tell me a tale

[solflo]

✖ - the mermaid

some stories cannot be forgotten.
but memories can be recreated over time.
[please try and post constructive criticism]

[solflo]

the mermaid
aprox. 2330 words

zero

_____The sea is ruled by the sirens, beings of extraordinary beauty. They are humanoid, and their skins gleam as gems. Sirens live in the sea, but can breathe on the surface, for they have lungs.
_____That's why they are so dangerous.
_____Sirens have the most beautiful voices, and these creatures sing wonderfully. Their songs lure humans towards them, so they can drink their soul, leaving the human as an empty shell, a bottle with no liquid.
_____Living things can still live without souls, but they don't. They miss their souls, and their shells kill themselves. Always. Or nature does it for them.
_____Sirens have no soul. They do not die, unless killed.
_____No one is stupid enough to try to kill a siren.
~~~
_____Once a siren had his lungs damaged; he grew hating the surface and everything that didn't come from the sea, for he could not breathe there. He was destined to an eternity alone, as sirens love surfacing, and he could not be with them.
_____He, then, created someone to be with them; using magic, the man made a woman, a siren without lungs, just like him. He named this woman Merina, and lived with her for decades. Merina and the siren went away, to one of the few places the sirens did not go. There, they created a small underwater village, populated by their children, the so called merpeople.

one

_____Once upon a time, there lived a mermaid, whose name was Ariel. Her skin was fair and her hair was red. She had five sisters, and they were all princesses, daughters of the king, Kimal. His wife, Aretta, had deceased giving birth to Ariel, and his youngest daughter was his treasure.
_____At the age of eighteen, a merbeing is allowed to surface. Ariel had heard what it was like, and when the time came she was too excited to think of anything else. On her birthday, the mermaid surfaced for the first time. Her neck remained on water, for she needed to breathe, but her eyes were lively searching for more and more things to see. She saw the sky and the birds and the beach and everything her sisters had told her. And Ariel saw a man, a human. She was curious about him; her sisters didn't prepare her for that. He was quite handsome, with black hair and green eyes, and the girl was curious about him.
_____Only then she noticed the dark clouds. She didn't know what that meant, and just thought it was pretty. When it started to rain, she enjoyed the drops falling on her forehead and nose, and when the waves started to get larger and larger she laughed. Only when everyone in the ship started screaming she noticed something was happening. She swam closer, and watched the ship slowly sink. She dived to see the man fighting his clothes to swim up. She thought that it was very silly of him to wear so many clothes. Her curiosity dragged her towards the human, and she noticed he had no gills. After a short moment she realized he was dying. Ariel hated the death, and was too interested on the man, so she helped him surface and breathe. After a surprised look at her, he held a piece of the ship he was in only a few minutes before, and fought his way to the coast.
_____Ariel watched him go, and then went back home, to tell everything she had just seen. Her sisters looked at her in wonder, but maybe also doubting all that happened, and the kids' eyes were gleaming in curiosity. The man was carved on her mind, and everywhere she looked she could see him. She wanted to talk to him, but he wouldn't be on the sea again, and Ariel would never be able to find him again. She sighed, wondering if she could ever see him, only see him, one more time. She would give her everything to talk to him. "Is that love?", she asked herself.

two

_____"Ariel, Ariel...", said a voice behind the mermaid. The girl turned around to see Ursula, a mermaid of purple tail and white hair. Someone Ariel didn't trust at all. "Are you in love, my dear?"
_____Ariel looked at the woman, who was well known for her great magical abilities, wondering if she could tell the truth or not. She decided to take the risks and tell. "Y-yes", said she, "But... He's two-legged... A human..."
_____Ursula smiled. "Oh, dear! You are in trouble, uh? It would be wonderful if someone just... Gave you the body of a siren... Just for a while... So you could meet this man you are talking about..."
_____Was she... offering help? That's odd, Ariel thought, while wanting to say yes, accept her help. She was unsure, though. Ursula wasn't famous for her honesty. "Would you do this for me?", she said after a moment. "Give me a siren's body?" The girl was excited with the idea; she was young and naive, and this seemed to be the right thing.
_____Ursula swam forward, even closer to Ariel. "Of course, my dear girl... Everything for love..." Ariel didn't like something about the older mermaid said, but she would not go back. Not now. "Come with me, darling", said the woman, swimming to her house, a cave dug deep in the sand, a dark place where the light refused to go. A place where the sunrays just decided to give up, for it was too far. You could almost hear them saying: "I'm not a marathonist, I'm not going".
_____Hiding her fear, Ariel swam down and into Ursula's cave. How could she live there, Ariel asked herself. The only light inside the cave was a trapped glowing jellyfish that made everything green. Her pet eels came from what we often call nowhere, and made Ariel shiver. She sighed (which is quite odd underwater, I must say) and licked her lips. It's now or never, thought she. The mermaid decided for now.
_____"So, my dear, you want to surface for a day... You want to be a siren for one day... So you will. I'll give you a siren's body, and keep yours safe. I just need a drop of your blood..." , said the older woman on a mysterious voice, and... malicious maybe. Ariel simply put her hand on Ursula's. The woman had cold hands, and the mermaid didn't like the contact. Why did she have to fall in love for a human? "Now close your eyes, dear..."
_____So she did. She felt a prick on her finger, and the woman said things she did not understand. And after what felt like forever, it was done. She opened her eyes to see... herself. Looking down, she saw Ursula. Her jaw went up and down, but she had nothing to say. "Now go, sweetie!", said... herself. "You have twenty-four ours up there, and then you'll need to come back. Or... you'll get dry and die..."; she whispered the last part, with a smile Ariel would never expect to see her own mouth make.
_____She, then, did the only logical thing.
_____Ariel surfaced.

three

