The Excursion: Joshua’s Tale
Yes, I took Thom to see the mermaids. I didn’t think it was such a bad idea at the time, especially since his mother had drawn them so perfectly in her drawing. It’s a little hard to see unless you look really carefully, but she’s perfectly smooth on top and the scales also sort of fade off closer to the upper stomach area, not waist. Even the gills are there, just barely visible because of the hair. I was curious.
Thom was keen on the idea, too, so I didn’t think it was a problem if we went. I had to do a couple spells, but nothing too bad. I knew I had to get to see Shark in order to get a few things straight. For once I was glad we met Lily along the way. Lily had helped me in the past escape from a shipwreck and ever since then, she thought that I owed her. She would constantly tell people we were friends while following me just in case the situation would arise where I could help her. The shipwreck? I was on a cruise with my first family when the ship hit an iceberg and sank. My family was lost, but I managed to survive with a little help. I’m a fairy remember? We live for a long time and I was only twelve at the time—practically a baby.
Anyway, Lily was distracted by Thom, so I had time to go see Shark. She was the head of the military brigade—as much as you could call a group of mermaids a civilization. Their government was extremely loose and almost non-existent, but there were a few situations of organized combat. I can imagine there haven’t been many. Shark monitors who comes in and out of their village and has a wicked memory, so I know that she would remember Emily if she had come.
Shark wasn’t happy to see me, but she’s never happy to see anyone. And after I asked her about Thom’s mom, she told me she did remember her coming once, but that I should talk to Anemone. Anemone is the elected official. She would have never accepted the job of being chief, if she wasn’t already the mermaid everyone went to for trouble. Anemone said that Emily had been there once when she was younger. She was scuba diving a little too close to their village and accidentally saw them. Anemone mentioned Emily would have been fourteen at the time, so completely intrigued by anything magical, she followed the mermaid as far as she could. There was no interaction, Anemone said to me. I asked about the demonic shark. I thought since I was there, I might as well kill two birds with one stone. Anemone laughed and told me it was a story. Shark had made that one up trying to prove to little children not to wander off on their own.
How can there be children in a colony of females? Mermaids reproduce like fish. The men just come out of nowhere and… well, you get the point.
So, I go back to Thom and he’s having a grand old time and we spend time playing tag and exploring a couple coral reefs, when I hear nothing. Usually when you’re underwater, especially with the mermaids, you always hear something, even if it’s just the subtle swish of water when a school of fish turns. But I didn’t hear anything. Then, Emily’s voice is heard straight through the water calling us in. If Thom hadn’t also heard it, I wouldn’t have said anything. It was strange that we could hear her through several miles of water and nothing else was making a sound to me. Even Lily and Thom laughed silently. I still didn’t hear anything, but Thom waved goodbye and started swimming upward, so I followed him. When we got up to surface, we were at the shore. And that’s when I saw the second fairy. My guardian was standing behind Emily, who was at the pier, waiting for us. She didn’t seem happy at all, but she stepped into Emily’s body and used her as a puppet. The best way to describe it is to imagine that Emily is doing everything that my guardian is doing. Thom and I see Emily making us dinner and taking us to bed, but it’s really my guardian. She tucked Thom in first and then came to see me after sending Emily’s body to bed.
Nothing really drastic happened, I was just severely reprimanded and told not to go into other people’s business. I think it’s because the fairies have had a hand in Thom’s dad’s death, but I can’t really prove anything and the farther I get into my theory, the more and more I get stopped. I wonder if I did it myself with out Thom I wouldn’t be bothered so much, but he’s sort of the human normalcy that I need. I like him and he helps me without knowing it. He’s a sort of experimental control that I can compare my experiences to. He’s not stupid, but it’s hard to guess magical means to things when you haven’t dealt with magic your whole life and you don’t know how to use it.
I did learn that the mermaids were connected in someway to this family. Emily was even involved with them at some point. I just wish the fairies weren’t so secretive, so that I can settle this curiosity and find a way to end this family’s pain.
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 3:03 pm and is filed under End of Childhood, Fantasy, Fiction Prose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.