Sleeping Princess

“There was a king who ruled over this land. And he had two daughters, or so the story goes. One day, the youngest one fell deathly ill. It was either poison or the plague, I can never remember it very well, but that is not important. The doctors tried to save her, but she could not be cured.”

“So the eldest sister made a deal with the fairies for her sibling’s life. I think I’ve heard this one before.”

“She did. And a faerie prince agreed, asking only for a kiss in return.”

“Why a kiss?”

“Because a princess’ kiss is powerful currency among the fae. It can lift curses or be their catalyst, it can mend or break a heart, it can heal their own diseases. With a princess’ kiss, this prince could easily conquer entire nations in the fae world.”

“I’m assuming she gave it to him.”

“There was caveat. The kiss of a fae prince would make her fall into a deep sleep. So his deal was: She would kiss him, and then he would return the kiss in two years time, effectively waking her up. She still agreed. Her sister was saved and the sleeping princess was taken to the highest tower of the palace, that could only be accessed by her family or the fae prince destined to wake her. As you do.”

“Of course.”

“The next year, the war broke out.”

“The one between the fae and the humans? That one lasted more than 2 years.”

“And some would say it never ended, for anyone. But what you’re thinking is right: the prince never came back after those 2 years. He would have fulfilled his part of the contract, but he was probably killed in the war. Her family either died in the war or fled. The thing is, everyone is gone now. And she’s been there the whole time.”

“For how long exactly?”

“She has been sleeping for two thousand years.”

“That’s a nice story, but what does that have to do with us?”

The man put out his cigarette and swung his rifle over his shoulder, looking at the tower in the distance, the sole structure surviving over the ruined landscape, pitch black against the setting sun.

“Well, child, your mother was, as far as I know, the last descendant of fae royalty and one of the last of her kind. And you’re half-and-half. Hopefully that would be enough.”

They lifted their motorbike helmet and looked at their father, bewildered.

“You want me to climb the tower and wake the princess? Why?”

“Well, I feel like doing a good deed. Besides, I promised your mother I would. It was a family honor thing for her, I think.”

He lowered his own visor and started the engine.

“And if it’s just a legend and she’s not there, hopefully there will be some valuables left to take.”

And for one more night, as the sun set behind the hills, the tower’s windows lighted up. And on the branches climbing up the wall, white flowers bloomed under the moonlight.

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starshardfragments

On Uncommon Types of Mermaids (Excerpt)

(Extracted from the article “On Uncommon Types of Mermaids” by Eliza Archer, published on the Journal of the National Cryptozoological Institute in 2015)

Both in legend and historical records, the figure of the mermaid is present, either as a legend or as a historical account. Sea and river mermaids are the most commonly known types, but there is little scientific input on other, less common, kinds of mermaid.

[...] With this work, we intend to bring attention to the most uncommon species of mermaid across the world and the dangers they entail. The aim of this article is merely communication and information and it does not constitute a safe guide to deal with or study mermaids.

Groundwater mermaids

Just like most underground animals, groundwater mermaids are blind. There are no records that allow us to know if they have any kind of echolocation system.
Their method of hunting involves floating in the dark and waiting for ripples and waves in the still water that might indicate the presence of prey.
Their main source of sustenance is the last breaths of oxygen in cave diver’s tanks. They have, nevertheless, been reported to survive for years without any intake. To date, at least twenty deaths have been attributed to groundwater mermaids, mostly in North America and Eastern Europe.
They sport bioluminescent specks on their skin, used to lure prey towards them. Divers are advised to not follow any light other than their flashlight, and to use uncommon light colors such as red.
When enraged they have been known to cause earthquakes (Shanghai, 1876), poison the water supply (Maysville, 1985), and sink small towns into the ground (Villalegre, 1923).

