My Short Stories

Little Mermaid Reimagined (Short Story)

Every day I passed the same house. It was giant, with spires worthy of a castle. The brick was white as snow, and the roof stretched towards the sky with cherry red tiles. It was taken care of with great attention, despite its old age. Whoever lived there must have been royalty in a past life. I was merely a paperboy, passing by each day, but I would always try to look through the windows to see inside.

Every day, for years, was like this. The house intrigued me; it called to me, and yet I could only catch glimpses of figures in the windows. I never lost hope, though. I promised myself that I would walk up and knock on the door one day.

However, without warning, fate forced that day into my lap.

A tall and muscular man with jet black hair and light blue eyes stepped out onto the porch as I was passing by. I stopped abruptly to hide and watch him. I knew I couldn't just walk up and start a conversation, but at least I could watch him. He stretched his arms towards the sky and groaned, "Come on, Gideon. It's my birthday. I have to see the world sometime in my life!"

The man he was referring to, Gideon, was a skinny old man with a pronounced nose and perfect posture, "Yes, but you should still be careful. Oh, stop that!" The younger man jumped over the porch fence and ran into the yard, smiling and laughing. He seemed to be a few years older than me, perhaps 17 or 18. Gideon raced after him, trying to guard him against anything that moved.

As I leaned forward for a better look, I fell into the bush I was hiding behind. A surprised squirrel went running off, and the young man ran over, "What was that?" I hid in the bush, trying to stay out of his view. He hopped over a second fence and walked out into the street. He kept his eyes on the side of the road where I was, completely oblivious of the oncoming car. The driver sounded his horn, but the man just stared blankly at the car. Without thinking, I sprinted towards him and tackled him. I collapsed on top of him on the other side of the road, and the driver gave another loud honk.

I felt dizzy from adrenaline and didn't realize at first that I was on top of the man. Gideon ran over, breathing heavily, and helped us up. When I processed what happened, my cheeks burned. The two men looked at me in confusion, and I turned and ran for my bike. The younger man called out to me, "Thank you! Whoever you are..."

"That's the paperboy, Eric. You have no need to affiliate with him." Gideon said, just loud enough for me to hear as I rode off.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I do that?" I mumbled in anger. The fresh wind blew through my hair, comforting me, but my cheeks still burned, and my mind was still reeling.

Over the next couple of days, I couldn't stop thinking about Eric. His tossed back black hair, and those ice-blue eyes... My friend Ula loved to tease me about it.

"You should talk to him! It's been a week already, I'm sure he'd love to finally meet you. You guys would be so cute together." She bumped my shoulder and opened up another tube of lipstick. But, as I thought about it, the more I realized how unrealistic it would be. He's rich, who inherited a high status from his parents, where I'm just a poor paperboy finishing up school. It's not exactly the perfect match. "Come on, all you need is a new look. Wash your hair for once, cut off the ends, put on a better shirt, and show him that cute smile of yours. Hey, maybe he'll even start crushing on how cute you are!"

"I doubt he's gay," I stated, deadpan. I looked down at my hands, thinking about the absurdity of it all.

But, despite my protests, Ula insisted on my makeover. She dolled me up, styling my hair out of my face, and picking out a light purple button-up shirt for me to wear. She even dotted blush on my cheeks, but that was where I stopped. "Okay, okay. Now let's go get your man!" Ula pushed me out the door and we hopped on my bike.

It didn't take long for us to get to Eric's house. When we pulled up, my heart was pounding, and I was having second thoughts. Ula put a hand on my shoulder and came with me up to the fence lining the yard. Up close, you could see the attention to detail and how much love the owner had for this house. Down to every blade of grass, everything was perfect. Not a single weed interfered with its beauty, and tiny flowers poked out along the fence to say hello. Ula and I were completely taken aback by the heavenly glamour of every minute detail.

"Well...Go up to the door, I guess..." Ula stammered, just as intimidated as me. I creaked open the fence gate and slowly stepped along the stone path.

Before I even made it to the front door, however, Eric came running out. "It's you! The man who saved my life! I can't believe you came back! I wanted to thank you for saving me. I really am grateful. What's your name? Would you like to join me for tea? Uh... What do normal people talk about? I don't go outside much." He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.

I looked back at Ula for help, but she just gave me a thumbs up. "Uh... I'm Ari. I would love to join you for tea." I smiled, my hands shaking in my pockets.