) and I'll just keep trying. I'd gladly appreciate any feed back, so thank you. (Ok no longer an entry, I've revised it, and you can read it here: viewtopic.php?t=84039)No air. My lungs burned for the lack of it, and my heart beat frantically, like a caged bird in my chest. But what was that one minor detail, without him? Everything I was, I had given to him and in the end he had taken it all. My heart, my life, my breath.
Now as my body; thin and pale with unfamiliar legs, the one thing I still owned, was claimed by the water, sinking deeper and deeper into its depths, I became nothing. It was better this way, I would never again disgrace his presence and it made no difference to me whether I stood above or below water, I could never breathe again.
I was alone, and it didn’t matter that I’d wanted with my whole being to stay forever by his side, he had chosen her. With my shattered heart unable to move, there was no way I could make him understand that without him, he could not expect me to go on living on my own, alone. He, who my world revolved around, had made it impossible for me to live, much less breathe and, as one might point out, it was wasted energy to try when there was no air.
As I hung suspended in the depth of my watery tomb, sun bleached hair floating ghostly around my face; I pondered how he would be without me. Would he ever think or wonder what had become of me? How was it that I couldn’t breathe without him, yet he could go on living even if I did not exist?
My mind, failing from lack of oxygen, stuttered, and in an instant I was teleported from my current state of mind, to one of the past.
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Everything had started out so innocently. He in his world of sun and earth, me in mine of water and sand, the way it should have always been. Only now could I see that, now that the damage had been done.
It had begun close to ten years ago, when I had been eight. I, being the unruly youngest daughter and the bane of my, nonetheless doting father’s existence, had gone out of bounds and forbiddenly crossed our border. I had risen from the depths of my realm, to be met by an unknown and alluring new world, the likes I had never known could exist. But more than the world itself, the one thing that captured my attention was him.
He’d been sitting on an outcropping of rocks, a perfect mirage as the sea’s grasp, trying to claim him for its own, missed and he was covered in a fine layer of sea. He’d held a strange instrument in his hand, that when he’d brought it to his lips, a haunting yet beautiful melody issued forth.
Watching from a distance I was mesmerized with every part of him. From the short black locks, that were messily plastered to his face with the oceans perspiration, to the grace with which he moved and the emotion playing in his hazel eyes. It was in that moment, a hidden observer, that I realized I could never go back to who I had been. I was changed, and it was the fault of this miraculous being before me, who now and forever owned my heart.
At first, it was easy to keep my sin a secret from those I’d once called close. I was even able to convince myself that my fantasy was just that, an impossible dream that nothing would ever come of. But over time as I grew older and my feelings did not die, I became obsessed.
Most of my time was spent in shallow water, waiting, hoping, for a chance to see my prince. For that was what he was. As I observed his behaviors, I found semblance there that reflected my own life, and a need for freedom that could never be found in the containment of power. Both of us shared a common burden, royal blood. Each a ruler to be, over the land and of the sea. Discovering this had only strengthened my ties to him, but I had known nothing would ever come of my feelings for this ever increasingly handsome man, because this forbidden love was one-sided. While I was free to chase after my whims and wishes of him, he hadn’t the slightest clue that I even existed and he was free from the power of love. At least he was, until that fateful night when I was finally revealed to him, and his world was forever altered.
It was his eighteenth birthday and he was celebrating it on the sea. Bright lights lit up the sky, unveiling the large ship he was on, before their emanate death in the ocean. I, of course had come for the show and for the rare opportunity to be with him, even if I was alone. Everything had been going perfect, he’d been laughing and smiling as the ones around him entertained him, before the storm I had been expecting all day finally manifested itself and the heavens had unleashed their fury. I had tried to stay above the rolling waves, but my struggle was in vain and the force of the ocean pummeled me into its relentless embrace. I had eventually yielded myself to its fury, and as I was tossed to and fro, lightning tore through the sky, illuminating everything in an eery glow. Revealing, to my astonishment, my prince, being sabotaged by the onslaught of the sea. How he had come to join me here in my world, I knew not, only the fact that he would perish should he remain.
