The Little Mermaid Part IV: Last Light
A short story retelling the Hans Christian Andersen dark fairy tale.
The Little Mermaid escaped the exiled lands certain The Sea Witch was haunting her. The maniacal cackling chanting in her ears. In the moments between frantic strokes, she imagined the witch’s claws like daggers, grappling at her for slaughter. She was sure she would be ripped apart at any second, reduced to fleshy chunks for the sharks to scavenge.
Nevertheless, she persisted, chasing the hope dangling in front of her through kinder tides. The alluring glow of her underwater home hummed into sight, cloaking her in longing assurance. Anxious doubts trickled between her thoughts. She wondered if she should return home and accept her fate. To spend her final moments surrounded by loved ones, to forgive her father before they ultimately part. Memories flicked before her pearlescent eyes like the carvings on the castle pediments.
She and her sisters would spend their early years fluttering around the palace, playing silly games like hide and seek. She had a particular advantage as the youngest, able to sink into unsuspecting crevices. Beneath a stubborn, cheeky grin she would remain hidden. Her victory cemented in her sisters’ dismayed surrenders. And when the ocean dimmed by nightfall she would drift asleep in the crevice. Though no matter where she hid, her father always collected her in his arms, returning her safely to bed.
On occasion her Grandmama would play, insisting on being the seeker. One day The Little Mermaid discovered her tricks while hiding up on the high balcony. She watched as her Grandmama lay in blissful solitude for some quiet peace and contemplation, not lifting a fin to find them. After that day The Little Mermaid lay beside her often, bathing in shared comfort and joyful silence. Just spending time together. The foundation of their profound unspoken bond. The high balcony was where The Little Mermaid first dreamed of exploring the world above. She would look towards the surface, yearning to see any small trail of light.
The kingdom fell behind her. Lost to memories and her gliding visceral rhythm through the waters. An inconsolable voice screamed inside her, begging her to return home. Pleading that it wasn’t too late. She could not allow herself to remember anymore. So she locked the voice away.
Each stroke of her waning tail brought her closer to the shore. Closer to the heavens. Closer to death. The Sun Goddess’s light began to seep in surrounding waters, giving way to twilight. The cool blue tides mixed with golden hues, inventing an adoring aqua paradise. Light and water danced together like malleable magnets. Familiar reflections swayed upon the emerging seabed, becoming brighter and brighter, like a beacon guiding her towards the shore, towards her fate.
The long swim induced aching muscles that choked The Little Mermaid from within. She peeked her head above the surface to gauge her distance to the shore. The sky greeted her with a chorus of vibrant pinks and glowing oranges, blending together with cooler purples and blues. The moon had come out early to meet her, surrounded by a few of her sparkling children. Ornate clouds beamed along the horizon. In all her dreams she had never conceived a sight so beautiful. It enveloped her. Tingling tears swelled in her eyes. The Goddess’s arms were stretched across all the sea and all the land, embracing the surface world with her love. The sense of longing bellowed in The Little Mermaid’s chest, she wondered if The Sun Goddess was beckoning her into the heavens. The joy reminded her of the time spent with her Grandmama on the high balcony.
Thrashing tides began to surge around her. A furious wave broke across her glass face, dragging her down to the ocean floor. Cast back into the sea, a consequence of trying to cheat a mermaid’s solitary fate. Dejected and weak, she lay still on the seabed. Gazing toward the surface like she did on the high balcony, she was reminded of her grandmother once again. She wondered if this was the end. Her body was breaking. Her life's essence escaping, leaving gaps for melancholy to seep in. Her tail fell limp, moving as one with the flowing currents.
The sky glistened through weaving water, shining stronger than she had ever seen. Beams of shimmering rainbows ignited her translucent skin. An intense warmth soared through her. With no time to wonder, she took it as a sign to keep fighting. She grabbed at the sea floor, dragging her body towards the shallows. The ocean bloomed, helping her, pushing her forward. With every grasp and every pull the water became warmer. Her head arose out of the sea, the beach right before her wanting eyes. Gentle waves broke across her body. With little water to aid her, the mission became too severe. Wrecked on the sand and exposed to the crisp air, her tail began to sting. It began to melt. She thought of her fate. Ceasing to exist outside of her home, away from her family. She would not enrich the waters. She would not have a soul. She would not live on in the heavens. She would be nothing. Grief and loss overcame her. She cried out for her father, for her sisters, and for the life she could have lived. She looked towards the sky and stretched out a dissolving hand begging for The Goddess’s mercy. Despaired eyes met The Sun’s last light. The Little Mermaid dissolved, becoming one with the sea.
