There once lived a princess under the sea. Yet, though she knew herself to be a girl, she lived neither freely nor happily. For this little mermaid looked not like a princess, having been born a prince. And though she had known since a young child that she was not a man, everyone she knew did not know her that way. Her father, especially, did not believe in such ways, often remarking unkindly upon merpeople like her around the kingdom. He called them unwell, sick and confused, so for as long as she had lived, the little mermaid had protected herself and said nothing about who she was. And so her father knew nothing, nor did anyone around her. But, deep inside, the little mermaid knew her father was wrong.
On one fine morning, the little mermaid had been exploring a sunken ship, and from its depths unearthed a beautiful indigo dress. She gazed at it with awe, marveling it's sheer beauty and softness. She brought it up and out of the ship and kept it in her room. For days, she would steal away back into her room and throw on the dress and run her fingers down it and look at herself in the mirror, wishing that she could have the correct body parts to fill out the curves of the beautiful dress. And she found more dresses. Dresses in pale yellow and sunset orange, dresses in deep reds, navy blues and sea foam greens. Yet, even though her collection grew, the simple indigo dress remained her favorite. She would stow away the rest of her dresses carefully, but she could not bear to put the indigo dress away. She would leave it hanging just outside her closet door and marvel at it.
Naught but a fortnight or two had passed when her father discovered it. "What is this?!" he roared. Her father was a very angry man and rarely spoke in a calm tone. She trembled and replied meekly, "Only a dress, father." Her father paused and stared around the room, for it was littered with an assortment of small trinkets that betrayed the truth she had tried to keep hidden for so long. Books whose titles spoke treachery, brushes far too feminine, necklaces and pearl earrings, and the most traitorous of all, the indigo dress. Upon drinking in the sight, her father, blessed with a trident of power, a gift given by the gods, raised it and smashed every one of her objects. "Those people, they have made you sick!" he cried as he continued to wreak havoc upon her most treasured possessions. "You have always been a boy and always will be! I shall not allow this anymore!" The little mermaid, as soon as her father had stormed out, rushed forward and clutched the tatters of her beautiful indigo dress to her chest, consumed with tears.
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Once A Merman, Always A Mermaid
FantasyLong ago, lived a young mermaid whom was of most peculiar origins. For she was not originally born that way, having been a merman at birth. Yet, since childhood, she knew herself to be a woman. But she could not reveal her true identity, for many di...
