Stop! If you missed part one go here first: http://daniduckart.blogspot.ca/2013/08/fractured-fairy-tale-fridays-little.html
The Little Mermaid: Part 2
Excerpt from last week: Lydia looked him up and down. He was
strong, handsome and had a beautiful smile. This had to be the man
she was going to fall in love with! The man gave Lydia his shirt and
then carried her to his home.
A man in a suit was waiting for them
when they arrived. “Not another one, Herman!”
Herman, as she now knew his name,
frowned at his butler. “But she was lost and alone, weren't you.”
Lydia opened up her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. “See?
She's just like the others. A mute woman who lost her bikini bottom
at sea! She needs our help Giles!”
Giles sighed, “Very well sir.”
Herman carried Lydia up the stairs led
by Giles. They entered a large room. Giles turned to Lydia and said,
“In the wardrobe you'll find any clothes your heart desires. There
seems to be an over abundance of half naked women on our beach. We've
collected hundreds of dresses over the years. These women seem to
disappear as quickly as they come - leaving behind every bit of
clothing we buy for them. We'll leave you now to get changed.”
Through the closed door Lydia could
hear Herman and Giles talking as they walked away. “She's the one,
Giles, the woman I'm going to marry!”
“You say that every time, Herman.”
“But this time I mean it!”
“Very well, sir.”
Lydia was excited. Maybe she had at
last found the love of her life. Lydia wasn't sure what a wardrobe or
a dress was, but she didn't hesitate to explore the room. There were
many large holes in the wall where Lydia could look outside. She
tried a couple of times to go outside through them, but there was an
invisible walk holding her back. There was a large bed in the middle
of the room, not completely unlike her bed at home. Lydia got into it
and found that it was soft and moved like soft waves. She suspected
there was water inside and made a note to find a way to get into the
water.
Along the wall farthest from the
entrance was a huge wooden contraption. Lydia ran her fingers across
it and found that she could easily open the contraption. She was not
prepared for what she found inside. There were glorious things hung
within sparkling with every colour imaginable. Lydia ran her fingers
over these items and found that they were soft and luxurious. She
pulled down as many as she could and decided that these were the
“dresses” in the “wardrobe” that Giles told her about. “Oh
what lovely things these are!” Thought Lydia, “In the sea we only
have shells for covering. I don't know how I lived before today!”
Lydia set forth trying on everything in the wardrobes. Some of it had
tricky fastenings, but she soon figured out how to properly wear a
dress. In the end Lydia had tried on every dress until she settled on
one in a nice emerald green. There were a few things in this wardrobe
that Lydia couldn't figure out so she figured these were best left.
She then left the room in search of her future husband.
No sooner had she left the room but
Giles caught her arm. “I see that you have finally finished trying
on gowns. Now let us eat.” Giles lead her into a grand room with a
large table. It reminded Lydia of the feasts her father would
prepare. She took her seat and was shocked to find things exactly as
they had been at home. The food, plates and even the silverware was
so familiar that Lydia couldn't help but be a bit disappointed.
Giles looked towards Lydia. "I forgot to ask your name”
Lydia opened her mouth to speak, but no
sound came out. She pointed at her throat indicating she couldn't
talk.
“I see you have lost your voice.”
Giles turned to Herman, “These women you find never have voices, do
they?”
Herman looked slightly perturbed, “Many
of them did have voices. Some were blind, some deaf, one woman
couldn't taste any of the food. Remember her, Giles? She was always
complaining about the food!” Herman let out a deep and bellowing
laugh. “Good times my friend, good times!”
Giles sighed, “It seems as though the
lady didn't find any shoes to her liking.”
Herman was abashed. “We had nothing
to your liking my dear? Well I will take you to the market tomorrow!”
“They call them malls now, sir. You
have a meeting in the morning so it seems as though I will be taking
her.” Giles sighed even louder than the last time.
“Cheer up old friend, for soon I will
be married.”
Lydia smiled and clapped her hands.
Everything was going perfectly. Giles left them after dinner and
Lydia and Herman exited to what he called the “courtyard”. This
courtyard seemed very much to be a large garden with many walkways.
Herman lead Lydia to a bench and sang a lovely song to her. He then
plucked the most beautiful flower Lydia had ever seen from the garden
and gave it to Lydia. He then bent into kiss her. The weight of the
two of them together seemed to be too much, because instead of a
kiss, Lydia found herself on the ground with Herman on top of her. He
lingered but a second, and then arose to his feet. He helped Lydia up
to her feet.
“Never mind this minor tragedy, for
tomorrow you will go to the market and have all your flaws removed!
Herman smiled brightly and escorted Lydia inside.
The Sea Witch had not at all left
Lydia's love life to chance. She was at this very moment watching
Lydia's every move through her crystal bubble ball. “What is it
with these stupid girls and their super human abilities to get men to
fall in love with them! This Herman has been a pain in my backside
for far too long. I will have to take care of him myself, and thanks
to Lydia's lovely voice he will have no choice but to fall in love
with me tomorrow! The echoing of the Sea Witches laughter was heard
buy fish and merfolk from miles away.
