Barbie, Snow-white, the Mermaid; where did they all fall under…….Fairytales; can we have Happy endings like all those fairytales? All those happy endings stories, can it happen….can it be real?
Yeah, right.……..Wake up! This is reality, there are no happy endings.
But we choose our endings, don’t we?
Pearl Santali hissed at the book; she just finished reading;
All the happy-ending nonsense; seriously?
She had loved them, when she was much younger; when her dad would read to her before she went to bed, when her mom read to her; after his passing. Sometimes she went back to it, because she was either bored or didn’t feel like doing anything else.
She stood from the bench and moved to the water. She kicked the sand with her feet; move back when the waves moved towards her. When she had asked her father if fairies could come to life; he had said; yes, they usually come at night; to send her good dreams. And he loved talking about fairies…..not when she became seventeen did she know, she was too big for bedtime stories.
Happy-endings bullshit. She remembered her mom telling her stories about Princesses, witches, mermaid and magic.
At five, she figured there was no such thing; but her mother didn’t stop; as she saw it was a way to keep her quiet; but life gives you as it is, no cotton candy.
She removed her hair from her face and remembered again; why her mother bought them here; 11 miles from civilization, to this place; there was hardly any signals. It was for them to help her mom recuperate; because the doctor had recommend, no stress and a free mind to her mother; her mother wasn’t working; they had enough, still lived on her father’s savings and insurance and she had decided to work by the end of the year; by then, she would have finished college and her scholarship expired; she would be added among the working class.
School was on break; that was why they were here; presently.
She looked at her book; in her hand; Princesses and happy endings, her feet! She should throw this away or give it to a child; in fact all her collections to a child and get a better book; that spoke about science and life.
She saw the ocean waves; along the surface of the ocean breaking slightly on shore and then she heard her mother’s voice; just as she saw the cloud change; the white skies turned dark.
“There is going to be a storm, let’s go in.’ she said as she walked closer.
Pearl looked up; so she had been saying for the past week; they’ve been here; she looked up; maybe she was wrong this time but she didn’t want to stick round to find out; she had watched movies; some storm can caused disasters especially to the fishes and the people who lived close to the water and some storm just thunder, lighting and downpour; she didn’t know which was this, she didn’t wait to find out either. She hurried to meet her mother.
When she was inside; safely indoors with her mother; the rain begun to shower; she sighed and sat down; she watched her mother close the blinds; just stress? Her mother looked stronger than she felt but her immune system were weak, that was why she needed the rest; if she lost her mother; she didn’t have anyone else here and she couldn’t move 4000miles to stay with her uncle who just got married; all her friends, were here….her mother deserved to rest, to gain her strength back; like the doctor suggested and she would give her that.
She smiled and her mother smiled back as she walked to her side.
She sat down beside her; then she noticed the book; Pearl was holding.
“It is wonderful, right?’ She gestured to the book.
Pearl looked down at the book; she had read more than a hundred times about the mermaid. Of course; it was wonderful.
“So, wonderful, that you can be carried away.” Her mother told her.
Pearl looked at her; paused to listen to what she said; “What do you mean?” She hadn’t been carried away by the story…..or maybe there was more to this story.
“It’s a long story.” She pointed to the book in Pearl’s hand.
“Tell me about it.” Just because she was bored and had nothing to do; she didn’t always go to town; because her mother used the car more often and to save fuel because they couldn’t always go 3miles to get fuel because of the car everyday. So she let her mother take trips with the car, whenever she wanted.
But dinner was not until 3 hours from now; instead of sitting in her room, doing nothing, she might as well, kill time.
“Honey, you might think this is nonsense.” She told her, smoothing her hair.
Like she had been thinking; every book she had read is nonsense? But really, who could blame her; magic was not real and she was an adult; her IQ is different from a five old Pearl Santali.
“Mom, I’m 18, I am sensible; it might be ridiculous; obviously I can pick out sense from the nonsense, I am not that daft.” She told her, raising her legs on the position she sat in.
Her mother paused for what seem like a long time; Pearl couldn’t help wondering what she thought. Then she smiled, her eyes never leaving hers. “You remind me of him.”
“Who?”
“Parker Santali, your father.”
She put a hand on her mother’s hand; bringing her back from the place she was floating to. She knew she missed her dad; she had lost her father to a ship wreak fourteen years ago and her mother haven’t forgotten, couldn’t forget because; she had been standing by the window; looking outside; waiting for him to call that he had gotten to the port but insisted; no call until the next day; Pearl had been putting on her clothes and she was in the kitchen not far away from the phone; when the doorbell rang.
