A Shade of Ash # 49 – Where Memories Are Mermaid

Ah, mermaids…

I remember being a small boy fighting pirates on the hillside where I played. My friends, my seamen, brave as we sailed the high seas by way of a large stone in the middle of an open field. Arr, she be like the grandest sail a pirate could ever command. We set course in the wind of our imaginations. Three of us slaying and saving mermaids in the hot sun with a mountain backdrop. Our bounty of a summer’s day with the ladies of the ocean made us fight with passion, with heart. We were promised a wet kiss. We told those types of stories. Our own stories because we were kids and that’s where stories start.

It was the sun that steered us. Toward the vast grassy ocean. Green now blue, swaying flowers now waves. We look to the north. A rumour of the sacred grounds where they swam. Our treasure, our damsels in salty distress. The breeze across our faces was just as salty as any sailing story could describe, that was something we didn’t even have to pretend.

The conditions were just right and we were their only hope. Those beautiful lady sea creatures with songs that kept us awake at night anxiously awaiting our next voyage toward them. They were as legendary as our Saturdays. With our wooden swords, shoeless feet, and agility of ten-year-olds. We fought and fought to save every last one because of a kiss. All before supper. – Ash