LEGEND OF THE MER

by Sheri L. Swift

  Lana’s father did share some more stories of him and her mother. He told how he traveled a few times with the mer by boat when they migrated. It sounded like he enjoyed being part of the mer family. He said that they treated him as one of them and was always considerate to allow him time for sunlight, which included some days on distant islands and wonderful exotic foods. He said that King Titan and his people were a happy and peaceful people and the life was good that he had chosen with her mother. He told her how happy he was on the day that Lana was born. He told her that he and her mother chose her name and that it meant; calm and peaceful waters. She had to laugh at that. Then her father got so busy with the lighthouse. There were several storms coming in and he had to be at his post.

  The day of the prom finally arrived and Lana was a little nervous. She loved her dress, it reminded her of her mother and she felt like a part of her was with her for this special occasion. She decided not to wear any heels, she always preferred flats. She had purchased some sparkly silver shoes with closed toes. Again, she didn’t want anyone seeing her feet. She still had to wear her hair down because of her gills, but she found some seashell combs that were white and iridescent. She only pulled back a small portion of her bangs, twisting them and placing the combs on either side. I guess its time. She knew that her father was waiting anxiously downstairs; she had heard him pacing for some time. Lana began to walk down.

  “Kid, you look beautiful.” Her father beamed.

  “Thanks Dad, I hoped you’d like it.” She smiled at him.

  “Turn around and let me get the full effect,” he said as he looked proudly. Lana slowly turned, even though she felt a little foolish. “I hate to tell you this, but you forgot to sew the back of that dress.” Her father smiled teasingly.

  “Dad, you know it’s the style. At least I did place the straps around my neck, I could have made it strapless.” She raised her brows.

  “Okay, okay, I guess I’m glad that you at least have straps. Seriously Lana, you look great, your mom would have been proud of you. You look even more like her in that dress,” he said as he went and kissed the top of her head.

  “Thanks Dad, it means a lot to hear you say that.”

  “Would you like me to drive you to the pavilion?”

  “No, I know it seems crazy in this dress and all, but I’d really just like to walk. I made sure that the length was just right so I wouldn’t be stepping all over it” She grinned.

  Her father went and grabbed his camera and took some quick shots before he relented, “Okay, I guess I have to let you go, just make sure you have fun and dance at least once for me.”

  “If you insist, I wasn’t really planning on doing any dancing. I’m not sure anyone will ask me,” said Lana a little timidly.

  “Trust me kid, they’re gonna ask,” said her father as he opened the door for her with a smile.

