Neptune’s Box

A short story I wrote back Senior Year in High School, Enjoy!~

It was dark. Very dark. No trace of light was found in the darkest depth of Davy Jones Locker, yet at the deepest and murky depth there was… a flicker. A dim speck was found that resembled a stationary firefly calling for help. No one knew why this occurred but this speck was lively. Inside this translucent dome lies a bustling city like no other, there was a bright pink flourish on the buildings that shone brightly through the darkness. Many houses had a shape of a conch shell or an oyster, symbolizing a social class of some kind. The people in this secluded society swam happily without fears of any outsiders intruding their paradise. If they were to be discovered Pandora’s Box would open.

                The mermaids and merman are living peacefully together without conflict as a family should experience. A statue of Neptune can be seen in the outskirts of the city near an ethereal mausoleum covered in moss and corals all over the building. A generator was hidden inside the mausoleum; it powers the dome keeping the city from being overwhelmed by the abyss, as well as many lost treasures of the deep. Two of its denizens, a boy and a girl, were swimming around hiding and chasing around the coral garden near the mausoleum. A boy with light blue curly hair had a dark violet tail while the girl had short pink hair and a pure white tail. They were enjoying each other’s company as if they were family. Now they were resting near the barnacles, catching their breath and they started to talk.

                “Hey Pisces,” The girl said as she slowly catches her breathe.

                “Yeah, Aoi?” He replied in a frantic matter as he put his hand over forehead wiping off the sea foam.

                “You’re going to the Neptunia festival, right?” she asked smiling at him rapturously with a solemn look on her face.

                “Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I?”

                “Well my daddy wants us to move to the other side of the dome and if that happens I would have to make new friends,”

                “When does he want to move?”

                “By tomorrow,” she stayed idle looking at the city from the distance as Pisces lowered his head in disbelief.

                “That’s why you wanted to play with me today,” Pisces responded after a moment of silence. “When were you told about this?”

                “Only yesterday, I don’t know why but it just came out of the blue,”

                “This isn’t fair,” Pisces said as his voice rose in anger and sorrow. “I want to spend my life with you for years to come a-and-“. He didn’t finish his sentence and begins to cry bitterly, then he continues, “-now we’re being separated? After all these years?”

                “You like me that much?” Aoi asked in a melodic voice, putting her hand on Pisces’ shoulder.

                “More than a friend in my entire lifetime,” he said as he gave Aoi a tight embrace and sea foam starts to build up in their eyes, and they gave each other a kiss.

                “I want to stay here until I die, but I promise to come back here when I mature,”

                “When you do come back, will you be my bride?” He asked as he gave Aoi a part of his scale from his tail.

                “Of course! I’ll cherish this with all my heart,” Aoi responded exuberantly as she attached the dark violet scale on her white tail. “And you promise to make a proper proposal?”

                “Of course,” Pisces said as they swam together, hand in hand, towards the festival.

                The festival was filled with the mermaids and mermen of this town singing and dancing near the geyser pit, while the rest were swimming around the shops browsing through its abundant collections of shiny pearls and shells. The scenery was quite colorful as a few jellyfish remained stationary emitting different shades of light, like an aurora packaged in a little lamp crying for its freedom to break away. While the crowds were lively and preoccupied with themselves, Pisces and Aoi were enjoying themselves at the festival; sometimes they would tease each other and hold each other close when the moment was right. The Neptunia festival was coming to a close as the generator started to rumble signaling that the end has come. Aoi and Pisces, looked at the mausoleum as the world started to fade away in front of their eyes, but they didn’t care it was the best moment they ever had with each other.

                “Hey it was fun while it lasted,” Aoi said as she held Pisces closer to her side. “We’ll be together right?”

                “Yeah, I guess I’ll see you in the next life?” Pisces responded as he hugged Aoi tight in his arms as he suddenly remembered something. “If we do see each other again… lets be together again,”

                “That’s the promise I’ll keep until that day comes… If only dreams were real,” She said sadly as she gave a kiss to Pisces, her only best friend and lover, as they lay on the coral fields playing with each other’s hair and laughing together as the field around them started to fade away. With that Neptune closed his box and his dream faded away like sea foam dissolving into the vast limitless sea where dreams linger and disappear.

Author's Note

What do you think of the story? Any constructive feedback? What worked for this particular story, and doesn't work?