by Sarah Earlene Shere, ©2023
(Jun. 1, 2023) — The sharp blade reflected the light of the breaking dawn. Delicate fingers turned the pearl handle in the soft palm of the hand. A pair of dainty feet gracefully seemed to float across the bearskin rug, giving no indication of the sharp pain that shot up the slender legs (like the stabbing of knives) with each step taken.
The little mermaid silently approached the sleeping newlyweds. Her heartbeat quickened. Her sisters had made it sound so easy: Plunge the sea witch’s knife into the heart of the prince, let his blood flow onto her feet and her legs will join back together into a fish’s tail; then she can rejoin her family back at her father’s undersea palace, where she would live out the rest of her three hundred years.
The little mermaid leaned over her prince and kissed his fair brow. She then raised the knife over his heart, her hand trembling. Suddenly, she heard him whisper the name of his bride in his sleep. The little mermaid felt a gasp in her throat as she stumbled back away. The inability to shed tears caused a tight band around her heart that squeezed it till she felt it breaking.
Running to the edge of the ship’s rail, she threw the knife into the sea and watched as the water where it landed turned red as blood. Lifting her large, blue eyes, she saw the sun coming up over the horizon. She gave a breathless laugh, considering the irony that the rising of the blazing orange orb she had always loved was now bringing her death.
Turning around, she gave one last, long look at her prince and the beautiful, sweet bride resting on his shoulder before she mounted the rail and leapt overboard, into the sea.
The little mermaid lay there atop the waves, waiting for her inevitable transformation to sea foam. Instead, she was surprised to feel herself raised into the air. Suddenly she was joined by translucent beings, and noticed she, too, bore their resemblance. Her sacrifice had given her a place among the immortals and made her destined to receive an eternal soul. For the first time, tears of joy filled the little mermaid’s eyes as she invisibly kissed her prince and his bride before she ascended with the saints.