EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA.

MERMAID’S TALE

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

ALBERT
ALDERMAN

AND THE MISSING TRIDENT

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

Albert’s Life.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry loved and admired my family saying, “wow, they are so wealthy. Lucky them. ”Others saying,
“Look at the house of the Aldermans .”

Well, no need to brag but everything they said about us was true. We were wealthy.(Actually we were the wealthiest
people in London.)

Secondly, if you know you have a relative who is crazy and running mad, or maybe obsessed with creatures that are
extinct...better admit him to the psychiatric hospital before he could bring you trouble.

Don’t tell me that I DIDN’T WARN YOU!

My name is Albert Alderman and this was my normal life before I got myself killed by an Atlantean assassin... but
actually I didn’t really die. I almost did. But my state of coma really felt like death. The coldness in my blood vessels, the
shivering and sudden unconsciousness... It all felt like I was passing away.

Ever since I was young, I was a mute, very quiet and humble and at times talkative.

My favourite place in my dad’s mansion was the library where I used to read novels and research about creatures that
are extinct...dinosaurs, elves and giants among others. Reading J.K. Rowling’s novels and William Shakespeare’s plays. And I
was in my eighth grade Holiday. Whenever I entered this heavenly library, I never wanted to leave.

Today, it was high time I read a novel about the Hobbit. The library smelt like a working printer. The library and I
were like close friends.(Okay fine. I know what you are thinking? You think I am a nerd... a book nerd. Well. Honestly... I
am.)

One day, After finishing my house chores; (I loved my chores because it was no brainer.) I entered the library and
began reading Jungle book. My favourite character was Shere khan , for he was determined to get the human cub. His
character really impressed me.

KNOCK! KNOCK! I heard a strange knock at the library door. (Really strange! Because no one ever visited the library—um I
don’t know maybe due to lack of interest.) Even my dad was never interested. He just built it to brag about his house and
to whom it may concern. (The library was for whoever wanted to read. ) A familiar voice thundered from the door.” Albert!
Albert!” I opened the door within a blink of an eye. As soon as I saw the person at the door, I jumped and hugged him,
“Uncle Jordan.”

“You are welcome.”

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

CHAPTER 2

Two words. Uncle Jordan.

Uncle Jordan looked the way he always looks. Wearing a green tuxedo, a red bow tie and a white shirt. His coat smelt
like smoked fish. I was so happy to meet him because whenever he came for a visit, I could grab him a seat and convince
him to tell me more about his adventures on the Atlantic Ocean as a captain of a ship...the mysterious islands he had
discovered, the sperm whale he had caught and other kinds of fish.

“Can I come with you to Boston, please?” A question slipped out of my mouth. “please say yes! ”He looked at me like
you sure kid?

“I don’t know, kid, ”he said, ”cause your..... your parents don’t....... I don’t know, just ask your mom and dad.”

I went out of the library and moved across the hallway where both the walls and floor were as white as snow. The floor
was really cold as well as spick and span. I ran with excitement to my dad.

“Dad, Dad, Dad, can I go to Boston lighthouse to stay with my uncle, pretty please?” I asked Mr. Alderman.(Mr.
Alderman a.k.a my dad was a professor and a software engineer in London. He cared for our family a lot less... He never
showed love for my mum at all. It’s like we were invisible. All he could care about was 'his dumb job!’)

“Fine , you can. ”My dad responded and rolled his eyes like a whatever gesture. (Something about him reminded me of
Squidward Tentacles in SpongeBob Square pants franchise. That not caring attitude he had.)

I moved to my uncle who was in the library reading The little mermaid fairy tale. It’s his favourite. I told him about the
big news.

“Go get parking, Albert.” He closed the book and rushed out of the door.

“Chill, man,” I yelled at him. ”Why are you rushing?”

He looked back at me.”We have to catch a bus and later, move to Boston USA, by aeroplane.”

He exited the door of the library hurriedly. I zoomed past him and entered my room. Surprisingly my mother had
done the packing for me. What a kind mum she was!

“Goodbye Albert.” she said.

I was really lucky because my backpack was really big......bigger then what you think.

“I am ready.” I moved swiftly to my uncle while yelling that I was prepared. We exited the gates of my dad’s mansion.
We moved a few feet along the road and finally caught a bus.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

THREE.

A TRIP TO BOSTON.
Confession time: even though my parents were filthy rich, I had never entered their private jet before. So this was my
very first flight. I was very excited when I entered the plane....” Be cool, Albert. BE COOL.”I muttered to myself. I couldn’t
wait for it to blast off to the sky.

Oh my God! Just look at all those seats.

“Uncle, should we go to the pilot and the co pilot seats?” I yelled louder than the passengers in the plane. All people
stared at me and my uncle like Awkward!

He gripped my hand and whispered. “Pull yourself together, lad.”

“No way. I mean, look at all these seats especially the pilot and......”

Uncle Jordan gripped my shoulders and forcefully made me sit down.

“Hey. I just want to...”I tried to stand but his slap swept my face and cheeks. The whole excitement drained away. My
uncle raised his palms, a gesture of Thank God!

“Hey. Now why the long face?” He stared at my gloomy face.

“I am not sad,” I lied and looked away.

“Fine. If you look away, I won’t tell you about my other underwater adventures as a sea diver.” Uncle Jordan also
looked away.

I removed out “Jungle book” and began reading it. After a few chapters, I felt really drowsy and soon enough I was
sound asleep. I started seeing images and realized that I was dreaming.

Suddenly I was back in the library reading The Jungle Book and the whole room transformed into a jungle. It felt scary for
me to be part of the novel I was reading. I saw large trees in the jungle and looked at them. I noticed the black panther
which had green eyes that were terrifying. I closed the book and hid behind some trees of the jungle hearing hooting owls,
chattering Bandar logs (you can call them monkeys.) hissing bushes, screeching crickets etc.

Raaaaaarrrr!!! The bushes shook. I almost jumped. I tried to chill or even calm down but my heart was racing and I was
fidgeting and I couldn’t help it. And there it was. the monster that shook the forest, the tiger with striped fur,Shere Khan.
jungle book antagonist. He jumped over me and scratched my back. I screamed in agony.

My eyes shot wide open.

“Albert. Albert. WAKE UP!!!!!” Uncle Jordan yelled at me but I still felt drowsy and my eyelids were very heavy. I
never noticed it that I was falling asleep every second.

“ Come on, sleepy head,” My uncle slapped me on my shoulder.

“Ouch.... hey?” I rubbed my shoulder to ease the pain, but it wasn’t working.