The breakfast had burnt by the time, Pearl came out of her room and she rushed to the kitchen to put it off, before she heard the news. Her mom had been devastated for months and then the child services tried to get Pearl to the organization but her mother had insisted, she was fine to raise her own daughter.
“Mom, I know that, father died a painful death, he was attacked by the storm.”
She nodded confirming.
“It was all Isabella’s fault.” She heard.
“Who?’ It was one thing to call it a ship wreak and another to blame someone for her father’s death.
Isabella. Who was Isabella? One thing she knew about that ship wreck, weak human power; filled with elder men and faculty engines; she had wondered how; a ship could be ridden by inexperienced men that only knew how to roll. Her father had worked as a sailor before so, she assumed he was the one who sailed the ship but the men and the weaker ones did not know how to steer or grape the sheets.
“Isabella. Your father’s step sister.” Her mother was still talking.
She hadn’t known that her father had a step-sister; she thought he was an only child apparently lost his mother in a car accident and his father died when he got married to her mother. Other family members that didn’t give a damn to know about her; didn’t need her recognition; names were fine but anything apart from names, is out of earshot. “What does she have to do with this?”
Her mother sighed. “She never liked me and I didn’t like her too, but the only reason we hate each other, was because Parker didn’t listen to her; when she told him not to marry me.” Her mother gave her to short version of her life history; which was good; details bore her; telling her the most important and skip other irrelevant.
“Why is that?”
Her mother shrugged. “She is a fortuneteller.” A shorter version of the kind of person; her step-aunt was.
She scoffed; was all her family surrounded by magic and future reading?
“Pearl, few years, you were born, we found a baby on a train and we had to take care of it but three years later, Parker had to take him, north America from the coast; because we received a call who claimed she was his mother and he was going to the police but at the middle of the ocean, strong waves hit the ship and then the ship sunk after too much damage but a few days later, we found the bodies that were on the ship on the shore but we didn’t find the baby……” she stopped to compose herself. Pearl looked at her; she opened her eyes and she saw her eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Mom.” If she cried, she was going to make her cry too.
She sighed and looked at her, the tears disappearing. “We never saw the baby, we had few divers swim into the ocean , when a thorough search had been done; they reported that only a piece of cloth was found and I remembered I had wrapped one round him before Parker left…… Parker was gone, the baby was dead and Isabella was responsible.”
They heard the thunder just as they saw lightening in the sky.
Pearl shifted her attention to her mother.
‘Why is she responsible?’
She stretched her hand to the book; Pearl kept her hands by her side; Pearl gave it to her.
She opened it to the beginning. Pearl noticed her mother’s expression; she was going to tell a story.
‘Mom, I know the story. I have read it a 100 times; you don’t have to tell me again.’
With her smile, her mother shook her head. ‘I am not going to tell you that story but the real story for the mermaid; what happened to Ariel and her descendants?’
Pearl’s eyes widened. When she thought finally it has ended. ‘There is another story after this one?’ You have got be kidding.
Her mother nods her.
Ariel and her descendants. ‘What does it have to do with dad and Isabella?’
She smiled like she enjoyed telling stories more than anything. ‘I am getting there.’
Pearl nod and look, awaiting the continuation of after Ariel married the prince and they lived happily ever after;
Her mother opened the book. ‘Ariel married the prince; when after a few years; Ariel missed the water and she would go back; see her friends and come back to shore, to the prince; thereafter they had a child; raised him to be a good king; even after Ariel’s beloved died; she lived with her son, he married a good wife but she couldn’t bear him a child; Ariel had said it was okay but the council insisted they wanted an heir who rule the kingdom when the king was gone but nothing.’
‘After many years, the council spoke to the king; advising him to marry again; although he was stubborn but he did give in afterwards; Ariel, his mother talked to him; he married another woman; he tried; they had a girl but he didn’t love her as much as he loved his first wife, so he spent more time with his first wife but that didn’t mean, he loved his daughter any less. ‘
‘Finally, they had a son; but the second wife didn’t like the affection she didn’t have and her reason for marry him in the first place was because of the kingdom and second because she liked him; But she was poisoned by greed; she poisoned him; and banished the real queen and her son from the kingdom; after so many years; the kingdom had been destroyed because of huge flood; and so did Isabella and her mother; but they didn’t really perished; the queen died all of a sudden, no sickness nothing; the prince suspicious, so he remained in the city and found a beautiful maiden to be married to in the strange land he stayed in.’
‘I don’t understand.’ Pearl said. Maybe her mother should say this in plain English for her to understand.
‘Your father was the prince and his step sister; Isabella and mother…..’
‘Wait!’ She sat up.
‘What happened to Ariel?’
‘Isabella’s mother killed her in her sleep; with magic.’
Pearl sighed. ‘Are you saying…..I….am part of a happy ending story? A fairytale…a fairytale.’
