Lovesick Little Read online

  Sprawled out comfortably, she sat and watched a huge family of seals as they played and fed, nestled cozily in a snowy sun pocket of a valley where they were shielded from high winds and harsh snow. She enjoyed watching the white cubs at play and laughed about how those creatures, much like herself, could be so graceful under the water but clumsy and awkward when they moved about on land.

  At the edge of the valley, the mermaid saw a young boy appear, creeping in close behind the furry cluster of shiny coats and beady eyes. Her heart jumped at the sight of a real, live human! Intently, she spied on him spying on them from the iceberg she was perched upon, safely hidden in her camouflage of white. At first she wished him to just go away but the more she watched him, the more she was able to relax. The boy lay on his belly in the snow with only his pink face exposed, the fur lining of his hood rustling softly. He watched the seals with wonderment in his eyes, giggling at the sight of the fluffy white babies as they slid across the ice, bumping into each other and yawning.

  Shortly thereafter, a group of large men appeared, each carrying a long stick in his hand. There was something odious about how the men moved and held their sticks so steadily, as if carrying weapons and about to wage war. She wondered who their enemies could be as they crouched down where the boy lie, staying low as they observed the seals, appearing to be counting cubs while they fed, played and let their mothers bathe them.

  The men spread out until they had the seals mostly surrounded, leaving their only hope of escape reliant on their ability to make it back to the water’s edge, at least fifty feet from where they were huddled. The mermaid kept watching, hoping nothing scary would happen, praying that her dark imaginings were just a bit of panicked terror playing tricks on her mind. She thought about screaming and calling them to safety, but just as she was about to act, she froze. Suddenly she became deathly afraid of what would happen to her if she was spotted, for she knew they would have nets and spears and sticks and guns and for all she knew, they might like to do to a mermaid what they do to sharks and dolphins. So she stayed frozen, sure that her father would have wanted her to just stay safe, and keep herself hidden from them.

  The mermaid’s eyes went blurry as the men made their attack. It was a frightening, bloody tableau upon a frozen stage as they wound up their sticks and clubs, delivering hard blows aimed at little seal heads. Their methods were savage and inconsistent; sometimes they missed their marks and smashed the poor seals across their backs, breaking bones instead of knocking them unconscious, and causing blood-curdling cries to ring out. Mothers scrambled to help their pups to the water but were more often intercepted, bashed and left to bleed out while their pups were killed right in front of them.

  Before long, the snow was littered with blood-soaked bodies lying face-down in their own puddles of garnet. Some of the men kept on killing, while others kneeled beside the motionless bodies and used sharp knives to skin the fur right off their still-warm corpses for reasons the mermaid could not understand. In the ocean, a creature only kills to eat but these humans were not taking any meat or bones, just skinning and leaving furless bodies behind to rot. It broke her heart into a million pieces, and she sang somber melodies for all the lives lost. The hunters heard her song but just thought it was the arctic wind through the barren trees and snow drifts.

  Once it was all over, a lake of blood remained where once there was a pristinely icy vista. The men’s boots left red tracks in the snow on their way out. Feeling frozen and empty, she slipped off her iceberg and back into the icy waters. With pain in her soul and anger in her heart, she swam back to the palace and vowed never to visit the surface again for the remainder of her three hundred years.

  When she returned, she told everyone at court about the violent killings she’d witnessed.

  “You’ve been to the Arctic,” said the king knowingly. “And you’ve witnessed the seal hunt.”

  “I did, Father,” responded the princess. “Why would the humans do such a thing? What did they want with so many skins?”

  The king explained to his daughters the economics of the fur trade, and how, even though there are quality substitutes available, some people still insist on real fur even if it came at the cost of the innocent lives of several furry animals. He explained about catchand-kill fur acquisitions, and also about raise-for-slaughter. None of his daughters could understand it. None could conceive of making such frivolous killings.

