Fairy Tales From Around the World

The Little Mermaid

Once upon a time, in a mysterious kingdom underneath the deep blue sea, there lived a beautiful young mermaid named Lacus Clyne. She was the daughter of the King of the Sea, as well as a curious soul who loved to explore the ocean she called home, but the place she longed to explore was the world and the humans and other creatures above the water. She always wanted to know what it was like to live on land, but she was usually too afraid to go against her father's wishes, until one fateful night, all of that changed.

One night, while everyone was asleep, Lacus thought that this was the perfect opportunity to go to the surface without getting caught. She slipped out of her room undetected and swam up until she finally reached the surface world. When her head broke through the waves, she couldn't believe her eyes. She was immediately met with the most beautiful night sky she had ever seen in her life. The sky was a clear black with little tiny stars scattered across it for as far as the eye can see and a full moon was its grand centerpiece.

Lacus was so entranced by the scene that she began to sing to herself in the most beautiful voice anybody would ever hear. Unbeknownst to her, a small ship was sailing her way and one of the humans that were on the ship heard her singing. It was a young man with tan skin, brown hair, and purple eyes. He gazed off the side of the ship to see if he could find the source, but he could see no sign of anybody.

Just as Lacus was about to begin her second verse, she saw the ship and she dove back into the water in terror. The young man on the ship was disappointed that the singing stopped, but then he saw something in the water. It was a silhouette of Lacus. He looked at her with wide eyes before Lacus finally took notice. When she met the young man's eyes, she couldn't turn her gaze away from him, her eyes transfixed on his calm face. The young man felt something pulling at his heartstrings as he looked at the mermaid. She felt the same way toward him.

"Who is that?" Lacus wondered aloud, her eyes wide with wonder.

But soon, their mysterious and romantic moment was abruptly interrupted by a loud rumble of thunder and an enormous crash of lightning. There was a huge thunderstorm coming and fast. Lacus was terrified. She didn't know what to do in a storm. But then, she saw that the ship was being tossed around by the roaring waves, and soon enough, it was hit by an enormous rock and she saw that it was beginning to sink. She turned tail in fear and resolved to swim home when she heard a mighty crack of thunder followed by a loud splash. Lacus looked in horror to see the same young man from before sinking in the ocean.

"Oh no!" she cried, swimming after him.

She didn't hesitate, scooping her Prince in her arms and attempting to keep his head above the water. Shouldering his weight, she swam towards the nearest beach she could find. By the time she reached it, she slumped the Prince's body on the sand and tried to catch her breath.

"Hello? Hello, stranger?! Can you hear me?! Wake up! Please, wake up!" Lacus whispered, unsure how to help him breathe. She shook him gently once, then again, pleading for him to open his eyes.

Then she had an idea. She decided to sing to him to see if he could hear her. She sang a slow calming tune to the stranger and just as the sky was beginning to clear up from the storm, the stranger coughed and sputtered the water that had been in his lungs. Lacus kept on singing, this time in a happy tone and the young man finally noticed.

"Wha-what? Who...who are you...so...pretty..." the young man mumbled in a voice barely over a whisper.

"Prince Kira! Where are you? Kira, answer me!" an unfamiliar voice called from somewhere unknown. Lacus gasped and dove under the waves, not wanting to be caught.

"Oh, Kira! Hang on, I'm coming!" A young man cried with a mixture of relief and panic in his tone. He ran down to the beach near the Prince and pulled him further away from the water.