Fairytale Night

I closed the fairytale book, tucking Arabelle into her bed. The little girl pulled her teddy bear close to her chest and smiled up at me.

“I love The Little Mermaid. It’s such a happy story,” she began to chatter, and I knew if I didn’t nip this in the bud she wouldn’t sleep until she’d said everything on her mind.

“It is a happy story,” I smiled back. “Maybe you’ll dream about being the mermaid tonight. Goodnight, Arabelle.” I edged toward the door, and she seemed satisfied with my answer. I turned on her night-light, pulled the switch on her lamp, and left her door open a crack. I heard a “good night, Marica” from behind the door.

I made my way down the stairs and into the living room as quietly as I could. It wasn’t easy, considering that my feet kept trying to get tangled in each other. Finally, I sat on the couch and turned on the TV, keeping the sound low. I didn’t watch much of it for the thoughts in my mind.

Hans Christian Andersen was a smart man, but people took the story and ran with it, adding their own twists. Instead of turning into sea foam should the prince not fall in love with her, she would turn back to a mermaid. The price was still her voice. The silver knife to kill the prince and restore herself had disappeared in most adaptations of the story. How do you tell a child that the only way the mermaid could live was if she killed the person she loved the most?

As smart as Mister Andersen was, he didn’t know much of mermaid lore. Sea spells were not as dire as those of the Sea Witch in his tale, unless they were risky. Spells punishments matched the difficulty of the spell. Turning a tail into legs wasn’t nearly as hard as some made it out to be. She wouldn’t give up her voice for that, nor would she turn to sea foam or even a mermaid again should she fail. Those restrictions were put on by the Sea Witch herself in her own greed and sadism.

What a stupid mermaid. Really, renouncing the sea for a man was irresponsible of her. Firstly, he was a prince. She would have started in the world as a commoner, and he would have looked down upon her. I thought about her showing up on his doorstep, homeless with ‘amnesia.’ Ok, some credit was due there. It wasn’t like he could turn her away, if he was as kind-hearted as she believed him to be. But giving up everything, family, friends, the entire world you know… for just one man?

In the quiet, a soft knock on the front door interrupted my thoughts. I stood, trying to keep my balance, and headed for the door. Through the window, I saw Deren in his suit and tie. The door opened, and he smiled.

“Thanks for watching Arabelle on such short notice. The switch over to CEO is a headache and a ton of paperwork…” He shook his head, and I laughed quietly.

“It wasn’t a problem. She fell asleep right away. I’ll see you tomorrow for coffee?”

“Of course. I’ll see you there.” He pecked me on the cheek and sent me on my way. I got into my car, looked at the time, and drove the short way home. Eleven fifteen. How’d it get that late?

I stepped into my house and went up to my bathroom, drawing a bath. Love was so strange these days. A kiss never meant he was in love with you, any more than a coffee date did. I slipped into the warm water and felt my aching legs relax. The clock struck midnight. I closed my eyes and daydreamed for a bit before opening them again and looking at my scaly green tail.

“What a stupid mermaid…”

Author's Note

Sorry for formatting, Writer's Cafe messed with it.

Reviews

[Avangeline]

I was confused.

[PyroKitty24]

What an enjoyable story~ I had fun reading it, and you did an amazing job writing it. And don't worry about the formatting, writerscafe does that to me sometimes too.