Once Upon a Tail

A Ship[wreck]

"I just don't see

how a world that makes

such wonderful things

could be bad,"

-Ariel in The Little Mermaid

So now, let me take you back to that day when Flounder and I found the shipwreck.

First, this shipwreck was much different than any other I had ever seen. Why, you may ask? This one had more paintings highlighting men and women together along with so many artifacts that littered the ship. It went down recently, too. You could totally tell from all the artifacts that it sunk within a few days. Most of the ships we found had been lost for years, long forgotten by anyone above water.  

It was incredibly scary at first when we found some of the bodies. Flounder and I lurked all around and ended up going down into the belly of the ship when we happened to find them. Their eyes were pulpy and as white as the center shell of an oyster. Bubbles came up all around me as Flounder and I screamed while frantically swimming away.

They had drowned from being locked inside and it was a mystery where the other people had gone. In the Dark Parts, sharks like to roam around so it is possible that any of the people on the deck who had drowned were picked up by the sharks. Despite what many people thought, sharks weren’t that mean and aggressive. However, if you roam in the Dark Parts, you might happen to find the ones no one should meet.

I was bent over looking at a painting on the wooden floor when Flounder gasped.

“Ariel…” he began.

“What is it, Flounder?” I asked, slowly moving away from the painting.

His eyes were popping out of his tiny colorful head while he looked up. With his fin, he pointed towards the surface of the water. When I turned my head I could see why he was acting weird. There was a huge ship looming over the shipwreck. The ship must have been big enough to fit a hundred of people – or more!

“Come on, Flounder! Let’s check it out!” I exclaimed.

I have never seen an actual boat before. No one usually comes our way – and when they do, there is an alert that goes out so that everyone is safely in the kingdom. Fishing boats are feared throughout the sea.

This boat was different from the rest I’ve heard about, though. It didn’t look like a fishing boat. I started to swim towards it and Flounder shouted from behind me.

“We shouldn’t do this! Ariel, we will get in so much trouble. It isn’t safe!”

I kept swimming, captivated by the boat. I stopped when I was about two tail’s lengths away. Flounder came up next to me as my eyes stared at what was in front of us. He pulled at my arm with his little fin as he spoke.

“Ariel, we should leave – fishing boats are dangerous!”

“It’s not a fishing boat,” I said, amazed as I kept swimming until I broke out of the water.

The ship was so tall and had these white things moving about in the wind. Scuttle told me what they were called once. What do you call ‘em? I think they are called sails.

I grasped onto the side of the boat and moved along without being seen. I could hear voices and shouts in the distance.

“Ariel, you know how I am always saying how our parents will kill us because we’ve done something bad? Before with all those other things we did, I was exaggerating. But this, our parents will actually kill us.”