Authors: Sheri L. Swift
“Yeah, I do,” laughed Lana.
“Lana, there’
s something more you need to know. The mer live much longer than humans and even those mixed with the mer live a longer lifespan. My own father lived to be one hundred and fifty-nine years old, but no one ever knew his true age. That’s another secret that we have to guard. You see Lana; you will most likely live hundreds of years. King Titan is the oldest of his kind and has lived nearly two thousand years.”
“Wow, I never realized I would get that old! King Titan doesn’t even look that old
!
”
Lana was amazed.
“Lana, you’ve seen King Titan?” asked her father surprised by it.
“Yeah, I met him in the cavern. He was worried that you might get mad
at them
and he pretty much made me go home
.
”
“I’m grateful to him. You must know what an honor it was for you to meet him. He doesn’t usually show himself. That’s why he’s lived so long. Okay, now I’ll tell you how I met your mother. It was in the fall, we had a terrible hurricane that year and it nearly destroyed everything on the island. A lot of the debris was as far out as
Gull
Island
. After my dad and I cleaned up as be
st we could here, I was sent
to
Gull
Island
. The mer don’t a
lways stay there. Some seasons
they migrate to warmer climate and I hoped they’d
already done so. They hadn’t
and some of them were injured. This storm was like no other, it came with v
ery little warning. The mer aren’t
usually caught in a storm, but this time they were. Your mother was one of them that got crushed against the rocks and reefs. She needed more care than they could give. You know we keep antibiotics in the lighthouse for when we come across injured animals. The more serious ones we send to the mainland shelter for care. As you can imagine, there was no sending your mother anywhere. They asked me to care for her in the cavern. I was a young man of twenty-three and had never really been that close to the mer before. She was so beautiful, like nothing I’d ever seen. Needless to say, I enjoyed caring for her very much and came almost every day f
or the next two weeks. By then
you could say that I was hopelessly in love with her. I discovered that when I was near the mer, I could read their thoughts and I knew that she had come to care for me too. I know this all sounds so crazy, but that’s really how it happened
.
”
H
er father smiled brightly.
“No Dad, I think it sounds so romantic. A few days ago, I might have thought a lot of things strange, but not anymore
.
”
B
eamed Lana
with a sigh
.
“It wasn’t long and King Titan realized what had happened. How could he not, when you can’t even have a private thought. He knew
that I’
d be the future guardian after my father and he also knew that I was a descendant of the merwalkers. He agreed to our union and it was the most beautiful wedding. We had to hold it in the cavern, because even though I can swim deeper and hold my bre
ath longer than most humans, I’
m no mer. My father was there too and your mother’s parents,” he said as his voice began to change and tears began to fill his eyes again.
“It’s okay Dad, I’m sure it was so special,” said Lana compassionately.
“Yeah
it was. Kid, I’m afraid that’s all I’m good for today. I want to tell you everything, but
just not today, okay?”
“Sure Dad. Thanks so much for today. You’ve made me so happy to know our history
.
”
Lana went and hugged him once more and he headed out the door.
What a beautiful story her father had told her. It was so good to hear how much her parents loved each other. She never knew if they had ever been happy; how sad it was that it didn’t last that long. Lana felt so contented and she was filled with love for her father. She could tell that it wasn’t an easy thing for him to talk about, but she was so glad he did.
Lana wondered what her life might have been like if her mother had lived. Now she knew that what King Titan had told her was true; her mother really was a mermaid and a Princess. Lana found it hard to believe that she was a Princess too.
The hardest thing for Lana to accept was the agreement that her parents and King Titan had made with Prince Titus. Lana didn’t like such a decision being made for her. He seemed to be nice; she knew not to judge him because of his differences. She herself knew what that was like. It was just that Prince Titus seemed so big and strong and that did frighten her a little.
~~~~~
Lana went upstairs to her father’s office and got on his computer. She looked up her favorite sites for buying fabric. She knew it was crazy, but she would try and go to the prom after all. She found one fabric in particular that she felt was just right. It was made of blue and green sequence and Lana thought it would make the perfect dress for a half mer. She paid to have it shipped overnight. Her father didn’t mind her splurging; he was glad when she told him that she decided to go to the prom. She
knew that this was part of his
normal kid
plan for her life and she would try and enjoy these last few weeks of her senior year.
During the next week and a half, Lana was able to work on her dress and she
even made matching elbow length
fingerless gloves. The only time she had ever gone without gloves was when she was in the water and then quickly put them back on after she got out. She still didn’t like people staring at her and she wanted the prom to be a good memory.
Lana’s father did share some more stories of him and her mother. He told how he traveled a few times with the mer by boat when they migrated. It sounded like he enjoyed being part of the mer family. He said that they treated him as one of them and was always considerate to allow him time for sunlight, which included some
days
on distant islands and wonderful exotic foods. He said that King Titan and his people
were
a happy and peaceful people and the life was good that he had chosen with her mother. He told her how happy he was on the day that Lana was born. He told her that he and her mother chose her name and that it meant;
calm and
peaceful waters
. She had to laugh at that. Then her father got so busy with the lighthouse. There were several storms coming in and he had to be at his post.
The day of the prom finally arrived and Lana was a little nervous. She loved her dress, it reminded her of her mother and she felt like a part of her was with her for this special occasion. She decided not to wear any heels, she always preferred flats. She had purchased some sparkly silver
sho
es with closed toes. Again, she didn’t want anyone seeing her feet. She still had to wear her hair down because of her gills, but she found some seashell combs that were white and iridescent. She only pulled back a small portion of her bangs, twisting them and placing the combs on either side.
