The mermaid swims aimlessly below trying to find her own peace of mind and where she wants to be. “Do I stay here or do I go to the surface?” Now Mia knows she is not allowed to go up there because her family forbids her to go, as the surface is nothing but trouble. She grabs her friend Lulu, who is a yellow and purple wrasse fish, and heads up to the surface anyway, even though there will be consequences later for her actions. As they swim up together, they both notice a bunch of bright yellow colors with some orange entangled. They just so happen to be swimming up to a burning boat. A young man falls into the depth of the ocean. Mia, noticing the man, swims to save him. Mia rescued him by pulling him to the shore. She knew what the consequences may be, but to her it was risking her own life to save the young man. After she rescued the man she awaited carefully by the rocks to make sure he was ok and was able to get up and return home. As the man awakened he was a bit confused to how they made it back to shore, since he was pretty far out into the ocean.
Back on land, the man wanted to seek out how he did manage to get back home. “Father” said Prince Tim. “What my boy?” “Father, I need to go back in search of who pulled me to shore there is just no way I made it home in one piece. How did I make it without getting eaten by sharks?” “Son, I am not quite sure but it is a miracle that you made it back to us in one piece, please do not return out there, there is just no need, your mother and I do not want to risk losing you once again.” “But Father.” Tim shouts. “My boy no if, ands, or buts please promise me you will not return out there?” “Fine, I will not go but I will find out who saved me. I just know for sure that I was not alone out there.”
To return to the sea, Mia is swimming anxiously because she knows she has to tell her father of what happened. “Gunther, Gunther” Mia called. Gunther is a little shell crab that tends to follow where ever Mia goes. Gunther is also her father’s other eyes of the kingdom, meaning whatever happens when the King is not around Gunther pretty much knows and reports back. Mia grabs Gunther to talk because she needs advice of how to break the news down to her father before anyone else does. “Gunther, I know I did something terrible and could jeopardize the kingdom but I just could not let someone drown and die.” Gunther replies, “What exactly did you do?” “Well I saved a man from drowning. I know it was wrong but I just, well I just could not live with such a guilty conscious.” “Do you know exactly what you father is going to do to you?” “But Gunther, he was just so, so well the gentleman was just handsome, and besides that don’t we have an obligation to keep our oceans clean of dead bodies.” “Well in that perspective, are you out of your mind?” Gunther shouted at Mia. Lulu coming to her defense tries to pick up the pieces of Mia’s broken heart because she knows what she has to do.
“Father, Father.” “Yes Mia” her father replies. “Father I know there is going to be consequences for what I am about to tell you what I have done but I am ready to accept those consequences. Father I saved a man last night from drowning.” “You did what!” The King replied. “Father I am sorry but I just thought if I did a good deed and save someone maybe, just maybe I would not feel like I did not belong here in the water.” “Mia what do mean by that? We love you dearly and for you to jeopardize what we have here. Keeping our kingdom safe being able to scare off any living breading human to stay out of waters is what we have to do to keep them from finding us. I am sorry but you are to never go to the surface again do I make myself clear?” “Yes father I am sorry.” Mia swam into the dark and back to her corridors. Mia has a secret room, that she has built between some rocks and a cave outside the kingdom. Mia has all kinds of stuff that she has found all over from swimming the ocean that she keeps in her favorite hiding spot. Mia just falls and cries into her arms. “Please Lulu; just go I need to be alone right now.”
At the surface Prince Tim is in search for the supposed person or thing that saved him the night before. Against his father’s wishes, he still decides that it is a good idea to go out and find this supposed thing that rescued him. So he grabs another boat, since his burned last night, and decides to go on a wild goose chase. Meanwhile, down below Mia notices above her corridors that something or someone is above on the surface. She decides to swim above even though she is not supposed to return to the surface, yet again not following her father’s orders. She just so happens to swim to a nearby rock and pear her head over just to see what is going on. Who does she happen to see, the young man that she saved the night before. As much as she wants to speak with him she knows that she cannot. She is staring at him from the distance; she contemplates on what to do. “Do I speak or Don’t I?” as Mia is talking to herself. She decides that she stays in the water. As she slowly approaches the boat, she stumbles on the words to get out saying something to him. By the time she does Prince Tim is turning the boat around to go home before his father notices that he is gone. What does Mia do? She swims with the boat and follows him home.
