Song- An Original Work

Chapter One

Beautiful: a perfect way to describe her really. Though the same could be said about every other siren in the sea, as their beauty was meant to captivate men. Melody, however, had something different about her, making her truly unique and out from the rest of her friends. She was quite the sucker for love, and not the love of simply mating and reproducing. No. She wanted something more, something to make her feel appreciated and cared for.

　Careful she'd speak her thoughts, which she often did without meaning, Melody left the comfort of her coral bed and decided to head to the nearby secret cove she had found when she was little. It wasn't big -- it was just a giant rock on the outside to most others -- but Melody found a way in through the very bottom edge of it. Swimming up to it cautiously, she moved the small piece of rock covering the original whole she had found, and squeezed her way inside. Relieved that she had finally had some alone time, she swam to the top of the water level where the rock began to turn into a small cave, holding this small water cove. Slowly, she started to hum herself a small tune her mother sang when she was little. Her parents, now long gone, were the main reason why sirens now sought after human in the first place.

　Today though, she didn't want to think such tragic thoughts. She was turning eighteen soon and now wasn't the best time for gloomy thoughts. When morning come, she would finally be eighteen. She longed for this time, as eighteen is when sirens first are introduced for luring men and women to the water. Lots of her friends, though, didn't quite abide by this set rule, as there were many occasions where they would ask her to come with them. Of which she would simply shake her head and swim off, knowing better than her fellow peers.

　Suddenly, a noise began to echo through the cave. It sounded like laughter to her and she immediately stopping humming midway through her song. 'Humans!' she thought without a doubt. The laughter and now small chatter was coming from where the cove turned into a winding cave. Diving back beneath the dark waters surface, she swam so she was out of sight but still able to hear the commotion above.

　The humans seemed to be talking to one another about something called a 'coronation'. Whatever that meant, she didn't know. Melody was terrified it might threaten her life. She moved through the water as slow as she could to get to the rock in the cove's wall. It seemed almost for not, for the humans above stopped their conversation. One with a deeper voice said something about hearing a noise coming from the water. 'Oh no..' Melody's panicked mind thought, 'I cant be caught, or they will start searching for more of us!' Now frantic, she moved the rock to the exit when she finally reached, squeezed out and swam back to her home in the corals after putting the rock back safely.

　Back at home, the young siren let out a hypothetical breath she didn't know she had been holding. It was quite the experience for her, she hadn't seen a human since she was little, let alone a group of what seemed to be three.

All of a sudden, there was a slight tapping on the coral she called home. Soon enough, a caramel haired siren appeared in the whole in the wall. This siren was named Jamie, who had been a long time friend of Melody, the two being together since they were as small as minnows.

"What's with the look, grumpy gills!" the young siren asked in such delight. It wasn't shocking she had shown up, as Jamie was often by her coral, either to bring her outside or just bug her. Though today Melody wasn't in the mood.

"Not now Jamie . ." she replied, her tone ending as a slight murmur. Jamie seemed to want to call her out, and tell her she needs to lighten up, but her thoughts her interrupted.

With a sharp knock to the coral, a siren, seeming to look as a guard, popped into the window looking quite frightened. "Miss Melody, I hate to tell you this but-" he paused, taking a second to gulp.

"Yes?" Melody spoke firmly, issuing the man to continue. He frantically looked behind him at the other guards and sea-folk approaching and shuddered out—

"There seems to be humans back on the beach."

___________

Shrieking could be heard for miles as royal merfolk discussed the new issue at hand. How could it be possible? They had left the beach alone for years since the passing of the former leaders. Sure there would be times the guards patrolling would find litter, obviously from undignified humans. Though they never seemed to see anyone who had done it. In turn assuming it came in overnight from across the seas.

"Outrageous!" One of the royals shouted. He had already attempted previously to debunk the idea of humans on the beach from the day more litter arrived. He had been ""close"" , as he put it, with the Morgans, Melody's parents. However his plans would fail once more due to the sighting of legitimate beings. "My lady, might I remind you, we haven't seen or heard from humans in at least a decade! Why would they suddenly reappear from oblivion?"

"You seem to forget everything that's been washing up on the shores of that poor beach all these years," Yet another person from the council pointed out, "It's not like magic. Nets don't just show up for no reason."

As the bickering continued, the young princess took a deep breath, only to let it right back out in her exaggerated sigh. She couldn't stand the council at each others throats like this. She had to make a choice quickly. Taking a horn from one of the castle guards, she blew it to alert everyone in the room.

The chattering came to a swift close at the sound, the now silent room turning cold. "I... have made a decision," Melody spoke with her firm, authoritative voice she grew into, "I, Princess Melody Morgan, will check out the beach myself and confirm the previous sightings. I will return, and we will all discuss calmly, how to move forward with this."

And with that last word, Melody swam through the double doors and directly into her destiny.