The Mermaids

The Search

I manned the oars in the small row boat. Two other men had been chosen to come with me and had nets in their hands. We were chosen to be the ones to catch the mermaid. My heart started beating more quickly as I saw a large fin graze the surface of the water. I stopped rowing and the men set out the nets. On the opposite side of the boat a fair face had emerged. A mermaid. "Hello," The girl said. Her long blonde hair floated around her like glittering rays of sun. "Can you sing?" the mermaid asked. We just stared at the girl, her light blue eyes staring into ours. Then she started to sing.  "My heart is pierced by cupid, I disdain all glittering gold, there is nothing that console me, but my jolly sailor bold." I instantly stuck my fingers into my ears as the other men reached out for the fair girl. The minute they got close enough, she pulled them under as they thrashed around. I laid myself flat against the floor of the row boat and they mermaids left, thinking they'd gotten us all. I sat up, and immediately a mermaid with soft green eyes and a lovely, humanly lovely, face. The mermaid looked at me for a while then spoke, "you're smart. You deserve to live." She pulled the boat to shore. Once the boat was secure she said "You have two choice. One is to live your life as a pirate and forget me. The other is to trust me and come out to the ocean. The second choice will always be open as long as I live." I picked the first choice and set off away from the girl staring at me with sad eyes.   

Choices

Two years after I met the mermaid I tired of the life of constantly running from the law, cheating, and stealing. I began to think a lot of the mermaid, wishing I knew her name. One day as I sat at the end of the dock she appeared, not seeming to have aged a day. "You have two choices," she said "One is to change your name and live a lawful life, The other is to trust me and come out to the ocean. The second choice will always be open as long as I live." I once again picked the first choice.

Last Chance

Two years after the mermaid had revisited me, I bored of the slow life of a lawful man. I yearned for ocean adventure with the mermaid whose name I knew not. I sat at the shore, thinking about the mermaid and she appeared. "You have two choices," she said. "One is to marry a lawful woman and live the life you live, the other is to trust me and come out to the ocean. The second choice will not be open if you do not choose it this third and final time." I picked the second choice and lived a life of undersea, marrying the mermaid I had thought about for four years.