By: Sophia Wang

In my younger days, I was a sailor on The S.S Azure, spending my weeks drifting through the open, blue seas. The crew and I would catch seafood to sell in the markets, and the pay was satisfactory.

We rarely had storms that occurred out of sea; but of the few that occurred, there is one that is truly memorable.

It started off as a bright, clear day with not a cloud in the sky. I was getting the boat ready for another day of fishing when an old lady approached us.

“Don’t go out today,” she warned, “There’s gonna be a big storm, I can feel it in my bones.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I told her, “It’s a beautiful day, you’re worrying for nothing.”

The old woman just shook her head and walked off.

“I’m not so sure about that.” The captain told me, “I think we should stay on land; I have a bad feeling about the waters today.”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.” The crew told me.

“Fine!” I huffed, “If you all want to waste a whole day because of a ‘bad feeling’, then be my guest. I’m going by myself.”

“Well, if you change your mind, then we’ll be at the Pub.” The captain shrugged.

I stormed off and started the boat. After a few hours of sailing, I noticed dark storm clouds on the horizon. However, I was already so far out on the water, so I didn’t want to go back.

After another hour, it started drizzling. I kept going since it was only a slight drizzle.

Half an hour later, the waves got rougher, and it started raining harder. I decided to turn the boat around. I figured that I could get back to shore before the storm got worse.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. I lost control of the boat and the compass stopped working. Suddenly, a flash of lightning hit the ship and I fell into the rocky waves below.

My vision got hazier as I fell into the depths of the ocean. I tried to swim back up, but it was too late. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a girl swimming toward me with a shimmery tail.

“Is he alive?”

I heard a voice ask

I opened my eyes and blinked, taking in my surroundings. I was in a room that looked like it was carved from rock. I had some sort of bubble around my head.

“Calm down and breathe normally” I heard the voice again. I turned to my side and saw the girl with the tail.

“What’s going on?” I panicked, “Where am I? And… are you a mermaid?”

“Yep, we’ll return you safely to the surface though.” The mermaid answered, “We get drowning sailors all the time.”

Calming down, I inhaled and exhaled. I assumed the bubble around my head was to allow me to breathe underwater.

“Eat this.” The mermaid shoved a pill-looking thing in my mouth.

The next thing I knew, I woke up on the dock with the rest of the crew looking down at me. The sky was back to a bright, clear blue and the rain stopped.

“Are you okay?” The captain asked me.

“Yeah.” I responded, “There was this underwater palace and there were these mermaids, and I had a bubble around my head and then I ate this pill.”

The crew laughed, “I think you got sick from the storm. Let’s go and get you a soup or something.”

Believe me or not. I know that what I saw was real. There were definitely mermaids who rescued me from that storm, all those years ago.