“That’s to wake you up, lousy head,” He raised his palm like, there was plenty of where that came from. I gripped his
hand, preventing it from touching my shoulder again.

I stared at him like, don’t even think about it.

“ What did you mean by-----shere-----striped------jungle------eyes----black?” He raised his eyebrows.

“What?” I muttered.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“The thing is that, you screamed while you were asleep.” he took a heavy sigh. “And I want to know why.”

I looked blank, turned my back on him and stared through the windscreen so that he couldn’t read my face
expression. There is something about his look that reminded me of my mum, his caring gentle voice and his blue glittery
eyes.

“Look. Kid. Just please don’t make me worried sick.” his tone grew calmer. “Is there anything bothering you?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

He looked and smirked at me. “Anyway, we are almost there,” he glanced outside the window.

“Where?”

“The lighthouse, silly.”

“Anyway, WELCOME TO BOSTON.”

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

FOUR .

My uncle loses his mind.

We went out of the taxi cab near the Atlantic shores. Uncle Jordan began talking about his water adventures. He spoke
of terrifying creatures like sharks, blue whale...

“And mar---never mind,” he said. It was very strange, every time he tried to say it. I mean, the waves hitting against the
rocky cliff grew stronger.

“Wait. Were you about to say... mermaid?” I asked him. The waves became violent and washed the bay. Some wave
droplets touched my hiking boots. It’s like they wanted to get us.

“Did you see that?” I looked back at him.

No answer.

“...the waves... it’s like they-----wanted to grab us,” I stammered. I couldn’t believe it, but it was like the ocean had a
mind of its own.

“The waves are normal, Albert.” He looked as jolly as a Santa Claus. “Isn’t today a great day for sailing? Feel the cool
thin air,” He spread his arms out wide.

“Didn’t you see the waves washing the bay?” I asked him.

“Which bay?” He asked. I felt like I wanted to spank his butt, if he were only a toddler. Albert, calm down...and FYI,
you are not crazy. I thought.

“Um ..... Uncle Jordan?”

“Yes.”

“What do you remember?”

“..... aeroplane....taxi ... Boston welcome. That’s all I remember.”

“ Poor exhausted man. He must be very tired. He has to get rest because he’s losing his mind,” I muttered to myself.

We moved on and finally reached the lighthouse gasping for air. I tried to convince him to get some rest since he had
become like an insomniac. Yes indeed. He really looked like one... like he had spent the whole night awake. So I went
ahead and asked, “Uncle Jordan...”

“Yes, my boy,” he grinned at me.

“Did you sleep last night?” I finally asked him.

“I was awake the whole night because someone couldn’t shut up in his dream?” he looked up, then turned to me and
stared at me like I would have killed you if you hadn’t been a kid . You don’t know how it’s like to stay all night awake.

My uncle looked around his house from the inside like he was searching for his one billion dollar bill. There was
nothing much in the house. Just a small archaic TV, a sofa set and paintings of fish, a mermaid and dolphins . There were
also ships in bottles and a small aquarium.

My uncle ran to the aquarium, still jolly. He smeared the glass with his palm so that all the fish could be seen.

“Oh! Sally, Andrea... you don’t know how much I have missed you?” He said. It was Unbelievable. He was talking to
fish. Now I knew that My uncle had really lost his mind and it was all my fault since I hadn’t let him sleep last night. I felt
like crying but I held it in.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“What should I do now?” I asked myself. I came to him and he was seriously in a conversation with a fish.

“...I know right. sharks are dumb. Right, Sally. ”He said.

“Um .... sorry. I forgot to introduce you to my friends.” His right hand hooked my upper chest and he pulled me closer
to his green coat.

“Sally, Andrea... meet Albert, my nephew,” He continued.

“ Hi, guys,” I said.

What am I doing? I thought.

Just playing along. Okay. I said to myself.

Please. Stop. My voice in my mind pleaded. You are embarrassing yourself.

Just do it for the sake of my uncle. Pllleeeaase!

Fine.

The fish moved in circles as bubbles formed at the top.

“Yeah, yeah. He’s not as mad as my other friends. ”He spoke to his fish. I couldn’t help it but scoff. Thank goodness, it
was a scoff rather than a burst of laughter. That ---would have hurt his feelings. Surprisingly the guy who was talking to fish
was calling his friends, mad people. Could you imagine?

“Albert, why did you scoff?” He said.

“Um... Uncle Jordan. I....am hungry,” I lied.

Later on, I went to the dining room.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

FIVE.

My uncle is forced to drink water from the toilet.

My uncle gave me some broccoli and vegetable salad since he knew that I was a vegetarian. When I am exposed to
meat, I usually get an allergic reaction, so I abandoned it and held on veggies.

“It’s great that you don’t take meat. Otherwise the fish would have became mad at you,” He grinned at me. ” believe
me. You don’t want to see them when they are mad,” He laughed.

“What exactly happens when they are mad?” I asked.

“You don’t want to know. Believe me.” He exited the room. “Knock my bedroom in case you need anything. Okay.”

I finished my food and then moved to the couch where I sat down and watched TV. I slept on the couch and never
realised that I was asleep.

After a nap of drooling and dreaming nightmares, I woke up and heaved a sigh of relief after that high speed chase in
the ocean in my dream, a hungry shark wanted to take me as his dinner . At least I woke up right before it could bite my
head off. Phew! That was really close. I jumped off the sofa with too much fright thinking I was seated on it.(I mean, the
shark in my dream.) but it wasn’t anywhere around the couch, it was just me hallucinating..... AGAIN.

Let me just go and read a book or even a novel or something. I thought. Perhaps it will remove the shark-image out of
my head.

I went upstairs and found my bag near my uncle's strange room. Curious as I was, I entered the room and, whoa! It
looked like a museum for sea creatures especially mermaids because all I could see, were pictures of mermaids and sea
monsters, maps of Atlantis and some symbols. I looked around and saw some sort of a black board with pictures of Aries
and other signs. I managed to recognise one of them. It was a large fork. No, the Atlantic people called it a trident----if I
remember clearly. I looked at it sceptically and realised that it was the real one. After sometime, I heard someone
mumbling and muttering downstairs. My heart skipped a beat.

Come on. Please don’t be a Thief or even a burglar. I thought as I moved downstairs. I set foot on the last staircase and
realised that there was nobody. I heard even more and louder muttering. It was just my uncle talking in his sleep.

