by David Gordon.
Once there were two beautiful mermaids, mother and daughter, who roamed the salt seas. They swam gracefully through the waves and beneath the water’s surface. Warm ocean currents carried them along and they covered great distances very quickly. They never went on shore, but sometimes swam close to land to sun themselves on the rocks.
“Why do we always follow the same ocean currents?” the little mermaid asked her mother. “We know these currents well,” her mother answered. “They make the journey easier. We find plenty of food and we see old friends who travel the same route.” “That’s true,” said the little mermaid thoughtfully, “but I think it would be nice to try a new route. I want to see new places and make new friends.”
Her mother was trying to think of just the right answer when the surface of the water broke violently. A dolphin leapt into the air and came splashing down startling both of them. The dolphin was an old friend. They saw him often in their travels. The little mermaid loved to swim with him.
“Hey!” she cried, “let me ride on your back.” The little mermaid was very fast in the water but her dolphin friend was even faster. She threw her arms around the dolphin’s neck and felt the thrill of his speed as he carried her under water and then flew through the air. Her mother smiled. She loved to see the little mermaid having fun and she was relieved that she didn’t have to answer her question about the new ocean currents.
That night as the two mermaids were going to sleep, the little mermaid said, “the dolphin told me about a route that he often takes. He said the current is strong and that there are lots of starfish!” “Starfish are so small and so slow,” said her mother. “I know but they really like me. They always follow me around and they always ask about the places that I’ve seen. Please can we try going that way? Please?” “We shouldn’t talk about these things before bed,” said the mermaid’s mother. “It makes it hard for you to sleep.”
But the little mermaid fell asleep right away. She dreamed of places she had never seen. It was her mother who lay awake thinking. She loved her daughter’s curiosity and sense of adventure and did not want to stifle it, but she was nervous about going places she had never been before. The dolphin is one of our oldest friends, she thought, if he suggested the route then at least I know it can’t be too dangerous. She began to relax and drifted off to sleep.
The two mermaids woke to a brilliantly sunny morning. “I was thinking about the new route,” said the mother. “I trust this dolphin very much. I’m happy with the currents that we already know, but I think it would be okay for us to try something different.” “Yippy!” shouted the little mermaid and she jumped into the air waving her arms. The dolphin heard the commotion from a long way off and swam over to see what was happening. “I will have to catch up with the other dolphins eventually,” he said when he heard of their plans, “but we can start out together.” “Yes!!!!!!!!!!” said the little mermaid. Not only was she about to set out on an adventure and see places that she had never seen, she was also going with her favorite dolphin, at least for a while.
The dolphin was so fast that he could swim in circles exploring large areas and still keep up with the mermaids. Sometimes he took the little mermaid with him. Once he returned with a tuft of yellow seaweed on his head like hair. He pretended to be a mermaid, sending the little mermaid into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, while her mother also laughed with delight. After a while the dolphin said it was time for him to go on ahead. The little mermaid hugged him goodbye. “He’s going to meet up with the other dolphins,” said the little mermaid as she watched him disappear into the distance. “Why don’t we swim with other mermaids?” “There are all different types of beings,” said her mother, “some travel in large groups and some travel all alone. The wonderful thing about us is that we travel with each other.”
The mermaids glided through new waters. Overhead, a seagull kept them company. They had met before but this was the first time they were traveling the same route. The gull was timid but very kind and felt honored that the mermaids enjoyed his company. The mother and the gull waited patiently while the little mermaid stopped to talk with the starfish. “The ocean is cooler here,” said the mother, “at first I didn’t want to go somewhere I hadn’t been, but I have to admit the change is refreshing.” I wouldn’t know about change,” said the gull, “I always fly the same way, to the same nesting grounds, year after year.”
It was late morning when they came into sight of land. The little mermaid was very excited. “Look!” she pointed, “can I go closer and see what’s there?” “It looks like a town,” said her mother, “stay in the water and make sure that no one sees you. People are strange creatures. They get upset when they see things they don’t understand.”
The little mermaid slowly approached the harbor. It was a bustling city and the waterfront was a popular place for people to walk or to enjoy a picnic lunch. The little mermaid was fascinated. Taking care not to be seen, she tucked in behind some rocks that stuck out of the water and watched the vibrant display. There were people walking dogs, women dressed in all kinds of fancy clothes and children on bicycles and skateboards. She thought she could stay there all day just watching the people. It was a long time before she felt the desire to explore further. The waterfront extended as far as she could see in both directions. She saw another rock in the distance and swam towards it.
