Chapter 2
Mervin was swimming at full speed towards the shore where he saw the girl and her father swimming away from the horrific storm. Why did I abandon her like that? He thought with self-loathing, “I’m so stupid.” Suddenly he collided with another figure which made a loud ‘oof!’
“Oh, Mervin! Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Princess Ariel asked,
“You’re majesty! A thousand apologies, I just have some, um… business to take care of.” Mervin quickly explained, but Ariel wasn’t buying it,
“Mervin,” he looked at her, she was smiling, “go and get her, your human. She may be the best thing you chase. Believe me.” She was smiling and playing with her wedding ring. Her marrying Prince Eric was the talk of Atlantica. Mervin gave Ariel a last bow a an appreciative smile, and swam as fast as he could to get to the girl, the one he saved, and hoped it was fast enough, before she found trouble. All he could think about was the way her beautiful long ash-blonde hair floated around her in the water, how her remarkable white dress swirled around her thighs, how her dazzling earthy brown eyes opened just long enough so he could get a look before he swam away. He could only think about how her perfect pink lips fitted perfectly against his whilst he breathed into her. He couldn’t stop thinking about that beautiful girl. If only he knew her name.
***
She woke up from something pocking her in the back. Why is her bed so uncomfortable? She rolled over and blinked, expecting to find her alarm clock to check the time, but instead found a remarkable sea shell and wet, squidgy sand all around her, then she realised that she was dripping wet, clothes torn, and she was on a beach, “The storm!” Wait, why was she on a beach? “Daddy, where are we?” She asked groggily. But there was no reply, “Dad?” She sub-consciously picked up the thing that was pocking her. She looked at her surroundings; there were plenty beautiful shells, and long cliff loomed over her. There were a couple of trees; some were even hollowed out, as if someone were living in them. All these remarkable things, but no sign of her father! “Dad!” She called louder. No answer. She was becoming hysterical now. She ran around screaming his name, still no reply.
Just as she was on the verge of hyperventilation, a figure half- emerged from one of the hollow trees. His body was incredibly muscular, like ‘male-model’ muscular. His skin was dark like chocolate; his black neck length hair was brushed back, and he had abs! Like amazing ‘6-pack’ abs! Wow! When his voice sounded it was angry but also lazy, “Why are you yelling at this ungodly hour?” The gorgeous man didn’t seem to look as if he had just woken up; on the contrary, he looked as if he had been awake for hours. The girl was gawking at him with her blood shot eyes; he did not miss this, “Why are you staring?”
She seemed to come to her senses, blinking a couple of times, she said, “I’m… I am deeply sorry about the staring, you are just so, so…” She struggled to find the words to describe his breathe-taking body, “beautiful!” He seemed flattered,
“Why, thank you, miss. So why were you screaming?”
“Well, I was stuck in a storm whilst fishing with my father, then I-” She considered telling him about being magically lifted into the air, then thought better of it, “-fell, out of the boat, I was drowning, then-” should I tell him about the boy? “My father jumped into the water to save me then we were swimming. Then I woke up and my father was gone. What time is it?” She asked, looking up at the deep blue sky covered with sparkling stars. She has never seen so many stars in her life!
“It is exactly…” He was staring at the moon as if reading a large white clock, “Eight twenty-two”
“Wow, it’s amazing how you know that just by looking at the moon!” The girl was very impressed,
“Yes, it is amazing isn’t it? Well anyway, what’s your name?”
“Oh, right. My name. Well it’s, um…” The girl screwed up her face in concentration, “I can’t remember!” Tears came to her eyes. “Why can’t I remember?” She sniffed,
“Oh, it’s ok!” The man was coming out of the tree, but for some reason he was making a sort of ‘clip-clop’ noise, like horses’ hoofs. Then she realised, he was half horse! “Don’t worry; you’ve gone through a lot today. It’s ok!” But the girl wasn’t listening; she was staring with wonder at his horse legs.
“Wow” she whispered, “You’re a centaur!” she was smiling at the centaur, “So, what’s your name?”
“Roland.” Roland the centaur said. “Wait, what is that in your hand?” he asked with admiration. She lifted her hand to show him what it was; she didn’t seem bothered about it,
“It’s just a dusty old lamp” She was about to wipe it but he stopped her, he sounded frightened,
“NO! DON’T DUST THAT LAMP! It’s a Genie’s Lamp” Roland yanked it from her hand before she brushed it off, he stared at it closely, it seemed to be quite dark for a Genie Lamp,
“Are you sure it’s a Genie Lamp? Because I’ve seen ‘Aladdin’ and the Genie’s lamp was gold. That’s sort of a dark purple colour. What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Roland said concernedly, “But it can’t be good.”