  That night, all of the sisters went to bed early except for the youngest, who stayed up in the rotting crow’s nest of an old wooden ship to watch boats as they passed overhead. Her outstretched arms reached up at them, and in spite of everything she learned about the crueler facets of humanity, she was still dying for her turn to see the top. She stayed out until the sea was black and the ships above cast no more moon shadows, then went to sleep dreaming of the things she would see on her turn.

  That night, the sea king didn’t get a wink of sleep, nor did he even retire to his bedchamber that evening. Instead, he sat awake on his throne in the dark and thought about his six darling daughters. He wished he could protect them from everything sad in the world but even the powerful monarch had to concede that there were some things simply beyond his control.

  But the king worried most for his youngest daughter, who would be fifteen in the coming year. He knew the year would go by in a blink and it would soon be time to watch her venture up. He had always known her curiosity was a powerful, compelling force, and that sooner or later it would lead her to destinies that could be as dangerous as they could be enticing and beautiful. So the loving father stayed up all night hoping danger never finds her, and wishing nothing but beautiful things for his littlest girl.

  When the little mermaid woke up on the morning of her fifteenth birthday, she rolled over inside the giant clam that was her bed and it opened up for her so she could look out and see what kind of day it was. She looked up to see the sun’s bright streams light up the palace like a ballroom chandelier. On the sunniest days, when light poured in, it always made her happy to wonder how the land people would be spending a sunny day. She felt her heart swell; this would be the day she would see it all for herself!

  She got up and swam out to the courtyard to find a massive celebration in her honor that was more opulent and lavish than any party the ocean world had ever seen. Everyone in the kingdom was there to celebrate, for everyone knew how excited she was and if there was one princess who’d surely bring back good news, it was the youngest without a doubt.

  The old queen presented a beautiful necklace to her granddaughter; its chain was made of woven necklaces of gold and silver, and from it gems, trinkets, and priceless treasures hung. At the very centre, a huge slice of blue-green ammonite stone fossil dangled heavily. The necklace was a work of art, the result of a decade-and-a-half’s worth of sending for only the finest shipwreck jewels. It was stunning, although it felt like an incredible burden hanging from her thin white neck. Her sisters assembled around her for the big send-off, each in turn giving her pieces of advice on things like areas to avoid and situations to stay away from but mostly, not to be seen by any humans. She kissed each of her big sisters and thanked them all for their well-meant advice.

  “I’ll send a storm when it’s time for you to come home,” said the king. “When you feel it approaching, let it carry you safely back to us.”

  The youngest princess smiled and nodded at her loving father, and blew kisses to everyone who had come to see her off. She waved sweetly to her proud old grandmother, then closed her eyes and let her heart take over to drag her where it willed. Once she was high above the palace, she lent herself to the strong current rolling through and let it pull her for hours until it spit her out somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

  As she broke the surface, a gust of wind filled her nose and mouth and she coughed at the strange, dry sensation in her lungs. She could not believe that she was finally there, at the surface, free to explore anything she wanted to. A great warmth
touched down upon her back and she turned to face the setting sun, which painted the late-summer sky a reddish orange. As she absorbed its beautiful warm rays into her cheeks for the very first time, she wondered how she had spent the last fifteen years without it.

  It wasn’t long before the last beams extinguished and the big burning ball disappeared from view. She swam in towards land, skipping across the surface, loving the feeling of the brisk wind through her hair. Off in the distance, she noticed a big white ship decorated in festive lights and sailing her way. She knew her father wouldn’t approve but she couldn’t resist! This was her day of exploration and her heart yanked her towards it like a moth drawn to a flame. A set of fireworks went off and brightly decorated the darkened sky, lighting up the world around her and exploding into the heavens.

  Carefully, she watched the ship sail towards her and as it approached, its music got louder and she could hear the joyful sounds of the party. Maintaining a safe distance, she peeked in the windows and saw scores of smiling people dressed fancily and dancing merrily. The yacht was exquisitely decorated to celebrate a birthday, and the princess couldn’t have been more excited because after all, it was her birthday as well, and it thrilled her to be attending a real human celebration.