As the little mermaid approached her new hiding place, she saw a girl on one of the rocks. The mermaid froze and watched from a distance. She noticed that the girl was very still. Then she realized that it wasn’t a girl at all, but a statue of a girl. As she slowly swam closer she saw that it wasn’t a statue of a girl either, it was a statue of a mermaid! The people who live here must like mermaids, she thought and she swam up to the rock, admiring the beautiful bronze sculpture. She peeked out from behind the rock and was able to see the shore very clearly.
There were fewer people here as it was farther from the city’s busy streets. Someone skated past on roller skates. On a patch of grass was a boy not much bigger than the little mermaid herself. He was lying on his stomach deeply engrossed in a book. The little mermaid studied him carefully wondering what he was doing. She had never seen a book before and could not imagine what the boy was looking at for so long. Every time he turned a page she strained to try and make out what he was doing. The boy had reddish brown hair and wore a blue sweater. She wanted to go up and talk to him but she remembered what her mother had said. She thought how strange she would seem to the boy with her tail for swimming and no legs for walking. The boy looked up from his book and glanced towards the statue. The mermaid had been so intent on watching the boy that she didn’t realized that she was sticking out so much from the rock. Quickly she ducked back into water, her heart racing. He hadn’t seen her, had he? She swam under the surface all the way to where her mother was gathering fruits from the various seaweeds that grew plentifully in these new waters.
The mermaid told her mother about all the things she had seen and especially about the strange thing that the boy was looking at “That must have been a book,” said her mother, “I’ve heard of them. People use them because they have such short memories.” “How do books help people’s memories?” asked the little mermaid. “The books tell them stories that they wouldn’t otherwise remember,” said her mother. “We mermaids have very strong memories. We can remember the stories of our great, great, great grandparents and even before that.” This explanation made the little mermaid even more curious. Books told stories and the little mermaid loved stories. She was also becoming more and more curious about people, and she wondered what kind of stories they would want to remember. She suddenly knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest until she was holding a book in her own hands, until it was telling her stories, stories of the people that she knew so little about. But how would she get a book? She couldn’t walk on land because she didn’t have legs and she wasn’t allowed to let anyone see her.
She thought deeply on this question of how she would find a book as she swam quickly back to the statue. She was excited to see that the boy was still there, still reading. But what good did that really do her? Why couldn’t just the book be there and not the boy? Why couldn’t she go right up to him and ask to see the book? What was the worst that could really happen? But she was too afraid. Then the boy got up and looked around. This time the mermaid was well hidden. He wandered off behind some trees leaving the book in the grass. The little mermaid’s heart leapt in her chest. This was her chance and it wouldn’t come again! She darted toward the patch of grass and the book, but when she was almost there the boy reappeared and the mermaid instinctively dove deep underwater and returned disheartened to the brightly colored coral reef where they would spend the night.
The little mermaid knew her mother would be ready to move on in the morning, but she needed more time. “Can we stay here one more day?” she pleaded. She had to figure out how to get a book. “I remember when I was young,” said her mother, “I was also fascinated by people, and so were all my sisters. I know it will only make things worse if I try to stop you from satisfying your curiosity, but be careful! There are always dangers when you are near people. Keep your distance and remember what I told you.” “I will be careful,” said the little mermaid, “I will,” but she couldn’t help thinking about the boy and how he didn’t seem dangerous at all.
It took a long time to get to sleep that night. The little mermaid was desperately trying to think of how to get a book. She would begin to doze off and then she would jerk herself awake realizing that she hadn’t yet come up with a plan. Her mind drifted to images of the people she had seen and she wondered what their lives were like. What did they do all day, and what kinds of stories were in their books. She tossed and turned and finally drifted into a fitful sleep dreaming of sand dollars that she accidently dropped and could not find again. When she woke she swam to the surface and startled the seagull who had been bobbing peacefully in the gentle waves. She suddenly became very excited. The seagull would surely be able to help her find a book!