She scoffed when her mother didn’t say anything. ‘Come on.’ She said as she stood up.
‘Pearl.’
She turned to face her mother. ‘Wait, are you saying, I am the last…descendent of Ariel……the…..’ She paused, what!
‘The Mermaid!’
Her mother moved back at her sudden outburst.
‘No freaking way!’
‘Wait, what about the story; about dad losing his parents……a perfect story for a human?’
Her mother nod.
‘What!’ everything had been a lie?
‘Pearl, be calm. They can hear you.’
She looked at her mother; she wasn’t sure she understood any of this thing; she explained; but she believed; was that why after her dad died; her mother kept reading to her, making sure she didn’t forget her roots; by reading it over and over again; that she knew the words of the story by heart; snow-white, Cinderella or Rapunzel, Pocahontas or other princess story she had; it was always; the Mermaid.
The Mermaid!
‘I am not even yelling and beside; who will hear me, we are by ourselves.
‘We’re not alone; Isabella...... is close.’
She sighed again.
‘I thought you said; she drowned and was destroyed along with her mother and all other things.’ Or were the drugs affecting her mom? Did she need to visit the doctor by herself or maybe the drugs had its side effects?
And she believed it…..no really.
The whole story made sense but she didn’t still understand why her father died and his body was found; or why the waves don’t stop, or the rain that had continued to fall for the past few days. Or the baby, they still could not find.
“She sacrificed herself to the sea; when she woke on the beach; with her dead mother by her side.”
“Why would the sea need a sacrifice?”
She pulled her to couch and then sat down with her. ‘The sea needs a body to control the oceans; if let loose, it will not be controlled and will not balance on the earth, the magic in the water will be dangerous.’
“So, Isabella sacrificed her body to accept the responsibility and magic to control the seas, the mermaids and every other part of the ocean. But she used this opportunity to seize the ship and everyone on it, just because of Parker. And she had kept her brother’s spirit locked up because of her revenge to take everything precious to him, as he had taken their father, from her.’
“So?” She didn’t understand this woman; her mom was trying to say.
“Because of this reason, Isabella will do everything in her power to take everything that belongs with us. I think that was why she took the baby and didn’t send him back to earth.”
All these mumbo jumbo; she is the last descendent of the mermaid, so she was what; half mermaid, half human; then where was the tail? ‘So, your point?’
‘Stay away from the sea; as you possible can.’ No wonder, she didn’t like storms.
Wait!
‘Mom, was that why you brought us out here; because it’d give me the opportunity to know my history…the past?’
She looked at her for a moment not saying anything, then when she did; she thought she would say what she was thinking but she didn’t.
‘The doctor asked us to come here.’ She said before turning.
‘So, you believe this shit…this bullshit, mom?’
She looked at her again. ‘I didn’t believe it when Parker told me; I believed it when I saw Isabella in my dreams.’
She paused. So it was true; she was a direct descendent of Ariel and Isabella wanted her dead.
Wow! Hard to take in!
‘What is going to stop her from getting to us, to me?’ Was she serious right now?
Her mother shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
‘But she will kill other people; especially people who live around the ocean, the lighthouse.’ Wait, she was just asking, not that she was going to do anything about it.
She stood up and looked at her mother; she really suffered a lot; the loss of her husband; the nightmares Isabella must have cause, her illness how was she sure; it wasn’t Isabella.
‘I am not saying I want to be the princess but maybe you could talk to her, something like; hypnosis or something, I don’t know, maybe she would listen to you.’ She was not ready to be blame for a lot of deaths about to occur; even if they did occur; the cops won’t know she had anything to do with it; because they would blame it on the ocean because of the strong waves; basically it is still on Isabella’s head and then what?
The killings will start again.
And she wasn’t ready to lose her mom…ever because of a stupid story she was part of.
She gave her mother a kiss and walked upstairs to her room, closing the door behind her.
She sat on her bed and raised a hand to her dark brown hair, she looked into the mirror, she saw her father’s handsome face; everyone; who knew her father had said she looked like him; but beautiful and a woman behind her who she recognize as Isabella. Isabella wasn’t as fair as her but they had a family resemblance.
She shook her head; it was her imagination talking right now.
But she knew her mother was afraid for the future.
Isabella was beautiful and innocent but she had a bad heart. She would do anything for her mother.
She walked to the window as she felt a drop of rain on her hand; rain was beginning to slow down; maybe that talk needed to happen. She closed the blinds and sat there and then she began singing;
“Hands on my face, kiss on my cheek
I close my eyes, I wonder maybe…
One day, maybe one day,
It will be real for me and you.
Maybe, it will be real for you and me”
