"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.”
I looked at Flounder while laughing. Sometimes he was much too serious. We couldn’t pass this opportunity up!
“Flounder, all this time we have wondered if the law is wrong! Now we can see if it is.”
I spoke so fast that I almost thought Flounder didn’t understand me.
“You are about as crazy as Scuttle now,” Flounder exclaimed after looking at me weird for a few seconds.
All of a sudden, Scuttle came out of nowhere. Flounder groaned as he heard his infamous squawk. He knew he would lose this argument as soon as Scuttle came down to us. I giggled as Flounder groaned and started swimming towards the middle of the ship while Flounder chased after me.
There was a part of the boat where I could peek my head through to look in. There were people everywhere and walking on those weird feet things! Lights were everywhere for them to see while dusk was about to come. Humans were so interesting…
Just then, Scuttle flew down to Flounder and I. He spoke so loudly that Flounder freaked out.
“Scuttle, be quiet, they might hear!” I exclaimed.
He perched on my shoulder and watched the humans with us. They were listening to music that the sailors were making from their strange instruments. A hairy animal was running around and the other sailors were laughing as they threw toys around for it.
A man dressed differently from the sailors walked around calling someone’s name while swinging around a piece of paper. I wish I could know what paper felt like!
“Prince Eric!” He exclaimed as he found the man he was looking for.
Everything inside me froze as I saw the man. As he called to the dog, his black hair waved about with the salty wind. When he finally stood up I saw that he was tall and slightly muscular. He wore black boots that laced up in the front, a loose white shirt and brown pants.
“What is it, Grimsby?” The man who was named Prince Eric asked.
“The divers who went in yesterday said that the boat did in fact sink,” The man said.
He had grey hair that was pulled back tightly. His clothes were dark and I could imagine that he was a dreary person from how he spoke.
“Excellent! That is good news. Assemble a celebration, Grimsby!” Prince Eric announced, happily.
Flounder tugged on my arm and I looked to him, annoyed.
“What?”
“Ariel, we have to go! These are terrible people!” He splashed the water with his fins and looked dreadfully worried.
“Flounder, what in the sea are you talking about?” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Ariel! Did you not just hear what they said?! They wanted that boat to sink!”
I laughed and Scuttle looked back and forth at us.
“Flounder, no! Prince Eric was happy that they found the ship! Now they know where it is.”
“Ariel, no. They aren’t good people.” Flounder said, too loud this time.
“Oh and I’m the one that’s loud,” Scuttle said, laughing.
“Shut up, you stupid bird!” Flounder said while swimming fast towards him.
Scuttle and Flounder started going towards each other to fight and I pushed both of them back.
“Shut up, you two! Do you want to get caught?” I whispered to them.
“No,” Flounder said as he stared down at the water.
“Do you?” I asked Scuttle.
“Well, I can fly away but I guess I wouldn’t want you to get caught, Ariel. I don’t know what I can say about the guppy over there.” He said while pointing to Flounder.
Flounder started swimming over to Scuttle again and I grabbed Scuttle’s beak to make him shut up.
“Both of you calm down. Scuttle, stop being mean.”
The fighting ceased and I leaned my head against my arms, watching Prince Eric dance around with the furry animal. Something about the young man captivated me. I blushed as I imagined myself dancing around with him. I was getting ridiculous – but I felt something for this stranger that I never felt before. Maybe the law was wrong. Maybe I was right about a human man being the one I was supposed to be with. Maybe that man was Prince Eric. Maybe.
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Is Flounder right or Ariel about these humans on the boat?
What do you think of the relationship between Scuttle and Flounder?
Please let me know what you think below!
Thanks for reading :)
-fishingforsouls