  “Well, here goes.” Lana kissed his cheek and headed out.

  ~~~

  The night was warm and the sky was clear with a million stars. What a perfect night for a prom under the pavilion. It was the first dance ever held there since they had constructed it two years before. A hurricane had taken out the wharf with a few shops. The shop owners decided against rebuilding and allowed the island to build the pavilion instead. It was at the end of a pier and sat a few feet off the water’s surface. The pavilion was large and octagon in shape. It had a bench all along the railing inside. It held at least two hundred, which was more than large enough for the senior class prom. Some of the kids were upset when they heard that the theme was Under the Sea, it was so typical, but Lana really liked it.

  As Lana reached the pavilion, she glanced at all the tiny white lights. They were wrapped around the beams, railings, and even all along the edge of the roof. There were so many sparkling fish and plants hung everywhere. Lana thought that the best thing was a statue in the center that looked a lot like King Titan. Wow, they got that down pretty good. Lana smiled as she looked at it.

  “Hey Lana, we’re over here!” Elaine called from across the other side.

  “Hi, they really went way out on the decorations,” said Lana as she walked over to her.

  “Yeah, I even got to help a little.” Elaine smiled.

  “Now why does that not surprise me,” Lana said with a wide grin. Then Elaine was asked to dance. Lana was left alone and decided to sit on the bench. Her other friends were already dancing themselves. As she sat there, she heard someone say,

  “You look lovely tonight.”

  “Why thank you, that is so...” Lana turned to tell the boy sitting next to her, but the boy only shrugged his nose at her and scooted further away.

  “Have you forgotten me already?” the voice said again.

  Lana looked around and couldn’t find anyone looking in her direction. Suddenly she realized that it was Prince Titus speaking to her in her mind. “Where are you?” she allowed her thoughts to ask.

  “Beneath you, I am glad that you finally recognize me.”

  “Sorry, I’m not used to this new type of communication,” she said with a giggle.

  “Again, I want to say that you look very beautiful.”

  “Thanks, I think this dress is perfect, my dad said it reminded him of my mother.”

  “Yes, you do look like her, she was beautiful as well.”

  “I wish you were able to come to the dance,” said Lana a little sadly realizing that he couldn’t.

  “Yes, I wish I could also, but you will have to dance for the both of us.”

  “Okay, if someone asks me,” she said a little timidly.

  “They will ask, and when you do, will you stay by the side so that I can watch and imagine that it is I dancing with you?” he asked a little sorry that it would not be him.

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  “Now there is a true friend of the mer,” said the Prince.

  Lana looked up to see Miss Perry coming towards her, “Hello Lana, you look so pretty tonight. You look the perfect mermaid,” she said as she sat down beside her.

  “Why thank you, I suppose I was inspired by the theme.”

  “Is everything going alright between you and your dad?”

  “Yeah, everything’s great. We’ve talked a lot about things these past two weeks.”

  “That’s wonderful, I’m glad to hear that.” Miss Perry smiled tenderly.

  “Miss Perry, you know who I really am, don’t you?” Lana asked, not sure if she should have.

  “Let’s just say, I had my suspicions.” Miss Perry smiled once more.

  “I can never thank you enough for teaching me to swim. You’ll never know what it’s meant to me.”

  “It was my pleasure, and I can imagine what it has meant. I know your dad means well, but I could see how much you were hurting.”

  “Yeah, it hasn’t been easy for me, but now so much makes sense.”

  “Tell her that the mer thank her for her gifts and for that of her mother as well,” Prince Titus spoke in Lana’s mind once more.

  “The mer wish to thank you for the gifts and the ones your mother brought too,” said Lana a little unsure of what Miss Perry might think.

  Miss Perry’s eyes began to fill with tears and she said, “They are quite welcome and I’m so glad to finally know that they appreciate them.”

  “I’m sorry Miss Perry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “No, no, it’s just that when you’ve believed a thing for so long, it’s so magical to know that you were right in doing so.” She smiled again with a sniffle.

  “You were right and your mother was right,” said Lana as she hugged her.

  “Tell her that one day the mer will thank her in person,” said Prince Titus.

  “The mer want you to know that one day they will thank you in person.” Lana smiled to her lovingly, knowing what that would mean to her.

  “Tell them that I look forward to such a day.” Miss Perry smiled brightly. Then there was a break in the music and some of
the faculty began making some announcements. Miss Perry got up and said, “Well, I better get back to the refreshment table, I promised to help tonight. I hope you have a wonderful time Lana.” Then she darted across the floor.

  Lana looked up as she heard her friends coming over towards her. “Okay Lana, no fair just sitting over here all alone,” said Rick.

  “Yeah, would you like to dance the next one?” Jody asked.

  “Sure, if you’re sure you want to take a chance on getting stepped on,” laughed Lana. Then the music started up again, Jody took her hand and began to lead her across the floor. “If you don’t mind Jody, I’d like to just stay over here. Crowds make me a little nervous,” said Lana remembering Prince Titus.

  “Okay, sure,” Jody put his hands around her back and Lana put hers around his neck. It was a little uncomfortable for Lana to be so close to him. She had never allowed herself to get that close to anyone before. The slow love song that was playing only added to her uneasiness. Then she heard Prince Titus speaking once more in her mind,

  “I am not sure that I like you dancing with this boy.”

  Lana sent her thoughts to the Prince, “Look, this was your idea not mine.”

  “You look so pretty tonight Lana. I don’t think I ever really noticed your eyes before. They’re really beautiful,” said Jody a little too affectionately.

  “Thanks, yeah silver eyes, you don’t see them every day,” Lana said letting out a nervous giggle.

  “I like the way you’re wearing your make-up now,” said Jody still staring into Lana’s eyes.

  “Yeah, I toned it down a bit,” said Lana trying to look away. She was beginning to feel awkward and she couldn’t help but notice how Jody’s hands were pulling her even closer to him. Okay, the creep meter just jumped to ten, Lana thought.