“mermaid.....in Atlantis... trident.....lost.....” He mumbled. Then the storm instead worsened. Waters from the ocean
splashed and knocked the door like they wanted to barge in forcefully and ...... finally, the door was blasted wide open. A
heap of water landed on the door mat and began swelling into a Human figure, but a human made up of water. It had two
tiny baby horns and shimmering bright blue eyes. It was a few inches taller than my father. I hid in the kitchen and locked
the door. It heard the sound that I had made when I shut the door. I hid behind the refrigerator. It stood at the entrance of
the door and I panicked. Droplets of sweat rushed out of my curly hair. I closed my mouth so that I couldn’t scream out
loud. The creature paused at the kitchen entrance for a little time.

It moved on and said, “Thought I heard something.” It grumbled.

“Phew!” I sighed.

I heard a loud clash at my uncle’s bedroom. Then I saw the creature dragging my uncle to the bathroom.

“No. No. Please don’t do this. I didn’t mean to.....l usually talk in my sleep,” My uncle pleaded.

“Jordan, I am sorry but we can’t risk you, revealing our secret again,” the creature spoke angrily.

“Come on Nuneza. It’s just a misunderstanding.” My uncle cried.

“I am sorry but I have to end this and also.....you,” It said and kicked the bathroom door open. I followed its trail and
reached out for the bathroom door. Ew! I couldn’t believe what I saw. My uncle’s head was being dipped in the toilet bowl.
Bubble. Bubble! My uncle struggled. His arms pummelled the air. He tried screaming but he kept on sipping the liquid

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

which usually enters in toilet bowl. He struggled to breathe. But he couldn’t. I believed that my uncle couldn’t last any
other second in that bowl.

So I screamed. “NO!”

The creature paused and let go of my uncle.

“Hmmmm. So you are the one he was talking to,” The creature grinned. “BUSTED. Jordan. Eh?”

“Please, leave the boy, Nuneza,” My uncle tried to plead even though his mouth was filled with toilet liquid.

“Hahahaha,” It cackled evilly. Then it winked at Jordan. My uncle shook his head like no. No. Please don’t do it.

The creature melted and turned into a blue liquid and shot into my nostrils. I fell down on my knees and began shivering.
My uncle carried me and lay me on his bed. The last thing I saw was my uncle rushing out of his bedroom like he was
looking for a cure for whatever had happened.

I tried asking him what had happened but he looked at me like I was a cadaver.

Then my sight darkened and I lost my consciousness.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

SIX.

In my subconscious.

First of all, I really hated blackouts especially when they happen in crazy moments. Like the last time. I fainted when I
saw a real life tiger eat up our tour guide. I was shocked. And last year, I lost my consciousness when I saw a meteor
shower and thought aliens had invaded the planet and we were going to be enslaved. Also, last holiday, when I visited
Antarctica, I saw a shadow of a polar bear and passed out thinking it was The abominable snowman.

And now this time, a watery Human figure had just intruded in my body systems. I could feel it crawl in my blood
vessels. I felt chills racing up my main veins. I shivered and my teeth chattered.

Then suddenly my vision was regained. I saw nothing. It was all bright white. Everything was as white as snow. I looked
around and finally saw something unusual. I saw a puddle of green sticky liquid. It resembled the product that comes out of
someone’s nose. I screamed in terror, as the liquid began flowing closer to my feet. It’s green cytoplasm or even goo,
covered my feet. It's unpleasant smell almost made me throw up. I stared at the liquid and jumped away from its way. It
began swelling and formed a human figure.

“Nuneza. is that you?” I drew in closer to the green sticky liquid-like human. I could see that it had trouble, moving. It
was like a piece of gum, trying to free itself from the area of attachment.

It stared back at me and said,” I can’t believe it. Human substances are very strong like this nose goo.”

It struggled.

“I am sorry,” I tried to calm him down, but he couldn’t accept defeat. He instead began twisting himself like a tornado.
Oh My God! He was wriggling himself. And in that process, a blue liquid came out of the green goo. Now, Nuneza original
was reborn.

“hahahahaha! I am back, human.” It flexed its watery biceps. “No prison can contain me, human.”

“And now, you shall suffer.”

“No sir, please. You are the one who started it. You entered my body without permission. You are technically a
persona non grata in my body.” I yelled.

“If you are to think about it. It’s all your fault, Nuneza,” I said.

“ It doesn’t matter. You tried to trap me in your gooey prison.”

“And now. You are going to pay,” He continued.

He divided like a bacterium in binary fission. Soon enough, more Human figures----I mean, more Nunezas were
formed. They all had weapons. One had an ax, two had spears and three had swords.

“Feel my wrath, human.” They yelled in unison.

“ It’s high time you died,” They surrounded me within a blink of an eye.

There was no escaping at this moment. I fell down on my knees with no option left.

“ CHARGE!!!!!!” One of them yelled.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

SEVEN.

Nuneza defeated!
The creatures transformed into a gigantic ocean wave and began flowing towards me. I stood up on my feet and
muttered to myself.

Albert. Don’t give up now. It’s not your time to die, yet. And in case you are about to die now, try fighting back for your
life. I thought to myself.

“Human, you could have remained down,” A giant bull horned water demon came out of the wave. It looked like a large
Nuneza, but with an upgrade. Two large bull horns, larger watery biceps and an ax on the left palm and a large blade on
the right.

“ You have no possibility of defeating me,” Its voice thundered. Hahahaha. It cackled evilly.

It then raised its blade to chop me to halves but I dodged its strike. It missed. I leaped to the other side so that its ax
couldn’t rip my head off. It lifted it’s foot to flatten me. But...... .

Poof! A shield was formed on my wrist, magically. I was taken aback by its sudden appearance. But I was glad that it
had shown up at the right time.

The stomping action of its foot sent me rolling backwards, a few feet away from it. Thanks to my magic shield which had
appeared from the blue, I escaped its attack without any damage in my bones.

Now I have got it defenceless from its back. I thought. How I wish I had a spear so that I could throw at its back.

Then suddenly, poof! A spear appeared out of nowhere. I gripped it tight and then threw it towards its back. I watched
it squeal, as my bright blue spear propelled and penetrated through its watery back. It blew up like a water balloon which
has been popped.

“ Yay! I win,” I jumped up and down like a teenage girl who had just got a prom date with her high school crush.

The pieces of the giant freak---- I mean, they were already puddles of water now since they had melted as quick as
light. I hadn’t even noticed that they were melted.

After a while, they joined each other and formed a simple stream of water. It flowed and collected itself into a large
pool of water. It began evaporating and soon enough, a cloud of vapour shot up to the empty sky.. or probably
nothingness.

I then saw a bright blinding light. My vision then darkened for a while.

Please let me exit this nightmare. I thought to myself.

