The Mermaids of Atlantis

Art by DollDivine.com

The Mermaids of Atlantis
by Rebecca Fyfe

Atlantis was once a prosperous city in ancient times, one known far and wide for its culture and art. It wasn't until the city was attacked that Atlantis disappeared from human eyes forever, hidden deep under the sea.

The attack came by men form over the sea. They came by ship and murdered and pillaged until the city's population had fallen from thousands to not even one hundred people. Most of the men were killed, though a few remained alive. The majority of those who survived were women and children, but the murderous barbarians who came from across the sea had no intentions of letting any of them live free.

Before they could be taken as slaves, the women, as one, all fell to their knees and prayed to Poseidon to save them Poseidon was the god worshipped in Atlantis, and the women of Atlantis had always been his most faithful followers.

As they prayed, a great wave surged forward and swallowed up Atlantis. No one could escape the rushing waters and those who tried to pillage the city were swept away to drown at sea.

But the women who had stead-fastly remained faithful to their god Poseidon did not drown when the waters closed over them. Instead, they were given the tails of fish and the ability to breathe under the sea. The few men left and the children of Atlantis were also given these gifts.

To this day, the people of Atlantis still live in their city, ruling a new, underwater civilization. Their children and their children's children have repopulated the great city and, due to their new found longevity, for every mermaid of Atlantis lived for thousands of years, they have a rich oral history which they pass down to their offspring so that every child knows who to thank for their fortunate existence.

Atlantis is still a land of art and culture, music and storytelling, but no human has ever been able to find Atlantis for themselves.

My Mermaid Muse

My Mermaid Muse
by Rebecca Fyfe

I sat down to write but lately nothing came to me as I sat. My fingers tapped the keyboard absently. I almost had an idea of what to write, but it was useless. This was the worst bout of writer's block I had ever suffered through. Where was my muse when I needed her?

Closing my laptop, I made a decision; I was not going to spend today the same way I'd spent every day of the last two weeks, staring at a blank page on my computer screen until my eyes hurt with nothing to show for it.

The day was beautifully sunny and I was going to enjoy it. I dressed in shorts and a tank top, placing my floppy sunhat on my head at the last minute. It was sunny enough that, with my fairy skin, I'd be sunburned within minutes where I was going. The least I could do was shade my face with a hat. I hated wearing sunscreen because its oily feel and the scent always made me sneeze.

It only took me thirty minutes to drive to the beach. The plan was to go lay on the sandy beach and enjoy watching the sea before me. I loved everything about the beach, the sound of the waves as they tumbled to the shore, the salty smell from the ocean, the warmth of the sun on my skin and the cool breeze that counteracted it.

Once I walked down from my parking space to the beach, I realized that I didn't want to just lie on the beach. I wanted to go exploring for tide pools and climb up on the rocky outcropping to watch the waves crashing against the rocks. I was wearing flip-flops which weren't the best shoes for exploring along the rocks, but I knew I'd be careful. With one hand on my head to keep the breeze from blowing my sun hat away, and the other holding my flip-flops in my hand so I could walk barefoot, I picked my way up to the highest of the rocky outcroppings.

Up there, the breeze was stronger and the waves crashed so fiercely against the rocks below me that some of the water's spray reached up and splashed lightly against my skin. This felt like the perfect spot, so I found a rock that had a smooth enough surface to sit on, and I sat. I don't know how long I sat there watching the sea below. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. I just know that the sea mesmerized me. A sea otter appeared every so often, floating on its back for a moment and then diving back under to come up somewhere else in the water.

That's when I saw her. Well, I didn't know what I was seeing at first. It was the tail of a massive fish, with gold, pink and green scales. I knew nothing like that existed, so I didn't believe what I was seeing at first, but then she came up for air and I realized, seeing the woman attached to the tail that I was seeing something even more incredible than a large fish.

When she dove under the water and didn't surface again, I knew she wouldn't be back. I drove home and sat down to write, full of new ideas, thanks to my mermaid muse.

Ealandra the Siren

art by DollDivine.com

Ealandra the Siren

by Rebecca Fyfe

Captain Eric knew the dangers of the cove they were sailing near. Regardless, he had no choice but to set anchor in the cove. The ship had taken damage in the previous night's storm, and it was taking on water. They'd never make it to their destination if they didn't stop to make repairs.

It was a beautiful cove, lovely but deadly. The marine life in life the cove was plentiful, but he dared not allow any of his men to go out in the boats to fish, or even to explore the shore. If he let them leave the ship, they would die. They might die anyway.

The cove was deadly because she lived there, Ealandra. Ealandra had once been the most beautiful maiden in her village, or at least, that's what the stories told about her said. A young maiden of a mere sixteen years, she'd yet to marry. The story said that a young prince had seen her while his entourage had been passing through her village, and he'd immediately wanted her for his own.

Eleandra had refused him. Unable to accept the rejection, the prince had sought out a powerful sorcerer. He'd paid the sorcerer for a potion to make her fall want him. But all magic comes with a price, and the potion had done more than make want him. It had made her want all men, with a hunger that would never be sated.