The boat comes to a stop. Mia anxiously waiting to speak up she finally shouts out to Prince Tim “Hey there saw you speeding pretty fast where is the fire?” Tim is looking around, as he is pulling the boat a shore, “Hello, who said that?” “I did silly over here.” As Mia is hanging onto a buoy in the water. “Why are you in the water?” “Just taking a swim on this beautiful day” Mia replies. “Well would you like to accompany me to lunch?” “You are going to ask a girl like me who you have known for thirty seconds out to lunch?” “Well why not?” Tim asked. “It is complicated trust me you would not understand.” “Well then I will let you get back to your swim, if you ever would like to go out I do not live that far from here.” “I will take you up on the offer later thank you.” As soon as Tim turned around and walked away Mia swam right back down to the ocean floor. Mia, with a big smile on her face, swam right back to her cove where she just so happens to find her father waiting for her. “Dad, how did you find this place?” I had Gunther follow you. What is all of this?” “Stuff I have found from all over the ocean floor.” In a very stern voice, “Very well then, have you been to the surface today?” “Well, I have father and I think I am in love with a man.” “Not my daughter. You now will pay the price for going to the surface.” As the King raises his triton and points to his daughter he comes to the realization that his daughter is not the little girl he had hoped for. “I am letting you go. You are no longer a part of this family.” “But father?” “Just go.” The King leaves and Mia scurries quickly as she grabs a necklace that is glowing green, from her cove that is able to transform her into human.
Mia goes back to the dock where she had last seen Tim. She then puts the necklace around her neck as the green glow disappears her fins are disappearing and her feet are in place of her fins. She then starts asking around where she can find Tim. She starts by checking out the castle nearby. She goes to the door and knocks. The Prince just so happens to open the door. “I found you.” “Why yes, you did.” “There is something I need to tell you. I was the one who saved you the night your boat caught fire. This might not make sense now but you will see in the long run it was the best decision I made.” “How?” “I cannot tell you I need to show you, but please keep in mind that now I feel that I am in love and I am laying it down on the line and sacrificing a lot to be here.” “Please just tell me” said Tim. “Follow me back to the dock.” Both Tim and Mia run to the docks. “I am going to show you what I mean.” Mia takes the necklace off and magically her legs transform back into her fins. Tim is in shock and tells her “I cannot believe this, the woman that saves me is part fish? I cannot do this I am not ready for this I have to go.” Mia so much in shock and now has no family goes back to the ocean where she belongs, so sad and not sure now where to go.
Back on land Prince Tim is now even more of unsure of everything. “Father that girl saved me and now well she is a mermaid. I have fallen for a mermaid it just cannot happen.” “Son, if you are in love then go and be with her. If there is a way for you to be able to travel between both land and ocean well, we will find a way. Do not lose out on love just because she is different. Love comes in all forms. Me and your mother will love you know matter what you choose.” “Thanks father.”
Mia decides to hang out by the rocks for now to get a new glimpse in the world since now she is alone and with no one. She hears a faint cry for help in the distance. She swims as fast as she can. She notices his face it is Prince Tim. She pulls him up. “What are you trying to do get yourself killed?” “No I am here to be with you. I thought maybe if I threw myself into the ocean, the water gods would make me part merman.” Mia looks at him with a wide eyed look. “Tim, you have no idea how much that means but that is not how it works. I have a way.” Mia then pulls him underwater and kisses him. At that point, Tim had this golden glow that surrounds him. The kiss between Mia and Tim was so magical that their love was able to transfer Tim into the merman that he was destined to be with. And both Mia and Tim were able to go back and forth between the ocean and land. They both prefer to live in the ocean; Tim goes to see his parents every other weekend. They lived together happily ever after and more.
Melissa Tomaziefski 