  As she scanned the room for whoever it was with whom she shared her birthdate, it didn’t take her long to single out a boy that seemed to be receiving more smiles and attention than anyone else on board. They all seemed to be calling him Gabriel.

  The sight of his face made her heart flutter in a way it never had before. What a beautiful creature he was! Though she had never seen a live human before this day, she was certain he represented the ideal specimen. The longer she watched him, the more she felt herself being drawn in by his deep brown eyes, his warm olive skin and his perfect white teeth. Everything around his face began to blur and she started to feel dizzy and light-headed. All at once, images of love shuffled through her head like a montage, tumbling over her like a waterfall of girlish and romantic expectations. Everything around him was just a mess of light and colors.

  She bobbed upon the waves, not taking her eyes off him for a second as he walked around the boat enjoying his own party. He was beautiful, with a head of thick black hair, a long, lean body and a strong yet gentle composure that seemed to draw people toward him like a magnet. He was handsome in all the ways a young man should be, she thought. He looked just like the statue in her garden.

  There didn’t seem to be a person on board that was immune to his wit and charm, for as he strolled through the crowds collecting best wishes, he left his friends smiling and laughing. The girls on board eyed him dreamily and spoke of him kindly, and the guys remarked on what a good guy and genuine friend he was. The more she overheard people shower him with accolades, the surer she was that she too was falling for him right then and there.

  The mermaid swam in closer until she was right up against the shiny white side of the boat, close enough to hear Gabriel talking to one of his friends as he leaned on a railing.

  “Let me just start by saying that I am never disappointed your birthday falls on Labor Day weekend,” said the arrogant-looking young man to Gabriel’s left. This boy was tall and lanky, and wore a pinstripe blazer on top of a dangerously deep v-neck tee shirt. As he spoke to Gabriel, it was like he was posing, peacocking for the group of attractive girls dancing just a few feet in front of them. “It’s the last weekend of the summer, the last chance to hit the latesummer swells, and one final weekend to select some trim from your always-impressive bevy of cottage girls.”

  “Oh here we go,” said Gabriel, rolling his eyes. “The Skyler triplets are seventeen now,” added Rourke, nudging him with his elbow. Rourke said ‘Skyler’ funny, and he hoped Gabriel didn’t notice but he did. Whenever he drank, the lisp that took him four years of speech therapy to shake came out ever so slightly. Gabriel enjoyed an inward giggle on account of it.

  “You know,” he started, “my mom will stop letting me have you over if she finds out that you just run around collecting v-cards up here.”

  “It’s always consensual!” Rourke fired back. “I’m just saying, we have a responsibility to our neighbors,” said Gabriel. “We can’t be a hostel for sexual deviants on the prowl for their teenage daughters.”

  “Clearly, that is somewhat understandable but I’ve been lucky, as the young lassies I tap usually just creep home quietly and never mention it again!”

  “What do you mean, creep home?” inquired Gabriel gingerly. “Where do you take them?”

  “Bushes, mainly,” responded Rourke shamelessly. “Right around dusk, it’s always amazing how the sheer convenience of a beach bush passes for romantic spontaneity to a chick. I get one in, then scurry home for suppertime.” He knocked back the rest of the beer in his hand.

  “And of course by ‘suppertime’ you mean dinner with MY family, right?” said Gabriel. “I’m just going to stop you right there,” he said, shaking his head.

  The mermaid listened to their conversation with eyes wide, for she had never heard words and phrases like theirs before. It was more than a new language; she felt like one of the aliens her grandmother once told her about, who lived on other planets but traveled through space to observe and be baffled by the earthlings.

