The Little Mermaid

Fairy Tale Short Stories

A different kind of fairy tale retold
In the depth of the Caribbean Ocean stood a magnificent palace adorned
with shells and pearls. There lived the kingdom of the mermaids. Matta,
the Sea King’s youngest daughter, is curious and playful. She loves racing
with the sharks, riding on the turtle, and diving with the dolphins in her
free time. She particularly enjoys investigating sunken ships and hunting
for treasures.

While exploring the different parts of the ocean, she will sing along. Her
beautiful voice calms the sea waves, while the fishes are drawn to her
presence to keep her company. Matta has always been curious about the
world outside the sea. Whenever she feels bored, she will sneak up to the
ocean surface to look at the beautiful island and activities surrounding
them and secretly imagine herself walking on the sandy beach.

One day, Matta was near the sea surface when she heard a group of rowdy
sailors on a ship. Matta decided to check out what had happened. As Matta
approached the ship, she noticed a sailor laughing with a handsome young
man. While watching them, Matta saw the attractive young man wearing
what appeared to be a crown on his head. “He must be a prince.” Matta
thought to herself.

After some time, the wind grew stronger. The vast wind rocked the ship
vigorously. The young man felt queasy and sick from the erratic rocking of
the vessel, and he went to the ship’s deck for a breather. Suddenly, the ship
made a sharp movement. The young man lost his footing and fell right into
the ocean. “The prince fell into the ocean! Somebody save him!” One of
the seamen cried. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast, and the sea was
choppy. Nobody knew where the prince was.

Matta quickly dives into the sea to search for the prince. Luckily, she was
able to find the prince in a short time and swam as fast as she could to the
surface. By then, the prince had already lost consciousness. After much
effort, Matta ultimately successfully brought the prince to safety on land.
She stared at the prince for some time, hoping that the prince would wake
up. Matta was unaware the storm had subsided, and it was already
morning. When the prince showed no signs of gaining consciousness, she
started to sing from the sadness. Her enchanting voice filled the quiet
morning, and slowly, the prince began to move.

A group of people heard Matta’s singing and followed the melody. As

soon as Matta heard noises of people approaching in her direction, she
dashed into the waters and hid behind a rock. “Look, someone is here!” the
people spotted the prince and helped him back to safety.

Since that day, Matta kept thinking about the handsome prince and going
on land. She yearned to find him to see if he had fully healed. Her
grandmother noticed that she was not as cheerful as before. Out of
concern, she went to check on her.

“Child, what is the matter? You can talk to me.” Her grandmother asked.

“Grandma, I want to go on land. Please help me fulfil my wishes.” Matta

replied. Grandma thought about it and said, “Go to the sea witch. She can
help you. But remember, there is a price to pay for what you wish for.”

“I am willing to pay the price,” Matta replied. With that, she searched for
the sea witch in the darkest of the sea. After some time, she finally arrived
at the path leading to the sea witch’s cave.

“Who has come to disturb my sleep?” The sea witch grunted. “It’s me. I’m
Matta. I am here to ask for your help.” Matta said. The sea witch grinned.
“I see, the princess of Caribbean Ocean has come to seek my help. How
can I help you?” the sea witch chuckled. “I’d like a pair of human legs to
walk on land.” Matta continued.

“Why would you want to be human?” The sea witch asked curiously. “I
wish to look for a prince.” Matta replied.

“That is easy. But what do I get in return?” The sea witch asks. “Tell me
what you want, and I’ll do my best to give it to you,” Matta said.

The sea witch pondered for a while. “Give up your voice.” She said.

“On land, you have no use for your voice. Furthermore, if the prince
marries you, you will regain your voice. However, if he marries someone
else, then you will turn into bubbles and disappear forever.”
Matta hesitated.

“Who knows, you might marry the prince and have everything you want,”
the sea witch added, flashing her wide smile.

Matta got excited. “Deal.” She responded.

“Very well.” The sea witch replied, as she drew a glass of luminous blue
potion from her bag. “Drink this,” she instructed. Matta took the potion
bottle and stared for a moment. “Drink right now. I don’t have all day.” the
sea witch went on.

Matta opened the bottle, closed her eyes and drank the potion. Suddenly
she felt dizzy and fell to the ground, losing her consciousness. After some
time, Matta finally opened her eyes and sat up. She then looked around at
the unfamiliar surroundings, trying to figure out where she was.

“Sand.” She mumbled as she placed them on her palms and let them slip
through the gaps between her fingers. Looking at the falling sand seemed
to bring her memory back. She realized what happened in the sea witch’s
cave. Quickly, she examined her tail and discovered only human legs! She
finally got her wishes granted!

Matta attempted to stand up, but her legs were shaky. She was still getting
used to having legs and was falling a few times as she tried to adjust her
walking style. “Do you need help?” someone asked. When Matta turned
towards the voice, she realized it was the prince! Since that day, the prince
had been looking for the girl with the beautiful voice. He had been waiting
by the shore to see if this mysterious girl would return to sing.

