Chloe and the Mermaid

By Stella, 9, Leicester, UK

There once lived a mermaid named Abigail who was very lonely.

All day long, she sat on a rock combing her long, silky hair and singing to herself. Sometimes she would flick her beautiful, turquoise, fishtail in the water and watch the ripples spreading far out to the sea.

Abigail had not always been lonely. In fact, she used to have a pair of playmates called Dolphin and Octopus.

Octopus had gone off to another part of the ocean to work for the sea king. He was always in demand because he could do eight jobs at once, one with each arm. Dolphin, meanwhile, had gone away to teach singing to a school of dolphins.

Abigail once thought she heard Dolphin’s lovely song far away across the ocean and she hoped, in vain, that she might come back and play.

One day Abigail was sitting on her favourite rock, as usual.

“How lonely I am,” she sighed to her reflection as she combed her hair and gazed at herself in the mirror.

To her astonishment, her reflection seemed to answer back.

“Don’t be lonely,” said a voice. “Come and play with me.”

Abigail couldn’t understand it at all. She peered into the mirror and then she saw beyond her own reflection, another mermaid.

She dropped her mirror and her comb and spun around.

Abigail was puzzled by the sight in front of her, for there, sitting on next rock was another mermaid and yet she didn’t look like a mermaid in many ways. She had short, dark, curly hair and wore a strange costume that definitely wasn’t made out of seaweed.

When Abigail looked down to where the other mermaid’s fishtail, she wanted to burst out laughing, for, instead of a beautiful tail, the other mermaid had two strange limbs like an extra pair of arms, stretching down.
The other ‘mermaid’ who was really a little girl called Chloe was equally amazed at the sight of Abigail. She had seen pictures of mermaids in books before but now she couldn’t quite believe her eyes for here on the next rock beside her was a real live mermaid.

For a moment they were both too astonished to speak. Then they both said at once, “Who are you?”

“I am Abigail,” said Abigail.

“I am Chloe,” said Chloe. “Let’s go for a swim.”

Soon the two of them were in the water chasing each other and giggling.

“Let’s play tag along the beach,” suggested Chloe and she started swimming towards the shore. She had quite forgotten that Abigail would not be able to run around on dry land.

Abigail followed though she was rather afraid, as her mother had always told her not to go near the shore in case she got stranded.

Chloe ran out of the sea onto the beach.

“Wait for me!” called Abigail, struggling in the water as her tail thrashed about. Then, to her astonishment, something happened. She found she could leave the water with ease and, looking down, she saw that her tail had disappeared and that in its place, were two of those strange long arm things like Chloe’s.

“What’s happened?” she wailed.

Chloe looked around.

“You’ve grown legs!” she shouted in amazement. “Now we can play tag!”

Abigail found that she rather liked having legs. She tried jumping in the air and Chloe taught her to hop and skip.

“You can come and stay at my house but first I must find you some clothes,” said Chloe, looking at Abigail who was wearing nothing but her long, yellow hair. “Wait for me here.”

Chloe ran off and came back with a T-shirt and some shorts and Abigail put them on.

The two girls ran back to Chloe’s house together.

“This is my best friend Abigail,” said Chloe to her mother. “Can she stay for tea?”

“Why, of course,” said Chloe’s mother.

“What’s that strange thing?” whispered Abigail.

“It’s a chair,” Chloe said and she showed Abigail how to sit on the chair.

All through teatime, Abigail watched Chloe to see how she should eat from a plate and drink from a cup and saucer. She had never tasted food like this before. How she wished she could have chocolate cake at her home in the sea!

After tea, Abigail said, “Now I will show you how to do something.”

Taking Chloe by the hand, she led her down to the beach again. There, they picked up shells and then Abigail showed Chloe how to make a lovely necklace from shells, threaded with seaweed.

While they made their necklaces, Abigail taught Chloe how to sing songs of the sea.

Soon, it was bedtime.

“You can sleep in the spare bed in my room,” said Chloe.

Abigail slipped in between the sheets. How strange it felt! She was used to feeling water all around her and here she was lying in a bed. She tossed and turned, feeling hotter and hotter, and couldn’t sleep at all.

In the middle of the night, she got up and threw open the window to get some fresh air. She could smell the salty sea and she began to feel rather homesick.

Then she heard a familiar sound from far away.

It was Dolphin calling to her! The sound was getting closer and closer until at last Abigail knew what she must do.

She slipped out of the house and ran down to the beach in the moonlight. As soon as her toes touched the water, her toes touched the water, her legs turned back into a tail and she swam out to the sea to join Dolphin.

The next morning, when Chloe woke up, she was upset to find that her friend had gone. When she told her mother who Abigail really was, her mother said, “The sea is a mermaid’s true home.”
(January 2005)

From Susanna, 29, Narberth, PA, USA
This is from my 1-2 language arts class. We read your
story. We loved it. Caitlin likes the name you picked out for the mermaid. Babe liked how you described the
story. How long did it take for you to write the story?
Kyle liked the whole story. Jimmie like when the
dolphin called Abagail back to the water. Phillip liked
the dophins too. Thanks for writing such a great story. (May 2006)  

From Monika, 15, Canada
Stella, this is such a cute piece of writing! I love mermaids, and I think you have a really great imagination!
Keep up the good work! (August 2005)  

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