SpellBound

Yes. Yes. We do exist.  I am a mermaid. A real one. With a fin and real breathing issues. There is nothing to be surprised about. If vampires are free to roam the planet, drink blood, and live forever, why not have few mermaids in the ocean, who breathe from their gills and eat some raw fish? In fact, I am not a fan of the ocean myself. There are werewolves out there, walking freely in the streets and witches flying crazily above our heads, while I am buried under tons of blue. I suffocate in the water and I am tired of humans’ dirt.  I think by now, you probably have noticed that I am not one of these royalty mermaids. I belong to the working class. I live next to the shore and I am not ashamed to admit that, sometimes, humans send us beautiful gifts. There are few times where I received a direct tampon to the face and got my face stuck in a plastic bag that, I am confident, was used for some unpleasant chores. In the realms of such moments, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was time for me to leave and immigrate to the land. As penniless as I am, I decided to make a contract with the Great Witch of the Sea. Rest assured, dear Humans! She is nothing like Ursula of the Little Mermaid. Not even close!  They say she is as beautiful as the Goddesss of Oceans, no octopus legs, no double chin, and definitely no bat wings. So they say! I have never seen her before. I stood there in the line, empty-handed and wearing a bra that was washed away by the waves. As weird as it may sound, I never liked those shells. A bra was weird, but definitely much comfortable than a shell. I was last in line and somehow I managed to enter the palace. At first, I thought that the huge building was just for show. Let me tell you, I was definitely wrong. She needed that space. The Witch was a piece of art. She sat there on a royal chair, letting her colorful fin lay down on the ground. She had a small, amazingly drawn face crowned by a stream of a golden brown hair.  For an instant, I stood there with my jawdropped to the floor, being all self-conscious about the fact that I should have picked a different bra for the occasion. She, then, swung her tail creating a gentle wave to wake me up and she said: “Now, I’ve got no time to spare for you, little one. What do you want? Beauty, romance, or luck in life?” Her voice came in gentle, sharp and definitely expressing fully her boredom. “Oh! Great Witch of the Sea! I am honored…” “Oh please, skip your nonsense! Go straight to the point.” “I want to leave this f*****g place!” I blurted out like a fool, but instead of being offended, she laughed to her heart’s content, creating successive waves. I had to clutch to one of those pillars in order to save myself from being drifted away. With a pinch of excitement in her eyes, she said: “What do you have to offer for a beautiful pair of human legs and functioning lungs?” “A similar bra and a heartfelt thank you…maybe.” I messed up. I thought I was being funny and that, as a salesmermaid with decent experience, her laughs are the start of a good negotiation. Unexpectedly, what I saw was a clear frown. She roared: “Do you think lungs and legs are cheap? Those land mermaids with their sexy legs paid me a fortune and in exchange, I gave them fame, beauty, and a life worthy of living. You, with your shabby hair and boring sense of humor (it hurt my feelings), cannot purchase my services unless… “Unless… (I had the stupidest expression on my face at this moment)” “Unless you are willing to work for me.” “Work for you? On land? How would that be possible?” “Well, you know, (Her eyes were flickering with enthusiasm. I was scared), you will be able to walk, run, and jump. You will breathe, my little mermaid, and have walks under the sky. All this in return of a heart of a man or a boy. Suit yourself.” I gasped. Was I becoming a murderer? Is it a trap? Do mermaids really consume human flesh to become beautiful? And I was wondering all along why in the world I was such an eyesore. As if she read my mind, she said, exasperated: “Look! I am no cannibal. My beauty is a gift from the sea. You are just ugly by nature. All you need to do is make a man fall for you. You keep the legs, I get the love.” “Fair enough.”  I had a wide smile of victory on my face at the time. I thought love was easy since mermaids supposedly enchant men. Well, I had confidence in my mermaid’s abilities. With all the joy I felt, I signed the papers and I did not listen to a word of what the Witch’s agents told me. All I remembered is that the following day I would be on the beach, breathing real air. After that, they gave a bottle of sweet water and threw me out of the place. They said I will need it.