And then finally, my eyes shot wide open. And there I was, lying on my uncle’s bed surrounded by large fans that were
blowing a lot of wind. I felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane and I was sweating. Sweat evaporated from my skin at a
high speed. I saw the familiar vapour disappearing into thin air.

“Nuneza,” l mumbled.

I WILL GET YOU NEXT TIME. HUMAN. A voice thundered above me. It came from the vapour.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

EIGHT

You are a terrible liar, Uncle Jordan.

The weirdest thing I have never imagined is a talking cloud. This one had just spoken to me. I watched it disappear and
soon enough, It was gone. I raised my back and sat on the bed. My heart was beating and my pulse rate was scary high.

“ Albert, calm down.” I muttered to myself. Then I let out a heavy sigh.

Hope it was another hallucination. I thought.

I looked around the bed to ensure that there are no more talking clouds around me. But the air from the fans blew
through my clothes. This time I felt chilly and cold. I made up my mind and switched off the large fans. My feet touched
the ground and I stood up. Then I quickly exited the bedroom. But as soon as I saw my uncle approaching the bedroom,
I squirmed back to his bed.

My uncle reached out for the door knob as I lay down on his bed and shut my eyes so that he could think that I was
still asleep. He went inside and touched on my forehead with his palm.

“ This is great. His temperature has at least come back to normal. Otherwise he could have died by this time.” He
jumped up and about. “He must have fought for his life in his subconscious. Otherwise that Coark would have killed my
nephew and I would have been in big trouble.”

“ A cock? So Nuneza was a cock?” I thought deeply, but I wasn’t sure about what he was saying.

I opened my eyes at once and gripped my uncle’s hand which was touching all over my face.

“ Uncle. What was that?” I asked him.

He gestured at me like he expected something else to come out of me. “ What was what?”

“I mean, that creature Which was in the bathroom.”

“What creature?”

“Cone on, uncle. You have to tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“About Nuneza.”

He hesitated a little.

“Nuneza who?” He asked.

My uncle has always been an honest man. But this time, he lied to me. I could tell that he was lying. The way his
eyes twitched, his fingers shivered and the way he hesitated before lying to me.

“ And why would I die in my subconscious?” questions kept on slipping out of my mouth like an overflowing water
tank.

He stared at me in shock.

“Tell me. Tell me what’s going on. Now?” I demanded.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

He gestured at me like I was insane.

My stomach growled right before he could say another lie.

“Looks like some one is hungry,” My uncle sounded like nothing had happened.

I raised my back and sat on the bed.” I guess I am.” I looked down in disappointment.

“Okay. Fine.” I said flatly.

We headed to the kitchen and ate bread with coffee.

YUM! YUM! I munched on the toasted bread.

“ So, how is it?” His dimples formed on both of his cheeks, as he produced a gleaming smile.

“Yummy and delicious.” I said happily.

“You better finish that because it’s high time you met my crew.” He said.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

NINE.

All aboard on The Saint Pearl.

Firstly. The meal was really tasty. It hit every spot in my belly. Secondly. My uncle’s ship is really awesome. It
resembled like the legendary galleon ship, but with three mates on board.

“Yo. Captain,” the one in the crow’s nest yelled. He jumped and slid down the mast . “So, what is the mission, today?”
He asked.

He had a goatee that hooked at its tip, brown eye brows, a dark red scar across his left eye. He also wore a white shirt
with a name tag:

BLAKE MARLEE.
Spy glass mate of Neptune’s vessel.
SAINT. PEARL

He also had a spyglass around his neck.

“Wow. We have a newbie,” the one on the deck yelled. Judging from his grey beard, I could tell that he was the oldest. He
also had a name tag which read as follows:

SIR . GREYBEARD
The first mate of The Saint Pearl.

Second in command ..

He jumped and landed on the side of the harbour. “Cap. Are you forgetting something?”

“Oh. Sorry.” He apologized.

“Blake. Alex. Sir. Greybeard.” Each time he said their names. The owner of each name raised his hand, or yelled words
like “ahoy” or “aye captain.”

“Meet Albert, my nephew.” He continued .

They all yelled. “Ahoy!”

. “My crew. Let’s get sailing.” He said like he was addressing the public.

Then we climbed aboard on the deck of the ship, as Greybeard pulled up the anchor from the ocean. Alex raised the
sails on the mast. The ship vegan sailing on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

He grasped my hand and said.

“Come on, Albert. Let’s go to my cabin.”

He looked back at his crew which was mucking and horsing around since they were idle. But he insisted, “Get back to
work.”

“Fine captain.” They replied in unison.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

I let myself free from his grip and entered in the cabin. Then I saw a camp bed. I decided to remove out Harry potter
the novel, lay on the cot and finally, read the novel in the side of the cabin which was as silent as a grave.

I read out a few chapters and soon enough, I was sound asleep.

This time, I never had any dream. After sometime, I heard a loud crash. Accompanied by a lightning strike. My eyes
opened at once.

I arose from my cot, panting and sweating. I looked outside the window and realised that we had hit some sort of a
storm. It was really odd. What could have caused this? The weather on CNN was predicted to be sunny and clear skies.
Why had it changed?

I rushed outside and glanced at the crew members who were trying to drive out of the storm. But no one was driving it
at the steering wheel.

I ran upstairs to the steering wheel and found my uncle lying on the deck.

“Uncle. Uncle.” I shook him but he couldn’t wake up.

“Help. Help,” I tried attracting attention from his crew. But they ignored my signal.

“The wave has knocked out your uncle. He will be fine soon .“ Blake yelled louder so that I could hear him out in the loud
storm.” Now. Do us a favour, kid and steer us out of this storm.”

“kk,” I gripped the wheel and tried revolving it but it was too heavy. Even if I ejected a lot of energy, the wheel never
rotated.

“ The ship is going to capsize.” Alex screamed as he tried to liberate himself from the rigging, where he was stuck.

“ Albert!” Greybeard yelled at me.”HEADS UP!”

I glanced at my back and saw a massive Ocean wave. It splashed on the deck of the ship and I was thrown overboard. I
fell in the ocean as the ship vanished in the storm.

I was stuck in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

TEN

I meet Ghost-Auntie.
I frolicked in the middle of the ocean splashing some of the water. SPLOSH! SPLOSH! I swam in the water hoping for the
better. Who was I kidding? I was hoping against hope. For the first time in my life, I had no way out. I glanced around me
looking for any sign of a ship or an island ---or even an aeroplane so that I could holler at it to come to my rescue.

Lightning strikes flashed before my eye. I saw something approaching in a light speed. It was a dorsal fin of the ferocious
beast in the ocean. It was a shark’s. Now there was definitely no escape. It was my time to die. I was currently between the
devil and the deep blue sea. I was trapped.