I guess its time
.
She knew that her father was waiting anxiously downstairs; she had hear
d him pacing for some time. Lana
began to walk down.
“Kid, you look beautiful
.
”
H
er father beamed.
“Thanks Dad, I hoped you’d like it
.
”
S
he smiled
at him
.
“Turn around and let me get the full effect,” he said as he looked p
roudly. Lana slowly turned, even though
she felt a little foolish. “I hate to tell you this, but you forgot to sew the back of that dress
.
”
H
er father smiled teasingly.
“Dad, you know it’s the style. At least I did place the straps around my neck, I could have made it strapless
.
”
S
he raised her brows.
“Okay, okay, I guess I’m glad that you at least have straps. Seriously Lana, you look great, your mom would have been proud of you. You look even more like her in that dress,” he said as he went and kissed the top of her head.
“Thanks Dad, it means a lot to hear you say that.”
“Would you like me to drive you to the pavilion?”
“No, I know it seems crazy in this dress and all, but I’d really just like to walk. I made sure that the length was just right so I wouldn’t be stepping all over it”
S
he g
rinn
ed.
Her father went and grabbed his camera and took some quick shots before he relent
ed, “Okay, I guess
I have to let you go, just make sure you have fun and dance at least once for me.”
“If you insist, I wasn’t really planning on doing any dancing. I’m not sure anyone will ask me,” said Lana a little timidly.
“Trust me kid, they’re gonna ask,” said her father as he opened the door for her with a smile.
“Well, here goes
.
”
Lana kissed his cheek and headed out.
~~~
The night was warm and the sky was clear with a million stars. What a perfect night for a prom under the pavilion. It was the first dance ever held there since they had constructed it two years before. A hurricane had taken out the wharf with a few shops. The shop owners decided against rebuilding and allowed the island to build the pavilion instead. It was at the end of a pier and sat a few feet off the water
’
s surface. The pavilion was large and octagon in shape. It had a bench all along the railing inside. It held at least two hundred, which was more than large enough for the senior class prom. Some of the kids were upset when they heard th
at the theme was
Under the Sea
, it was so typical, but Lana really liked it.
As Lana reached the pavilion, she glanced at all the tiny white lights. They were wrapped around the beams, railings, and even all along the edge of the roof. There were so many sparkling fish and plants hung everywhere. Lana thought that the best thing was a statue in the center that looked a lot like King Titan.
Wow, they got that down pretty good
. Lana smiled as she
look
ed
at it.
“Hey Lana, we’re over here!” Elaine called from across the other side.
“Hi, they really went way out on the decorations,” said Lana
as she walked over to her
.
“Yeah, I even got to help a little
.
” Elaine
smiled
.
“Now why does that not surprise me,” Lana said with a wide grin. Then Elaine was asked to dance. Lana was left alone and decided to sit on the bench. Her other friends were already dancing themselves. As she sat there, she heard someone say,
“You look lovely tonight.”
“Why thank you, that is so...” Lana turned to tell the boy sitting next to her, but the boy only shrugged his nose at her and scooted further away.
“Have you forgotten me already?” the voice said again.
Lana looked around and couldn’t find anyone looking
in her direction. Suddenly
she realized that it was Prince Titus speaking to her in her mind. “Where are you?” she allowed her thoughts to ask.
“Beneath you, I am glad that you
finally recognize me.”
“Sorry, I’m not used to this new type of communication
,
” she
said with a
giggle.
“Again, I want to say that you look very beautiful.”
“Thanks, I think this dress is perfect, my dad said it reminded him of my mother.”
“Yes, you do look like her, she was beautiful as well.”
“I wish you were able to come to the dance,” said Lana a little sadly realizing that he couldn’t.
“Yes, I wish I could also, but you will have to dance for the both of us.”
“Okay, if someone asks me,” she said a little timidly.
“They will ask, and when you do, will you stay by the side so that I can watch and imagine that it is I dancing with you?” he asked a little sorry that it would not be him.
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Now there is a true friend of the mer,” said the Prince.
Lana looked up to see Miss Perry coming towards her, “Hello Lana, you look so pretty tonight. You look the perfect mermaid,”
she said
as she sat down beside her.
“Why thank you, I suppose I was inspired by the theme.”
“Is everything going alright between you
and your dad?”
“Yeah, everything’
s great. We’ve talked a lot about things these past two weeks.”
“That’s wonderful, I’m glad to hear that
.
”
Miss Perry smiled
tenderly
.
“Miss Perry, you know who I really am, don’t you?” Lana asked, not sure if she should have.
“Let’s just say, I had my suspicions
.
”
Miss Perry smiled once more.
“I can never thank you enough for teaching me to swim. You’ll never know what it’s meant to m
e.”
“It was my pleasure, and I can imagine what it has meant. I know your dad means well, but I could see how much you were hurting.”
“Yeah, it hasn’t been easy for me, but now so much makes sense.”
“Tell her that the mer thank her for her gifts and for that of her mother as well,” Prince Titus spoke in Lana’s mind once more.
“The mer wish to thank you for the gifts and the ones your mother brought too,” said Lana a little unsure of what Miss Perry might think.
Miss Perry’s eyes began to fill with tears and she said, “They are quite welcome and I’m so glad to finally know that they appreciate them.”
“I’m sorry Miss Perry, I didn’t mean to upset you
.
”
“No, no, it’s just that when you’ve believed a thing for so long, it’s so magical to know that you were right in doing so
.
”
S
he smiled again
with a sniffle
.
“You were right and your mother was right,” s
ai
d Lana as she hugged her.