The Mermaid and the Princess

The next thing Giselle knew, she was waking up in a simple chamber room and in a very small bed. Things seemed blurry at first, but as she adjusted to the light in the room, things seemed a little more normal. She noticed she was dry and on land at least. Her small cabin on the ship seemed bigger than this small room. The princess could hear a bell tolling in the distances and what sounded like the ocean. Giselle was so unfamiliar with solid ground and instead of a swaying deck. A headache suddenly attacked her temples and she let out a little sound. It felt as if someone took sandpaper to her throat and she started to cough. Suddenly, a woman all dressed in white opened the small chamber door and walked in.

“Oh mon cher, vous êtes éveillé!” The woman said in French. At the looks of her in a white dress and a habit, she was a nun. Her face had a dark complexion like an islander. Giselle must have had a confused look on her face because the woman sensed that she couldn’t understand her. “S'il vous plaît pardonnez-moi. What I mean to say is, is that you are awake.” the nun said in a heavily accented voice. “What is your name douce enfant?”

“My name. . .” Her voice scratched. She cleared her voice and continued. “My name is Giselle. The ship I was on, is it okay? Are there any other survivors?” Giselle asked.

“I have no knowledge of the ship, but a few have washed ashore. A couple of sailors and another woman like yourself. The other sister’s and I have been taking care of you and your companions for a few days now.”

“A few days!” Exclaimed Giselle. How could it have been a few days? It was like she just woke up from a short nap, not a few day coma. This made the princess a bit frantic. But then she saw a familiar face come to the door.

“Your highness!” Margaret said as she ran over to the princess. “You are finally awake! I’m so glad you have made it here. I thought that. . .I thought I had lost you in the waters.” Her lady in waiting started to cry as she embraced her charge.

“I’m happy to see you too. But please, there is no need for tears. We are both alive and well. But I have no idea how I got here.”

“We found you first on the beach.” said the nun. “The others followed shortly and told us what happened. You are lucky to have been washed ashore on our beach.” the nun explained. As soon as the nun said this, it was like Giselle had a sudden flash back of the night of the storm. She remembered briefly opening her eyes and seeing. . .what did she see really. It was like looking at a bright angel with porcelain skin and bright red hair. She could remember being carried in someone’s arms. Was it the woman’s? Did she die and then return to life? Did she have some sort of guardian angel who carried her to shore. Then she remembered someone saying “I’ll come back for you,” and “don’t forget me.”. Was that just a dream or weird hallucination while tapped at sea? All of these questions and lack of memory made Giselle’s head spin. She became dizzy and suddenly needed to sit down. The princess knocked into the side table next to her bed.

“Your highness!” Margaret said as she rushed after the princess. Giselle sat down on the bed and looked over at the night stand. On it, she saw a necklace that she had never seen before. It was made of some sort of colored glass, pearls and. . .was that a diamond?

“What is this?” The princess asked as she touched the necklace.

“We found it with you, madam.” The nun replied. “Il est très beau, it is very beautiful. Is it not yours?”

“I don’t remember having anything like this.” Giselle spoke, holding the necklace in her hands and tracing the little jewels with her fingertips. Such an elegant necklace it was. It was like it was a present from the sea itself.

“You should keep it, your grace. For surviving such an ordeal.” Said Margaret. Giselle felt bad for thinking about taking such a thing. A necklace like this would feed the nunnery she was in for life and it was enough to run a small country for years. It was vain to take such a thing, but then she felt like she should. She felt like it was for her and no one else. maybe the angel in the water gave it to her. “Don’t forget me,” the voice kept saying in her head. With a reminder like this, how could someone do just that?

“If I may ask, where are we?” Giselle said, continuing the conversation forward.

“St. Mary’s Convent in Port Morant.” she said.

“And in what country?”

“Jamaica.” Giselle could just die after she heard that. A wave of relief swept over her. She was where she needed to be, but a little off from St. Thomas still where her uncle resided.

Within a few days, after a letter was sent to her uncle, arrangements were made to leave the convent and make her way to her original destination. but the princess liked the nice quiet convent near the sea. Everyday she would find time to go to the beach and stick her toes in the water. She would close hers eyes and listen to the ocean which seemed to be calling out to her. after the sea almost took her life, it was strange how much closer she was to it. Though Giselle couldn’t remember much, she couldn’t help but think of the beautiful woman with the bright red hair who smiled down at her. Her skin was pale and soft to the touch and it seemed as if she was flying over the waves with this angel. Giselle had come up with the conclusion that it must have been an angel who saved her. Who else would save a poor girl from the water and bring her to a convent. Was this God’s way of telling her that she should be more faithful? The church was always apart of her life, but not anything important. As she reflected in the days she had been there, she concluded that she should be more faithful in her prayers and worship.

It came to be the last day of being at the convent. The carriage would be there any minute and all her things, or lack thereof, were packed and ready to go. The princess felt that she should go to the ocean once more where she was found to say goodbye to the ocean and maybe even the water angel who had saved her. She did as she had done throughout the week, took off her shoes and dip her feet in the water, lifting her dress over her ankles so it wouldn’t get wet.

“I hope that you can hear me, sweet angel.” murmured Giselle to the open sea. “I just wanted to say goodbye before I left. I cannot express how thankful I am to you that you have saved my soul from a water grave. I owe you my life for that and I shall not waste it, I swear to you.” She stood in silence for awhile, straining her ears for an answer of any kind. But all she heard was the soft ocean playing on the shore with it’s calm waves. Then suddenly, she saw something move in the water.

“Your highness,” yelled Margaret from behind. “The carriage is waiting, we must be going!” Giselle turned towards her lady in waiting for a moment, then turned back to the ocean to see what had moved, but it looked like nothing had changed. The princess had sworn she had saw something move in the water near her, but nothing was there that she could see.

“Is someone there?” cried Giselle. “Please, don’t be afraid.” But nothing answered and a frown formed on her face. All of a sudden, she heard something move in the water. This time it was near the rocks. There, just above the rocks, she saw a tuft of red hair showing above the rocks. “Are you the angel?” she said to the rocks. The bit of hair she saw started to go away behind the rocks as she started towards them. “Don’t go! I need to see you!” she cried as she ran towards the rocks. As she made it to the rocks, she could see a pinkish, red tail go under the water and swim away. Tears started to spring to her eyes. She so badly wanted to see the angel and say her thanks. She wanted to see those blue eyes, pale skin, and red hair again. But did this angel have a fish tail? Angels had wings, didn’t they? Maybe God had angels in the water too. Ones with tails who save humans from shipwrecks like herself. or maybe, just maybe, she was saved by a mermaid. How queer to think of such a thing. Mermaids didn’t exist, did they? No, she thought, they are only stories sailors tell to one another.

“Your grace, it’s time.” yelled Lady Margaret again. Giselle sighed. She was more confused then ever. She looked at the sea once more and sighed again.
“Goodbye then, my sweet angel.” she said as she turned to go towards the convent where the carriage awaited. “I guess I’ll never know, will I?” she said to herself as she walked away from the beach. Little did she know was that her water angel looked at the princess walk away from the beach and wished that she had said something to the human before she left. Her chance to see her again face to face was coming soon enough.