Mermaids with a Purpose

        It was a rainy afternoon in May; while thunder roared and lightning lit up the city of Big island in Hawaii, three women, in different hospitals were giving birth to three beautiful creatures.  Alice’s hair was like the beach sand in Hawaii, Sophie’s hair was wild like the waves that hit the rocks and Emily’s was like the tranquil water of the sea at night. Even though they were totally different, with time destiny made they meet and form a wonderful friendship.

        Sophie and Emily were neighbors and studied together. One afternoon while they played on the beach in front of their homes they noticed that people were arriving at the abandoned house.  They ran toward this place and saw that a woman was unloading furniture and boxes into the house.  They looked like friendly people. In the afternoon, Sophie and Emily went and welcomed them to the neighborhood with a “piña colada” after a hard day of work. Mrs. Elizabeth greeted them and offered them to come in, but the girls had homework to do. Curiously they saw the silhouette of a little girl from behind the windows.

        The next day at school a new girl came in, she seemed shy, lonesome and sad. Her name was Alice. During lunch time she disappeared, and didn’t quite see her again until it was time to head home. The girls saw that Alice was taking the same route as them home. They followed her and figured out that she was their new neighbor. The new girl at school was the same girl they had seen looking through the window.

        The next day the girls offered her a seat at their lunch table, Alice said yes, but continued to act shy. Emily and Sophie tried to get to know her better by asking her questions, but she limites her answers to “yes” and “no”. She was extremely shy.

        Sophie and Emily, same as everyday were headed toward a rock where they would always hang out, talk and share secrets. When they got there they noticed Alice was on the rock crying.  They got closer little by little to not scare her away. Alice quickly cleared her tears away. The girls asked her what was the matter , but she would not say. She kept on crying harder, and Emily hugged her and said, “Relax, we don’t know what you are going through , but you can confide in us. Maybe your problems are similar to ours.”When Alice heard this she felt more at ease and finally said what was bothering her. Alice suffered from cyberbullying. This was the cause of her family having to move to this new town, in search for peace. She had tried to end her life various times. This was due to her sending an inappropriate photo to a guy friend and this guy publishing it on the internet. This caused people to criticize, judge and mock her.

        Emily and Sophie told her about their own similar situations. Sophie was upset because she had received an anonymous message saying that her boyfriend sold and used drugs. Emily was always in the middle of a constant battle because her parents were going through a divorce. Emily had dreams with knowing the ocean and learn from the marine animals. Sophie use to say the ocean was another world and that there were possibilities that mermaids did exist. For Alice the ocean was like her second home, but was in the ocean where she deposit all her feelings and were she use to find her freedom. In this manner, they started to confide in each other and met every afternoon at the rock to think up solutions for their problems and a way they could always be friends.

        With the course of the days his worries got more and more bigger. One night similar to the one that they were born with thunder and strong lightning three teenagers waited for the rain tire so they took at advantage to make a wish. He wished to find a solution to his problems and his friendship lasted forever. Each in their own way added a petition to the wish according to their situation.

- “I want the fights between my parents to end and for my family to never be apart.” Said Emily

- “I wish for the message I received about my boyfriend be false.” Said Sophie.

- “I want for all the mocking and judging to end and for my life in this new neighborhood good, and that our friendship to last forever”. Said Alice.

In that same moment, lightning stuck and the rain stopped. Weeks passed on by and their problems continued to be same.

        When Summer arrived they planned a day at the beach, smiling sun and the sands danced. When they got in the water the clouds started to get dark and the tide grew and the winds caressed more and more violent. Another lightning bolt struck, very similar to the one they had heard the night of their wishes. The girls were frightened but did not get out of the water. They didn’t know what to do. They suddenly got goose bumps on their skin because it became really cold. Their legs started to unite as one and scales of different colors started to cover them. They became very scared not understanding what was happening they tried to unsuccessfully escape a water whirlwind. Their pale bodies sunk. They swam underwater and enjoyed all the marine life. Emily and Sophie were fulfilling one of their dreams and Alice experienced her freedom but they never understood why there problems instead of disappear they got converted onto mermaids. But the had clear that they feel different and stronger. When they got to the shore their tails and scales dried up and disappeared. They looked at each other and decided to keep this magical moment a secret.

        As the days passed by, Emily, Sophie and Alice enjoyed swimming underwater with millions of sea creatures. Under the sea lots of bubbles started and they heard a voice that said:

- “Welcome to the ocean world”.

His name was Poseidon, the ocean God.

- “Your desires brought you here”. Said Poseidon

- “But our desires did not had any relation with mermaids”. Said Emily.

- “Problems doesn't get resolved by your desires.” Said Poseidon.

All three didn't had any word. Poseidon knew every of their histories. He perfectly knew which were their desires. He show them to have more courage and wisdom to solve their problems.

- “Each desire is preceded by a feeling, its a feeling needed to find something”. Said Poseidon.

        One day after thinking on the words that Poseidon said they understood why their problems would not go away and was because things doesn't be resolved by means of desires.

        Sophie found out that her boyfriend was not using or selling drugs and that you have to first investigate and not just believe everything they say to you. Emily realized that her parents are the ones who have the final say regarding their divorce and that we are not always in control of everything that adults do. The family will always be family no matter what happens. Alice understood that she had made a bad decision in a moment of her life and decided to overcome that and never again let anyone trample her self-esteem.

         Emily, Alice and Sophie enjoy most of their time on the ocean being mermaids. Being mermaids and the ocean life was already part of their lives. For them it was a big privilege that Poseidon allow them to be mermaids the rest of their lives and at the same time had the lives as human beings with their families.