“I’m really glad to see you!” said the little mermaid making the gull feel very important. “I need your help? I have to find a book and I have no idea where to look for one, but you fly over the land all the time. You can see what people do. Where do they get books?” “The library,” said the gull nervously. “I see people coming out with lots of books. They sit in the park and read. Sometimes they throw me food.” “Could you please get a book for me?” pleaded the mermaid. “I’m not allowed to be seen by people and I can’t move around on land anyway.” The seagull looked doubtful. “I don’t know,” he said, “I’ve never been inside the library, it just doesn’t seem right for a bird.” “But you could go into the library, couldn’t you?” “I suppose I could, but…” “Please,” said the mermaid, “I need to see a book for myself. I want to know how they tell stories.” I have a bad feeling about this, thought the seagull, but he couldn’t bring himself to say, no. “I’ll try,” he said, and spread his wings to fly away. “Thank you, thank you,” the mermaid cried after him. She was so excited that she couldn’t be still. She swam here and there, coming to the surface every few minutes to look for the seagull.
The seagull was a bit of a worrier in general and he was quite nervous about his mission. He was around people all the time but he did not quite trust them. Many of them seemed nice and tossed him bread, but others would shoo him away with a newspaper. To go into one of their buildings seemed very dangerous. It only took a few minutes to reach the library. The seagull circled in front of the doorway as he had many times before. “Here goes,” he thought with a sigh as a girl walked out the big glass doors. He easily flew in before the doors automatically shut. “Getting out may not be so easy,” he said to himself.
People immediately noticed the seagull. “Look!” they pointed, “what’s that bird doing in here?” I knew this was a bad idea, thought the seagull. The bright lights made him confused and he almost flew into a tall bookshelf. He swooped down and pulled a book from the shelf and took it to the counter. “I need to take this book out for a friend,” said the seagull. The librarian looked astonished. She didn’t understand anything that the seagull had said. It just sounded like squawking to her. “Get this bird out of my library,” she yelled and picked up a broom. Another librarian grabbed a mop and the two of them swung wildly in the air. The gull had no trouble dodging their blows but he became slightly panicked. He saw the open sky through a window, but didn’t notice the glass. He was knocked unconscious by the crash and the next thing he knew he was being carried out of the building by his tail feathers and was thrown onto the cement.
The poor seagull was terribly humiliated. He wandered, unsteadily across the square. Until he felt he could fly again. He took to the sky in wobbly flight. My head aches and I’m missing two tail feathers, he thought, but all I can think about is how disappointed that little mermaid will be. She was just so excited. How can I tell her that I don’t have a book for her? Just then he looked down and saw the same boy that the little mermaid had watched. The boy was gazing out to sea and the book he was reading was in grass next to him. Without thinking the gull swooped down and grabbed the book. “Hey come back,” yelled the boy waving frantically, “give me back my book.”
The gull brought the book to the mermaid who was so happy that she leapt into the air. “I knew that you could do it!” she said. Then the gull told her the story of what happened in the library. He showed her his missing tail feathers and the bruise on his head. “Oh no!” said the mermaid, “I’m so sorry.” She remembered how she had begged the gull to get her a book. “I pressed you to go even though you didn’t want to,” she said sorrowfully, “but where did you get this book from?” The seagull told of the boy on the rock and how he hadn’t wanted to disappoint the little mermaid. “You mean you stole the book?” the mermaid asked in dismay. The gull hadn’t thought of it like that. He was used to swooping down to grab a piece of bread before any of the other birds, but now he felt terrible. “You need to bring the book back right now,” said the mermaid, “but wait…” Now that she actually held the book in her hands, how could she send it back without even looking at it?
She swam to a near-by rock. The seagull perched anxiously beside her. “The boy will soon leave that spot, then how will I find him? I won’t be able to return the book,” he said. “I know, I know,” said the mermaid, “but first I have to see what’s inside it.” She had eagerly awaited this moment, but now she felt too rushed and anxious to enjoy it. She opened the book with giddy excitement and there, inside were nothing but a bunch of strange marks that meant absolutely nothing to her. She flipped through the pages, stunned. Where were the stories? Everything was silent. She looked up. The sky looked vast and the ocean seemed upside down. The gull paced nervously.
“I’m going to talk to him,” she said.
“To the boy!” said the seagull, “you can’t do that. The boy seemed very angry about the book. You never know what he will do.” The gull felt responsible for this mess and for the little mermaid, “you know your mother would be very upset if she knew.”
“I’m going,” said the mermaid quietly.
The seagull flew high overhead and circled back to the mermaid who followed in the water. “Don’t go,” said the seagull as he caught his first glimpse of the boy. “Remember, you aren’t allowed to let people see you.” The mermaid was afraid and stopped for a moment to sort out her thoughts and feelings. The seagull was circling above, ready to protect her if necessary. She was afraid because of all the things she had heard about people, how they could be cruel, and how they didn’t understand magical beings like mermaids. She was afraid but she also knew that she was very fast in the water and could out swim any person. Most importantly, she knew that she had to give the book back, and she had to learn how it told stories.
