Tree of Wishes

A Mermaid's Tale: A Juniper Perspective

When Cypress offered to take me on a trip to the aquarium, I was excited. I really loved watching interesting and exotic animals up close in real life. The world has millions of unique species out there. Some of which hasn't even been discovered yet! I had considered a career in animals, like a zoologist, but the idea of having to shoveling animal poop on a daily basis or sitting out in extreme temperatures in the hopes of catching a glimpse of a wild animal sounded exhausting. I know technology had helped a lot with that, especially with drones and whatnot, yet it still felt like it would be a pain. I think I made the better choice.

The aquarium Cypress took me to was as large as a baseball stadium, and has multiple floors and sections dedicated to all kinds of aquatic creatures. Almost every inch of the place was covered in transparent glass, so it was impossible to look in a direction that didn't have something swimming around. They even had an upper section where you could observe the animals from above, which was especially fun when you got to see the employees feed the sharks and seals. Speaking of seals, it was possible to see them both in the water and on land, flopping around their cute, thick flippers as they bounced about. With the rainbow of fish, hungry sharks, chubby seals, and even some waddling penguins, I was having a blast getting to see them in action.

Then it was time for the main event. While there were several events at the aquarium, Cypress was oddly insistent on seeing this one, so I was curious. We took our seats just a couple of rows away from the splash zone, and I pulled out the aquarium guide to read more about the show. A Mermaid's Tale, as it was called, advertised itself as having real mermaids performing all of the stunts. It was probably more humane than using whales or dolphins, I'm sure.

The stadium filled up in mere minutes, with hundreds of kids and adults eager to watch the show. Despite summer almost being over, it seemed like they weren't having any trouble drawing in a crowd. I wish I had known about this place sooner.

Once the doors had closed, the entire stadium went dark for a moment before a bright spotlight shined down on to the center of the stage. There sat a woman with the lower half of a fish, the silvery scales of her tail glistening under the light. It was obvious from how she moved it that it was real, floundering about with wet, sleek strokes. Perched on top of a boulder, the mermaid pushed back her wavy, blonde hair and began to sing. It was a beautiful siren's melody that expressed her hesitance about becoming the next queen and her yearning to find true love.

Once her song was finished, she dove into the tank and began to swim about, her pink, seashell-shaped bikini top managing to stay on the entire time. Even when she had to jump through hoops in the air and ride on the back of a robotic dolphin, her grace never wavered for even a second. I was in complete awe over such dedication.

Two other merfolk joined her, a man with blue hair and green scales and a woman with white hair and black scales. The man swam with the future queen in perfect synch, and it was through their performance as they sang together that radiated love throughout the entire stadium. As for the other woman, she served as the rival trying to take the crown away from our protagonist. Her swimming was much more aggressive, shaking the tank as waves of water splashed onto the audience. Even we got a little wet in the process, not that we minded.

Finally, after all of the blonde mermaid's hardships, she was able to prove that she was worthy of both the crown and her love, sending the other mermaid away to sulk in defeat. After the couple sang their final song of triumph, all of the lights turned back on and the crowd cheered. While Cypress was calmly clapping in his seat, I couldn't stop myself from giving them a standing ovation. The show nearly had me in tears.

As the crowd started to clear out, I noticed Cypress wasn't moving from his seat. I thought he was waiting so he didn't have to maneuver through the horde of people, yet even after the stadium was empty, he didn't budge an inch. Before I could question him on the matter, one of the staff members in their all black uniform approached us.