Chapter 9
When Jim saw the sun begin to peak through the greenery he gave a tired smile. He had stayed up all night long to make sure the pirates hadn't found some kind of trail and followed them. Thankfully that night had been quiet except for the occasional monkey, but not pirates. Jim rubbed at his weary eyes and stretched to try and wake up his tired muscles. He got up slowly from where he had sat crouched all night long against the cave wall and crept over to the pool where Ariel would be. Jim didn't want to wake her up just yet, she'd had a rough night and she deserved some rest.
He peaked over the ledge of the pool to gaze at the young mermaid. The water was crystal clear so he could easily look down and see her curled up in the sand at the bottom of the pool. Her flaming red hair floated peacefully around her and was such a contrast to her luscious green tail. Jim smiled when she turned over and saw on her face a very relaxed expression, probably dreaming of her home. Jim could have easily sat there for the rest of his life watching his Ariel dreaming.
Not your Ariel! She can't ever be yours! Get that into your head!
Jim took several deep breaths in hopes that it would help clear his head, but no such luck. He just couldn't get her out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried. Jim could hardly bare to pull his eyes off of her, but he unwilling did so to go search for some breakfast.
Ariel yawned and stretched her arms out beneath her head to try and go back to her dream. She had been back at home and everyone was there; all of her friends, her sisters, her father and all of Atlantica were all celebrating her return home. After going through the crowds and saying hello to everyone she had begun to hear a voice off in the distance. Ariel gravitated toward the sound to try and find the source of the beautiful voice. It was a man's voice that flowed and sounded better than anything she had ever heard. She kept on searching for the voice and its owner, but she had woken up which is why she kept trying to go back to sleep.
Who was he? Is he real or was that just my imagination?
Whether it had been a dream or not Ariel knew that deep down in her heart she just knew that the mysterious singer was real.
After what felt like a century of trying to get back to sleep Ariel gave in and her eye lids fluttered open to behold the small pool. She flicked her tail and glided through the water gracefully and leisurely to the surface in hopes to find Jim and wish him a good morning