Swimming pool mermaids

In 1984 18 year-old Rachel was declared dead after drowning in her family’s swimming pool in Santa Monica, CA. A week later, her family reported seeing her swimming at night and trying to lure her younger sister into the water. The family moved a month later to another state, and the house was demolished. There are no more records on this incident.
In 1995, 7 women between the ages of 17 and 21 went missing and 10 men between the ages of 17 and 23 were found dead in a backyard on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale, FL. They had attended a pool party during the night, and the bodies of the 10 young men were found in the morning. Investigators reported that the men had died from acute airborne chlorine poisoning, higher than the levels found in the pool. The women were never found.
Between 1980 and 2005, at least three water parks across the globe closed with no discernible reason. Other than some reports of accidents and disappearances, we cannot find a proper link between this and the presence of pool mermaids, but it is worth mentioning.
Reports describe this species as very pale, with thinning hair and bleached, cracked skin. These are a type of Singers and are attracted by loud music. We can deduce by the events in Fort Lauderdale in 1995 that they are capable of increasing and decreasing the chlorine content of a swimming pool, and surviving high levels of it.
We want to remind our readers that the events mentioned are the only recorded events of swimming pool mermaids, and that the probabilities of encountering one are very small as their numbers seem scarce.

Blood mermaids

It is extremely difficult to find any records on this species of mermaids and it is still debated if they are just fiction or if they are an actual, if rare kind of mermaid.
In the 1787 version of Bluebeard written by Anne-Marie Benoit, the murderer’s last wife finds the room where the previous wives’ corpses are. This room is described as “[…] covered in blood, so deep that Vivienne could sink her foot in it and she would still not touch the stone floor. [...] Shaken by the sight, she dropped the golden key, which sunk straight to the bottom. Frantically, the young girl tried to reach for it, but she was not able to find it. She fell to her knees and started crying, for surely now her husband would find out she had stepped in the forbidden room. But suddenly, a bloody arm emerged from the blood, and handed her key, now red rather than golden. The face of a dark haired woman appeared too, staring silently at her. Several other women emerged from the blood, and started approaching the first one. Terrified, Vivienne grabbed the key and ran away from the room, locking it behind her.”
A paper written by Lord Thomas Crawford in 1886 describes in great detail this species of mermaid. He describes them as inhabiting only places where extreme bloodshed has happened, and only surviving as long as their blood supply does not run out. They only seem to inhabit it, and are never observed to consume it. They are described as being deathly pale and sporting dark scales. After Thomas Crawford’s death, many of the pages of his work were lost, along with his methods. Without any explanation of how he managed to perform such an extensive investigation, his work has been mostly considered as speculative or outright fiction.
The subject of whether Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed could have been a historical blood mermaid, has been debated for decades. Thomas Crawford addresses it in his paper, indicating that she was, in fact, not one and that “she is another kind of creature altogether.”

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#mermaid #mermaids #sirens #fantasy #fairytale #ficitonal nonfiction #short story #flash fiction #writers on tumblr #short fiction #original ficiton #less than 1k #i want to leave it clear that this is fictional nonfiction aka plz dont try to find the original article bc it doesnt exist pffff

starshardfragments

(3/?)

(tag)

iii. on seagulls

They barely fit sat on the floor of her small apartment. White-gold feathers (still somewhat oil-stained), fiery halo around their head, and dozens of eyes fixed on her. Six wings and four arms now. They’re a strange sight but look weirdly mundane sitting against the wall, lit blue by the neon sign on the building across from her.

“What’s your name?” She asks, her head haging upside down from her bed.

“You wouldn’t be able to pronounce it.”

“I’m willing to try.”

They think for a while.

“Better not. I was told you are fragile and break with ease. I don’t know what effect it would have.”

Lucia raises one eyebrow but doesn’t push it.

“How should I call you then?”

“However you want.”

“Should I give you a name?”

“A nickname.” They say, hesitantly, and she could swear the dozens of slits over their skin that make up their mouth are trying to unsettlignly imitate the smile she is sporting right now.

She snorts and nods, looking at the dry ceiling, thinking. At that moment her tablet vibrates, almost out of battery, and she looks at the article on how to clean birds after an oil-spill, still open.

“How about Seagull?”

“That is the name of an animal.”

“Sorry. Would you rather a human name?”

Their eyes seem to open wide for a second then drop to the floor. The halo flashes a moment then seems to burn lower, trembling cold flames.

“Seagull will do.”

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#angel #angels #short fiction #flash fiction #wrting #original fiction #under 500 #lucia and the angel