The Little Mermaid: Modernized

Errik

Errik

I couldn’t help but admire her beauty from where I sat. Of course, there was no way she could see me from where she stood on the beach. I sat halfway perched on some rocks under the dock mere feet from where she was. I wished I were able to approach her. I had dreamt for so long for just one day where I could walk on the beach with her, hand in hand. Hearing her laugh from right beside her. Looking into those gorgeous brown eyes of hers from just inches away. And then finally, leaning in for the perfect-and yet completely forbidden-kiss.

But that would never happen. There was no way it would ever happen. Well…there was one way, but it was also forbidden. There are a lot of strict rules for us merfolk. Few of them are so serious. One of them being, you must never fall in love with a human. We were taught from a young age that humans were cruel, savage, unloving creatures. But that couldn’t possibly be true. It just couldn’t. I watched this young, fragile looking girl, and there was no possible way she could be like that. I could tell just by looking at her that she loved deeply-even though I didn’t entirely know what love meant. And she cared too. She wasn’t cruel, she was actually quite kind. And never savage. True, I had only actually seen her in person about 5 times, including today (once a year since I turned 15). But I already felt as though I had known her my whole life. And although I didn’t know what exactly love meant, I felt almost as if I really loved her. I took a shaky breath. So many thoughts running through my head. Is this what love felt like?

“Would you love me if you knew me?” I whispered as if she were standing right next to me. Suddenly she jerked her head up and looked around almost as if she actually heard me. I sank back down into the water, only my upper torso still above the surface, as I held onto the rocks. Did she hear me somehow? No, that’s not possible. But how…?

Without thinking, I rose up out of the water a little, to get a better view. My grip slipped, and I sank down into the water, making a little bit of a splash, and noticeable ripples on the surface. I paused below, watching for her reaction. She was definitely aware now. She looked a little scared, like she didn’t know what was out there, or what to expect. Before I was aware of what I was doing, I slowly rose back up to the surface, but just enough for the top half of my head to show. I watched her for a minute, waited for her to calm down just a bit, and rose out more so that my upper half was showing again. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I didn’t seem to have any control over what I was doing. I swam to under the edge of the dock, just enough so that I could be in view if she looked over in my direction. I reached up and held onto the side of the dock, staring longingly at her. I sighed. She was so beautiful. Did she know just how beautiful she was?

She sat down on the sand, holding her knees. She laid her head down on her knees for a moment, and then looked around her. She looked over to her left, nothing. Obviously nothing but the wide open sea in front of her. She began to turn my way, and instinctively, I recoiled a little, back under the dock. I made only a little noise. Maybe she wouldn’t see me and scream. But then...a part of me longed for her to finally see me. I peered out just enough. I watched as she scanned the area where the dock was. She turned to look behind her too, but something stopped her. She looked back where the dock was-where I was hiding. She leaned forward a little, to get a better view. I forced myself to stay put, and not hide anymore. I peeked out at that moment, and our eyes met. She saw me! She finally saw me!

She slowly got up from where she sat, and started my way. She wasn’t running away, and she most definitely wasn’t screaming. Could it be that she was actually curious, or maybe fascinated by me? She came closer, and I came out from my hiding place. The water was deep enough at this point where she couldn’t really see my tail. Could that be why she wasn’t running? Maybe she just thought I was a fellow human, and she was coming to find out my name. My heart sank at the idea. But then I saw her face, and her eyes, she could tell something was different about me.