Life in the Indian Ocean:
A Mermaid's Journey Across the Waves
Once upon a time there was a young mermaid by the name of Nimeweh. She was a girl of fourteen, having long, silky, strawberry blonde hair; soft, creamy white skin from never swimming to the surface; a long, shiny, turquoise scaled dorsal fin; and a sharp golden starfish, which she kept safely ledged in the side of her hair. She lived down in the Indian Ocean near Broken Ridge, with her two sisters Ginger and Hestal, her mother Gretel, and her father Frederick Von Hassel the third, an esteemed Merman of that time. She lived a life of escapade, always swimming away from home to survey the highlights of the seas around her. She owned a diminutive grove three hundred feet from her residence in Castillo Dorado de Océano Indico, where she'd spend most of her time singing and researching upon the humans exceeding her. Her favorite subject and greatest dream was the ability to walk on two legs. Hopefully she would never discover a way to execute this.
"Where is that lass, she hasn't been home for the past week! I've got brass I need polished, clothes I need washed, food I have to consume! If she doesn't arrive here soon I won't be ready for my meeting on Sunday with Counsel of Dorado, and who knows what will happen if I miss this one!" complained Mr. Von Hassel. "Don't worry darling, she'll be alright, she's fourteen now, a permissible age don't you think? Give her a chance, let her run free, I'll do the chores," Gretel told her stubborn husband. "I guess I can let her slide for today, but next time I'm sending some men after her, I get kind of worried you know, her always being gone and all," Frederick told his wife and with a smile he swam out the coral dazed door.
Meanwhile at the grove, Nimeweh was reading a book about the human body she had picked up from a huge sea bed near Blauwe Koraal, located sixteen miles from her home in Castillo Dorado de Océano Indico. She was truly fascinated by the way humans moved and used their legs. She always dreamed of having such fascinating works of art, and aspired to run on the hot sand, enjoying a pleasant ocean breeze upon her small legs. She was also an up-close observer. She only scrutinized young children for they were the only homosapiens that would come close enough to the beach for her to see. She like to watch them run, laugh, and play in the warm sand from afar, to in a way learn their habits. One child, unfortunately, caught a glimpse of her while playing in the water and from then on hasn't missed even one day of playing on the beach. She absolutely loved their way of life and wished she could just run with them once.
One day while Nimeweh was on her way to the grove she happened to see an odd sight riding across the surface of the ocean, and being very curious she decided to inspect it. She then swam her way to the top where she found a great wooden beast, owning wings of calico that she had never seen before, and oddly there were humans riding on its oak wood back. She then went closer for she had never seen any older humans before. The closer she got the louder the humans were and right at the side of the beast she heard singing and saw dancing being done by the sailors. Then one spotted her, the captain, and immediately ran to his boat's wheel. He was scared to death by this sight, turned his boat to the west, and sailed home. Then after she saw many more ships and was delighted by the humans working them. They cleaned and danced and sang often on board and seemed to have no problems. One evening while she jumped along the surface waves she saw a very large ship, captained by a man with a large brown beard and beat up clothing. The odd crew happened to be a band of pirates and they were out doing some fishing. As they lowered their nets a voice rang over the ears of the men and ten minutes later the boat crashed into a large cliff of rocks. Then as Nimeweh stared into the distance a small journal appeared in front of her and she opened it up to read it's contents.
Explorer's Log
Date: May 8, 1774
Weather: Partly cloudy, some sunshine, windy
Destination: Richard's Bay, South Africa
Location: Perth Basin
We just left port a day ago. I'm coming along as a hostage, though I have no idea why. Perth Basin is a beautiful place, right in the middle of the ocean. The only scenery around is water, but still the crystal gleam on those waters after the sun has hit the very top of the sky takes my breath away. The only nourishment they got on this boat is wheat bread and squash. It seems sickening to me, but it's much better than cannibalism. I hope we make it to Richard's Bay fast; these winds are startin' to make my legs shiver.
Explorer's Log
Date: May 17, 1774
Weather: Rainy, no sunshine, very cold
Destination: Richard's Bay, South Africa
Location: Perth Basin
We are almost out of Perth Basin now and the rains a pourin' so hard I can hardly see out my cabin window. I've recently made friends with Jack Sprouse, the captain's first mate. The journey has been long and very tiresome. I've been freezin' my feet off all night and the wheat bread's been gettin' me pretty sick. I'm tired the boat rockin' me back and forth. I think I might be gettin' sea sick.
Explorer's Log
Date: June 3, 1774
Weather: Foggy, warm, a little windy
Destination: Richard's Bay, South Africa
Location: Broken Ridge
The captain told the crew that he saw Saint Elmo's fire just the other night. We'd best be careful, cause Saint Elmo's fire is a sign of bad luck. For some reason we're all startin' to here singin' and the ship seems to be turnin' around toward a large rock in the water. I guess the captain has forgotten somethin' because he'd have to be crazy to try and kill us all. I guess I'll go see what all the commotion is about. The captain's been hypnotized by the singin' and all the crew except for me is headed toward the rocks. Wait, what's that singin' over there? Oh my goodness! It's a
The creature happened to be Nimeweh's odd cousin Taramine, the daughter of Sinrek, Queen of Jekst, the longest ocean trench in all the seas, and her father Harst, the master trench digger. Taramine's family was very odd and sometimes known as very evil, but in truth Tarasmine was as dumb as an anglerfish and not as beautiful as Nimeweh.