  “What is he trying to do? Who does he think he is to be so common with a Princess?” Prince Titus yelled in Lana’s mind.

  “Okay, now how do I get out of this one?” Lana asked the Prince as she didn’t like the situation at all. Just then, a huge splash of water rose up and over the railing coming down on top of Jody’s back.

  “Did you see that? How did that happen?” Jody said as he shook the water from his arms. Everyone that was close enough to see what happened looked over the railing and saw a grey dolphin jump up and out of the water. “Of all times for a dolphin to splash me,” said Jody angrily as he took off his jacket and wrung it out.

  Everyone was laughing and Lana went and sat back down. Then she sent her thoughts to ask the Prince, “Did you do that, or was it Tempest?”

  “It was not Tempest,” answered the Prince.

  “Well, thank you; he was getting a little weird.”

  “I quite agree.”

  “Okay, I had my dance, I think I’m gonna head home to my dock. You wanna come?” Lana asked the Prince.

  “I am sorry, and I am not so sorry, that you wish to leave. Yes, I would love to meet you at your dock.”

  Lana waved bye to her friends as they were dancing and she quickly left before Jody could find out where she went. She was so excited that Prince Titus had come to the pavilion and was even more excited that he would soon be waiting for her at her dock. She practically ran the whole way home.

  When the dock came into view, Lana saw Tempest jumping out of the water just beyond. She tried to slow her pace and not look so interested, but inside her heart was pounding. She had thought of nothing else but the Prince Titus since he had escorted her home that night. She was beginning to wonder if she would ever see him again. She finally reached the end of the dock and sat down on the edge. Okay, be still my heart!

  Prince Titus surfaced and gave her that smile of his that made her heart beat even faster. “Will you come for a swim with me and allow me to show you how the mer dance?” asked the Prince with a smile and a raised brow.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t. I promised my dad that I wouldn’t put one foot in the water until after graduation,” said Lana sadly.

  “I see; when is this graduation?”

  “It’s in two weeks.” she smile slightly.

  “Well, I suppose that is not too long. I was hoping to be able to show you some of my favorite places,” he said a little disappointed.

  “I would love to see them, and I will in two weeks, okay?”

  “Yes, I guess I will just have to wait until then” He smiled once more.

  Lana began to put her fingers in the water and Prince Titus carefully pulled off one of her gloves laying it gently on the dock. Then Lana turned and laid down on her stomach and pulled off the other glove. She let both her hands swirl in the water. She couldn’t help but notice that Prince Titus had the same hands as she did with the webbing between each finger. “I used to think that my hands were ugly, but yours aren’t.” She smiled at him.

  “Your hands are not ugly. There is nothing ugly about you Princess Lana.” He beamed his brightest smile and Lana was shocked to sense the love he was feeling for her. The funny thing was; that it wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling like it had been with Jody. There was something so special about the way the Prince felt. It was like watching the sunrise in the morning to a clean and bright new day.

  “There is something that I wish to give you to mark this special occasion,” said the Prince as he unwound a string of large grey pearls that had been around his wrist. He let one end fall and he held it up with his hands and placed it over Lana’s head and around her neck.

  “Thank you Prince Titus, I love them, they’re just like the ones I saw your sister wearing on her head,” said Lana smiling appreciatively.

  “Yes, all the Princesses wear a crown of pearls, as will you when you come to greet our people once more.” He smiled again and Tempest came and splashed them both. Lana laughed and the Prince sent Tempest a swish from his tail that was so hard that it caused the dolphin to roll in the wave he sent. Lana laughed again to see the two having such fun. Then the Prince looked at Lana seriously and said, “You do not mind missing your dance tonight?”

  “No, I’d much rather spend it here with you,” she said and then was surprised she had.

  “What was that you said?” asked the Prince as he fanned out both of his ears and curved them forward making Lana laugh so hard that she had tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. “Are you making fun of my ears?” he asked as he continued to wiggle them, pretending to be offended.

  “No, no, it’s just that you can be so funny,” she barely got out the words as she now lay on her back laughing and trying to breathe.

  “Well, I am not sure if that is a good thing or not, but at least you are happy,” he teased and sent a little splash from his tail to her face.

  “Okay, that’s not fair!” Lana sent a splash his way that he easily dodged and then she continued to scoop her hands in the water as fast as she could trying to get him. The Prince gently took both her hands into his own and stopped her. They both froze and looked into each other’s eyes and then he slowly released them.

  “I am sorry. I did not mean to do anything improper,” he said seriously.

  “You didn’t, it’s okay,” said Lana smiling at him again.

  “Perhaps I do understand a little of how that boy must have felt holding you,” said Prince Titus looking into Lana’s eyes once more.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. I was beginning to think I might not see you again,” Lana said softly, amazed how much his eyes matched her own.

  “I have always been near, I was not sure if you wanted to see me again,” he said seriously.

  “I wish I’d known. I’d have talked to you sooner.”

  “Then it is my fault. I will always be near your dock should you wish to speak with me,” he said with such comfort in his voice.

  “I like that, knowing you’ll be near,” she said softly once more.

  “I am glad, I cannot help but wish to be near you.” He smiled and tenderly brushed his fingers beneath her chin. Lana smiled and blushed. She felt butter
flies roll within her stomach. “I should allow you to go, though I do not wish to,” he said with a half grin.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure my dad’s been watching all of this.” She giggled and they both looked towards the house and saw her father standing in the doorway. Then Lana sighed rolling her eyes and let her thoughts tell him goodnight. He did the same and the Prince and Tempest swam away.