_ _

_ _

_
_
_ Mermaids of the _

_
_
_ Aquamarine Cove _

_ _
Once upon a time there were three _
_
mermaids. They lived in a very special
_ _
watery world called the Aquamarine
_ _
Cove. It was rich in sea life and especially
_ famous for its deposits of Aquamarine _
_ _
crystals, the favorite gemstone of the
_ mermaids. Each of the mermaids was _
_ named after the famous aquamarine _
crystals. Jewel was the oldest and had _
_
_ bright yellow hair and dazzling blue eyes. _
Gem was the middle mermaid and had
_ _
brilliant Blue hair and radiant purple eyes. _
_
Joya was the youngest and had beautiful brown eyes and long flowing tresses of sparkly ruby-
_ _
red hair, so everyone called her Sparkle because Joya sounded like Hoya.
_ _
The mermaids were very happy in their cove. It was a secluded bay off the beautiful ocean. _
_
_ They had many friends among the dolphin and tropical fish. They swam for hours together _
and they were the fastest swimmers of all their friends, always winning the friendly races.
_ _
_ _
Jewel had lots of jewelry and every day she wore a different jewel in her hair. She also had
_ many necklaces and bracelets. Some she had made herself from pearls she had gathered from _
_ the clams in her garden. Jewel also had a golden crown with many gleaming jewels. She wore it _
on special occasions. But her favorite piece of jewelry was a special locket that her mother had _
_
_ given her. It had a magical power: it could turn her into a human when she wished upon it. _

_ _
“What are we going to do today?” asked Gem. Sparkle said, “I want to look for treasure
_ _
because I need more gems for my collection.” They all agreed that that would be a great idea,
_ so they asked their mother. She gave them permission, but warned them that if they go to the _
_ surface, they should turn into humans so they can walk around on land. They got so excited _

_ because their mother gave Gem and Sparkle each a special locket just like Jewel’s, so that they _
_ could also turn into humans. _

_ _
So, off they swam on their adventure.
_ _

_ _
_ _

_ _
_ _

_ _
 They saw a rainbow shining in the sky and they decided to swim
to the surface to see it better. When they got to the top, it was
magnificent! It made Jewel smile her sweet smile. “I have heard
that there is always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,”
Jewel said. “Oh, let’s go to the end of the rainbow,” Gem and
Sparkle said So, they swam to the shore and sat in the sand to
transform into humans. They wished on their lockets and soon
their tails split . The scales started disappearing. Human skin
was revealed where the scales used to be. The tail fin also split
and each half became a perfectly formed human foot. Slowly they stood up and tried out their new
legs. It was really fun to walk! They walked to a butterfly bush that their mother had told them about.
Their mother had hidden a stash of her human clothing for when she came to the surface. They dug
among the butterfly bush roots and found a chest full of beautiful human dresses, pants sets, and shoes.
They each chose a pair of bright jellies and a pretty outfit. Soon they saw a swarm of butterflies, who
were returning home to their bush. They said hello and asked the butterflies what was the best way to
get to the other end of the rainbow. The butterflies said they would get some fairy dust from their fairy
friends so that the mermaids could fly to the top of the rainbow. So they did. When they came back,
they gave each mermaid a small bag filled with fairy dust and sprinkled silver fairy dust on each mermaid
and the mermaids were able to fly. Flying was so fun! They quickly flew up to the top of the rainbow,
and then they slid down the rainbow to get to the other end.
Whee! What a fun slide! At the bottom of the rainbow, they saw a
leprechaun, who was guarding the pot of gold. They asked him if
they could have his gold, and he said yes, if you can guess the
passcode, which was also his name. “Oh, I think I know!” said
Jewel. “Remember Mother read us the story of the girl who spun
straw into gold?” “Rumpelstiltskin!” shouted all three mermaids at
once. And the surprised leprechaun blinked his eyes because he
couldn’t believe it—they had guessed his name on the first try! So,
he gave them his pot of gold and went off to eat an ice cream
cone with seven scoops.

Near the end of the rainbow, there was a boat moored to the dock.
They untied the boat and put the pot of gold inside. Then they
rowed around the cove, singing Row, Row , Row Your Boat. They
were singing and laughing and having such a good time that they
didn’t notice a huge wooden ship until they bumped into it. “Ahoy
there mateys!” rang out a gruff greeting. They looked at the ship’s
flag and it was a pirate ship!. Oh, no! What could they do? They
pirate told them to come aboard his ship immediately. He took their
pot of leprechaun’s gold and said he would put it in his treasure
chest for safe keeping.. They followed him and saw e had a huge treasure with gems and jewelry and
gold in his treasure chest. Oh no! The pirate was going to try to keep their gold. They were sure of it!
The pirate made them sit down at the table and he brought them some cookies. They nibbled a little of
the cookies and found them a bit dry. So, they offered the pirate to make him some special tea to go
with the cookies. It was a special mermaid tea that was very strong. It made humans go to sleep, but it
didn’t have any effect on mermaids because they were used to it. After drinking half a cup of tea, the
pirate fell asleep and started snoring very loudly. This was the mermaids chance to escape, so they got
their leprechaun’s gold from the treasure chest and found a note in the chest. The note was a map and
it said that whoever can follow the map to the big X, will become the owner of all of the treasure in the
chest. So, the mermaids took the map and followed it to a small room below deck. When they turned
on the lights, they saw a silver rocket with a neon sign blinking “COME IN”. So they did. They pushed the
buttons on the dashboard and the ceiling opened and the rocket launched. They were going up into
space!