The prince had snuck the potion into her drink, and she had instantly been transformed. Seeing the changes that had come across her, as she lay unconscious, her father had known that the only way to save her was to take her to the sea. He'd left her beside the shore, and never trusting the results of magic gone awry, he left her there. When the prince asked him where his daughter was, he told the prince where he would find her, but, suspecting who had been the cause of his daughter's curse, he told nothing else about her transformation.

Ealandra had awakened alone on the sands beside the sea and crawled into the water. Only in the water did she feel well again. It wasn't long after she awakened that the prince had arrived, searching for her, wanting to take advantage of the fair maiden's need for him which he knew would happen due to the potion he had given her.

When he saw Ealandra, he fell speechless. Her beauty had somehow grown even more profound with the effects of the potion; it was an alien loveliness though. Her eyes were large and black, slightly large for her face. Her fair hair had grown almost black but for the slight shades of violet threaded through it, and her skin was as pale as porcelain. Only after taking in her enchanting features did he notice the new tail she now sported instead of legs.

The tale was that of a giant fish or a beast of some sort, and it made him take a step back from her, feeling the first threads of fear. But then she started singing. Lightning shot through her and around her as she sang, and the song called to him.

The story was told that Ealandra's hunger for the prince was so intense that she feasted on his flesh and left nothing but his bones for the fishes.

And every time Captain Eric had to stop in this cove, Ealandra's chosen home, she sang one of his men, sometimes more, to his death. Captain Eric stuffed some cotton in his ears and started working on the repairs. His men knew the story too. If they were smart, they'd stuff their ears with cotton too. If they were fortunate, it would block out Eleandra's enchanting song.

Magic on the Sea

Magic on the Sea
by Rebecca Fyfe

Captain Jared sighed deeply as he looked out over the large expanse of ocean before him. It was good to be back at sea again. This last stop had taken far too long to secure new cargo, far too much time on land. He reminded himself that it was better to take his time and be safe than to rush the job and get caught with his illegal cargo.

He used to only transport legal cargo, but the new queen continually increased the taxes until he and many others could no longer afford to remain on the right side of the law. He'd still struggled and fought to stay true to his ethics and to honor.

But that all ended the day the queen came to his family's village. He'd been home for a visit, a well needed break from the sea. His true love was there, and he hated to go too long between visits. Emma was lovely and innocent. She had been begging him for years to take her with him on his voyages, but he knew the sea was too risky. He loved her too fiercely to risk her. They were to be wed during the new moon. It was only mere weeks away.

The queen had come to his village looking for him. She'd heard about his expert management of his ship and his crew and she wanted him to ship some cargo for her. The shipment would have taken him far out to sea when he was supposed to be marrying his sweet Emma. Foolishly, he'd refused the queen's request.

Emma disappeared that night. Some whispered that she'd run away, fearing a marriage to a man who would be away at sea more often than he was home. But Jared knew better. Emma would never run from him. She'd disappeared on the same night that the queen had made her request. He had heard the rumors of the queen's magic and dark sorcery. He knew she must have had a hand in his love's disappearance.

He fought her the only way he knew how, by smuggling precious cargo that thieves and outlaws stole from the queen. He always asked one thing of his customers: that they tell him if they hear any news or see anything that might show him how to save his lady love.

He knew exactly what had happened to her. He'd found out the very next time he'd set sail. He just didn't know how to save her from the curse the queen had laid on her.

"Jared?"

At the soft sound of Emma's voice, Captain Jared looked down over the rail and gazed into his love's face where she swam in the water.

"Hello, my love," he said, using the same words he greeted her with every time they met at sea.

"The waters promise to be calm for this trip," she told him before swimming ahead and diving under, her long, scaly tail following her down.

He could see her and talk to her now, but he could never be with her. He watched her swim, a tear falling slowly down his cheek..

The Reaper and the Ocean's Lost Souls

art by DollDivine.com

The Reaper and the Ocean's Lost Souls
by Rebecca Fyfe

People who die never expect to see me. They expect someone in a long, black cloak wielding a scythe, or maybe angels with a bright white light and feathered wings. But never me. It sometimes helps that the dead I come across are in the ocean. They still don't expect to see me.

I am where the legends came from, those old tales about sirens who lure men to their deaths or mermaids who sing songs of enchantment. It's true that I look like a mermaid, but I don't lure anyone to their deaths. They are already dead when I find them.

The problem with dying at sea is that your body gets swept away by the currents, sometimes half-eaten by sharks or other predators and sometimes tangled in seaweed deep under the surface. The sea can go down for miles, and for many of the dead, that means their bodies are never found.

I'm built the way I am, with gills on my neck to breathe underwater and a fish tail on my lower half, to help me find those lost corpses. Because, until a reaper can touch the body, the soul remains trapped forever within it. And then death really would be a true death.

