The shore looks calm, but further out the waters are choppy and the wind howls. If you manage to save your ships from the storms you may not be able to save them from what lays in the depths below.
The crystal blue waters look so inviting to those who walk the white sands on two legs. It holds within it vast quantities of fish and other mysterious creatures that lurk at depths that no mere mortal can ever imagine to descend to unless they have gills. Mariners and sailors sing songs around the inns and wharves of the coast, of the beauty and majesty that is Poseidon’s domain. Legends told over a bottle or two of rum, give pirates and sailors loose lips, and they recant the stories told to them by fathers and Captains, that had sailed the seven seas. For though their are monsters that lurk in the inky depths on the blackest of nights, with massive tentacles and whales so large, they can swallow a boat whole, there is also talk of the Sirens of the Sea. The Loreleis…and then some do whisper of the beautiful merpeople, in particular the mermaids, that have been known to tempt a sailor from their watch, with voices so sweet that a man falls in love and wishes to join them in the waters and share a true love kiss. But the only kiss they get is that of the salt water spray, as they are taken far below the waves, never again to feel the air, nor see the rising of the morning sun.
*****
The night air has with it the chill that rises from the sea, with a fog rolling in, a small fishing vessel has cast its nets early in the hope of a good catch, to feed the many hungry mouths of the fisherman and his family. In the distance, the shining of the lighthouse, that gives comfort to the fisherman, as the boat rocks with the gentle waves. A small bell on one of the lines starts to ring, and the Fisherman smiles, thinking that his night’s work is about to pay dividends, as on the other side of the boat, the head of a woman emerges from the sea, her hair clinging to her shoulders as she slowly swims towards the boat, and in a musical voice, she starts to sing softly;
Upon one summer’s morning, I carelessly did stray,
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,
Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem’d to be in pain,
Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne’er return again.
His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as sloes,
May happiness attend him wherever he goes,
From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,
All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return.
My father is a merchant—the truth I now will tell,
And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,
His fortune doth exceed 300,000 pound in gold,
And he frowns upon his daughter, ’cause she loves a sailor bold.
A fig for his riches, his merchandize, and gold,
True love is grafted in my heart; give me my sailor bold:
Should he return in poverty, from o’er the ocean far,
To my tender bosom, I’ll fondly press my jolly tar.
My sailor is as smiling as the pleasant month of May,
And oft we have wandered through Ratcliffe Highway,
Where many a pretty blooming girl we happy did behold,
Reclining on the bosom of her jolly sailor bold.
Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be
Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,
While up aloft, in storm or gale, from me his absence mourn,
And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return.
My name it is Maria, a merchant’s daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,
My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold.
The fishermen turns away from his line at the haunting refrain as the mermaid smiles so sweetly, now on the very edge of his boat. With glistening skin, that is reflecting the moon with fine droplets that pitter patter in the water, she is every mariner’s dream.
“A mermaid….I be damned.” The fisherman says, taking off his cap and moving closer to her, as she reaches for him, as if to caress his face. He licks his lips as he can just make out the sight of her bare bosom beneath the water line, and he falls for the magic of her song, leaning over the boat to have one sweet kiss.
But as their lips are about to touch, she releases him and starts to sink beneath the waters, as he is leaning over far too much and the boat is suddenly smacked hard by the force of her tail, sending him over board with a great splash of water and spray. Now he is struggling with his clothing dragging him down. But there she is, as he opens her eyes. The jewel of the deep, the beautiful mermaid will rescue him…….
….then again….she was hungry. The boat then continues to float along as the fisherman’s hat rises to the surface as he is never to be seen again.
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