An Angel from the Deep

  Roxanna woke up, feeling tired and weary. After regaining focus, she looked around her. She lay in a bed made of sponge with another one at her head as a pillow and a thin, seaweed blanket covering her tail. She had no idea where she was, nor how long she was unconscious. Curious, she decided to look around. She exited the room she was resting in and entered the one next to it. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. The walls were lined with mysterious books and bottles which each contained a peculiar substance. By the looks of the place, Roxanna figured she was in some kind of natural cavern, due to the stone formations and the musty smell of the cave. Suddenly, she heard a noise, not far off. It sounded like someone humming a cheery song. She followed the noise to what reminded her of a kitchen.

  At the sink, she saw an elderly merman dressed in an apron, washing dishes. She wasn't sure if he knew of her presence, so she politely cleared her throat to gain his attention. The merman turned around. His face was all rosy with calm, blue eyes; big, bushy eyebrows; and a short beard. He smiled when he saw the child. "Why, look who's awake! How are you feeling, young lady?" Roxanna was a bit shy around this stranger, but gingerly replied, "I'm feeling quite well, thank you." The man swam closer to her. "May I introduce myself? My name is Mordecai, and if I remember correctly, you're Miss Roxanna, I'm I right?" he asked her. The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, I am. How did you know?" "You've met Omnious Kri, haven't you?" asked Mordecai. "Yes, I did. I didn't know you had interactions with the other world, though." replied the princess.

  "Why, of course!" exclaimed Mordecai. "Omnious Kri just so happens to be my younger brother. He sent me a message to me through the portal during the beginning of the war telling me that I was your only refuge. I gladly accepted the priority of caring for you until further notice." "May I ask why you are here instead of with the other merfolk?" asked Roxanna. "My dear, during your stay, you will be under my teaching. For years I've been studying magic and alchemy. When we discovered the portal, I went through it to continue my research. It was to my surprise and delight that magic in this world is much more common than ours. When I heard about your magical voice and the mysterious patches on your hips, I ditched my current work to find out more about your gifts. The results astounded me!"

  "I would love to hear more about it!" said Roxanna cheerfully. "You will...tomorrow morning." stated Mordecai. Roxanna let out a deep sigh of disappointment. "Now don't let me see such a sad face during your first day." said Mordecai, trying to cheer up the young, mermaid princess. "The sea creatures are eagerly awaiting your arrival. They have never seen a mermaid before. They have only seen your's truly, an old merman. Now how about you go out and explore, plus meet some new friends." Roxanna liked the sound of that, so she headed towards the door. "And you know the rule, don't you, dear?" he asked. "Yes, sir. Stay away from the surface."

  The surface was forbidden to all merfolk, and only the authorized could go up there, which there were very little of. The reason being because the humans and all living creatures up there were thought to be vile, gruesome, blood-thirsty maniacs who were thought to slaughter anything in their path and use their carcuses for food and other ideal supplies. We know, of course, that this is not true. Yet the merpeople, both on earth and in this new dimension, were terribly afraid of the possible dangers of the surface. Though Roxanna was told this many times, she still wondered about what the surface was like. She was told it had no water, as if millions of bubbles had taken its place. What could a place possibly be like with no water? Roxanna's questions and curiosity about the surface world persuaded her to think that someday, she would sneak up to it during the night. She was a bit anxious about this dream, but wished deeply to fulfill it.

  Meanwhile, Roxanna was swimming out the door and into the great blue. She loved the colorful plants that covered the ocean floor. The sea was crystal clear and was a beautiful shade of blue. She hummed a merry tune as she flipped through the currents, trying to find a group of creatures to meet. All of a sudden, she heard the sound of laughter. "Maybe whoever's giggling would like to befriend me!" thought Roxanna happily. She swam toward the cheery sound. She pulled back a bundle of seaweed to reveal two shark children and a little, blue octopus. They looked about Roxanna's age, which may I remind you, is now six years old. She tuned in to their conversation. "Hey, look, Jim. There's that nitwit squid we saw at the park yesterday." said one of the sharks. "Yeah, it is him, Bobby!" replied the other shark, who apparently was named Jim. "It's been so long. I was starting to miss him!" The little octopus lifted himself straight and tall. "Well, I haven't missed you guys at all, and not to mention that I'm most certainly not a squid. I'm an octopus! See, I have eight tentacles, not six." The sharks laughed mockingly at him. "Geez, I'm sorry!" said Bobby. "I must've miscounted. Let me try again." The octopus raised out all of his tentacles. "One, two, three, four, five, six." counted Bobby. "You forgot these two!" shouted the octopus, waving the remaining two angrily. "No I didn't." replied Bobby. "Because once you think about it, they're not even there! We'll chomp them right off and slap you with them. Talk about hitting yourself!" The two sharks started laughing once more as the blue octopus tried his best to back off, but the sharks kept on following him. " Awww, is little squidy scared? Well, you should be!" said Bobby, gnashing his teeth at the poor lad.

