The Captain & The Mermaid

[Part I] Conquest of the Mystifying Mermaid // [Part II] The Mermaid Ball // [Part III] To Be a Mermaid // [Part IV] Mother Mermaid // [Part V] The Lonely Mermaid

Fuchsia, the pink mermaid, had been teleported from the beach with her new friend Rainbow, to an unfamiliar place of total darkness.

Once again, she was completely alone.

Where am I?! She shouted in fear.

A light appeared out of nowhere where, growing larger and brighter.

And then, the Mother Mermaid presented herself in all her beauty and wonder!

“Hello, dear,” she greeted with a voice that echoed all around.

“Mother Mermaid, is it you?” Fuchsia called out, “what’s going on?”

“You have passed all your tests, trials, and tribulations!” She announced, “you immersed yourself in the human world, opened your heart to pain and confusion. You made new friends, you explored a new path, and you never gave up. At any moment, you could have called to me and begged for a return. But you kept going, even when you didn’t know where to go. And in your final moment, you opened yourself to love — even if that meant rejection. Congratulations!”

Fuchsia was speechless.

“And now, you must do one more thing before you can return home and be a full mermaid again…” she continued, “I want you to give a speech.”

“A speech?!”

“I want you to speak to all the mermaids and mermen of the sea. Tell them your story, and most importantly, tell them my message.”

“Why can’t you just tell them?”

“I am always sharing my message — but no one ever hears, or sees. It takes a special mermaid like you to be able to open your third eye and converse with the great Mother Mermaid. And so, you are the only one who can pass my message along to the rest.”

“Can I please see my sisters first? I miss them so much.”

“Your sisters have swam across the ocean. I promise you’ll see them again soon. Right now, I need you to focus on not your sisters but your entire mermaid and mermen family as a conscious collective.”

“Okay,” Fuchsia gulped, “I’ll do it,” she agreed, as if she even had a choice. “And just to be sure — what exactly is your message?”

“Simply speak from your heart,” Mother Mermaid replied, before vanishing into darkness.

The next thing she knew, Fuchsia was standing on the largest rock, looking down upon millions of mermaids and mermen.

Her heart was racing. There they stood: wide-eyed, waiting for her to speak. Fuchsia took a final deep breath before opening her mouth and letting her heart pour out to the crowd.

“Mermaids and mermen, I’m here to tell you my story,” she began with a shaky voice. She cleared her throat and continued, “I was cast away from this seafoam society and sent to live among the humans as a half-mermaid.”

Gasps!

“Fear NOT, my friends! You see, the human world is not nearly as bad as it seems. Yes, these people need a lot of work. The humans are distracted, stupid, and lonely. It’s chaotic. And I got hurt.

However — they have a lot of love in their hearts. They have potential, if only we could open our hearts to them, then perhaps they would learn how to open their hearts as well. And we could live in peace and harmony — instead of living in fear!”

Fuchsia felt like she was on fire; she could feel the passion bursting out of her.

The crowd felt that heat in return — thus breaking out into a riot!

Half of them welcomed her message, applauding and cheering with tears of joy — while the other half became even more fearful, booing and yelling. The next thing she knew, violence broke out. Mermaids and mermen were taking swings at one another, even the innocent children were getting pushed around.

Fuchsia felt her face go pale, watching her worst fear come true: letting Mother Mermaid down. Surely, this is not what the legendary goddess had envisioned, right?

“Stop!” Fuchsia panicked, attempting to control them. But of course, no one could hear her.

“STOP!!!” she tried again, this time at the top of her lungs. And still, the riot continued.

It almost looked like a moshpit at a concert, the way everyone was rustling around. Feeling like the performer on stage, Fuchsia began to sing. She let her voice grow louder, and her notes go higher, until finally the crowd settled down. She noticed them looking at her now, so she added a little twirl, and then began dancing while she continued to sing.

The crowd was mesmerized, hypnotized! They stood there in silence, watching Fuchsia with joy.

“QUEEN!!!” someone shouted, “make her our QUEEN!“

More and more joined in until the entire crowd was chanting, “QUEEN! QUEEN! QUEEN!”

Fuchsia could not believe it!

