A very long time ago during a period of great transition when magic was still present in the very air and land, many of the old gods had been forced off the surface of the Earth by the humans.
The final god to remain among the mortals was the ocean god by the name of Manánnan Mac Lair. With a simple wave of his hand he could create storms so terrible that whole fleets of ships would be smashed into firewood. With a click of his fingers he could summon monstrous tidal waves to drag whole islands to the very bottom of the ocean.
We don't know why he was the last god standing. Maybe it was because the people depended on his good will for survival or maybe he was simply too stubborn to move on. But either way, eventually, even he who had once been so important to many, began to fade from the minds of man and they became neglectful in their worship of him. With his powers gradually fading he retired to his favourite island called Inis Falga. As time went by he also disappeared, his spirit melting into the waves and the ocean breeze, and yet he was never entirely forgotten from human consciousness. They renamed the island after him, calling it the Isle of Man and this is where our story takes place.
On this island there lived a poor and lonely man called William Sherlock. He was poor and lonely because he was too clever for his own good, or so the island people would say of him. He was poor because he became bored too easily to stick to any one job – weaver, carpenter, baker, fisherman...he had tried them all. And he was lonely because he was a fast learner and once he had mastered a skill would give it up never to use those skills to earn himself money except in times when he needed it the most, and so he rarely met with the other islanders.
The people despaired of him. He would never be useful, they said, but Sherlock did not care. He was happiest spending his time following his own interests, whether it was studying the different kinds of rocks and plants that could be found or trying out new ways of melting metal. His studies never came to much and were never put to good use, but they passed the time and made him forget his own loneliness.
And so over the years not only was he shunned by society, but he shunned society back, preferring to live alone, studying nature, and surviving by his own wits. This included gathering his own food. Sometimes he would go into the woods to hunt and forage for nuts and berries, other times he would go fishing.
One day he fancied a fish for his supper and so he took his little boat – the little boat he had made himself – and rowed it a short distance out onto the sea where the cormorants could be seen diving for their next meal.
Sherlock could see that there were fish all around and that the cormorants were getting their fill, but yet he found himself unable to catch any. He was being to think that he would have to abandon the idea of fish when to his shock a ben-varrey jumped into his boat. Ben-varrey is the Manx word for mermaid and this mermaid was very pretty.
"Moghrey mie, William Sherlock," she greeted. "Have you not yet caught any fish?"
"Not yet," Sherlock replied with a sigh. "At this rate I will be going hungry."
The mermaid smiled mischievously. "I could fill your whole boat with fish," she said, softly.
"And what would you have me do for you in return?" asked Sherlock, for he knew that no one did anything for nothing.
The mermaid tilted her head to one side, staring at him with her bright blue eyes.
"What can you do?" she asked.
"I could carve you the most wonderful set of kitchen utensils from the wood of the apple tree which grows close to my home. They will never break and will be so beautifully carved that you will be the envy of your friends."
"My only friends are the seals. Besides, how do you except me to cook beneath the waves?"
Sherlock thought again. "I could weave you the most wonderful blanket from the wool of the best Manx sheep. You would never be cold. But again -"
"Again, I live in the ocean and the blanket would quickly rot. Really, William Sherlock, you are the most skilful man with the most impractical brain. How have you survived on your own all this time?"
Sherlock scowled. He did not like to be made a fool of. "It is not my fault that my skills are of no use to you. You know my name and you chose to leap into my boat for a reason. Why don't you stop teasing me and tell me what you want of me?"
The mermaid suddenly looked hesitant.
"There is something I want you to make for me," she said, after a long pause.
"What is it? Just tell me."
"Make me your wife."
Sherlock blinked at the mermaid.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Marry me, William Sherlock, and I will give you everything that you need to be happy and successful."
Sherlock thought for a moment. There was some appeal to having a wife, not being alone and someone to talk to. But then he thought some and snorted at the very idea.
"And what kind of marriage would it be with me living on land and you in the sea?" he demanded.
"You must make it so that I can live on land."
"I suppose I could build you a tank and fill it with sea-water. I could even put it on wheels and move you around from room to room."
"Now you're just being silly."
"I'm not one who proposed to marry a human."
"I know a way that I can leave the ocean. But you must trust me and follow my instructions to the very letter."
"Why?"
The mermaid opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She tried again, eventually stammering, "Because there are only two ways that I can be freed from the sea. One is easy and the other is not."
However, years of loneliness had hardened Sherlock's heart and besides which he did not know if he could trust the mermaid, so he shook his head, saying, "I have no need to marry. You must find another."
The mermaid looked hurt at first, but then she pouted.
"Very well, but you shall get no fish from me. Farewell for now, William Sherlock," and she dove back over the side of the boat. No matter how much Sherlock strained his eyes he could not spot the mermaid beneath the waves.
He threw his fishing rod back over the side of the boat and waited, but not a single fish was caught. He returned home with his stomach growling. As he sat all by himself in front of the fire he began to think again about how pleasant it would be to have someone kind to talk to. The house seemed very large and cold with only him in it. And then he began to think that maybe he had nothing to lose by getting married after all. If the mermaid had been attempting to deceive him he would soon find out and if she were being honest then he would have a wife.
He woke early the next morning, took his boat back out to the very same place as before and waited.
AN: Thanks for reading.
