THE MERMAID AND THE BOATMAN - Part 6

WIN a $25.00 VISA Card by guessing the name that the magician gave 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 evening was passing by very quickly, yet the mermaid and the boatman had hardly said a word.  The sailorman felt her eyes more than saw her looking at him and he knew what was coming before she even uttered the words, “I suppose the time has arrived once again.  You told me last night that you had already decided on another name.  Have you changed your mind about that one, or chosen another name?”

The mermaid felt the boatman grow tense as he said, “No.  It’s the same name.  I wasn't able to think of a better one.”

“Well, what is it?” she anxiously prodded. 

Seeing no way out of not telling her the name he'd chosen, he reluctantly answered, “According to ancient Germanic legend, there once lived a very beautiful mermaid.  She had a sweet, alluring voice, which often caused  sailors to run their ships up on the rocks attempting to reach her.  Her name was Lorelei and that's my choice tonight.  My sweet mermaid, is your name Lorelei?” 

As she shook her head in the moonlight and whispered, “No,” the sailorman noticed the two beautiful red gems on the tips of her gaudy spectacles slightly flickering once again.

Disheartened by his choice, since the woman he loved still remained half a fish, the sailorman implored, “Please don’t ask me to guess again.  I don’t care what your name is or what you look like.  So you're half fish; so what – I love you regardless!  It hasn’t made a difference so far – I can live with it – why can’t you?”

Waiting for his emotional outburst to subside, still holding his hands tightly, the mermaid quietly replied, “I've waited for you longer than you have been alive my boatman.  You're my only chance to be a whole woman.  I love you even though I am half fish, but I long to love you like a whole woman; my entire being, body, mind and soul.  You do understand don’t you?  Although I've been somewhat happy with my seagoing friends, the dolphins, whales and fishes, I'm often times overwhelmed with loneliness, something I'm sure you can understand.  So cheer up, smile and think positive – tomorrow night – tell me the right name.  You're not going to let an old magician get the best of you, are you?”

“You ask a lot from me, but I guess that’s a big part about being in love.  Everything isn't always fun and good times; it's getting through the difficult times that life throws at a person that makes a relationship between two people stronger,” replied the sad sailorman.

Although the next morning was bright and sunshiny, the sailorman was as blue as the sky.  He went through his morning ritual, enjoying a cup of hot jasmine tea before taking Misty to the island.  His actions seemed almost hypnotic, as if he had no control of the day and it’s eventual outcome.  For once in his life, he dreaded the approach of nightfall, the responsibility he had to face and perhaps the most overwhelming loss to ever befall him. As he sat in the sailboat's cockpit sipping his tea, Misty curled alongside him like the first curious day he met the mermaid, the mermaid suddenly appeared and playfully splashed them with her large tail.  When her smiling face appeared from below the surface of the sea, he was glad that she could not see the tears intermingled with the saltwater streaming down his face.  The last thing he wanted was to have a sad day with her; he wanted to fill it with happiness and continue the good memories of their time together.

Stripping the clothes from his body, the sailorman dove off the bow, slicing the water with barely a ripple.  When he emerged from beneath the sea, he was face to face with the mermaid.  Taking her in his arms, they kissed; their feelings joyous and uninhibited.  She was his woman and he was her man.  No matter what the outcome of the evening's guess would bring, the feelings they shared was something no one could take away from them, not even that dastardly spell-caster.

The sailorman and his mermaid laughed and played together in the sea, frolicking like two kids.  They held each other close at times, floating up and down with the waves, licking the salty water from each other’s face, splashing, blowing bubbles and kissing beneath the happy sun.  It was a beautiful day and they had decided nothing was going to destroy their happiness. 

Clambering aboard the sailboat, they lay on the deck, exhausted from their playfulness.  Touching one another with their fingertips, hugging and kissing as if there was no tomorrow.  What was in the past has gone forever - in the future – who knows, but now, now is life itself; each thought, each breath, each blink of the eye is what really matters.  Nothing lasts forever, take the moment, steal the moment, grab it anyway you can is what was passing through their minds as they held each other close, each becoming the other until they were one. 

Cupping the mermaid’s chin in his hands, the sailorman looked into her eyes and smiled, saying, “I've never experinced such happiness in my entire life until this very moment.”  He looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time, taking in every little hair, the slight flare of her nostrils, thin brown eyebrows, soft pink lips, playful freckles speckled across her nose and those eyes, the colours forever changing with the light.  The light!  It was as if a light had been switched on inside his head.

The mermaid sensing his excitement, exclaimed, “Is it time to…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the sailorman pressed his finger lightly against her lips.  “Shh!" he exclaimed.  "Yes, it’s time, time for me to tell you your name.  That sorcerer, wizard, destroyer of dreams, envious of other’s loving schemes; what does he know about real power; he’s only a trickster, a magician, a sideshow operator, a ruse with a bag full of cheap tricks, probably a figment of his own imagination.  You and I are real; we feel, we love, we have compassion and honesty; we shed real tears.

The last episode of THE MERMAID AND THE MAGICIAN will be posted on Monday.  You have until then to email me your answer to the magician's name he gave the mermaid.  Remember,  only people who have joined the Newsletter or a "follower" are eligible to win the prize!