Uncharted Waters
1.) Fifteen
Chapter 1: Fifteen
“Brook,” I heard my father’s rough voice call. “Yes?” I answered, glancing quickly and returning to my previous thoughts. “Brook, I need to talk to you. Come here,” he replied. I sighed and swam towards my father. This was about my marriage, I knew it. “You just had your 15th birthday, and that means it’s time for you to find a husband.” “Dad, I know. I’ll find someone okay? You don’t need to remind me anymore.” I snapped. He had been constantly on me to get a husband, but I was waiting for love. Something the merpeople didn’t believe in. Especially my kind. We weren’t very…nice. That’s to say the least.
You see, my dad had this whole plan worked out for everyone in our kingdom. He got this idea that if he arranged marriages, there would be no laws broken, and everyone could live “Happily Ever After.” But like I said, our happily ever after is not normal.
I made my dad a deal a while back. He said that since I’m his daughter, he’d let me choose my husband if I made the choice in time. Well, that’s why he’s upset. I haven’t chosen, and I’m officially fifteen. He’s getting impatient, and it’s not me he’s worried about. It’s his “reputation.” Psh, yeah, okay.
There’s this one guy that my father happens to be particularly fond of, to my dismay. His name is Rivero, and he’s seventeen. Don’t get me wrong, I mean he’s nice and all, but just not my type. I always lie to my dad that I hate him because if he ever found out I’m waiting for love…Oh, there’d be trouble. And by that, I mean big trouble.
It’s mainly how he acts. He thinks were deeply in love or something weird like that. Its just…awkward. He tries to kiss me, and I don’t even like him. Rivero could do so much better. And I try telling him. But he silences me with his lips every time and says,
“Brook, I feel the same way.” Wow, that guy can’t take no for an answer…
And then I feel bad. Because Rivero truly is a good guy. He’d make a great husband for someone, but that someone isn’t me. And he doesn’t understand; no one does. Love really does exist. It’s real and I’ve seen it. It wasn’t love between a couple, but love nonetheless.
I was swimming unnaturally close to the shore one day, looking for shells. It’s one of my hobbies, shell collecting. There was a little girl, about seven years old, on the dock. She had a little sun hat on, and was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen. Which is saying something considering my…nature.
Anyhow, she had a fishing pole. And as I was wondering what in the world a little girl planned to do with a pole bigger than her, I saw a man come up behind her; her father. She ran up and hugged him, squeezing super tight like the little kid she was. Then she showered him with kisses, and waved goodbye to her mother.
My guess is that her parents were divorced and she was with her dad this weekend. And I know that this wasn’t exactly the same type of love I was looking for, but it was sweet and innocent, just like the kind I was looking for.
“Brook,” I heard my father’s rough voice call. “Yes?” I answered, glancing quickly and returning to my previous thoughts. “Brook, I need to talk to you. Come here,” he replied. I sighed and swam towards my father. This was about my marriage, I knew it. “You just had your 15th birthday, and that means it’s time for you to find a husband.” “Dad, I know. I’ll find someone okay? You don’t need to remind me anymore.” I snapped. He had been constantly on me to get a husband, but I was waiting for love. Something the merpeople didn’t believe in. Especially my kind. We weren’t very…nice. That’s to say the least.
You see, my dad had this whole plan worked out for everyone in our kingdom. He got this idea that if he arranged marriages, there would be no laws broken, and everyone could live “Happily Ever After.” But like I said, our happily ever after is not normal.
I made my dad a deal a while back. He said that since I’m his daughter, he’d let me choose my husband if I made the choice in time. Well, that’s why he’s upset. I haven’t chosen, and I’m officially fifteen. He’s getting impatient, and it’s not me he’s worried about. It’s his “reputation.” Psh, yeah, okay.
There’s this one guy that my father happens to be particularly fond of, to my dismay. His name is Rivero, and he’s seventeen. Don’t get me wrong, I mean he’s nice and all, but just not my type. I always lie to my dad that I hate him because if he ever found out I’m waiting for love…Oh, there’d be trouble. And by that, I mean big trouble.
It’s mainly how he acts. He thinks were deeply in love or something weird like that. Its just…awkward. He tries to kiss me, and I don’t even like him. Rivero could do so much better. And I try telling him. But he silences me with his lips every time and says,
“Brook, I feel the same way.” Wow, that guy can’t take no for an answer…
And then I feel bad. Because Rivero truly is a good guy. He’d make a great husband for someone, but that someone isn’t me. And he doesn’t understand; no one does. Love really does exist. It’s real and I’ve seen it. It wasn’t love between a couple, but love nonetheless.
I was swimming unnaturally close to the shore one day, looking for shells. It’s one of my hobbies, shell collecting. There was a little girl, about seven years old, on the dock. She had a little sun hat on, and was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen. Which is saying something considering my…nature.
Anyhow, she had a fishing pole. And as I was wondering what in the world a little girl planned to do with a pole bigger than her, I saw a man come up behind her; her father. She ran up and hugged him, squeezing super tight like the little kid she was. Then she showered him with kisses, and waved goodbye to her mother.
My guess is that her parents were divorced and she was with her dad this weekend. And I know that this wasn’t exactly the same type of love I was looking for, but it was sweet and innocent, just like the kind I was looking for.
♠ ♠ ♠
Okay so this is a work in progress, and I thought "Hey, its a unique idea that not many people write about, so I might as well give it a shot." Please comment on suggestions, likes, dislikes, anything basically. It would be very helpful and inspire me to write more. Thanks for reading!<3 bella.