The waves ebbed and flowed as they always did. Idle tides collected the seafoam. Ebbing and flowing. Ebbing and flowing. The pearl necklace that once adorned her delicate neck floated graciously on the sand as the sea hailed it home.
With a fragment of gold still in the sky, The Sun Goddess shone down on The Little Mermaid’s remains. Her warm light intertwined with the waters. She collected glistening particles that resembled the moon’s children and embraced them in the heavens.
The Little Mermaid gently awoke with eyes still faintly closed. Through glowing red lids she soaked in the joyous light and warmth encompassing her. A tranquil breeze, born of the ethereal air kissed her cheek. Absent was the usual tingle. Her eyes began to flutter open. A kind face appeared before frosted vision with a smile from her dreams. She searched for answers in the mist. The smell of seaspray in the breeze. Silk clouds, wet to the touch, cushioned beneath her waking tail. A glorious choir of whale songs echoed in the distance, like velvet in her ears. The hazed face began to sharpen.
“My precious little mermaid, welcome. I am so happy to see you again.” she spoke as softly as she did underwater. Her Grandmama beaming before her framed by a sunlit halo. The Little Mermaid was stunned. Lost in her gracious pearl eyes, a reflection of her own.
“You made it, my dear.” her grandmother cheered with an elated smile, “You’re in the heavens!”
The Little Mermaid was sure lunacy had set in. Her mind playing one last cruel trick before the end. She looked around expecting to be awoken by the ocean flowing over her. Instead, she saw delicate clouds suspended in a joyful air. Golden beams shining between them in a divine glow. A vast collection of plant life, some she had never seen before, perched proudly on a fluffy ground. Singing water streamed in between them. Sea creatures played amongst land creatures. The aura, overwhelmingly beautiful, serene, euphoric. Paradise.
The words came flooding out. “Grandmama, how? I don’t understand. I didn’t reach the shore. I didn’t dry on the sand. I dissolved. And you dissolved!”
“All true, my dear.” She sympathised with The Little Mermaid’s confusion. Given her journey to the afterlife, her new home was a lot to take in. “Our legends are misguided. The Sun Goddess is not the malevolent being our people believed her to be. I knew in my heart she was a kind, compassionate deity, a message I tried to impart. Though changing one’s mind is a near impossible feat.”
The Little Mermaid suspected she was talking about her father. The Sea King was stubborn to his core, an entrenched burden as the protector of their kingdom.
“We believed our pale hair and thirsty skin are the markings that cast us away from The Sun Goddess. That we are banished to the deep. In truth, her light mixes with all our seas and permeates through the darkness, even if we cannot see it. She found you and granted you a soul long before you breached the surface on your fifteenth year. And your good heart and kind spirit nurtured it without you even knowing. Even a sparkle of light is enough for her to bless you. She is a gracious, powerful Goddess of unconditional love. She cherishes life and all creatures that continue to hold goodness in their soul. And you, my curious girl, she knows very well, with all your adventures to the surface.” her Grandmama teased. “Though my dear, she never needed you to burn for her. She never meant to cause you unnecessary pain.”
The thoughts flickered through her mind as The Little Mermaid tried to grasp this reality. A pit of guilt welled in her stomach which hadn’t yet attached to a cause. Heaven was meant to be a gleaming oasis with joy and happiness in every breath. Not one of guilt and sorrow. This cannot be heaven, she thought, perhaps this is a nightmare and she really was lying unconscious on the ocean floor.
“We are not immediately unburdened by regret in the afterlife, my dear.” Her grandmother answered The Little Mermaid’s silent expression, their unspoken bond proving true. “Our souls are anchored to the earth for a time as we start to understand our journeys. Try to rest, knowing the suffering we endure is only temporary. And soon we can live out eternity enjoying each other's love and warmth. There are many high balconies for us to lay, clouds to swim, and creatures to meet. Across the ages, we will reunite with loved ones when their time on earth comes to an end.”
The Little Mermaid pondered this depiction of the heavens. It sounded like bliss, a wonderful way to spend eternity. Though, the traces of doubt continued to flourish within her.
