WIN a $25.00 VISA Card by guessing the name of the mermaid. Only people subscribing to my Newsletter or "followers" are allowed to enter. Only one guess per person allowed. Email your guess to dreaminsailorman@hotmail.com Should there be more than one correct answer, the winner's names will be put into a hat and the first name drawn is the winner. Family members are allowed to guess a name too but they are not elegible to win the prize - sorry.
The sailorman couldn’t believe his eyes; clinging to the side of the dinghy was the most extraordinarily beautiful woman he had ever seen. As she smiled up at him; hazel eyes mischievously sparkling in the sunlight, her long, curly black hair cascading down across her shoulders framing her roundish face and slightly prominent chin, he couldn’t help noticing she was wearing glasses, the most outlandishly garish pair he had ever seen. The wide turquoise frames, which extended well past the side of her head were studded with numerous precious jewels and two very large red stones.
“Hello,” he stammered. “Where did you come from? Are you from the sailboat over on the other side of the island?”
The woman's eyes never left his as she continued smiling, slowly shaking her head from side to side.
The sailorman, mesmerized by the woman's beauty and for reasons beyond his realm, felt instantly drawn to her. Somewhat confused by her silent reply, he asked, “Well if you aren't from that sailboat, are you on another boat that's anchored nearby?”
Shaking her head again, her sultry voice sounding as smooth as velvet she said, “I am not from any boat, this is where I live.”
“You mean on the island? But I have walked its entirety, exploring every nook and cranny; I've never seen a dwelling of any kind.”
Still smiling, brushing aside a curl on her forehead, she teasingly replied, “No, not on the island. Here – I live right here.”
“That’s impossible!” he quipped.
“I don’t suppose you would believe me, if I told you I was a mermaid.”
Judging by the smirk on the sailorman’s face, she continued, “I thought not, but it is so. I was one of many passengers on a large sailing vessel many, many years ago; we were traveling to a far off land to begin new lives. As the voyage progressed, a young handsome man made amorous advances towards me, eventually asking me to marry him. I told him it was not possible, that I was going to meet a mystery boatman, fall in love and live happily ever after. I remember him laughing, an almost villainous expression on his face when he commanded, ‘You sound like some princess out of a fairytale; you will marry no one but me.’ When I refused again, he flew into a rage, spinning on his heels, the long cape he was wearing swirling around, completely engulfing his whole body. After his tantrum subsided, he pointed his walking stick at my face and said in a very cold and eerie voice, ‘So you won’t marry me; let it be so.’ He laughed again, a most hideous laugh and seemed to go into a trance, drawing circles in the air with his walking stick. I can still hear his words, ‘Circle once, circle twice, circle thrice and add some spice. She desires a boatman, not me. If that is the scenario, then let it be.’ He seemed to be talking in rhymes and at this point I found him very amusing, couldn’t stop myself from laughing at him. He didn’t seem to care anymore as he ranted on, ‘Her name is Priscilla but never more. That and other things, I’ve sealed the door. She thinks she’s a beauty, a real dish. And you still are, except now, you’re half fish.’ And when he said that, I fell to the deck because my legs were gone, in their place was a long fish tail. I begged him to stop and make me whole once again, but he only laughed harder at my misery. He said, ‘Don’t despair, the spell can be broken, but only by your boatman, the one and only boatman, your very special boatman. To break the spell and turn you back into Priscilla, he will have to guess the name I give you, and he is allowed only three guesses. And in all fairness my dear, I should mention, if you tell anyone the name I’ve given you, anyone at all or if the boatman doesn’t guess your name in three attempts, you will spend the remainder of your days as a total fish.’ And just before throwing me overboard, he stuck these ridiculously annoying, gem-studded glasses on my nose saying, ‘For your boatman, in case all he really wants is the jewels, he’ll have to take your head because they cannot be removed until the spell is broken.’ So here I am boatman, yours for the taking if you can guess my name.”
The sailorman chuckled, “I love stories and it’s a great story you told me, but you don’t really expect me to believe it do you. If you're a mermaid, then I’m King Neptune.”
The beautiful woman raised one eyebrow and smiled an impish smile before slipping beneath the sea. The sailorman waited for her to surface and after some minutes went by, he began to worry. It wasn’t possible for someone to hold their breath for that long, she must be hiding on the other side of the rocks laughing at me, he thought. Just then, the reel began to sing, a fish had taken the bait. Grabbing the rod, he began reeling it in. Judging by the strength it took to slowly wind up the line, he figured a huge fish; perhaps a halibut had taken the lure. As his muscles strained on the reel, sweat trickling down his forehead, collecting in his mustache and beard; he could see what looked like a large fish slowly emerging from the murky depths of the sea. However, he could scarce believe his eyes when the woman’s face suddenly appeared, her hands holding onto the line.
“You still don’t believe I’m a mermaid, do you?” And on saying that, disappeared once again beneath the waves. However, instead of remaining under the water for a long period of time, she exploded from the depths of the sea, instantaneously soaring through the air!
It’s not possible he thought, but there she was, her beautiful smile, long curly hair covering much of her breasts and voluptuous body – unbelievably converging into a long, flowing fish tail, as much out of place as her outrageous spectacles!
After swimming around the dinghy, playfully splashing the sailorman for a short while, she returned and looked up at him, her smile melting his unbelief, his utter astonishment.
“I don’t know what to say. You…you…you’re actually a mermaid – a real live, living mermaid! It’s not possible! But here you are, part human and part fish.”
She nodded her head. “Yes. Afraid so. I’m a real live mermaid.”
“And I can see by your eyes, that you weren’t kidding; the tale you told me about being turned into a fish, well at least half a fish, was actually the truth.”
“Yes, I always tell the truth.”
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