The Ocean Floor

My name is Elena, I'm 18 years old, and I'm drowning. I'm going to die before I hit the ocean floor and nobody will ever know what happened to me. I tried to leave my family in England because they wanted great things of me and were using me to make money. I was to be married to a man who is almost 30, but I didn't want that so I ran away. I saw a ship docked not too far away and thought I could get away on that. I snuck onto the ship and hid below decks. I didn't know it was a pirate ship when I snuck on. It wasn't until we were already sailing that I realised. I'd hid very well for just over a month, sometimes stealing their food and rum. They noticed something was wrong yesterday when their supplies were running out faster than they planned. They blamed each other at first, until the captain said there could be someone else on board and made the crew search the ship. It took them a while to find me down here but they found me. They tied my feet together and my hands behind my back. They put a rag in my mouth and threw me off the ship. All of this because females are bad luck on pirate ships. So now I'm sinking and drowning, knowing nobody will ever know where I am and that my life will not be fully lived. The ocean is a dark and scary place. I am afraid, I am afraid of dying. I don't want to die yet. I feel my eyes getting heavy. I need to breathe but I can't. I take a breath through my nose. I know I will drown now. I hear a voice, it sounds like singing. I feel my lungs fill with water. It hurts. I don't want to die here. I feel myself dying. I take another breath but it doesn't hurt anymore. I know I will die. I can still hear the voice in the distance. It's calming me, calling me to death. I see figures in the darkness of the ocean. I'm not dead yet, but I will be dead. I take another breath of water. I can breathe. I know I must be dead if I can breath. I close my eyes hoping to die. But I don't. I open my eyes and see figures in front of me. I don't know what they are. They have tails. "You're safe." One of the figures tells me. They're wrong. I am not safe, I must be dead. "You are not dead, child." The figure says to me. I cannot speak. The other figures have gone. Don't know what they are. "Please child, let me help." The figure moves towards me. I scream. I have a rag in my mouth. "Listen to me, child. I will help you, trust me." The figure says. I do not trust her. "Please child, let me help." The figure moves toward me again. I do not scream. The figure comes closer. The figure is a female. She has a scaly fish tail. It's green and pretty. I must be dead. She moves her hands to my mouth and takes out the rag. She unties my hands. She has pretty blond hair and green eyes. She has pretty scales on her pointy ears and across her cheeks. They match her tail. "What is your name, child?" She says in a soft voice. How can I hear her? Am I dead? I try to speak but it does not work. I realise I am not longer sinking to the ocean. I must be dead. "Child," she says again, "what is your name?" I cannot answer, I do not know how. I try my voice again. "Elena," I say. But it's not my voice, it's much prettier and softer. "Elena," she says, "such a pretty name. I am Seraphina. You must have many questions. I have lots of things to explain." I do not reply, I do not know what to say. I am speechless. "You are a mermaid." Seraphina tells me. I am not. This is not real. "I am not, I am dead. This cannot be real." I say to her. "I'm sorry child, it is true. You are a mermaid. I am a mermaid. We cannot change that." She tells me. I do not believe. I am Elena and I am dead. "Look down, child." She orders me. I look down, I have a tail. I scream. This is not real i tell myself. I am Elena and I'm dead I remind myself. My tail is purple and blue. I like it. "I am a mermaid," I whisper. "That is right, my child." Seraphina says to me. "You have much to learn, young Elena."