"Hola Taramine, Como Estas?" Nimeweh asked with a laugh. "I'm just fine and dandy cous, did you see me destroy that human ship? I was great, and I'm glad I did it because they were about to catch you in those evil nets of theirs." Taramine told Nimeweh. "I didn't really think you should have killed those people though I understand that you were just trying to help me and I thank you for it." Nimeweh told Taramine with a sigh and then dived down into the dark depths of the ocean. As she swam to her home in Castillo Dorado de Océano Indico she discovered a small grove. She then entered into it to find two large oysters throwing comment after comment back and forth toward each other. Supposedly they had been fighting over a female oyster, but were now fighting over who would go after the female's young baby oyster who had just gotten snatched up by a human's nets. Nimeweh new a lot about oysters and their non agreeable ways, so she set off in search for the baby. She looked all around, for miles and miles, but there were no ships, nor oysters in sight. Then as she swam she spotted a jellyfish out of the corner of her eye. She then asked it if it had seen any odd creature swimming across the surface or if he had seen any nets. He then replied "Yes, it just swam by over the waves, over the rocks and small sea caves, but in which way I do not know, if it was up to me, west I would go." With that small piece of information she swam west where she came to a small row boat at the surface of the water. She then came face to face with a male adult human, quite a strapping man I must say. He had in his big silver nets the baby oyster that was at this time beginning to dry up. She didn't want it to die, nor did she want to be rude so she politely asked the man for the oyster, and explained the situation. He was very kind about it and gave the oyster to her right away. As she swam away he yelled "I hope to see you again fair maiden of the water!"
As she returned the young oyster to its mother, she was thanked exceedingly by her and the two male oysters. Shortly after she bid them farewell and kept on her journey back home. As she did she started to notice two large beasts of the water. These were sharks, one of the worst enemies of the merpeople. She, now knowing what she was up against, started to pad her small tail frantically and in result the sharks started to chase her. For at least five minutes they chased her through valley and trench until she finally was able to lose them. She ended up in a very dark ocean trench, where she met up with some very weird creatures. She saw eels, different types of deformed fish, and was met by a great female anglerfish. The monster gave her much advice about her problems with the sharks and was not as horrible as most daylight fish thought. As Nimeweh was conversing with the angler Taramine showed up. As she appeared the great anglerfish swam away for Taramine was their princess and being in her vicinity would cause her a loss of life (in other words the anglerfish would have been put to death). "Hello, cous, what are you doing way down here?" Taramine asked. "Oh, I just got chased by a couple of sharks, so I came down here. You know how they won't dare enter the dark of these trenches." Nimeweh told her. "Well, it's safe now, you can go back home." Taramine said. "Ok, thanks." Nimeweh told her as she ascended out of the darkness. When she reached home, she realized that something had gone wrong, so she swam rapidly to her home on the sandy hill of Castillo Dorado de Océano Indico. There she found the five men of the Counsel of Dorado, including her father. Once they knew that she was there they told her of the horrible battle that had been fought there against Tekraks, The Great White, and his demonic sharks. They told her that they successfully killed off all of the sharks but in result, hundreds of merpeople were killed, including her mother. She was devastated and for the next four years she cried and cried, never leaving her bedroom, and hardly eating a crumb of food. Finally when she came to her senses, she packed up, and now at eighteen, she left to go and make a living. Instead of getting a nice job she decided to go out and explore, and while she swam she came upon a bed of silver and gold rocks.
The silver ended up being a magical soil that was able to freeze any object that might had come along and the gold was a soil that could burn anything, even while under water. She took both and put them in separate pouches for her journey was to be long. As she swam she saw the same odd row boat ride by. As it went she came up to the surface to again meet the man, who had had the little oyster. This time she stayed and talked with him for a while. He was very kind to her and asked if she would come to live with him in his small cottage up on the surface. She told him that she was unable for she had no legs. He then told her that if she agreed to marry him that he would ask the town's wise woman to give her legs. Nimeweh agreed to this and waited at the banks of the nearby village. After a couple of hours the man returned with the witch who immediately tore a branch from a palm tree, sprinkled it with some oil, and shook it upon Nimeweh's tail, chanting the same five words continuously. "Samti, sor, kimp, dai, Froor!" she screamed on her twelfth time and then the magic started to work. She shook and shivered as her tail started to part. Then the scales from each side of her tail fell to the floor and a pair of legs appeared. As she came to her feet she started to wobble back and forth. Then she fell to the floor of the sandy beach. Joseph, the man, then picked her small body up into his arms and carried her to his cottage. Inside she saw many things that amazed her eyes and she became very pleased with her choice. For many months afterward she lived with Joseph. By the next year they decided to marry.
