The Mermaid and the Princess

All that Aurelia could think of was the kiss she shared with the human. How exciting it had all been through the night. Seeing the sunset, a ship, humans, and even saving one. She was so excited to get back to the palace and tell everyone of her night on the surface. The mermaid swam faster than she ever had before, whipping around other sea life and after a few hours, she found herself back at the palace where she found one of her sisters pacing back and forth in front of her room.

“Aurelia!” shouted her older sister Madeira. “Where in the world where you? It shouldn’t have taken you so long!”

“Oh dearest sister, you wouldn’t believe the night I had!’ exclaimed the little mermaid.

“I’m sure it was quite the adventure. But the others have been looking for you since dawn. Where have you been?” she asked again.

“Just gather everyone and I’ll explain everything.” Aurelia said.
After an hour or so waiting on everyone to come together, Aurelia told her story of how she saw the setting sun and the colors around her. Then she explained about the floating building.

“It’s not a building you silly squid, it’s called a ship.” Said her sister Genelia.

“Fine, then I saw a big. . .ship and these strange people on board walking around doing gods know what. And then, there was this human girl that so so pretty.” Aurelia paused a moment to reflect on her beautiful human that she had saved. But before she could proceed, her sisters injected.

“Humans?” waled Selenia.

“Did they see you?” asked Flavia.

“Did they try to hurt you?” gasped Corsia.

“Oh no, they didn’t see me at all so calm down you puffer fish.” Said Aurelia. “Now, as i was saying. A storm happened carrying the human ship into the ocean. They all look so frightened because they couldn’t swim. I heard them yelling for miles as I carried the human girl away.”

“You did what?’ cried Cyania.

“You actually saved one of those barbarians?” Rellia shouted. “Brother will be furious if he finds out.”

“You better not tell on me Rellia, or any of the rest of you!” Aurelia demanded of her nine sisters.

“Besides, she was sleeping and never even opened her eyes.”

“Do you know what could have happened to you if she were to see you? She would have killed you!” said Genelia.

“With what Genelia? Her tiny human fist?” teased Selenia mocking a whimpy punch at her sister. Genelia scolded at her and the rest of her sisters who were laughing at her.

“You never know. So Aurelia, what did you do with her?”

“Well, I found a beach and put her there. I was with her for a while and I saw the sunrise. It was even better then when it set. The human girl was in my arms. She was so warm and soft.”

“Sounds like somebody has a crush!” said her sister Elleria. She meant it as a joke but Aurelia’s face went red from embarrassment.

“I do not!”

“Look at her face!” said Flavia. “She really does have a crush!” Though it sounded innocent enough Aurelia replied.

“What if I do?” The room went quiet. None of her sisters would say a word. It is known in the kingdom of Aequorian that falling in love with a human was a serious offense. But even letting one see you was something punishable by death. Letting her sisters know about this ordeal was enough to sentence their little sister to banishment from the kingdom and that of the whole Caribbean sea.

“‘Do not say things like that little mermaid.” said her eldest sister Madeira. “Now that you have had your fun, you must not see that human again. It’s dangerous enough that you can go to the surface, but I will not allow my youngest sister to be killed over a silly fascination with a human. Is that understood?”

“Yes.” said the little mermaid looking towards the floor. She regretted telling her sisters of her night after all. it was meant to be fun and amusing, but it seemed that her kindness towards the human was frowned on. As Madeira left so did the other mermaids, leaving Aurelia alone with her thoughts. She went over to her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. Why were they all scared of humans like that? It had been over a hundred years since anyone had been seen by one. Who knows, maybe the humans would have befriended her. But she knew her sisters were right. What if she did show her self to the wrong human? What if he had hurt her or worse? The mermaid wanted to cry. She tore at the pearls in her hair, taking them out frantically and removed her diadem from her head, throwing it across the room. She regretted being so cruel to the diadem her mother had made for her. She swam over the the sparkling tiara and held it in her hands. The other part of the set was in the possession of her dear human girl on the beach.

Aurelia thought of the human girl once more. She was so beautiful and pure. So warm and delicate in her arms. The mermaid wanted nothing more than to be with her right now on the beach, looking at the crystal clear waters together. How she wanted so badly to put her lips against hers once more and press them into a gentle kiss. That funny feeling arose in her once more thinking about the human with her soft face and curly brunette hair. Suddenly, the mermaid knew what she had to do. She had to be with that human again, even if it did cause her to lose her life. Her heart ached at the thought of never seeing her again. The mermaid had made up her mind. She finished taking the pearls out of her hair and decided that she needed to go visit her Aunt Ophelia, an outcast mermaid who had the solution to Aurelia’s problems.