A Tragedy To Call My Own

(Carmen {age 6} POV)

"Carm-a-dee, look at that!" Triton called, using his special nickname for me. Triton and I were best friends. He was much nicer than Prince was.

"What is it?" I asked, looking up from the little school of fish I had been watching.

"A human-thingy!" Triton declared. Both Prince and I looked at it.

"It's called a ship," Prince corrected Triton. Those things, ships, were still very new. Most of them sunk, leaving the humans to swim back to shore. Daddy had said they sunk because humans were not meant to be on the ocean. It was ours after all!

"You think it'll make it to land?" I asked absentmindedly, playing with Triton's hair. He looked up at me and shrugged.

"Let's see it," Prince declared. Triton and I looked up at him in confusion.

"We're looking at it right now, dummy," I pulled a face at him.

"Up close. Let's swim up real close to it and see what its doing!" Prince said excitedly.

"Prince! That's too dangerous!" I squealed, "Mama says we're not allowed to go near the humans without her!"

"Keep your voice down. If you're such a guppy, Triton and I will go without you," Prince stuck his tongue out at me.

"I'm not a guppy! I'll prove it!" I exclaimed, swimming over to the ship as fast as I could.

"Carmen! Slow down!" Prince sounded worried.

"Who's the guppy now, Prince?" I taunted, splashing him, "You are, you slowpoke hatchling!"

"We'll see about that!" Prince roared, swimming fast enough. He was on my tail. I swam faster, not even seeing where I was going.

"Carmen, Prince! Wait for me!" Triton wailed, swimming further and further behind. We stopped guiltily. He was only four after all.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Sorry," Prince agreed. Triton just nodded, trying to catch his breath.

"You should be, Prince. You told Mama you'd take care of us," I poked my tongue out at him. Prince poked his tongue back at me.

"The… the… the…" Triton panted. Prince sighed, and pushed Triton underwater so he could breathe better.

"What is it, Tri?" he asked.

"The ship is right behind you!" he shrieked. We spun around. We were in the shadow of a giant! Prince pushed us aside.

"Whoa," I gasped, looking at the monster.

"It's not alive, sis," Prince said, reading my face.

"Doesn't mean I can't be totally terrified of it," I retorted.

"Let's go see the humans," Prince swum up. We looked up at the ship. It was empty. Huh.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho

Brave sailor beware, for a big 'un's a- brewing

Mysterious fathoms below,' a young boy sang quietly. Prince swam over to the voice.

"Prince, be careful!" I hissed. A dark haired boy poked his head over the side of the ship.

"Mermaids!" he gasped. Triton and I gasped, and dove under the water.

"I'm a merman," Prince corrected, still up there. I pulled his tail. He looked down and made a face at me.

"Come up, you big old guppy," he called, "he's just a kid like us!"

"I won't hurt you, honest!" the boy pleaded. Not to be outdone by Prince, I poked up head up from the water, as Triton cowered behind me. The human boy gasped at me.

"What are you looking at, squid-lips?" I pulled a face at him.

"You're not like the mermaid in songs, are you?" the boy giggled, apparently released from my mermaid trace. Triton poked his head out from under my hair.

"How do you know about merfolk?" he asked shyly.

"How do you know about humans?" the boy replied.

"Daddy showed us them," Triton said calmly.

"Get out from there, you look stupid with blonde hair," Prince said, pulling Triton out. Triton thought hard, and then came up with the best comeback I'd ever heard him say.

"Yeah… well… yeah… well… so do you!" he stuck his tongue out at Prince. I put him arm around him and giggled. Why did it matter what we looked like to a human?

"I'm Prince, and this is my brother Triton, and sister Carmen," Prince said.

"My name is Willheim Grimsby. You can call me Will," the boy said gently.

"That's a funny name," I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Really, Crustacia?" Prince said, using my real name. I gasped.

"Oceanus!" I retorted. Prince glowered at me.

"Stop it," Triton pleaded.

"Fine… Neptune," I muttered under my breath. Triton wrinkled his nose. Daddy and Mama had decided to curse us all with terribly unfortunate names.

"And you live under the sea?" Will said breathlessly.

"You're a smart one, aren't you?" I said sarcastically. He pulled a face at me.

"Aren't mermaids supposed to sing and be nice?" Will asked.

"In theory, yes. Reality, not so much," Prince shrugged.

"I am nice and I sing!" I protested, "Mama says I'm a beautiful singer!"

"Prove it," Will challenged.

"Bring it," I said darkly, and composed myself,

"Live your life to the full

With a lifetime of smiles

Made us know right from wrong

Always know when I'm lying

You made us be tough

But never too rough

Rise above what you said

Never easily lead

And one day, we'll all sing along

Because this is your song."

I smiled smugly. He shrugged.

"You're okay," he agreed.

"Okay?" I shrieked, "I'm fantastic!"

"Hurricane a-comin'! Stand fast! Secure the riggin'! Boy, get to it!" a man yelled. We all looked to the horizon. A storm was coming. I guess humans were not as stupid as we assumed. They knew what a storm was, after all.

"Aye, Captain!" Will yelled. He shrugged at us and ran off.

"That was very rude of him," I said as we swam away from the ship.

"We should go home. Mama will be worried," Triton said virtuously.

"I guess… where's Prince?" I exclaimed. We looked around ourselves worriedly.

"He's supposed to be watching us! Mama told him to! He promised Mama!" Triton wailed.

"Oh, get a grip, you guppy," I said, trying not to sound as scared as I felt. I pulled him up onto a rock, as we looked around for Prince.

"He's supposed to be watching us! He always watches us! He's meant to be! He's meant to be!" Triton wailed again.

"Pull yourself together. He's obviously too engrossed in the humans," I pulled a face and hugged him tightly as he started to cry.

"But I'm his very own brother and you're his very own sister!" Triton sobbed. I stroked his hair and sighed, looking for Prince.

"Carmen! Carmen look out!" Triton yelled, pulling me backwards with all the strength in his tiny little body. I turned to see what he was pulling me away from. I only had time to see the looming figurehead of the mermaid before I knew what was happening. I saw Triton's big blue eyes filled with fright, felt his futile pull to drag me to safety. There was a crash and every inch of my body filled with pain.

He should have been watching us.

A/N: The song Willheim sings is a deleted verse from Fathoms Below, a song from the first Little Mermaid. The song poor sweet Carmen sings is a verse This is Your Song by Ronan Keating.