Previous Post Aella 4 – Daughter of the Sea,     The late afternoon sun beat down on the water with golden rays. The peaceful ocean glistened in the warmth and light. The dark clouds that had filled the sky for two whole days had finally given way, leaving a clear blue sky to look down on the endless waters below.     Beneath the waves, an impossible creature moved through the water.     The mermaid moved not as a human might when swimming, splashing and waving their arms and legs to propel themselves through the ocean, but with such grace as that her passage through the sea was breathtaking. She knew the ocean, was aware of the shifting currents almost as if they were but an extension of herself. She knew almost instinctively which slight movements would speed her movement, change her direction. All the sea was open to her and welcomed her. Or rather it should be open to her at least.     Her tail shone a brilliant blue green and caught the light like a thousand shimmering sequins. All about her in the water drifted hair, unbelievably long, its colour maybe black, maybe dark brown. The top she wore boasted an array of fiery colours, stunning as the setting sun. But most notable feature of all about this magical young girl was her eyes, the colour of the sea.     In truth she was not far off the coast, less than a mile away tall cliffs rose high above the water, but it seemed like forever. The ocean stretched all around her and its whispering filled her ears. The sea surrounded her and was her.     A human might have found the sea waters cold, but to her it was filled with a pleasant, comforting warmth. Her eyes were not blind in salt water like a human’s would be, but could see better underwater than above. She seemed to breathe normally, though in fact gills in the roof of her mouth transformed the liquid into air for her. She was perfectly suited to her environment in every way.     Time passed slowly. She dived and swam for the simple joy of doing so. She waited.     A song she had once heard came to her in her boredom, one about the sea and the tide and things such as that. She would have liked to have sung it. Instead she simply waited; bemoaning that human words could not form from a mermaid’s voice box.     Then something stirred her; with not a moments pause she propelled herself through the water towards the shore.     Her path took her to an empty cove. As the last of the sun disappeared over the horizon she moved through its waters towards the beach. She had to pause some way off however, unable to leave the sea. She waited. There were just a few seconds more.     All through the last few hours she had kept her right hand closed around something. There was no reason not to. But for those last moments she let her fingers uncurl to reveal what she had been holding. A silver key hung from a ribbon around her wrist. It reflected in the dying light like a shining star.     The sun set. The sea stirred around the mer-girl. Twisted around her. Changed her.     A wave rose from the ocean and washed her onto the beach, but now she was much changed from how she had been moments before. Her tail had become two very human legs, the blue green scaled transformed into a sequined skirt. In fact her whole body had changed, leaving an ordinary young girl on the sands.     Aella.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“The sea is not my prison, nor the cliffs. I am trapped not by inability to leave this cove, but by the power that binds me to the passage of day and night.     I don’t know much about magic, but I do know that if you are cursed to become a mermaid by day and human by night you are in a fair amount of trouble.     If it weren’t a curse, being a mermaid would be the most wonderful thing of all. As a mer-child I am strong, powerful, almost at one with the sea. As it is, I can still remember the one time I tried to defy the curse. Fortunately I had only reached the top of the cliffs by the time sun set. If I had been any further who knows what damage would have been done? Now I know better. I cannot escape my curse, and it is better for me to go to the sea than for it to come to me.     I don’t know if there are any actual mermaids, non-cursed ones that is. If there are then I have never seen one, nor would it do me the slightest degree of good.     I could try and ease my loneliness for one night by travelling at sunset to another place, a place with people. But one lone, wet girl would attract attention, and I would need to be gone before morning. I can’t go anywhere where there are people and this is the only place that I can get food and supplies. Besides, to leave would mean to abandon everything but the Key, and that would include the notebook in which I have gathered everything I know about all this.     So instead I must wait in my empty prison, trying to fill the days and dreading the new moon and what it brings.     Sometimes I wonder about one of the few things I do know about the magic that binds me. The spell transforms its victim into any form of creature that is non-human, dependant upon what creature they are closest to. Why then, of all possible animals am I a mermaid?     The moon is bright tonight, as if it wants to make up for the two nights before. The ocean is reflecting in its rays. The night is beautiful.     I pull myself to my feet and head towards my cave, becoming aware of how hungry I am. Time slips by as I dry myself, counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until the sea will call me again.     Sometimes I wonder how long I have lived like this.” Aella More stories by me can be found at http://www.chillwater.plus.com/rrw/rrwindex.htm">Rhiannons Stories. Rhiannon Watson Concepts, characters, and situations copyright © 2006 reserved by Rhiannon Rose Watson. The right of Rhiannon Rose Watson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved.

The idea of a mermaid curse is a new one for me...I like it!

~Hat~