Matta wanted to talk to the prince, but no words came. She realized she’d
lost her voice as part of the deal with the sea witch. She shook her head.
“You cannot speak? It’s alright. I will take you to my castle to get some
clean clothes.” The prince said kindly. With the help of the prince, she
slowly walked to the castle. Matta became a guest in the prince’s palace
for the next few days. The prince showed her around the castle and shared
the stories he had heard with her. They became good friends and had a
wonderful time together.

One day the King announced to the prince, “Son, it is time for you to have
a bride. We have selected one for you. She is princess Aurora and will be
ideal for you. Tonight, we’ll discuss wedding plans with her parents.” The
prince was devastated when he found out. He had always wanted to marry
the woman with the lovely voice, who had saved his life.

That night, the princess and her parents arrived. The prince was forced to
sit at the table with them. “What a handsome man your son has grown to
be. This is my daughter, Aurora. She has prepared a song to sing to your
family as a gift.” The princess’s father said.

The prince was taken aback when Princess Aurora began to sing. The
voice sounds exactly like the girl he’s been looking for a long time! The
prince was delighted because he had finally found the girl, who would
become his wife. When the meeting was over, the prince could not contain
his happiness and shared it with Matta. Matta was heartbroken. She
recalled her agreement with the sea witch. She didn’t expect the sea witch
to use her voice on another girl.

The following day at dawn, Matta took a walk by the shore in despair. She
missed her family but could no longer return to the deep sea. Sitting by the
beach, her sisters suddenly swam up to the surface as they could sense her.
Even though she could not talk, her sisters understood what had happened.
They wanted to help Matta.

“We will come up with a solution, Matta. Return to the beach tonight.”
Her sisters told her.

That night, Matta made her way to the shore. Her sisters came as
promised. However, they no longer had their long, lustrous lock. To help
Matta, they went to the sea witch and had exchanged their glowing hairs
for a magical sea pearl. “Matta, take this magical pearl and give it to
Princess Aurora. Once she consume it, she will turn into bubbles and
vanish. You will be able to return to your original self and be back with us
in the ocean again.” her sisters told her.

Matta took the magical pearl as her sister handled it to her, and left. Deep
down, Matta was broken-hearted knowing that her family had done so
much for her, yet Matta knew she could not bring herself to hurt another
person.

The sea king, who expected Matta to return with her sisters, was enraged
when she did not. The sisters had no choice but to tell the king what
happened. Upset by his daughter getting hurt, he decided to go to land to
check on her.

Meanwhile, the wedding was to take place on the ship. When the sea king
came near the sea surface, he saw Princess Aurora and his parents onboard
the ship. He knew that kind Matta would not hurt her. However, the sea
king had to save his beloved daughter from turning into bubbles. To save
Matta, he decided to confront the sea witch.

“Remove the curse from my youngest daughter!” the sea king bellowed as
he entered the sea witch’s cave. The sea witch cackled and replied, “The
only way to save her from her fate is to give me your sceptre.”

The sea king knew, if the sea witch has his mighty sceptre, she can rule the
Caribbean Kingdom and become the most powerful creature in the world.

While the sea king hesitated, the sea witch took the opportunity and used
her powers to seize the sceptre. She successfully snatched it and laughed
loudly while taking off to the wedding ship to announce her victory. As
the sceptre exudes magical powers, tentacles started twisting out from her
body, and she transformed into a massive sea Kraken. “I am your king
now!” she roared.

The gigantic Kraken caused an immense sea wave that rocked the ship
erratically. Everyone on board the vessel screamed for help. Princess
Aurora almost fell to the sea from the rocky ship when Matta quickly
extended her hands to save her. This angered the sea witch.

“Why does everyone adore you, Matta!” she screamed. In her rage, she
grabbed Matta and dragged her off the ship with her tentacles. The sea
witch drew Matta close to her face, her mouth wide open while roaring at
her. Matta was terrified, but she took a chance and threw the magical pearl
into the mouth of the sea witch instead.

“No…..” The sea witch screamed. Slowly, the tentacles transformed into
bubbles. Gradually, the body of the Kraken, and finally the sea witch
herself became bubbles and vanished. Matta was now free! The sea,
however, was still extremely choppy. Matta wanted to calm the ocean
without thinking much about her lost voice. She opened her mouth to sing
and realised her lovely voice returned, much to her surprise!
“No! I paid for the voice!” Princess Aurora croaked and stomped off.
Matta’s voice captivated the prince, and he remembered the exact song he
heard when the girl saved him. He understood what had happened.

Just then, the sea king returned with his sceptre. With a wave of his
sceptre, the storm was over, and everything calmed down.

The prince approached Matta and said, “I have been searching for you, but
all these while you were beside me! Will you marry me?” The prince
kneeled and asked Matta. With a big smile, Matta nodded.

The wedding continued on the ship, in the presence of the sea king and the
mermaid kingdom, and they lived happily ever after.