_____Her bare feet touched the sand, and liked what they felt. Her feet. Weird.
_____The sunlight was strong and warm, but there was a cold breeze flowing; she realized she needed clothes. Looking around, all she could see was a fishing boat, covered with a sailcloth. That'd do, and she wrapped it around her body, a foul attempt at a dress. But still, it covered her.
_____Ariel had absolutely no idea of where to go. She, therefore, simply walked forward, into the city, always walking on the castle's direction. As she walked, she could feel the people as she never did before; she could feel every single one of them, and they were all different. They all had something, though, something she could not see, but was aware of.
_____A soul.
_____After a while, Ariel reached the castle's front garden, where a man was sitting, feeding some birds. When he raised his head, she saw he was the man she had seen on the ship. Her loved one. Her heart was the only thing she could hear, a constant and loud on her ears. She smiled, but it didn't last more than one second. She was unsure and insecure. She bit her lip, thinking about her next action. Should I talk to him?, thought she.
_____Ariel stepped forward, and let out a little cough. "H-hi", she said, almost in a whisper. The man looked up and greeted her back, with a beautiful smile. Ariel moved her toes; she didn't know what to do with her legs. "I'm Ariel... I'm new around here, it's a bit of a long story, but... I'd really like to talk to you", she finally said, quickly and awkwardly. Stupid!, shouted her mind, but her mouth had no relation with her brain right now (which is impossible and common all at once), so she didn't even notice it at all.
_____This was followed by another warm smile, and Ariel knowing the man was Eric, and an invite to the castle, and a dress for the mermaid, events that need not to be described on detail.
_____It ended up with Ariel sitting in front of Eric, looking everywhere but his eyes. His beautiful, green eyes. She bit her lip again. The man was starring at her, and soon the yard would be too boring for her not to look at him. She sighed, playing with her white hair. Ariel had looked at herself on the mirror, and realized Ursula wasn't as old as she thought. The body felt strange for her still, and being with Eric didn't help at all. She opened her mouth to say something. Her tongue couldn't find its way to the words, and Ariel made unclear sounds. She bit her lip once again, and finally she said everything. She told him she was a mermaid, and that she saved him. She went quickly through Ursula, and then she finally raised her head. "You don't believe me, do you?", Ariel whispered on the end.
_____But Eric did. He licked his lips. The prince had no idea of what to say. "I do" was his simple answer. It was enough for the girl, so she didn't bother. Ariel thought for half a second, and bent her body slowly. Her hand met Eric's neck, and her lips opened slightly, touching his for a moment.

(A moment: official time measure equivalent to not enough time for anything. When used in the phrase "just a moment, please", however, it corresponds to more than twice the time needed, and three times what patience can afford)

_____The prince smiled, pleased and numb. He took her hand on his, and got up, making Ariel do the same. He kissed her one more time, and another. Ariel was feeling radiant, her lips on a permanent smile as he guided her to his winter garden, a hidden place where only he went. A glass room covered with plants of all types, on the in and outsides. A secret universe of his.
_____Eric laid Ariel softly on a wooden bench, the only furniture in the garden. The cushions and pillows made the bench soft as a seaweed bed, and the mermaid felt as if she was back on the ocean again. Ariel bit her lip one more time. What now? She didn't know what a date should be like, and her fingers ran across the prince's dark hair. Her mind wasn't there, and it seemed Eric's didn't either. The man, sitting besides her, was playing with a loose seam on her dress, and then with the lace on its neck. He licked his lips and got closer to the girl, slowly and softly. His hands ran through the pink satin, making Ariel lose her mind. She couldn't stop looking at Eric, the passion on his green eyes. His eyes were slightly blue, noticed she, like the sea on a sunny day.
_____He was warm, and smelled like salt.
_____She was dreaming, she was sure.

four

_____Ariel woke up with a soft light, the sun coming from a patch between the vines. The last night came slowly to her mind, and along with it there came a smile. Next to her, there was her prince. The mermaid shook him softly, and then not so much, but he didn't move. Odd. She thought he was warmer.
_____Then a thought started to bloom on her mind. Oh, no. She ran her fingers through her hair. No, no, no.
_____She remembered everything she knew about the sirens. She was on a siren's body. The pieces completed the puzzle, and she didn't like the image. No, no, Eric!
_____Ariel ran in desperation through the city, not knowing her path, the wind blowing through her naked body, the tears falling and blinding her eyes. She ran to the sea, to her home, to the place she should never have left.
_____Her tail formed, but she didn't even notice the scales sprouting from her skin. Her hand grabbed the first sharp object she could find.
_____She would kill that siren.
_____She found her way to the cave, not even knowing how. The mermaid threw her hand on Ursula's direction. "Swap it back. Now", she said through an almost closed mouth, her eyes sharp as never before.
_____The woman on her body only smiled. "There's no turning back dear... Once a siren, always a siren. You asked for your loved one. You had him."
_____It needed just a quick move, and her smile froze. Forever.

five

_____In pain and sorrow, her heart heavy, the mermaid swam away, to the deep ocean, for she could not bear being so close to the place everything happened. She swam away to forget, to forget Ariel and Eric, and the blood on her hands.
_____She swam away, leaving Ariel behind.
_____Ariel died that day.