The wedding was to be spectacular; it was to have a very wide variety of dishes, she was to have an amazing wedding dress, and they were to marry in the town's small Catholic Church. The planned it for the last three months and were now very ready to marry, but there was a slight amount of bad news. Joseph had just been sent out at sea just two days before the wedding. Nimeweh did not know what to do, so she decided to just wait in the cottage until his return. Two years had passed and after many letters and messages over the past 21 months, she had begun to worry, for she hadn't gotten anymore for the past three months. As she sat in her small wooden rocking chair, waiting and wondering when he was to return, she thought of home in the sea. She was very homesick, but loved her husband and didn't want to be gone when he returned, so she continued to wait. One day while sitting in her chair crocheting a scarf for the winter, Nimeweh heard a knock at the door. Not knowing or caring who it was she immediately answered the door. As she took a message from the man at the door she wept. The man had come to tell her that Joseph had been lost at sea for a month now. As she cried, she remembered what she truly was, a mermaid. Now knowing that she had to save her husband she took her self to the home of Satirek, the town's wise woman. When she arrived the woman was busy at her cauldron, creating a potion of transformation. Nimeweh then asked her kindly for the potion for she needed it to become a mermaid once again to retrieve her lost husband. Satirek agreed to it and gave her the potion. She advised her to take two gulps and not to drink the entire thing or she might end up becoming a small octopus. Nimeweh laughed as she agreed to the directions. Then she ran to the beaches bank and did as the woman told her. As she stood their on the sand she started to shudder and tremble until her legs disintegrated and a tail appeared. Unknowingly, Nimeweh forgot to place herself in the water and ended up dragging herself off the beach.
For several hours she swam through the water, trying her best to find her husband. She checked everywhere and asked every creature she had come across if they had seen her lost husband, but no knew of him and none had seen or heard of any recent boat crashes. For a long while she searched and after time she became very frustrated and thought maybe that she might just have to give up hope, but no sooner than that she came up with an odd, but believable thought. She had thought that the culprit of the crime might be her cousin Taramine. She knew of Taramine's fanatical ways. She also knew that after a crash like that Taramine would take each body down to her mother, Sinrek, and lock their bodies to the ocean's coral filled walls. Happy to have finally come up with this theory she hastily padded her tail up and down toward Taramine's ocean home in Jekst, the darkest trench in the entire universe. When she finally arrived she met up once more with the female anglerfish. She asked her if she might use her light to find her way through the darkness. The angler kindly accepted the task and followed Nimeweh along the dark trail. While they swam they heard odd noises of screaming and came to a large gate, made from fish eggs (caviar). They then saw a large three headed sea horse appear with a gigantic merman riding upon it. They asked him if they could please speak with the king, but he refused. Again they asked and again he refused, but this time he rose up his harpoon, ready to strike. Then as they swam toward the gate he swung it across her forehead, cutting it slightly and creating small quantities of fresh merblood. Then he once again swung and this time he cut an enormous incise in the anglerfish's side. Nimeweh was not prepared for anymore pain or evil so she took out her silver powder and threw it at the soldier. He immediately started to grow icicles upon the sides of his feet and after a minute he was engulfed in the wintry crystal. Now being rid of the only thing in their way, they proceeded on to the queen's quarters. There she found her husband lying in shackles upon the ocean floor with a face as blue as the skies above. She was very happy to have found her husband, but was sad to find more trouble. There in the midst of her joy was her aunt; the queen of the ocean's dead, standing with a large metal staff. With it she was able to control all in her vicinity, including unexpected guests. With a quick turn of her staff Nimeweh was knocked into a wall. Whoosh! Again she flew into another wall. Back and forth she went, like a ping pong ball, beating into each of the walls. After a while Sinrek became tired of swinging her staff back and forth and decided to give little Nimeweh a talk. "We all have places in life Nimeweh. Your dad's a government official, my husband's a trench digger and I'm Queen of this nice and dark land of Jekst, but what are you? Oh, that's right, you're just a worthless, good for nothing, human wannabe! You have no place in this world Nimeweh. You should have been with my daughter all these years while you were showing your looks off to all the mermen. All you ever did for her was push her away, and all these years she tried to help you, but no, no that wasn't enough. Now it's your turn to fill her pain, physically. Hope you enjoy your visit because this will be the last place you'll ever see. Oh yes, I almost forgot, I have to destroy your husband now, say bye, bye." Sinrek told her with a laugh and took up her staff once again. As she raised it up to destroy Joseph Nimeweh reached into her bag and pulled out the golden powder. Then she threw all of it at Sinrek's staff, accidentally making it land all over both Sinrek and the staff. As Sinrek looked at her dust covered body she started to itch. Afterward she began to burn and then was engulfed in flames. The embers melted her metal staff and burned her into ashes, which floated away with the oceans current. Then Nimeweh unlocked Joseph from his manacles and they went back to the surface, where after becoming human once more they became married and took a nice honey moon a few months later under the sea.
After two years Nimeweh had herself a young baby boy and he was named Joweh, after both his father and mother's names. For many years after they lived in their small cottage happily until the end of their days. They ended up with six children, one being half dolphin half human, a mermaid.