{"id":978,"date":"2021-10-10T11:43:26","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T11:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=978"},"modified":"2021-10-10T11:43:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T11:43:29","slug":"a-mermaids-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/a-mermaids-mission\/978\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mermaid\u2019s Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Man<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Happy birthday, sis!\u2019 Rae thrust a present into Eva\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva tore into the shimmering fish-skinned wrapping paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A Mother-of-Pearl travel hairbrush! Thanks!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A must-have for your upcoming mission!\u2019 Rae\u2019s smile was as wide and bright as the pearl gift she\u2019d bestowed upon her sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You\u2019re more excited than me,\u2019 said Eva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rae, a year older, had just completed her mission. She\u2019d been so immersed in it that Eva had barely seen her. Strangely, she\u2019d hardly spoken about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missions were set by the elders when mermaids turned eighteen. Rae had been tasked with collecting discarded plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Let\u2019s see what your mission is!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Eva opened the famous oyster shell and unfolded the parchment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Your mission is to take the plastics found in the ocean by your sister, and display them on the beaches to shame the humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must operate under the cover of darkness. Communication with humans is forbidden.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rae squealed, clapping her hands like a seal. \u2018Go to Coral Island! The sunset view from the rocks is beautiful.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018But it said after dark…\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This is about independence, sis! Make your own decisions. Honestly, no-one\u2019s checking. I hardly collected any plastics.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva swam to Coral Island at sunset. Rae was right. It was stunning. The sun spilled liquid gold into the ocean, illuminating a path before her. Anything seemed possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Hi there.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva almost toppled off the rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019m Jack,\u2019 said a handsome man. A tendril of dark hair fell across his brow as he shook her hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Eva,\u2019 she swooned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stepped back to admire her. \u2018You\u2019re a mermaid! Wow.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva shifted self-consciously under his gaze, contemplating swimming away. She\u2019d be in trouble if the elders found out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jack sat beside her and they talked for hours. And the next night. And the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Been to Coral Island yet?\u2019 said Rae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva blushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rae\u2019s eyes widened. \u2018You\u2019ve met someone!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva sighed, secretly relieved to confide in her sister. Rae relished every detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018But mermaids and humans can\u2019t be together,\u2019 Eva cried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019m sure there\u2019s an ancient lore,\u2019 said Rae, eyes shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She lifted a weighty tome off the shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Here!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Should a mer-person kiss a human beneath a full moon, the human shall thereafter become a mer-person\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rae slammed the book shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What did it say next?\u2019 said Eva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Oh, nothing! So all you have to do is kiss him on a full moon!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the full moon\u2019s glow, Eva gazed at Jack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What if I told you there\u2019s a way we could be together?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019d do anything!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Even become a merman?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Anything,\u2019 he repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Kiss me!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their lips had scarcely touched when Jack leapt into the water with a splash. She saw the silver flash of a tail behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva\u2019s heart soared. But when she tried to dive after him, her tail began to vibrate. Then it split down the middle, becoming two human legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Thanks, sis!\u2019 echoed Rae\u2019s voice as she greeted her lover on the seabed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva screamed into the moonlight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Happy birthday, sis!\u2019 Rae thrust a present into Eva\u2019s hand. Eva tore into the shimmering fish-skinned wrapping paper. \u2018A Mother-of-Pearl travel hairbrush! Thanks!\u2019 \u2018A must-have for your upcoming mission!\u2019 Rae\u2019s smile was as wide and bright as the pearl gift she\u2019d bestowed upon her sister. \u2018You\u2019re more excited than me,\u2019 said Eva. Rae, a year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[379,561],"tags":[575,574,576],"class_list":["post-978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-379","category-october-2021-the-mission","tag-handsome-man","tag-mermaid","tag-transformation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-fM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":980,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions\/980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}