The shark beleaguered me and I realized that it was running down calculations for catching and grasping it’s prey.
Finally, it drew in close like a water torpedo heading to its target. I counted to five and swam away from its first bite and
gripped its dorsal fin. Strong as it was, it dragged me on the Ocean. I felt like I was surf riding on a surfboard. Its fin was too
slippery and oily. I lost my grip and it dashed into the deeper waters. The beast vanished with no trace. I felt relieved, for I
was a survivor stranded in the middle of the ocean.

Out of the blue, something took hold of the bottom of my trouser. It pulled me down and I sank deep in the ocean. I
closed my mouth to hold my breath. I strived hard so that I could free myself from its grip. But it never let me go. The shark
had gained the upper hand.

“Okay. Fine. You win,” I admitted to the shark, but it never cared about the competition. It wanted to take me in as its
breakfast.

Looks like my days are over. I thought. It’s time I passed away.

Oh well. This marks the end of my bucket list. I thought.

Albert’s bucket list.

 Going for a tour to Uganda.
 Watching a meteor shower.
 Visiting Antarctica.
 Visiting Uncle Jordan
 Sharing adventures with him.
 Becoming dinner for a shark.
(UNEXPECTED)

Oh well. Looks like this shark has concluded my bucket list. I began losing my breath second after second. My vision
obscured. Water penetrated through my nose and filled my lungs.

The last thing I saw was a bright blinding light approaching my eyes.

Later that evening, I woke up in a completely different place. It was some sort of forest. It only consisted of pine trees. I
thought I was in British Columbia’s pine forest in the Rocky mountains. I raised my back and stood on the green pastures. I
felt chilly. The air that blew through the forest was frigid and icy. Luckily, I saw a campfire nearby. I moved closer to it and
stretched out my hands so that I could get heated up or even capture warmth.

“Now that’s the stuff.” I murmured under my breath.

“Warm, isn’t it?” I heard a female familiar voice.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

I glanced at my back and saw my aunt, Jenna. I ran to her and held her closely to my chest with my arms so that she
could never leave me. She looked exactly as I remembered two years ago. She wore her hug-me-tight jacket, white T shirt,
a skirt that touched both her knee caps, her knee high socks and open shoes like those of a ballerina.

“I thought that you were dead.” I cried.

She looked at me grimly.” I am.”

“But... but... you are right here.” I stammered as tears cascaded down my face.

“No. I am not.“ She cried.

“ I am just in your head.” She tapped my back.

“Albert, you are in a coma.” She continued.

“I am afraid I should let you go.” She said.

“You have to go back, Albert.” She said.” You have a future ahead of you.”

Aunt Jenna began glowing.

GO NOW! She yelled at me.

“Please. Don’t leave me.” I pleaded. But she vanished, anyway.

NOOOOO! I screamed.

My eyes shot wide open and I was awake.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

ELEVEN.

I am saved by a mermaid.

I arose from a.. some sort of a bed... but it looked more of a giant Clam which was wide open. I opened my mouth to
scream but bubbles came out of my mouth. There were two things that popped in my mind that could explain this
situation.

1.) I am hallucinating again. 2.) I am breathing under water. If this is not a hallucination and I am certainly not
dreaming, then how can I breathe underwater?

The place looked like a lab for a marine biologist. It had cans with different fish species in them---- starfish, Clam shells,
octopus tentacles and others. It had lots of potions with different colours. Some were arranged in the order of the
colours of a rainbow. They were all organised in the fridge.

Judging from the potions and the magical spell book: The Chronicles of Sorcery on the table, I could tell that this was
a home for a sorcerer.

Thud! Thud! Thud! I heard someone reaching out for the door. And I ran back to the clam-bed. I closed my eyes and
pretended to be asleep again.

Suddenly, a teenage girl entered the room and slammed the door. She seemed very excited.

“Yay. It has worked.” She sounded jolly.

“Now at least I can sneak in Atlantis without any one recognising me.” She dashed to the fridge of potions. She
removed on and sipped it. She began emitting bright light and soon enough, she had transformed into a creature which
was partially human and partially fish.

From head to the waist, she was a gorgeous teenage girl, but from waist to toe, she was a fish. She had a golden
brown blonde hair. It was long and curly at the bottom. She wore a bronze vest that covered the whole of her chest.
She had a blue scaly fish-tail which was about one and a half metres long. Otherwise, besides her hideous tail, she was
remarkably charming.

“She’s a real life mermaid?” I stifled a yelp.

She looked back at me. Suddenly, she became more excited than I was. She stared at me like Yay! I can’t believe it.

She approached me and touched on my forehead with her right palm.

“ Feeling better?” she asked.

“Aaah! It talks?” The Voice in my mind stifled a yelp.

“ Hey!” She complained.” It? I am a she. You know... female.”

I was stunned. How did she know what I was thinking?

“ Come on human. Don’t look like a shocked Pikachu.” She continued.

“ H--H—how?” I tried to speak.

“ I am your mind voice.” She narrowed her eyes.” Psych! I am just a mermaid with telepathic powers.”

I widened my eyes.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“ Argh!” she rolled her eyes. “ In other words, I can hear what you are thinking.”

I stared at her in fright.

“A mute. Huh?” She said.

No answer.

“ What should I do?” She swam up and down like she was thinking about something. The way she was swimming put
me in mind of my playful kitten back in London. “What is the best way of greeting a human?” She muttered to herself.

She came near me.

“ Bonjour.” She greeted.

“Um... Buenos Dias,” she looked East and West waiting for my response.

“guten Morgen!” She narrowed her eyes. But still no response.

“ Why is it so hard to greet a human?” she looked pained.

“ No, it’s not.” I finally articulated my words.

“ Whoa! So you can speak English?” She said with excitement.

“ Thank Neptune. You are still alive.” She raised her arms above her head.

“ Um.... I can only thank God.” I said.

“ Well. At least you’re alive.” She continued. Then she extended her right hand to me.

“ apreton de Manos.” She gestured a handshake. “ I mean, handshake-y.”

I grasped her hand and shook it.

“ Allegra Fisher. And you are?”

“ I am Albert Alderman.” I admitted.

“ Alderman?” She looked like she was familiar with the name.

“ Um... do you know that name?” I asked.

“ No!” she said.

“ And Why were you excited when you saw me?” I asked.

“ I thought you had died,” she looked outside through the window. “You were down for the count for almost a
week.” She said.

“How exactly am I alive and breathing under water?” I inquired politely.