The government (made up of mer-people,) rushed to her side to place a diamond tiara and her head. And with that, Fuchsia’s legs were growing scales and morphing into a tail, her hair was regaining its vivid pink color and growing down all the way to the tip of her tail, and her aura was shining so bright it nearly blinded her subjects.

Fuchsia felt like she had died and gone to heaven. This was all too perfect.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flashing light. Feeling so drawn to it, she fled the crowd and swam away into the light, until she reached the surface.

And there he was… the captain. He was sitting in a sandbar with the ship anchored down.

“My mermaid,” he greeted her.

“My captain,” she responded without a second thought. “Wait,” she added, stopping herself, “what are you doing here? I spent all this time waiting for you, and now you show up?”

“I’m here to take you away,” he said, “hop on my ship and we will sail the world together.”

“No, I won’t,” Fuchsia refused, “they just made me their queen. You’re out of your mind if you think I am stupid enough to leave behind my perfect life for a man I can’t even count on.”

“I know, I know more than you think.”

“Hmm?”

“A long, long time ago — long before your time, I was a merman. And just like you, I explored the world, and my third eye opened me up to Mother Mermaid, and she asked me to deliver her message, in order to bring peace. And just like you, they made me their king.

But they lost sight. They worshipped me, instead of the message I was bringing. And it changed me for the worst. They fed my ego until my head exploded. The message was lost.

And so, I faked my death and disguised my identity as a captain, spending my days sailing around the world on my own. But I’m not out looking for gold or treasures, like you assumed. I’m out here looking for love.”

Fuchsia looked deep into the captain’s eyes. There he was, ready to embrace her. It was all too perfect; it was too good to be true. Another one of Mother Mermaid’s tests, perhaps? Once again, he was tricking her into leaving her mermaid duties behind.

“So come with me,” he concluded.

“You have hurt me too much,” Fuchsia stood her ground, “and I have hurt you too much. It’s hopeless.”

The captain furrowed his eyes and shook his head, “don’t be so scared.”

“This is my destiny,” Fuchsia pointed to the water.

“Then, go,” he motioned her away with a careless shrug.

And with that, Fuchsia disappeared deep into the sea and returned to her people.

Upon returning, she witnessed a colossal, 10,000 foot statue of herself! Every detail — from the shape of her features to every single freckle on her body — was included. Her jaw dropped.

“Queen,” a merman said to her, “all ten million of us carved this in your honor. Are you pleased?”

“Of course!” Fuchsia exclaimed in total delight.

“Queen,” another merman rushed to her side, “I wrote a thousand poems about your beauty. May I recite them to you?”

“Why, most certainly!” She blushed.

“Queen!” A mermaid said, “I sewed you an entire new wardrobe, with the trendiest styles, tailored to your exact measurements! Would you like to model them for me?”

“I’d love to!” She cheered.

“Queen!” A very pregnant mermaid said, “I’m pregnant with quintuplets and I plan on naming ALL of my children ‘Fuchsia’ in your honor! May you bless the babies by rubbing my stomach?”

“Yes, definitely!” She smiled.

“Queen!” The head banker said, “I’ve drained everyone’s bank account so that you are now the richest in the world!”

“Uh, thank you! But…”

“Queen!” The head scientist said, “weve started a space program with plans to start a colony on Neptune — you know, the ocean planet — and make you queen there as well!”

“Thanks, but–“

“Queen!” Another shouted.

“Hold on, hold on!” She screamed. “What about my plans? To unite with the humans?”

“Gosh queen, we have no time for that!” They explained, “we must spend all of our time pleasing you!”

Fuchsia’s head was spinning; she was so overwhelmed. Everyone was staring at her, ready to do whatever she commanded of them. Everyone now saw her as the savoir, the one to bring world peace.

“You don’t understand,” Fuchsia attempted to explain, “this is not about ME, this is about ALL OF US! World peace is a group effort! I can’t do this all alone!”

“So, you must have a king by your side!” They decided. “Who would you like as your king?”

Fuchsia slapped herself, trying to wake up from this madness. “I need to go!” She announced as she rushed away.

Back to the little island she went, and the captain was luckily still there.

“Is it too late?” was all she could say.

“I wouldn’t have been sitting here waiting for you, if I didn’t love you.”

“I love you more,” she glowed, collapsing into his big arms.