“Grandmama, if you could not see The Sun Goddess’s light, how did you know about the heavens?”
“Always so curious.” she smiled warmly, spying the unplaced anguish staining The Little Mermaid’s face. “Come, my dear girl, let’s visit your father”.
The Little Mermaid was perplexed. She wondered if her father had dissolved too. Ripped away from the sea by an invisible plague like her own.
Hand in hand, the two mermaids ventured into a quant clearing, sheltered by feathery bushes and glistening water falling softly into scattered ponds. A modest stone basin sat in the center with a small pool of crystal water inside. It reminded her of the relics crafted by the surface people. Marvellous in its simplicity. Her grandmother swirled the water between her elegant fingers. A familiar place appeared between the ripples. The throne room. She perched over the edge, wide eyed in curious disbelief. Her father lay at the foot of his imperial throne clutching a trinket, petite in his hands. His body cowered over from the weight of his pain.
“I followed my mothers beckoning light and you followed mine.” she said with the same soft smile.
“The light on the throne room floor.” Hindsight shining its glimmer on the obvious truth. It wasn’t The Sun Goddess, it was her Grandmama, her light like the peace and joy she felt on the high balcony.
“We are tied to our loved ones across the ages. While our bodies may decay, love is an energy that never ceases to exist, my dear. It simply changes form in ways we cannot understand on earthly planes.”
Tied to our loved ones. The Little Mermaid mulled over the sentiment.
“Grandmama, you followed your mothers arms and I followed yours. But where is my mother?” The Little Mermaid could see a regretful sadness in her grandmother as she looked down at her son on the throne room floor. His pain was hers.
“She has not passed, like your sisters and father told you.” she hesitated, taking a long composing breath, the fragments of her own earthly ties still intact. “Your mother has chosen a different path, my dear.”
“Will we meet in the heavens one day?” she asked knowing the answer already, but needing to hear it.
“I don’t believe it possible, my dear.”
On earth, The Little Mermaid’s judgement was impaired, too lost in her final journey to accept the truth staring back at her with glowing eyes in gaping sockets. Tears collected in her eyes. She had cursed this betrayal away long ago. A sting she didn’t wish to revisit. She focused her attention back to her father. The Little Mermaid’s stomach churned over itself. All her Grandmama expressed was more than she had hoped for. In this eternal bliss, her loved ones would be together. A flame awoke in her eyes as she realised the cause of the ailing pit. She thought of her father and sisters, living their lives in solitude. Ignorant to the eternal gift awaiting them. She feared their hearts would become black, turning away from kindness. They had endured so much loss, it was sure to hurt them. And what would become of their souls if they succumbed to the darkness? The decision was instant. The Little Mermaid would never let them be ripped apart forever. She was tied to them and they to her so she would spend her days in the heavens shining her own light and love on the pearlescent floor trying to capture her fathers attention. She was his beacon of hope guiding him with her enduring love, until they meet again.
— Epilogue —
The Sea King squeezed The Little Mermaid’s necklace in his tight grip. His advisors found it in the shallows after they lost track of her when she ventured into exiled waters. By the time they found her again, it was too late. Facing her inevitable fate was his greatest failure. If only he were able to surrender his pride, he thought. He sunk onto the pearl-like marble floor in the throne room, his resentment for the surface brewing inside of him. Anger surged like violent seas as he thought of all the ways he could exact revenge for stealing his precious daughter away in her final moments.
The pain of his loss would not settle. His pain, daggers embedded in his chest, had weakened his tolerance. The dam gave way to the flood of grief. Invisible tears disappeared into the sea. He held her necklace to his heart, immobilised like the statues of kings past. He sat for a long time, anchored to the throne room floor.
As the ocean dimmed by nightfall, a spark caught the corner of his eye. Through the dome ceilings’ oculus, a beam of golden sunlight came streaming down. So bright the palace could be mistaken for the shallows. It flowed gallantly around the marble floor, collecting pastel colours in its wake. Impossible, he thought. The Sun Goddess’s light does not reach the deep. The reflections grew brighter and glowed with a familiar warmth until it leaped towards him, illuminating the necklace in his hands. He knew its origin instantly. His dear little mermaid.
Thank you for reading my short story! I hope you enjoyed it. My new short story will be coming soon!