“ After saving you from the shark, I gave you the first aid for near drowning.” She said.

“Mouth to mouth breathing?”

“ Yes. I am good at Human P.E. I passed all My examinations and I am a good first aider by the way.” She continued.

“ H- How?” I asked.

“ magic?” she said.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

Could you at least give me a direct answer? My mind voice screamed.

“ No, I won’t.” She replied.

“ Magic! How?”

KNOCK! Knock! Someone outside the door interrupted our conversation.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

TWELVE.

Triten in the house.

Allegra! Allegra!

The creature outside the door yelled like it was urgent. Really urgent.

“How could he have found me?” She murmured under her breath.

“Um... Albert....hide there.” She pointed at the clam.

“No. It’s disgusting.” I said. “That clam has an unpleasant liquid in it.”

“Now!” She raised her voice.

“No!” I insisted.

“Fine.” She looked at me and rolled her eyes like fine. I give up!

“But let me warn you.” She continued, “ Other mermaids are not as welcoming as me. They think humans are evil.”

“The possibility of being locked up in the Triton’s dungeon, for a human like you, Albert is definitely one.” She moved
closer to the door and reached for the door knob.

I out my palms together, a gesture for please don’t.

“ You have left me no choice,” She replied.

I dashed across the room and dived into the clam’s mouth. It shut its green mouth as soon as I entered in it. Surprisingly,
it was transparent from the inside. I could see everything outside it.

Allegra braced herself up like she was preparing to meet a prince charming. She twisted her door knob. The door
opened.

“Triten,” she sounded like they had met a million times. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you here to take me to the dungeon?” She demanded. “Or does your father want you to hand me in?”

“No, Allegra.” He touched her shoulders with both arms and stared at her like trust me! She was never falling for his
cute eyes. If it had been for any other human girls, they would have swooned as soon as their eyes bad met his.

She swam away from him and paid attention on one of her potions.

“ No need to worry, Allegra.” Triten's voice sounded, unimportant to her.

“You have no idea, Triten. They might have tracked you down.” She sounded like She could burst into tears anytime
from now.

She turned a blind eye to the prince and never wanted to say a word.

“ Allegra. Please...” Prince Triton pleaded.

“ No way. I am a prince of Atlantis. Nobody tells me what to do.”

“ Please!” her voice rose to a high pitch. “ just do it for me.” Her eyes would have turned into the puppy dog’s if she had
been a cartoon.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“Fine....but I wanted to inform you that my father is going to speak about the seaquake that shook Atlantis,” he[ Prince
Triten of Atlantis] exited the door.

She exhaled a large amount of air as a sigh of relief.

“ You can come out now.” She went back to making her potions.

“ Will your mind ever shut up?” She asked. “ Do you have any other questions?”

“How is that guy with the black wavy hair, and a purple tiara related to you?” I opened the clam and came out of its
mouth.

“ You mean Prince Triten?” She said. “ Back in seventh grade at the Poseidon high, we were just friends. Actually we
were more than friends... until... until..” Her face became long and gloomy. I could have sworn, she was about to burst into
tears.

Oh well. Here comes another sob story. I thought.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” She wiped off some tears that had dripped on her cheeks.

“ Fine...”

“ On King Triton’s two hundredth birthday, my mother [Allyson Fisher] created a potion that would protect the King at all
times. But Triten and I messed up her potion as we were reading stories and swimming around her lab. I forgot to check on
the potion because the Prince had distracted me...” She continued. But Each time she paused, she clenched her fist like she
wanted to fight someone.

So that’s why you hated him. I thought.

She stared at me. “ I can still hear you.”

“...... Anyway, my mother completed the ruined potion without knowing that it was wrecked. After sometime, she went
to the king. Happy birthday my lord. She said and handed the potion over to the king.”

“The following day, King Triton’s trident vanished and the king grew weaker.” She continued. “ my mum topped the list
of the most wanted in Atlantis yet it was all my fault. That was the last day I saw my mum...”

Have you tried looking for her? I wished to ask.

“ Yes, I have.” She replied.

“ Now, this is where I gave been hiding for the past three months until one day, when I was looking for my mum, I saw a
human boy who was being taken by a shark, I decided to save him because I knew humans were not dangerous.” She
continued. “After all, my father was also human.”

How comes? I thought.

“ My mum fell in love with a human. The Atlanteans heard about it and wanted to sentence him to death or even life
imprisonment. But My mum and I rescued him. He narrowly escaped. But to our surprise, the king’s magicians had cast a
spell on him, or even worse. He was cursed!” She continued.

“ I don’t want that to happen to you. Okay?” She wept. I realized that I was important to this teenage mermaid because
I the way she looked at me.

She wiped her tears. “ I don’t want to lose you too.”

Why was I so important to her?

A moment of silence struck in the room.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

THIRTEEN

I mimic a torpedo’s speed.

Why am I so important to her? Really. My mind became perplexed by a lot of questions.

Was I her role model? Was I the apple of her eye? Or was she a big fan of humans? My mind drowned in confusion.

“ Um... Albert...” She began inserting her potions in her purse. I watched her as she filled her purse with dozens of
potions. But shockingly, her purse never got full. I was startled.

“Allegra?”

“ Yes Albert.”

“ How big is that purse?”

“It’s very big. It’s like there is another world in it.”

“ Have you ever seen that world?”

“No. Because I, personally have never entered in that purse.” She grinned at me.

“ What if..?”

“ Albert! I have no time to answer your questions,” she interrupted my question.

“ We have to go to Atlantis.” She said.

“ But-but-“

She clasped my hand firmly. “ Just trust me Albert.” She yanked me and we exited the door.

The view under the ocean was beautiful. Coral features, coloured pondweeds, algae on rocks, distinguished shoal of
fish; actually different fish species: Each with a different colour. It was all splendid.

Allegra wore a black veil so that it could cover most of Her face to avoid being recognised by fellow Atlanteans. I moved
across the field of young green pondweeds.

“Hey? Couldn’t you try swimming?” my mermaid friend yelled from above.

“Oooooo! Right.” I stuttered.

I stared at her blankly. She widened her eyes. “ You don’t know how to swim?”

“ Quite!”

“ARGH! Then what were you doing in the middle of the ocean; stranded with a shark?”

“ I was thrown over board by a large wave.”

She touched her forehead with her right palm. “ Fine? Let me show you.”

She grasped my arm and took me up. “Now I want you to flap both your feet and arms.”

I closed my eyes and imagined I was a little bird which is learning how to fly. I flapped my 'wings' and soon enough, I
blasted off to the surface like a rocket. I felt a lot of waves passing through my clothes.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was on the surface. “Wow!”

