The merpeople of Black Lake weren't quite as the stories portray merpeople to be. These were ugly, hideous creatures with sickly green skin and wild hair. They had no soul, no feelings and no love. And I was one of them.
We were a small colony of only about 30 at the time. Our ruler, Mercheiftaness Murcus lived in the large house towards the north end of the village while my family lived with the kelp farmers towards the south end. We worked our whole lives to support the other families of selkies. It was all we ever knew. Our days carried out the same way without so much as a sliver of change. We woke, we worked, we ate, and we slept. There isn't much else to do in the lake.
The kelp fields were brutal. There were urchins and poisonous creatures on nearly every leaf and you had to be extremely careful, because if you so much as touched some of those creatures, you'd be dead.
Most of us were scrawny little things, except for my sister, Nara. She ate nearly everything in sight. When we were younger she'd often steal the food right off my plate. I hardly ever got a meal when I was young. I was lucky to survive.
When Nara and I would go to the kelp fields, I normally did most of the work. She'd just sit there and twirl her locks of beautiful soft green hair. Although she was somewhat larger than the others, she was much admired because she had such a pretty face. She could just bat her eyelashes and the men would come flocking.
As for me, I was just a scrawny nothing. I had quite dull features, and not the prettiest face. But my mother used to tell me how strong willed I was. I knew that she was only trying to be nice, but I also knew that this would never get me a husband. I was a disappointment to my family. Especially my father.
When I would come back from the fields, I had to bring the kelp to the Mercheiftaness and hurry home for supper. Missing supper was like missing what humans call "tea time". It was something we did every day and was important to our culture. After supper, I would do my chores around the house such as do the dishes, clean up, and help Nara decide what to wear the following day because she always had to look "absolutely flawless".
The next morning, however, was yet another in which Nara had possible husbands coming to the house. I loved these days because I didn't have to work in the fields. Instead, I would help Nara get ready and set the table for lunch and tidy the house and make myself look somewhat presentable, even though my father said I will never be a presentable bride.
A man came knocking on our door around noon. Sure enough, he had come for Nara. But she rejected him as she did with everyone else and carried on with her day. I always wondered why my mother named her Nara, because it was supposed to mean stability, which she obviously has none. But it didn't matter because I didn't have anything else to do with my day. So I took the day to go off to the village.
The farther north you go, the richer people get. But the more southern you look, the less respect you get. People glare and give each other disgusted looks. But the market is wonderful. There are foods from all over the world and beautiful relics from the world above. There are books with stories of untold worlds and riches. I've always loved the things from above. Whenever I had money left over from my chores or I'd find some money stuck between the cushions of the chairs, I would come here and buy myself something to read or admire. It was one of the few things that could bring me joy.
The market had wonderful findings that day. There were beautiful vases, jewelry boxes, and intricately bound books. I picked up a strange book that looked much stranger than the ones I'd seen before. I brought it to the shop keeper and asked for a price.
She looked awfully puzzled when I handed the book to her. "I've never seen that book in my life. Go on and take it and be on your way."
And so I did