There are reapers who don't look like me. Some of them  look like angels, some of them look like businessmen or businesswomen, some of them look like tribal medicine men, and some of them look like the traditional black hooded reaper, nothing but a skeleton inside. We are created to serve our duties in whatever fashion works best for the environment we collect the souls from. Some of us are created based on the most common belief in the region that they serve.

I'm just one of many here in the sea, but we all have scales, tails, gills and fins. I can sense the dead. Well, actually, I sense the souls that are trapped within the dead. And I find them, so that they don't have to be lost anymore. The human world might never find their bodies, but their souls will never be lost as long as we reapers are around.

So I guess that makes me both a mermaid and a reaper. I'm not really alive in the traditional sense, but that doesn't really matter since everyone I meet is dead too. I just touch them, maybe grab their hand, and their soul leaves their body. Then I can take them to the portal to their afterlife.

Once in a very long while, a soul we grab isn't dead yet and the body is found in time to revive it. In those instances, we take the soul back. The only thing the soul remembers, on the rare occasion that they remember anything, is seeing a mermaid. And that is what started the legends.

A Mermaid Forgets

This was originally written on January 21st, 2014 for a flash fiction contest, but has been expanded as of today.

art by Rebecca Fyfe

A Mermaid Forgets

by Rebecca Fyfe

The kids were already dropped off at school and my husband had left earlier that morning for work. I had a rare few hours to myself before I had to be at work, and I could feel the pull of the ocean calling to me.

I hadn't been to the beach in months. When I was younger, I spent every weekend at the beach, driving up in my beat up Honda Civic, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. I loved breathing in the salty air and feeling the waves lap at my feet. I never went far into the murky water; some inborn fear had always kept me on land, but today, the urge was strong to swim out into the breaking waves.

I was a strong swimmer; years on the high school swim team had insured that I could swim better than most. The sundress I was wearing would get wet, but so what? There was no one here on the beach with me. Who would see me?

I tread slowly out into the water, the sea rising against my legs and then up to my stomach. I could feel the current gently pulling me deeper and I let it. Soon I was swimming, fast, strong strokes taking me further out into the cool water.

I dove down under the surface. As the water washed over me, I felt all of my cares washing away with it. Why had I never swum in the ocean before now? It felt exhilarating.

As I swam further out, a carefree sensation consumed me. My mind fogged for a moment, and when it cleared, I could no longer remember why I was supposed to swim back to the shore. A niggling thought that there was something important I was forgetting stayed with me, but slowly and gently, even that thought drifted away on the waves.

My legs started to change. I didn't even notice the scales at first. They were an iridescent blue-green color. Fins grew from my feet and eventually, my scaly legs merged into one large tail. For a brief moment, I remembered that my legs weren't supposed to look like that, but, again, the waves carried the thought away from me and all I knew was how natural it was to see fins and scales.

I swam far into the ocean, a changed creature, carefree, knowing nothing of love or family, my thoughts at one with the sea before me.

I might have continued on this way forever if not for the dolphins, specifically a mother dolphin with her baby. As they swam near me, the memory of my children flashed through my mind. My love for them returned along with my memories and I turned back to shore. When I reached the sand of the beach, my legs slowly returned to me.

I grabbed the towel that I had left waiting on the beach and dried off fully. As I walked back to my car, I couldn't help gazing back out to the ocean. I had been a part of it once. I could feel its pull at me even from a distance. Maybe someday, the memories from my life under the sea would return to me, but for now, as I drove to pick my children up from school, the day's events in the ocean were already fading from my memories.

The Siren's Tears - a flash fiction story

This was originally posted on Imagine! Create! Write! on June 7th, 2012. It won third place in a flash fiction contest it was entered into.

The Siren’s Tears
by Rebecca Fyfe

Princess Lenora often ventured near the ocean’s surface, rescuing sea creatures from fishing nets. One day fate intervened by placing him in her path. She had been tearing a fishing net apart, freeing the fish that were caught, when the net started rising to the surface.

She followed, completing her rescue just as she crested the surface of the ocean and that’s when she saw him.  He was one of the fishermen. His skin was bronzed from the sun and he had dark hair that fell loosely across his face, framing his warm brown eyes.

He didn’t move or call to the others, though, by the way he was staring, it was clear he could see her. She felt a strange warmth enter her heart and felt almost as if her heart would burst with the sudden feelings that filled it for this man before her.

She knew they were meant to be together, and, before she could even think about what she was doing, she began to sing. It was one of the old songs, one that had never been taught to her but had come to her now instinctually.

Unable to resist her charmed singing, her beautiful man climbed overboard, leaping from his tiny fishing vessel and into the water. She took him in her arms and, grabbing his hand, she led him below the surface. After a short while, she felt his grip in her hand go slack. She stopped swimming and turned to him.

His eyes stared unseeing into the distance. His breath had stopped moments ago and his heart had stopped beating along with it. Princess Lenora wept in sorrow at the loss of her love, and as her heart broke into pieces, she joined him in his watery death.