Once upon a time,

There was a mermaid swimming at the bottom of the sea.

The water was her lifeline and yet,

She only wished for one thing;

To see the surface.

 

The ocean was a beautiful place,

But the ocean didn’t have her heart.

The waves,

Beautiful as they may be,

Couldn’t compare to the land above.

The fathoms below didn’t make her fathom much more than her way out.

Despite the gills she was granted,

She was so desperate that she was drowning.

 

She went to the sea witch,

Residing in the murky depths below.

She begged and pleaded,

For the life she knew she would love,

If only she had the chance.

 

The sea witch was a ruthless one,

But even she could see the earnest in the mermaid’s eyes.

She saw into her heart, and she knew.

 

Unfortunately,

Nothing in this world is free,

Not even under the sea.

 

The mermaid signed her name on the dotted line,

Blind optimism blinding her from reading the fine print in front of her.

 

She swam up to the surface, her tail turned into two powerful legs,

Unable to contain her excitement for the new world above.

She quickly reached the shore,

Standing to her new two feet.

 

She took a deep breath of the salty air,

Only to realize that it was suffocating.

The mermaid drowned on dry land.

 

Nothing in this world is free,

Not even under the sea.