Ocean Beauty

𓆝 Two 𓆝

Andy bowed his head in shame as his father sat on his throne. His face was scrunched up into a scowl as he held onto his golden trident. Andy's stepmother sat beside him, rubbing his arm to calm him down.

"Andrew, please recite to me what I tell you everyday" his father said, saying each word dangerously low. Andy gulped loudly before clearing his throat. "Y-you said t-to n-never go t-toward l-land" Andy stutters, mentally cursing himself for showing weakness.

His father nodded then cleared his throat. "Well since you know, WHY DONT YOU LISTEN?" His father asks, his voice booming loudly through the underwater kingdom. Andy only stayed quiet and bowed his head again.

"Honey, you're being too hard on him" his stepmother said to his father. He simply ignored her and glared at Andy. "I've told you time and time again to stay away from land because of what happened to your mother and you still won't listen" his father lectures.

A tear runs down Andy's pale cheek as he remembers the story his father had told him. His mother was near the land as her head popped out of the water to scan if  the coast was clear. There was a boat near that had a man fishing on it.

Andy's father swam after his mother, trying to get her to come back. They'd been fighting quite and he'd treated her with much disrespect since they'd wedded. She swam away leaving her precious son in the hands of her best friend, Celesta.

She swam faster as she heard her husband behind her which is what caught the attention of the sailor. He adjusted his eyes to see what was swimming so frantically. He pulled out his binoculars and gasped as he saw a beautiful mermaid swimming right toward him. He readied his fishing net then lowered it as she swam right in front of his boat.

Andy's father watched in horror as his wife was lifted onto the boat tangled in a net. The man stared at her like she was a prized possession, which she was since she was a creature that most believed weren't real.

The sailor carefully sat her down and started his boat back up to the docks. Andy's father just swam away back to his kingdom. He didn't see the point in trying to get her back as he would've been captured too. Now he regrets not putting up a fight and trying to save her.

Months later, she hadn't come back and he'd given up hope, so sure she was gone. He'd broken down in tears, the salty sea water mixing with his salty tears. Celesta sat at his side, comforting him and herself while she held Andy. He not only lost his wife, but she'd lost her best friend and Andy had lost his mother.

He then went on to marry Celesta. When Andy was old enough, he told him the story of what happened to his mother, hoping to scare him into never leaving. He'd already lost his mother, he couldn't loose him too. But Andy was curious and loved adventure so he never listened and was dragged home by guards countless times.

Andy wipes his tears as he clutched onto his necklace with a shiny pink seashell hanging from it. His mother had given it to him because it matched his shiny pink tail, a color that mostly girls were born with. He of course was teased about the color, constantly being called a "girl" but it didn't bother him. He liked his tail and that's all that mattered.

"Andrew, since you can't follow simple rules, I'm locking you in the cells " his father says. Andy stares at him in disbelief "what?!" His stepmother says also staring at him in disbelief. He puts his hand up silencing her and turning back to Andy. "It's for your own good" he says as the guards come in to take Andy away.

He quickly dodged them, swimming away as fast as he could. There were guards behind him, quickly gaining on him. He quickly sang a song hoping that one of his sea friends could hear it.

A gigantic whale came to his rescue, quickly opening his mouth so Andy could hide. The whale swam very fast, so fast that Andy couldn't keep still and was tossed all around. He ended up hitting his head on something hard making him loose consciousness soon after.

He was then awoken by someone screaming at him. He was breathing hard looking everywhere to find the person that screamed at him. He locked his ocean eyes on some beautiful brown ones and was in awe. The boy was beautifully tanned with gorgeous brown locks. He had a muscular build, Andy's eyes scanning his arms.

They continued to stare at each other, neither they making a move to speak and not really knowing what to say. "Uhhh who are you?" The handsome stranger asks after the long uncomfortable silence. Andy clears  his throat and mutters his name, coughing loudly after because sand being in his mouth.

"Well, Andy do you live somewhere close? I can walk you home" The stranger offers. Andy looks at him sideways with a little confusion "no I don't really have a home" Andy said then mumbling "anymore" quietly so he couldn't hear him.

"Well you can always go home with me" He offers with a lopsided smile. Andy stared at him in awe as a smile spread across his face. He got up off the ground and dusted some of the sand off of his clothes before following him back to the entrance of the docks.

"Oh I'm Rye by the way" He says stopping to stick out his hand. Andy stared at him in confusion then to his outstretched hand and back to his face. He then simply took Andy's hand in his, shaking it firmly before letting go.

"Nice to meet you Andy" the stranger, Rye,  says smiling at him then continuing to walk ahead. Andy smiles at his turned back but sped up so he was in the same pace as him, he was getting use to legs as it was his first time having them. "Nice to meet you as well Rye" Andy says as they walked together talking about little things like they hadn't just met.