At last, he was in my arms. A dream I had never imagined possible, finally fulfilled. Reveling in the moment, I had then, against the tirade of the sea, brought my prince to that place where I had first seen him, those ten years ago. With the help of the sea I was able to reestablish him with his world, on his outcropping of rocks.
The remainder of the night I stayed by his side, amazed and transfixed with being so close to him. My gaze intent upon him, I found no flaw. He was a beautiful mystery, one that I could and would never get the chance to understand. With his strange apparel, and his strong muscle laced legs and feet. These strange appendages that could carry him across his realm, where I could never hope to tread, for my handicap.
Knowing not how to act now that I was finally with him, I let my voice free. I sang to him the desires of my heart and all that he made me feel, in the pure voice only one of my people could possess.
I sang for hours, yet it felt as if mere minutes had passed, when the sky began to lighten and night gave way to morn, bringing about the arousal of my prince. As his hazel eyes finally opened and locked onto my own ocean eyes, a resolution entered my heart. Even if I were to die trying, I would be with him.
He blinked and I was gone, a figment of his imagination. No longer there, but nonetheless I remained a fleeting reality hinting at an unreal myth, playing teasingly with his head and heart.
Letting myself reenter my world, I did not stop as I once again crossed another boundary, this time entering into deeper waters. I had discovered my purpose in this world and with the realization of my drawback and the one thing that kept me from following my dreams, I was able to devise a solution, one that would either lead me to happiness, or obliterate me. A chance I was willing to take. It did not matter if I was unsuccessful in my endeavor because failing would bring the same result as not trying, an end.
Swimming ever downward, my frenzied body barely registered the decrease in temperature and light, I only had one focus and nothing would distract me from that. Intent on my destination I was unaware of the dark presence I neared, before it was too late. Instantaneously, my body became paralyzed as thick insanely strong tentacles wound themselves around my body and a crazed scream rent the air. As I felt the breath being squeezed out of me, I knew I was dying and as I came face to face with a hideous apparition, my fears were confirmed.
Black, shapeless, oozing skin. I could make out nothing of the horror before me, save two hypnotizing, blood red eyes that glared into my own, burning holes into my soul. The kraken. A monster as old as the sea itself and the last living thing in the ocean to possess the forgotten powers of old.
“What. . .have. . .you. . .come. . .for. . .princesssss. . .?” a screeching voice gasped, as if having trouble breathing, the sound making my whole body shudder with its force.
I had been so sure of myself, lying there beside him. There had been nothing that could stop me and bringing the strength of that memory into me, I faced my adversary.
“I have come to propose a transaction.” my voice had come out much weaker than I’d planned.
“Oh?” the voice that rasped out was coated in dark humor, making my skin crawl.
“I know of none with more power than you, I beseech you for your help in aiding me.” I could feel my resolve slipping, but I had no choice other than to try, as its eyes never left mine.
“I. . .seeee. . .not. . .what. . .benefit. . .this. . .would. . .bring. . .me,. . .aiding. . .a. . .mortal. . .such. . .as. . .yourself.”
“Great one, I only ask for your help but I do not come empty handed. If you are to aid me, I will give you my voice, a possession beyond worth. And if I fail, you may have me, to do with what you please.” I rushed, before I lost my faith, my offer sounding weak even as I spoke it.
“Pray. . .tell, . . .why. . .do. . .you. . .think. . .I. . .won’t. . .just. . .take. . .these. . .things?”
“Because, you can only obtain something if it is given freely, and if you do not help me, I will not pay you, no matter how much you torture me.” I’d replied defiantly. A shrieking laugh had ripped through the darkness, shredding what was left of my nerves.
“You. . .amuse. . .me,. . . I. . .will. . . hear. . . what. . .you. . .have. . .to. . .say. . .but. . .I. . .make. . .no. . .promise. What,. . .child. . .of. . .the. . .ssssea. . .do. . .you. . .desire . . .?”