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“ Have you seen me Allegra?” I said. “I-can-swim?” I yelled and looked around, but I couldn’t see any sign of Allegra.

“ Allegra? Allegra?”

No response.

Hope she hasn’t ditched me. I thought.

“ Slow down Albert. Slow down?” Allegra’s voice was really far.

When she arrived on the surface, she stared at me like I had popped out of the blue.

“ You are really fast.” She commented.

“ Thanks. I guess you should call me Usain Bolt of Atlantis.” I replied.

“ Sade bot?” She repeated.

“ No. Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive on land.” I corrected her.

“ Okay!”

“ Are you sure that I am fast?”

“Yes. Very.”

“ Wow. This is so—”

“ So cool. I know?”

“ I can’t believe this!”

“ Well believe it.”

“ Am I even faster than...”

“Me? Yes. You might be even faster than a torpedo.”

“ Albert! We have to go to Atlantis. 'Time wasted is never gained'.” She continued. We dived back in the ocean and
headed for the bright city; Atlantis.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

FOURTEEN

Welcome to Utopia's duplicate city.

Was this really Atlantis? Was it? I can’t believe it. It doesn’t look the way I imagined. I thought that it would look like
an ancient city. You know like The lost city of gold in Dora the explorer, or even in Journey 2: The mysterious Island. But
man? Was I wrong? The place looked a lot better... Better than the cities on land: New York; U.S, Paris; France and even
Athens in Greece. The place looked futuristic like some of those cities in some Futuristic sci-fi movies. I looked at the city
and felt angry , because maybe, I was a little bit jealous. And can you really blame? These guys had stolen our ideas of a
futuristic city. Not fair. These guys are copycats. Were did they get our ideas? Our movies perhaps?

“ Come on Albert. Let’s continue moving.” She[ Allegra] clasped my hand tight.” Stay close to me and PS stop asking
yourself questions. You sound like a loud speaker in my head.”

“ So how’s the city?” She asked, as she dragged me behind her.

I glared at her.

“ Silent treatment. Eh?” She continued.

We moved across the streets of Atlantis. The streets were not different from the ones of New York. There were large
billboards, skyscrapers and flying cars on their express way and highways. The French usually call these cars Volante. We
continued until we reached some sort of the Whitehouse in Washington DC USA? Actually it looked like it [The
Whitehouse] but even much bigger. It was a little bit different than the usual one. Standing in front of it was a statue of a
large male mermaid with a large beard holding a big fork... Actually it was the trident. He held it on his right palm. The
statue was thirty feet high. The pillars were the same but they had a stone gargoyle on top of each. Each had a symbol
under its feet. I could notice two symbols. One looked like a pi: π and the other was like a zero? 0. But I wasn’t sure what
these symbols represented. Hope they were going to complete my I don’t understand list.

“ Probably you might be asking yourself what those symbols represent?” She stared at me intently, almost smiling.

“Yeah. What do they represent?” I asked.

“ It’s ancient Greek language. It spells out the name Poseidon.” She replied.

“ Alright. So you mean that Olympus existed years ago.”

“Yes. It did. But...”

“ Excuse me Atlanteans.” The security guard of the palace said out loud and clearly. “ This is a check point. No weapons
are allowed.”

The mermaid guard wore some spectacles and observed us from head to toe. Actually that was only me. The rest of the
mermaids were scanned from head to tail. The guard looked at me like he was confused about something.

He caught my hand and asked. “ Are you a human?”

“ No, I am not.” I replied.

“ Are you sure?” He glared at me.

“ Yes I am.”

“ Fine. Who’s our King then?”

“ Triton.”

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“ If I ask you another question and you fail it, I will send you to the dungeon, and you will be treated like a human.
Okay?” He stared at me angrily.

“ Yeah. Go ahead and ask,” I said.

He let out a heavy sigh. “ Fine. On which year did the island of Atlantis sink in the ocean?”

I looked at him blankly. I never knew the answer.

“I...... I.... I...” I began stammering and shivering in fear. I felt very nervous because I was going to fail the question and be
stranded in the ocean... Or even worse? The Atlanteans might kill me.

The guard looked at me and cackled evilly. He raised his hands to grab me and take me to jail. But lucky as I was, Allegra
came to my rescue.

“ Leave him alone.” She snatched me from the guard's grip.

“ This is a human. Mermaid!” the guard replied.

“ No he’s not.” She argued at the guard.

“ He’s my boyfriend.” She raised her voice.

“ And, is this the way you treat a cute couple?” Her voice thundered in the crowd. The crowd murmured. The crowd
then booed at the guards. The guard looked at the crowd and let Allegra and I go. I looked back at the multitude and
realised that most of the mermaids were grown ups and married couples. Now I could see why she made up such an
excuse.

We entered the large hallway and stood amongst the populace. Twenty metres ahead of us was the sad king on his
throne. He wore a black bronze armour. Next to him on the left side was someone familiar. It was prince Triten in his blue
armour and on King Triton’s right was the queen, judging by her crown.

The crowd became silent. It was like we were all waiting for someone.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

FIFTEEN

Mr. Wallen, sir, Listen... I don’t want to be

vaporised.
Yes. It was all true. We were waiting for something...or even someone! The trumpets were blown. And the guards stood
still in mid air. The palace bodyguards near the king and queen saluted as the creature moved up the stairs. It came
towards the king and slowly bowed down.

Standing in front of the king and queen was an octopus like creature. It had a human head and body from head to
waist... and the rest of him was octopus. His skin was navy blue, but his eyes were bright blue.

“ Who’s that guy?” I asked.

No response.

“Allegra?” I yelled.

“ Allegra?” I insisted.

She looked frozen and shocked.

“ He has felt my presence!” She murmured under her breath.

“ Who?”

“ Wiseman Wallen.”

“ You mean that guy with tentacle—"

“ Shhh...” a crab shushed us.

“ I am so sorry to barge in, but you are making a lot of noise.” The crab grunted.

“ Sorry Mr crab,” I apologized.

As soon as I stopped talking, the silence was almost deafening.

“ Mermaids, sea monsters and people of Atlantis...” the king stood up and began speaking. But something bothered him.
He paused for a while and tottered... and then fell down before his throne.

Uncomfortable murmuring began in the throng.

What was wrong with the king? Had he always been like this? But judging from the reaction of the multitude, I believed
that this was abnormal.

The body guards rushed and took him away in a flash of light.

