Chapter 2
Meanwhile a head has broken through the surface of the water. It is a mermaid, a princess of the underwater kingdom. Her name is Emily. Her hair is ginger and she has light brown eyes with brown skin. She spots a ship a short distance away and wonders what's happening on board. A moment later her curiosity becomes too great and she swims up to the boat. When she gets there she spots a ladder hanging over the edge of the ship. She wonders whether climbing up the ladder to get a better view is a good idea. After a minute she makes her decision, pulls herself out of the water and climbs up the ladder.
When at the top she finds a place to sit and looks through the gap in the railing. She sees a party before her. There is a food table at one end of the ship with a large group of finely dressed people standing around it. To the left of this is a small group of musicians, playing lively music that Emily can hear in the background. She can also hear lots of people dancing to the lively music. Her eyes wonder over the scene before her. Then she spots a young man standing and talking to an older man and woman. She looks at him for a minute. She sees the wind blowing through his mucky blonde hair. His hazel eyes are moving between the two people as they talk. From the similarities between the three of them she comes to the conclusions that the two older people are younger man's parents.
"He's very handsome" she thinks.
A moment later her eyes are wondering again. As she looks around the deck she spots a woman leaning on the railing of the ship a short distance away. She sees the sadness in her sea blue eyes and wonders why she is unhappy. Her hair is very dark brown and loose and is being blown by the calm breeze. After a minute Anna feels someone staring at her and looks in Emily's direction but there is no one there, Emily has ducked down far enough so that she isn't seen. Anna frowns and walks over to where Emily was a moment ago.
"That's funny" she thinks, kneeling down, "I was sure someone was looking at me". She looks out through the gap.
"Oh well, it must have been my imagination" she says to herself.
"What must have been your imagination?" asks a familiar voice.
Anna stands up and turns around. She sees her parents stood behind her. Her mother, Amelia has blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She is forty six. Her father also has blonde hair but has turquoise eyes. He is one year younger than Amelia. His name is Andrew. Both of them like Anna have pale skin.
"I thought someone was watching me but when I looked there was no one there" Anna explains.
"Why haven't you joined the party?" Andrew asks.
"I didn't want to" Anna replies.
"But this party is for you" Amelia says.
"Mum, you know I don't like parties, even if they are for me" Anna says. Someone calls for them from the other side of the ship.
"I think John and Lucy want to make an announcement" Andrew says. Amelia looks over at the table and sees a crowd gathering. She sees John, Lucy and Luke standing on the upper deck, waving at them to join them.
"I think your right" she says, "come on again before reluctantly following her parents.
A moment later they have joined Luke and his parents on the upper deck. Anna sits down and dangles her legs over the edge and puts her hands on her lap.
"Firstly I would like to thank you all for attending this special event. Secondly I would like to formally announce the engagement of my son, Prince Luke to Princess Anna" John says. Emily is once again watching.
"Oh" she thinks, "he's engaged, oh well, it would never have worked anyway".
Just then the ship begins to sway as the sea becomes rougher. Anna stands up and walks over to the edge of the ship. She looks over the rails and sees the erratic movement of the water. She walks back away from the edge. Then a larger wave knocks the ship, taking Anna by surprise. The power behind this wave knocks the ship so hard that everyone rushes to grab hold of the ship. Anna falls off the ship without anyone knowing. The ship then straightens out again. Then a huge bolt of lightning strikes the ship strikes the ship causing it to catch fire. The guests notice the fire and start running around the deck. Andrew decides to take charge of the situation and stands on a box so he can be heard.
"Can everyone get organised please? The ship is on fire so everyone get to the life boats on the double" he yells. Everyone runs to the lifeboats al except Luke who is desperately looking around for Anna while calling out her name. While this has been happening Emily has seen Anna fall off the ship and jumps in after her. Meanwhile Luke is still looking for Anna. He takes a quick look over the side of the ship and spots her floating on the surface of the water. He jumps off the side of the ship into the water. He swims around for a minute while calling out her name. Then something wraps around his leg, pulling him under the water. After a minute he loses consciousness. Emily, who is currently holding an unconscious Anna up, sees this and swims over to him as fast as possible, dragging Anna with her. She grabs him and drags the two people away as fast as she can. As she's swimming away the ship begins its long journey to the bottom of the ocean.
