MERLAND (PART 1) by Jenn Webster
Once upon a time, not very long ago, there lived a royal king and queen who lived in an island kingdom, complete with a grand palace. One sweet and beautiful day, the royal queen gave birth to a son, whom he was called Royal Prince Arin; a grand christening was held, and the royal prince was christened that day. The royal king invited all of the people to the kingdom, including the royal emperor and empress from a neighboring island kingdom, with whom they also have a child, a two-year-old royal princess named Alisha.
For so many years, the royal king and the royal emperor wanted to have their children betrothed so that when they were older, they shall be married, and then their royal island kingdoms would unite. And so, it was then that Arin and Alisha were finally betrothed, which means that one day, they shall grow up and get married. Alisha then took one look at her future groom.
Meanwhile, the royal king’s wizard, after having seen this incredible moment of the royal childrens’ betrothal, snuck out of the castle as the sun was getting ready to set; the wizard had four magical pearls that he had kept in his box all of those years. The wizard had heard that, when placed underwater, something magical could happen. But when the wizard knew that his own room in the castle was about to be replaced with baby items and clothes after hearing from the king that his services would no longer be required after their son’s birth, the wizard knew that he could no longer keep the precious pearls that he had stored in his box.
And so it was that the wizard went to a beach in the island kingdom and had gone to the edge of the ocean; he took the four pearls from the box and threw them into the ocean, as the wizard chanted a magic spell: “Oh, beautiful pearls of the sea, full of glimmer and glee, be happy and live forever, in the beautiful paradise underneath the sea!” After the wizard threw those four pearls, they sank into the bottom of the ocean.
And then suddenly, a strange thing happened: Those four pearls had transformed into the most beautiful mermaids that anyone had ever seen! All four of them are gorgeous mermaid sisters: A blond woman, a dark brown-haired woman, an African-American woman, and a light brown-haired woman! Soon after this transformation, the four mermaid sisters began inheriting their beautiful singing voices, and then they started to sing in the most heavenly voices imaginable.
And then, the four mermaids were given their names: The blond one was named Terri, the dark brown-haired woman was called Kaline, the African-American woman was called Shanna, and the light brown-haired woman was called Aquella. And so, Terri, Kaline, Shanna, and Aquella are officially born and here to begin their brand-new lives as grown mermaids. And with that fact, they need to have an enchanting underwater kingdom to live in, but what kind would it be?
It was now many years later; the four mermaid sisters now resided in an underwater kingdom that they now call Merland, a sweet and unique kind of paradise place, and that was also where the four mermaid sisters practiced their singing. They had been practicing with very good reason: The children of both the royal king and queen and the royal emperor and empress of neighboring island kingdoms were going to be married in two weeks, and they wanted to have their voices sound just perfect for the royal prince and princess’s special day.
And the four mermaids have somehow stayed young-They hardly aged at all! That was because the wizard had added a special magic eternal youth oil before throwing them in the ocean so that they would be young forever. Meanwhile, Terri was conducting herself and her sisters into their singing practice when they finally finished; Aquella said to Terri, “Wow, I can hardly wait for the day when we surprise the bride and groom with our singing!”
“I am excited, too,” Terri replied, “in fact, I had wanted to meet that wizard who created us when we were pearls before he threw them into the ocean, but it seems that I never had that chance, and I am pretty much sure that all of you girls here had wanted to meet that wizard and wanted to thank him for all that he has done for us!” Then Shanna chimed in, saying, “Say, how about we pay a visit to the wizard, wherever he is…say, where do you suppose the wizard went to?”
“I have no idea,” Terri replied, “but I think it might be best to go up to the surface and search for that wizard. Once we find him, then we can say hello to him and then thank him! Agreed?” The four mermaid sisters agreed, and then it was with that the mer-sisters went up to the surface of the island kingdom. But as they finally got up to the surface, Terri, Kaline, Shanna, and Aquella saw someone familiar: It was the Royal Princess Alisha, who was now engaged to be married to Royal Prince Arin, and who was also the daughter of the Royal Emperor and Empress of a neighboring island kingdom. Terri could see that the Royal Princess was crying as if she felt that she did not want to be in that neighboring island kingdom anymore! Terri asked Alisha, “Hey, why are you crying?” Alisha then asked, “Who are you?” “My name is Terri,” Terri replied, “and these are my three sisters, Kaline, Shanna, and Aquella; we are all mermaids! Now, please tell me what is wrong with you?”
Alisha then told her story: “I had told my father, the royal emperor, that I did not want to marry the son of the royal king and queen because I think that he is just too serious and that he has a huge ego…so I confess to my father that I have fallen in love with somebody else, one of his servants named Charlie. My father then got angry and told me I must wed the royal prince, so he locked me in my room! And then I ran away to protest this lousy arranged marriage…and that was when I met you, the mermaids.”
Terri then asked, “How old are you?” and Alisha replied, “I am 18 years old, the right age for me to be married as a royal princess…but then again, maybe I do not want to be a royal princess anymore!” “Now, that is simply not true,” Shanna told Alisha, “I think this royal prince loves you so very much…Why, I think that from the moment he saw your beauty, he had never seen such a beautiful woman! Do you really think so?” “Well, I do not know…”Alisha replied.
TO BE CONTINUED…