“I wish for to be changed into a child of the earth.” Silence followed my decree and as it grew, so did my terror. Then a great tremor racked my body and pain like I had never known before filled me. As I lost consciousness, the voice that had previously been mine entered my delusional ears.
“I have seen into your heart and the want it contains. Your pathetic obsession humors me, so I will give you three days to make the one you desire return your feelings. If he has not confessed his love by the time the sun sets on the third day, you will be mine. And understand this, you will be mine.”
As the voice faded, darkness claimed me and the one I had been died then and there, at the bottom of the ocean, taking with it the voice and body I would never know again.
I had awoken and the sensation that greeted me was unexpected. Warmth. Opening my eyes, I’d found myself on unfamiliar territory, as if I was in a mirror looking out. I, on the shoreline, was looking for the first time out over the ocean that stretched to the horizon.
Inspecting my new body, I’d found amazingly that the long graceful tail that had been my lower half for the past eighteen years was gone. In its place were two, long, elegant, pale legs. I felt a thrill run through me just looking at them, noticing for the first time that I was naked, and the only thing covering me was a thick black article of clothing, that I later learned was a cloak. This surprised me, and glancing at my surroundings, other than the shore and sea, I found the owner of said cloak. It was him. Sitting a few paces away, a curious expression on his face as he observed me, was my prince.
A feeling like lighting raced through my veins at the thrill of seeing him again and wanting to let him know my thoughts, I smiled. Without my voice it was the best I could come up with, and I fervently hoped it would be enough. He’d returned the smile, and after that everything had happened in a blur.
After he’d understood that I could not talk and that I was lost, he’d suggested I come with him to his castle. The short trip to his castle had taken forever once I realized I hadn’t the first idea how to use my newly acquired appendages and after I was able to stand, every step I’d taken had felt like walking on a coral reef. The prince had ended up carrying me most of the way, and I’d received a warm, if not rushed, welcome at my arrival.
As I gained control of my legs, I became able to do things I’d never imagined. Ignoring the pain in them, I could walk, I could run, I could jump, and as the prince spent his every waking hour with me, it was as if I could fly. As if there was no such thing called gravity, and I was floating in air, instead of the water that had always dictated my motion.
I couldn’t get enough of him, and as he showed me the wonders of his world I couldn’t help but feel that maybe he felt a distant relation to my own feelings. A sidelong glance in my direction when he thought I wasn’t looking, a smile when I caught him. The gentleness with which he treated me, and the patience he took with my childlike ignorance of his world.
I could never have wished for more, but as the seconds ticked away to minutes, and the minutes became hours, which became days, I knew my time was running out. I wouldn’t force my prince to say he loved me, but even so I wished desperately that he would. If only he knew how short our time together was, and just exactly what was at stake.
And then it happened. We were sitting under a large oak tree with a lunch his chef had prepared for us, when he’d taken my hand. My heart had been pounding so loud in my ears I was positive the kraken in its watery depths could hear me, and maybe it could. But as our eyes had met, he hadn’t looked away and the intensity with which he looked at me matched perfectly the fire that raged within my soul. Leaning forward, I’d closed my eyes and anticipated the touch that had never come.
For in the next second, a tantalizing familiar voice called out and my world was shattered. Eyes flying open, I’d watched as the prince responded to the voice that had sung to him the desires of her heart. My voice. The appeal for me in his eyes died and, turning to the voice of the one he thought he wanted, I had been discarded, like a piece of unwanted jetsam.
Salt water steaming down my face, I had turned to see my doom. Standing not far off, was a beautiful woman. Long flowing black hair, smooth pale skin and a slim stature. Perfect in every way, save for the blood red eyes, that looked with disgust at me. Slowly, it smiled. A look of triumph and as the Prince had gone to her, I’d known in my heart that I had lost.
The breath that had seconds before come so easily was no longer there. I knew not how, nor cared why, but I could not breathe, and yet somehow I still lived.
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As my mind cleared for a brief second and my past once more became the present, I knew my time had come to an end. Black dots scattered across my vision and I felt no longer. Then as darkness claimed me for the last time, I knew I was dead when his strong arms enveloped me and once again I could breathe.
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