  “Well, Gabriel, it just so happens my tastes have matured in recent months,” replied Rourke, unbuttoning his top button to let just a bit of his chest show. “I no longer have a taste for virgins, and I definitely don’t want to waste my time with any more novices. What I’m after is an older woman, a seasoned vet. An O.G. in the game of love.” Thunder cracked loudly off in the distance. Gabriel laughed out loud.

  Rourke had been Gabriel’s closest friend since the earliest sandbox days, their history being the sole reason he maintained a friendship with him, even though it was blatantly clear they shared less and less in common as the years pressed on. “So which of my mother’s friends have you set your sights on, then?” asked Gabriel. Rourke gestured to a forty-something woman standing in the corner wearing stilettos and ripped jeans with a tight black leather tank top. Her top showcased her huge, firm, obviously fake breasts, a neckline that was cut just low enough to let her butterfly tattoo peek out on the left side. “Mrs. Britt? Really?” asked Gabriel incredulously.

  Mrs. Britt was a glamorous cougar of a trophy wife whose latest enhancement was enjoying its grand debut surrounded by gawking young men. The mermaid observed the woman they were observing and compared her own modest breasts to the jumbo flesh pods that adorned the woman. “It’s Ms. Radford now,” corrected Rourke. “She and Mr. Britt split.” The gold chain she wore had a stone pendant that hung deep in her cleavage, and a handful of guys pretending to be interested in geodes leaned in closer to get a better look. “And I always knew she’d keep the summer home,” he said, transfixed, with his eyes trained on her freckled cleavage.

  “Yep it’s always nice when a woman’s rack inflates along with her net worth,” chuckled Gabriel. “At least she won’t take up a lifejacket if this ship goes down!” Just then, another thunderclap echoed through the evening sky, followed by a bright lightning bolt that seemed to scrape through the sky like a live wire across a tin roof. Everyone on the boat cheered, for the lightning lit up the dance floor like strobes.

  The little mermaid ignored the coming storm, opting instead to continue observing all of the fancy people dancing and socializing in their elegant clothing. As she clung to a porthole, her body half out of the water, she felt the wind upon her wet skin and began to understand why the people cover up their bodies in pretty fabrics. What a celebration it was! All around the boat, tables were beautifully decorated with white tablecloths and shiny silverware, and the bar was stocked high with pretty bottles. The dance floor was covered in shimmering lights and everyone in attendance seemed to be having a wonderful time drinking and enjoying the party. No one aboard even noticed the winds as they began to pick up severely.

  As the mermaid watched the w
ay Gabriel easily navigated the party for which he was the cause célèbre, it was hard not to notice an intensely beautiful girl with long cascades of golden hair and a prettily painted face eyeing him aggressively as he stood chatting up a short-haired girl in a blue dress. He pretended not to notice the hole she was burning into the back of his head, and kept his eyes averted. The mermaid overheard a few girls call her Arabella.

  Arabella was a pop star of international fame. Spoiled since birth, Arabella always got everything she wanted. The only child of a pair of ridiculously wealthy and overindulgent Aristocratic Europeans, she was used to getting her way and threw a stink if ever she didn’t. When she was seventeen, she told her parents, the Behrensens, she wanted to be a singer. The following weekend, they had a state-of-the-art recording studio built on their property, purchased a few sets of solid lyrics from certified hit-makers, and hired some big names in the music industry to produce her debut album. Once street credibility was effectively purchased, Arabella became an overnight sensation with fans around the world.

  Of all the girls with whom Gabriel was acquainted, Arabella was easily the prettiest, the loveliest singer and the very best dancer. She was famous, accomplished, and always looked picture perfect. Unfortunately for her, those qualities did her no good when it came to catching his attention. She might have been all of those things, but Gabriel found her to be vapid, superficial, insincere and a little bit insane. And she wasn’t particularly nice, either. Sure, she was nice to him and anyone in his direct proximity, but he knew deep down she was just an immature diva who was simply mistaking her unrequited childhood crush for love’s undying devotion.