The Mermaid Who Cried Wolf

Chapter one- Pearl

Chapter One

Pearl

Pearl was a mermaid.

Her silky blonde hair was tinted with silver and flecks of green, her golden tail with silver streaks and green scales here and there. 

Her eyes blue as the ocean.

She flicked her tail and instantly darted through the water. She was a strong mermaid, stronger than most at least. Her blue eyes darted around the ocean before she ducked into a small cave, this was shark territory. Inside the cave there grew coral, her own secret garden. She swam down through a tunnel into the depths of the cave. Inside there grew an abundance of coral. Magnificent colours that stretched for miles, yellows bright as the sun, reds as deep as blood, blue as calm as the ocean. 

Pearl was a healer like her mother, a Mergetyi Soé or mermaid healer. She didn't really use mermaid language but she could understand it, the language of the water. 

The sides of the cave were traced with ancient runes of wisdom, the cave itself had been used by the Detinya Mergetyi Soé yst Pergetoi, the great mermaid healer of Pergetoi, the tribe that had lived here many years before. In the cave, Pearl had found letters of wisdom, runes of potions used for health and many other great wonders. Her favourite was a simple saying on the wall, an oath that she made the first day she found the cave,

Sak ayti seui lijtkie yst seui Pergetoi Tisoya koisa ehs liste non yas seui screts yst iest caverna, ayti seui litkie yst seui Mergetyi Soé.

It meant: Swear on the life of the Pergetoi Tribe that he will not say the secrets of this cave, on the life of the mermaid healers.

Pearl had sworn this oath and sealed it with her own blood. 

Now she picked the coral she used to help others in her village, her favourite coral was the Soé Geminya, healer’s gem that could cure warts, cold and flu of the ocean she used it often. It could also ease pain. 

After picking a shell full of that she picked others, Corola Semenyina, Etsi Gerotysk, Manya Manori and others. These coral plants are not in mermaid language, only Corola (coral) and Manya (moon) were recognisable to Pearl but she knew their qualities, not the name.

After gathering the coral she crushed them on a small rock at the bottom of the cave and squeezed them into bottles, or shells or Tupperware she had found on the beach. 

After labelling the coral lotions and mixtures, she packed them into a bag made of seaweed and darted out of the cave. She followed a few signs, until she came to a small sunken pole. She swam upward and saw the current. 

Taking a deep breath, Pearl through herself into the twisting mass of water.

Currents were the travel system for mermaids, like busses. They got on one and jumped out where they wanted to go. This one was rarely used because it went through shark territory and no one wanted to go there.

Pearl waited for a while in the current until she passed a small, red object, a rock used as a guide, quickly she jumped out of the current. She knew to move quickly now, she was in the middle of the Merfolk Capital of this part of the ocean, Jasskiyt Tisoya, Jellyfish Tribe.

Mermen and mermaids were everywhere and Pearl just squeezed into the line of Merfolk. She passed the nursery where small merkids were playing in the sand and old rocks, some were playing with their pet fish. 

Pearl passed the palace, a beautiful place made of crystal and gold. Inside lived Coral, the queen and or president. In this land, the queens aren't chosen by bloodline. They are chosen by the moon. At ten years old you are given by the queen a pearl necklace that you are to wear every day of your life. When the old queen dies or steps down, at midnight one pearl will glow. Then you are chosen to be the next queen or king.

Pearl swam for a while until she came to the underside of a boat drifting on the surface. Pearl took a yellow dress out of her bag and slipped it on, it covered half her tail. Then, with a deep breath of water she hauled herself onto a ladder on the boat. Instantly, as she breathed in air, her gills on the side of her neck closed and her tail disappeared revealing two legs.

She was soaking wet but that didn't matter, everyone usually was here.

"Hey-y, Pearly-y-y!" Called her friend, Samantha from her room. She had a bad habit of stretching the last syllable on all her words when she was happy. 

"Please don't talk like that." Pearl begged.

Samantha sighed as Pearl entered the room. "Alright, I won't, so, how was the swim?" 

"Okay, I got some more lotions to use." 

"Great, so, Serlés making sushi so I hope you have some anti-poison in there."

Pearl laughed and winked, "Don't worry, I sure do."

Samantha lived in the Little Fishy Orphanage for mermaids. There were only five in that boat, Samantha, Serlé, Jitanya, Oky and Dolphine.

Samantha and Pearl chatted for a while and then Samantha said, "Didya hear about the massacre?"

"What massacre?" Pearl asked.

"A few humans and a merman were murdered in the middle of the night. The humans saw one of us by accident and they were becoming friends. A giant wolf came out onto the beach and killed them. Then, another human shot the wolf. A mermaid rescue team hid the body of the merman so no evidence of us was found."

Pearl was staring. "Th-that's horrible. Wolf attacks? In Hawaii?"

Samantha nodded.

"That's strange." Pearl said.

Samantha nodded in agreement.

"Hey girls!" A blonde haired boy with green eyes stepped into the doorway. "Hey. Pearl! I made sushi, would you like to join us?"

Pearl nodded and Samantha put on a fake look of devastation. 

"Oh, no, Lé! You had to add another victim to your list of food-poisoning patients! Oh the horror!" 

Pearl and Serlé laughed happily, Samantha joined in.