster gave his shell and the sea other gave her his coat.

Together, they made a most wondrous creature.

A mermaid.

The ocean was so amazed by her beautiful creation, her child that she allowed the mermaid to have children so that her work of beauty would carry on. She also took the sorrow souls of land as refugees. The ocean hoped to fill her waters with beautiful creatures as the mermaid.

But the mermaid was not happy. The mermaid was in pain. Every addition, every transformation pained her.

So as she birthed many more mermaids and carried out her duties in hopes of pleasing the ocean, she asked if she could return to the surface, one last time.

The ocean, proud of her mermaid, allowed her to leave on the condition that she returned within a day. The mermaid agreed.

The mermaid had other plans in mind. When she left, she planned on never returning. Although she was thankful for being saved, she was still a prisoner under the ocean. And all the mermaid wanted was freedom.

The mermaid, now back to her human form, travelled as far as she could in a day. But as night fell, she felt a tug in her heart. The tug pulled her closer and closer to the ocean. She couldn't stop, no matter what obstacle lay in her path, she continued.

When she waded in the water, going deeper and deeper, she knew she could never escape. And as soon as her lips touched the water, she transformed into the beautiful creature she was made to be.

***

I felt it. Whatever the woman in the dream felt, I felt it. The pain was surreal. It felt like someone was hacking off my legs with a dull axe. My lungs burned like a wildfire, I didn't dare open my mouth because I knew I would drown but now I was left to suffocate. My chest felt like someone was tearing out my ribs. Even my head had a dull ache.

I opened my eyes but it was all black. I closed my eyes- it was black as well.

At least I got to dream before I died.