Chapter 15: When You Wish Upon A Star
Air!
Flipping back her head and lifting her chest, Ariel opened her face to the night sky. Gasping almost too quickly to for her sore lungs, she swallowed the cold beautiful air. In time, her heart calmed and her head cleared.
Relieved from the threat of drowning, Ariel attended to her surroundings. Kicking hard to stay afloat, she squinted through the night. Quickly, her large eyes adjusted to the starlight. And Ariel saw ocean.
Nothing but ocean.
"Oh God. How did - Where am I?"
Rolling with the surf, Ariel tried not to panic. After all she was Ariel Triton, spawn of mermaid ancestry. Someday – Daddy told her – she would turn into a mermaid when she touched the water, just like Attina had. There was no reason to be afraid. She was a mermaid. She was a mermaid. Salt water was in her blood.
Then why was she so scared? Why did she feel so trapped? And…helpless.
Twisting in the waves, Ariel wished that this was the time she would turn into a mermaid. But it was not to be; her legs sliced separately through the cold water.
Sadly, Ariel held the boy close for comfort.
The boy!
Swallowing water as she looked down, Ariel called to the boy she had saved from the pool. In the darkness she could not see him and he did not answer.
A sudden sickness lurched in Ariel's stomach: was he dead? What if the fall had killed him!
Ariel started to swim. Inch by painful inch she dragged herself and the boy through the ocean. Quickly, fatigue set. And Ariel became too tired to stop herself from dipping under the black waves. Floating onto her back, Ariel stared numbly at the stars, holding the boy as best she could and trying not to drown.
Vaguely, her mind encircled back to Master Cogworth's story about the Wishing Star…and how it would keep the school children safe. Safe with some sort of magical gift. Closing her eyes, Ariel wished sadly that the Wishing Star would save her and the boy.
Then she heard it.
"Starboard! Off to starboard!"
Ariel lifted her head. Her hair sagged heavily in the water. Urgently, she searched the open ocean.
"Overboard! Man overboard! Off the starboard bow!"
And leaping suddenly out of the darkness, lamps swinging from it's bow, was a ship.
Energy surged through Ariel like a battery as she waved a hand in the air. "Over here!" she yelled, resisting the pull of the water. Bustle aboard the ship heightened her cries. "Over here! Help! We're over here!"
Long boats splashed into the water. Giddy with relief, Ariel stroked towards the ship, pulling the boy alongside.
"See?" she said, smiling at the approaching long boats. "Everything is going to be all right. Everything is always all right…" Ariel paused as the boy stirred painfully. Looking down, she was suddenly struck at his rugged, handsome face cast in the shadows of the ship lanterns.
"…when you wish upon a star." Ariel finished quietly as strong hands pulled her from the water and onto the ship.