Lyra, the oldest mermaid among her sisters, sat on her favorite rock. It was close to the shore and quite far from her home, but her grandmother did not care if she went wandering off too far. Grandmother was always busy with Lyra’s younger sisters. She sang, sitting there on her rock, combing her long dark green hair, far away from her sisters and the commotion of the palace.
No matter how close Lyra got to the shore, she’d never mingle with humans. Whenever one got too close, she’d disappear. Her sister, Ara, had a fascination with them, and Lyra wasn’t sure that anything Grandmother said would make her stay away from humans.
On the balcony of the palace on the shore, the prince heard a voice. It was not ordinary by the least. It sounded unearthly, warbling yet smooth at the same time. It was truly beautiful, it brought him to tears. The owner of the wondrous voice was not singing in any of the languages he knew. He decided he would find the owner of the voice.
The prince rounded up a small crew and set out to sea. In the distance, he saw a small island and a seaweed-covered rock jutting out of the ocean.
“Leave me on the island. Take the ship back to shore,” he ordered.
The crew obeyed, although they weren’t sure what he was planning to do.
Lyra heard the unmistakable sound of human speech. It sounded so different from the language of the merpeople. She immediately slipped off the rock and swam away.
The prince jumped in the water and began to swim toward the rock. The seaweed was gone, and so was the voice.
Suddenly, a girl with white-blond hair and dark blue skin popped out of the water. Except she wasn’t a girl. It was a mermaid! The ones from fables and tales. Her tail was pale yellow and sparkling under the water. The prince felt fear and wonder strike his heart.
They were leaning on the rock, studying each other.
The prince felt as if he were in a trance. She was so beautiful and terrifying. Surely she was the owner of the wonderful voice.
Ara was excited. She had never been this close to a human before. Grandmother would surely disapprove. But no one knew she was there. Lyra hadn’t seen her hiding, and she told her grandmother that she was with her friends.
Ara had always been jealous of Lyra for being able to do whatever she wanted. Lyra was so infuriating. She had the chance to get out of Grandmother’s clutches and she didn’t even do anything fun! And she had the Siren’s gift! She had all the luck. But Ara was embracing her gift of sorcery and was able to shape-shift and transfigure objects. She had never transfigured a living thing. Grandmother said doing that almost always backfires.
Ara wanted him. She would turn the human into one of her own and keep him.
She took his soft hands in hers and gently pulled him under the water.
The prince was vaguely aware that an impossible creature was dragging him underwater. He knew he was going to drown, but that feeling of being in a trance lingered. And the mermaid looked so young and beautiful; surely she was not trying to kill him.
Ara and the prince were underwater, the sun reflecting off of a gold chain around his neck. She laid her hand on it and murmured the spell for a transfiguration.
The prince looked down at his chest. He was growing gills! As his legs were fusing together to make a tail, and he realized the mermaid was turning him into one of them. His emotions and thoughts were repressed, and he felt like he was watching it all happen in slow motion.
Ara was pleased with what she had done. It was working! But then the prince’s body began to grow scales everywhere. The scales were not where they were supposed to be. His tail was shortening, and his eyes turned beady and glassy. He was turning into a fish!
The prince saw the mermaid’s face go from pleasure to shock to horror, and he knew why. He was turning into a fish. He didn’t feel particularly afraid or angry; his brain still felt sluggish. And then he felt nothing at all.
Ara watched the fish swim away as the golden chain fell slowly to the bottom of the ocean floor.
—By Kiyang W., 14, Toronto