Vivian looked out of her window, observing the same old garden. A week of her summer vacation had passed and Vivi was bored. She had been excited at first to be back home in Deep Lake Valley, but soon realized that with her cousins gone to Malaysia for the summer, there was not much to do there. She was about to close the window when she heard some sort of noise that sounded like omeone’s giggle. Intrigued, she went to explore the valley, hoping that this summer would not be as uneventful as she thought. Vivi walked for 5 minutes before reaching the lake, and it was truly a breathtaking sight. The fern glittered on the rocks, and the flowers swayed gracefully with the breeze. The crystal clear water rippled as fish plopped in and out of it, it was truly mesmerizing. She heard the giggling again. It seemed to come from the lake and she hid behind the enormous boulder and peeked out when she saw a fin splash some water. Then she saw a girl with a tail, flutter about near the lotuses and she gasped. It was a mermaid!!! Was this real? Was she dreaming? She could not believe her eyes. Just then, the mermaid spotted her and went back into the water with a small yelp and a big splash. “Umm, hey?” Vivian spoke gently, standing up and moving toward the lake. “Hi, my name is Vivian Knight”.
“I won’t hurt you, you can come out.” She patiently waited.
“Hi Vivian, I am Esperanza Aquilla,” a voice answered back.
“I am sorry for being rude, but are you what I think you are.?” Vivian inquired.
“A mermaid, you mean?”.
“Ye-yes”, Vivi stuttered.
“Well, see for yourself”, she replied playfully, and soon her head came out of the water. She
splashed water on Vivi’s face, showing her beautiful emerald colour tail.
Esperanza was gorgeous. She had blue marine eyes, and her white hair had two blue streaks.
“How old are you?” Vivi inquired.
“14, you?” Esperanza replied.
“I am 13.”
“So, Vivian, May I ask what you are doing here?”.
“I live here, or at least my parents do. I am here for the summer, then I will go back to my
hostel.”
“Well, that makes two of us. I am also here with my cousins for the summer and then we will
go back to Aquariana.”
“Aquariana? Is that where you live?” Vivi wanted to know more about her friend.
Wait, were they friends? Maybe. For now, she just wanted to know more about her, for it
was not every day that a mermaid made your acquaintance.
After 4 hours of endless chattering and laughing, Espa (or so Vivi liked to call her), gestured
to the setting sun, and informed her she had to return.
“Yes, it’s getting late. I need to go back, too,” Vivi replied.
“Well, see you tomorrow, Vivi,” and with that Espa dived back into the water.
Vivian returned home and could only think about her new mermaid friend, knowing that this
summer would be full of fresh adventures.
Part 2: A New adventure
Vivian had been meeting Esperanza almost for a week now, and they had become best friends.
One day, both of them were happily chatting when Vivian asked her something that had been puzzling her for some time. “Hey, can I ask you something personal if you don’t mind?”.
“Yes sure, Vivi, go ahead”
“Well, I was wondering, do all mermaids and mermen have emerald colour tails?” Vivian asked, a bit hesitatingly.
“Oh! No, no,” Espa remarked. “The colour of one’s tail symbolizes a lot of things like royalty, region and values. I have told you that my father is the king of Aquairiana, the waters of the Mediterranean sea. In all other water kingdoms, including ours, the colour of the tail of a royal is a shade of blue. My father’s tail is a light blue since he is someone of calm and composed nature. And I am told that my emerald tail symbolises peace. You know, the water itself assigns us names. The water assigned me the name Esperanza- Spanish for hope.” Espa explained.
Amazed, Vivian said, “Wow, I wish I was a mermaid.” “Idea! Come an hour early tomorrow. I need to leave now,” Espa suddenly said and then went back into the water. Vivian was confused, but went back home and came an hour early the next day.
Vivian had been waiting for around ten minutes when Esperanza came with a vial of strange, white liquid.
“You wanted to be a mermaid, drink this and be one,” Espa said, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
“What?” Vivi asked, full of confusion.
“I somehow tricked my older cousin into telling me how to make it, if you drink it now you can be a mermaid for the entire day, till the sun sets and see the water get a tail and a name,” Espa replied with a lot of enthusiasm.
Vivian looked at the vial and it looked as interesting as dangerous. Vivi took the vial and rank it and then jumped into the water. For a few minutes, nothing happened and the two girls thought that the liquid wasn’t working. Suddenly, Vivian felt she was being sucked by the ocean floor and then, she looked at herself, beautiful shells and corals covered the upper part of her body and she had A TAIL. Her tail was beautiful. It was fiery red, with a little grey and black in between. She was overjoyed and too shocked to react when she heard a whisper, “Incendia”. Espa gasped. “Your mermaid name, Incendia, it’s derived from incendio- Spanish for
burning.” Vivian and Espa enjoyed the entire day collecting corals and talking to fishes and other sea creatures. They were all friendly. After over 3 hours, Vivi and Espa heard whispers, not ones they had heard before. These were terrifying. “Sirens! They must have smelled you,” Espa remarked, her voice full of worry. “Sirens tear humans limb by limb. They won’t care that you look like a mermaid, they can smell your blood and will eat you in an instant.” There were three creatures with long tails and sharp teeth, snarling at them and then started swimming toward them. “Swim for your life!!” Espa shouted at Vivi. Vivi swam as fast as she could, processing how one of the happiest days in her life could lead to her funeral. The sun was also setting. They had almost reached the shore when Vivian felt something again. She was changing, turning back human again. “Oh no, not now,” Esperanza said. Vivian turned human but fortunately, stepped onto the land as soon as she did. The sirens then turned away in an instant, muttering a language of their own. Esperanza went underwater, as she probably had to persuade the sirens not to speak of anything. Vivi breathed heavily and sat there simply thinking if the fire in her was something positive or something that could destroy her.