The rocket was on automatic pilot. It passed the moon and the mermaids saw all of the moon’s craters.
There were so many stars, they couldn’t believe how beautiful space is. They flew and flew, and soon
they saw a red planet on the navigation screen. The rocket slowed down, turned around and made a
perfect landing on the surface of Mars. The mermaids decided to
follow the map and explore the area. They found all of the
landmarks on the map: the seven piles of rocks, the red flag, and
finally the big X. When they approached the big X, it started
wiggling like the ocean waves. How could that be? Everyone
knows there is no water on Mars. But as they walked closer, they
found a big lake and on the lake was the Big X from the map. They
had found the Mars treasure! They Wished on their lockets and
turned back into mermaids to go for a nice swim in the Martian
lake. It was heavenly! The water was cool and refreshing. At the
bottom of the lake they discovered an underground cave, so they
went in. The cave opened into a room with a door. When they
opened the door, they saw a secret meadow. And the meadow had horses grazing on the grass. How
was that possible? Well, they didn’t think about that too long. They quickly turned into human again and
each jumped onto a splendid horse. The Martian horses were very friendly, like the dolphin friends on
Earth. They gave the mermaids a ride all around the meadow, and it was really fun. The mermaids
asked them if they wanted to come to earth, and the
horses said, “Yes!” So, they all went to the chamber in
the underwater cave, swam to the Martian treasure,
loaded it into the rocket, and the horses climbed into
the rocket after the mermaids. The rocket returned to
Earth via automatic pilot and took them to the pirate
ship with the pirate treasure where the pirate was still
asleep from the mermaid tea. They giggled when they
heard his loud snoring. They quietly loaded the pirate
treasure onto their boat. They also took the Martian
treasure, and their leprechaun treasure.
They lead the horses onto the boat, too and sprinkled fairy dust on them so they wouldn’t be too heavy
and sink the boat. Then they wished themselves into mermaids again and swam next to the boat,
pushing all their treasure and the horses to the Aquamarine cove.

The horses got excited when they saw the beach. They loved running wild up and down the sandy
beaches. The mermaids decided to return home with all their treasure. So, they said good-bye to the
horses and called their dolphin friends to help
them carry the treasure chests home. The
dolphins came and were glad to see their
mermaid friends again. The mermaids gave each
dolphin a gold necklace from their treasure to
thank them for their help. The dolphins thought
they looked very handsome in the gold necklaces,
and chattered loudly.

Soon it was time for a bedtime snack with their

mother. The mermaids told their mother all about their adventures with the rainbow, the pirate, the
treasure map, the rocket, the Martian horses and the Martian treasure. They gave their mother half of
each of the treasures, and thanked her for the lovely special lockets.

Then they started yawning because they were getting sleepy. So, they went to bed and had the most
amazing dreams about future adventures. They could hardly wait to wake up and have more
adventures tomorrow!

True or False

____The mermaids found a pot of gold.

____The mermaids flew to Mars.

____ There were friendly dolphins on the planet where they landed.

____ They met a magician who loaned them his rocket.

____ They put a giant to sleep with a strong tea.

____ They used fairy dust to turn into humans to walk.

____ The mermaids looked forward to more adventures.

True or False—Answer key

__T__The mermaids found a pot of gold.

__T__The mermaids flew to Mars.

__F__ There were friendly dolphins on the planet where they landed.

__F__ They met a magician who loaned them his rocket.

__F__ They put a giant to sleep with a strong tea.

__F__ They used fairy dust to turn into humans to walk. (They used a magic locket).

__T__ The mermaids looked forward to more adventures.

Webliography

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Ferdinand_Leeke_-_The_Mermaids
%2C_1921.jpg Mermaid picture, public domain

http://www.clker.com/clipart-726199.html rainbow, public domain

http://www.clker.com/clipart-531699.html leprechaun in pot of gold, public domain

http://www.clker.com/clipart-bark-ship.html pirate ship, public domain

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/OSIRIS_Mars_true_color.jpg Mars picture,

ESA - European Space Agency & Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research for
OSIRIS Team ESA/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA / CC BY-SA 3.0-IGO

http://www.clker.com/clipart-6878.html rocket, public domain

https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=8450&picture=victorian-ransom
treasure, public domain

https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=223510&picture=wild-horses
horses, public domain

http://www.clker.com/clipart-9414.html mermaid in frame, public domain

http://www.clker.com/clipart-7001.html horse, public domain

http://clipart-library.com/img/1200920.jpg last mermaid picture, free to use for non-commercial use