She approached the rock and saw the boy whose book she held in her hand. He had been looking out to sea and noticed the mermaid from a long way off. Now he was watching her intently. She stopped some distance from the rock and held out the book. “I have your book,” she said. The boy just stared for a moment unable to believe his eyes. Then he jumped to his feet, which startled the mermaid who swam back a little further. They looked at each other for a moment and then the boy began to smile. “I knew it!” he said, “I knew that there were real mermaids. Everyone said that mermaids were only in books and stories, but I always knew there were real mermaids. I knew I would see one someday, and here you are. You are a real mermaid!”
“Yes,” said the little mermaid and she swam a little closer. She was surprised by his enthusiasm. “I am a real mermaid and I have your book” She held out the book. “You must have been worried about it. I’m really sorry.” “I was a little worried,” he admitted and he glanced at the seagull who was keeping a safe distance from the boy. “I would have been in a lot of trouble if you hadn’t brought it back. Besides, I want to find out what happens at the end of the story.” “I was watching you read,” said the mermaid, “and I just had to see a book for myself, but when I looked in the book, I couldn’t find a story anywhere. There are just a lot of strange marks in there and they don’t make any sense to me”
“You have to learn to read,” the boy said. He still couldn’t believe that he was talking to a real mermaid! He smiled and said, “I can show you how to read – if you have time.” “Well,” said the mermaid, “we are leaving tomorrow. Does that give me enough time to learn to read?” The boy looked very disappointed. “You’re leaving tomorrow?” he repeated, “That’s not enough time at all. It took me two years to learn to read.” The little mermaid was surprised and saddened. “Two years!” she exclaimed. I never stay anywhere that long! How will I ever learn?” Then the boy’s eyes got brighter. “I can read this book to you and show you a little bit about how reading works.” The little mermaid immediately cheered up. “Okay!” she said and hopped up onto the grassy shore, completely forgetting that she was supposed to be afraid of people.
The boy told the mermaid that the strange marks were called letters. He showed her an “A” and a “B”, and so on. He pointed to each word as he read and the mermaid began to see patterns in the letters and the sounds, and started to follow along. Mermaids are magical beings, and with the boys help, the little mermaid started to hear the words that were written on the page. Soon the words were speaking to her clearly. They told the most enchanting story of a traveling theatre in long ago times. In the theatre was a family of actors and musicians. There was a boy and a girl, and the girl was just the same age as the little mermaid. The story was told so beautifully that the mermaid could see every fold of the girls dress and the curls in her hair. She heard the clop, clop of the horses’ hooves as the theatre moved from town the town, and she could feel how badly the little girl yearned to see far away lands and to perform before the King and the Queen. Even the seagull stopped pacing and was completely captivated by the story.
The boy was amazed by how quickly the little mermaid learned. “It took me such a long time to learn to read like this and you learned in just a few pages! How can that be?” “I don’t know,” said the mermaid, “but this is an amazing book!” Soon they were taking turns reading out loud and they both lost track of time.
“I have to go and find my mother!” exclaimed the mermaid with a start. “She must be wondering where I am. I wish I could show her this book.” “Well…” said the boy hesitantly, “I could let you borrow it but you have to promise not to get it wet.” The mermaid was ecstatic. “Thank you, thank you!” she said. And she raced off to find her mother, careful to hold the book above the water.
At first her mother was angry that the little mermaid had spoken to a person, but she was relieved that her daughter was okay and realized that she had made an important discovery. They sat on a rock in the water and read while the moon came out. The mother learned to read even faster than the little mermaid. The little mermaid thought it was fun to teach her mother for a change instead of the other way round. They took turns reading and finished the book just as it was getting too dark to see. “That was a wonderful story,” said the mermaid’s mother. “I always thought that people were so different from us, but now I see that we have many things in common.”
Early the next morning the little mermaid returned to the shore where she had met the boy. “It turns out that my mother and I both like books, very much,” she said. “Thank you for teaching me to read. I will always remember how you helped me.” “You were very easy to teach said the boy.” “Maybe I will see you if we come this way next year,” said the little mermaid. She kissed the boy on the cheek. The boys face slowly turned red. The mermaid noticed but she didn’t understand. Mermaids don’t get embarrassed, and she had never heard of blushing. I guess it’s a people thing, she thought. “Bye,” she waved, and swam off into the current.