mermaid love :: essays research papers

Mermaid Love The ship was sailing under a sunset sky. The weather was as calm and perfect as King Seren could make it, in his happiness on the day of his youngest daughter's wedding. The guests aboard were having a good time. They drank wine, rum, mead, and whatever else they could lay hands upon. Most were drinking out of joyous celebration, but there were those who drank heavily, Lord Smiley included, to try and forget the fact that Prince Stan had married a fish. All agreed that marrying a fish was considerably better than the octopuss witch that had nearly tricked the handsome young prince into wedlock. Princess Lena was lovely, sweet, and kind. She had legs as a human did, but none of them were going to easily dismiss the memory of her flopping on the deck with a scaled green tail. Among the nervous were those who made their living by plundering the sea of its wealth. Stan's was a coastal domain. Fishing was their main source of food. Difficult, that, when what was hauled up in a net may be kin to their princess. Shipping was another means of income, and even piracy (though they called it privateering). But it was now confirmed that the sea was the realm of a king, a king with power over wind and wave, a king who might impose restrictions on travel across his territory. The staff of the royal kitchens had been in a quandary. How to prepare the traditional wedding feast while keeping away from seafood? Instead of succulent roast dolphin, they had to serve beef. The few cattlemen of the realm were quite pleased, but their herds and farms would not sustain the masses forever. All in all, it was understandable that the liquor flowed freely. The only ones aboard who were not distraught over one thing or another were the bride and groom, and Stan's shaggy dog Fluffy. Fluffy had eaten most of the cake that the chef Pete had ruined in his pursuit of Sebastian the crab, and the overfed dog was now sprawled beside the mainmast sleeping it off. Pete, who had broken off most of his teeth, was sleeping off the brandy that hat been given him to ease the pain. Lena and Stan stood on the bow, arms around each other. The wind stirred her luxurious red hair and ruffled the lacy hem of her gown.