  Roxanna felt sorry for the young octopus as her rage for the sharks grew. She came out from hiding and shouted, "Hey, knock it off!" Both the sharks and the octopus turned their attention to the young mermaid. They gasped when they saw the mysterious creature. The octopus buried himself in the sand to hide. The sharks pretended to not be afraid of Roxanna, but inside, they were trembling with fear. "What in the world do you think you're doing, treating the poor octopus like that?" she asked, her voice raised and fins positioned straight and tall. The shark boys backed up a little. "Wha...what do you mean?" asked Jim, trying to clothe him and Bobby in innocence. "We were just messing around. We do this all the time!" "Well, I'm not enjoying your little game. You have ought to be ashamed of yourselves for bullying him around like that, and by the looks of it, this isn't the first creature that you messed around with either, am I correct?" asked Roxanna. The shark boys were rattling in fear, even though the girl was just as old as they were, possibly a little older. "I don't even need an answer, because your foolish ways told me that you've had some practice, and not just on him. If I catch you two acting this way to anyone else, there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, yes! Please don't tell anyone, we'll be good!" said the sharks, rattling frightened. The two swam off as quick as they could, until they could be seen no more.

  The princess saw something shift out of the corner of her eye. The little octopus cautiously came out from cover. "It's okay, you can come out. They're gone now." said Roxanna, with a calm, soothing voice. The boy shook the access sand off his body. He looked astonishingly into the girl's eyes. "I...I can't believe it! You stood up to the shark twins. Nobody in my class at school has ever done something like that before, at least the way you did it! How can I ever thank you?" The mermaid blushed at the compliment she received. "It was no problem, buddy. Just knowing that you're okay if enough for me. Though, I wish to know your name." "I'm Squirt. What's your name?" he asked. "I'm Roxanna." she replied. "I'm pleased to meet you." "Same here." said Squirt. "Though, I do have one question. What exactly are you? I've never seen a creature like you before." "I understand, for you see, I'm the only female of my kind of this world since today. I'm a mermaid, and the merpeople are my kind." said Roxanna."Wow, amazing!" exclaimed Squirt. "When I first saw you, you reminded me of someone named Mordecai the Wise. Is he a merperson?" "Why yes! In fact, I'm under his care until I can return home to my kingdom." "Your...kingdom?" asked Squirt, surprised. "Oh, it's a long story." she said. "Oh no, please, tell me everything! I want to know more." he said excitingly. Roxanna giggled. "I wish to explore my new home. Perhaps, if you wish, I could tell you my story while we swim." "That sounds great!" said Squirt. "Let's go!"

  The two friends set off on their adventure together, while Roxanna told her story. Every bit from being a princess, having a magical voice, earning these mysterious marks on her shoulders, her super strength, and teleporting to a different world for refuge never brought a moment of boredom to Squirt. "You're amazing! I can't believe what I'm hearing, yet I know it's true! You'll love it here, I promise." he said, filled with glee. "I'm sure I will!" said Roxanna, twirling happily among the waves. Then, Squirt saw something shiny fall off of Roxanna. He looked at the object lying in the sand. "Roxanna, I think you dropped this." he said, picking it up and handing it to her. Roxanna looked solemnly at the treasure in her hands. "What is it?" asked Squirt. Roxanna's hands trembled as she carefully opened it. A burst of bubbles broke free, revealing a huge one in the center...with a picture inside. It was Roxanna's locket she had gotten from her parents before she left. Squirt stared in awe of the beautiful photo of the family that shone. "Is...Is that your family?" he asked, saddened by the look of the princess' face. The girl could only reply with a sniffle as she floated down slowly and sat on the ocean floor. The little octopus swam over to the weeping child and wrapped his tentacles around her shoulder. Roxanna ran her fingers over the golden shell, when she felt an odd bump. She examined it to reveal it was a button. Curious, she pressed it. Out of the locket came a beautiful melody. She gasped when she remembered the tune. On cue, she began to sing along.

"Rest now, my child.

It's time to go to bed.

Settle down your fins,

and lay your woozy head.

May the currents of the night

sweep you to a place

where everything is wonderful

and troubles are erased.

Rest now, my child.

Don't make another peep.

It's time to close your eyes

and go to sleep, sleep, sleep."

  Squirt unleashed his tears of pity for his new friend, knowing that it will be a long time until she and her parents could meet again. "Perhaps we should head back." said Squirt. "Mordecai is probably waiting for you." Roxanna wiped the tears from her eyes and stood back up. "You're probably right, Squirt. You're family will want to see you too, I presume." "Yeah, I guess I got to go." said Squirt, sad that they had to part. "Would you like to meet again tomorrow?" "I would love to!" said Roxanna, feeling a bit more cheerful. "Come over to Mordecai's cavern when you're ready." "It's a plan!" said Squirt. "See you tomorrow." "Goodbye!" said Roxanna as they waved to each other. She set off for home, happy that she made such a wonderful friend.