“ Dear peasants...” Wiseman Wallen ascended from his seat. “ Your King will be fine. It is just that... it’s been a while
without his trident, and now he’s weakening every second. The seaquakes are getting stronger and the underwater
tornadoes are becoming mightier...all because of the loss of the trident. The storms on The surface have increased...”

“... Albert, that is the storm that threw you overboard.” She whispered in my ear.

“Oooooo! Now I get it.” I said. “ So the weather forecast was accurate.”

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

There will be sunny and clear skies throughout the week. Ryan McLeod, the meteorologist had said.

“ Ahem?” The Wiseman rose up in his black gown. “ I have spoken to the royal family and they have said that we are
going to carry out a competition. Whoever finds the king’s trident, wins!”

“ I have to find that trident so that I can clear my name on the Most wanted list in Atlantis.” muttered Allegra. I wanted
her to rub her palms like most villains in cartoons, but she never wanted.

He made two thunderous claps.

“ Let the competition begin.”

The royal family [the Prince and queen] exited the hallway and so did some creatures.

Allegra gripped my arm and we rose up to the throne where Wallen was seated.

“ We are going to compete.” She said loudly.

“ Us, too.” Standing behind us were two teens who were certainly my age and Allegra’s, but they were both males. Their
skin was pale green and scaly. They’re definitely sea monsters with shirts labelled: BROTHERS FOR LIFE.

“ Hi, I am Butch Scalian and this is my brother, Ethan Scalian... and you are?” Butch seemed friendly, judging from his
gleaming smile—he truly meant no harm.

“ I am Albert. Nice to meet you.” I replied.

“ So—”

Butch’s brother clapped his back. “ Don’t talk to them, Bro?”

Ethan grabbed his brother’s arm and took him to the wise-octopus-like creature called Wallen.

“ Very good. Gentlemen.” Wallen spoke calmly.

“ What should I offer you?” He asked. “ Should I answer your question? Or provide you weapons for your mission?”

“ Weapons please?” Ethan answered.

Wallen grinned at them. “ You sure?”

He raised his palms up ,and poof! A shotgun and a sword appeared out of the blue. He gave it to them. “ This is a
shotgun... It shoots radiation beams that are really violent and can cause destruction.”

Ethan snatched it. “ Now you are talking?”

“ This is a sword...it can teleport you to any place as long as you think about it.” Wallen continued.

“ Thanks my lord,” Butch bowed down to him.

“ You are welcome, Mr Scalian.” replied the octopus creature.

“ You can depart.” Said Mr Wallen. The brothers vanished in the mist. I was frightened. It is like they went AWOL—
disappeared into thin air. It is like they were not there.

We came closer to him. What should I do now? Because I was face-to-face with the 'Wiseman Wallen'. Should I offer him
a gift? Or even run away screaming? The point is, I never wanted to meet him after seeing what he had done to Butch and
Ethan. I didn’t want to be his next victim of abracadabra or even hocus Pocus. I never wanted to go poof in the mist... What
should I do now?

“ And what should I do for you two?” Wallen inquired.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“ Answer our question!” Allegra demanded.

He raised his palm like a gesture for first wait.

“ Hmmm... interesting.” He muttered.

He opened his eyes. “ So is one of you guys a human?”

Allegra suddenly burst into boisterous laughter. She cackled like Don’t be ridiculous or maybe like Can you believe this
guy?

He banged the side of his chair with his right fist to settle our hash and definitely didn’t make us vanish in mist.

“Enough!”” He ordered.

We immediately kept quiet.

“ Now tell me your question.” He continued.

“ We want to know how and where to start from with the search for the trident?” Allegra said.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

SIXTEEN

Allegra’s cover ruined, I mean blown!

“ I am quite impressed.” The octopus creature frowned at us like he never expected us to ask him a question. He rubbed
his chin in astonishment.

“ Wow! You guys have surprised me.” He grumbled. “ And why should you ask me the question yet Madam Allegra
Fisher knows the answer.” He glanced at Allegra and winked.

Allegra’s eyes twitched and I could tell that She was nervous. It was like her cover had been blown off and now she was
busted. I looked back at Wallen and realised that he was glancing at her... Now the veil was of no use, anymore. This
Tentacle-dude had recognised her.

“ Um... Where is Allegra, sir?” Her fingers were trembling and I think I was the only one who could notice it.

He grinned at her exposing his molar teeth. He drew in closer to her and whispered, “ You are.”

I couldn’t withstand this drama and I didn’t want it to come to conclusion. Because by the end of this conversation, he
might have us arrested and taken to the dungeon.

I bowed to him. “ Please don’t imprison us!”

Allegra gripped me and brought my face closer to hers, until the tip of my forehead met hers.“ What do you think you
are doing, Mister?”

“ Don’t you get it,” I whispered. “He knows our secret.”

“ So what?”

“ We have to come clean.”

“ Now what if I don’t?”

“ we will be arrested since he knows that I am human and you are the most wanted felonious criminal in Atlantis.”

Allegra heaved a sigh. “ Let’s come clean.”

She turned to Wiseman Wallen.

“ I have a confession to make.” She said, ““ I am... I am—"

“ Allegra Fisher.” He helped her finish the sentence.

“ Well... well, it’s about time.”

“ Sire, listen.” She continued “I have only entered this competition to clean up my act.”

“ With a human?”

“ Yes sire.”

“ Hope you won’t bring him any trouble.”

“ I won’t.”

“ Because he’s not only your friend but also something very special to you.” Wiseman Wallen observed both of us.

“ Anyway... Where was I?” He continued.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

“ You were about to answer our question.”

“ Yes. Yes. Oh! Yes, but Allegra knows the answer.”

“ Allegra?”

“ Yes sire.”

“ Your mother wanted to make a potion that can make the king stronger and... mightier than ever. Right?”

“ Yes sire.”

“ But since you and Prince Triten ruined the potion while mucking around in your mum’s lab. The potion's effect
reversed. So instead of making him stronger, it made him weaker and... the trident disappeared.” Wallen continued.

I backed off slowly from this conversation because I hated it. Back in my fourth grade, I hated the moment when the
teachers wanted me to put the pieces together. So I always played dumb so that they couldn’t wait for me to answer.

“ Come on Madam Fisher. Think?” Wallen raised his voice.

She mumbled some words.

“ ... it must be with his greatest enemy.”

Wallen chuckled. “ Yes. Oh! Yes, it is.”

“... And that is the kraken.” She continued.

“ See. You know the answer.” He chuckled again.

“ You are as wise as your mother.” He[Wallen] complimented.

“ You are just flattering me.” Allegra looked down.

“ No. You remind me of your mother. She was a wise sorcerer.” Wallen looked pained.

“ I am so sorry.” She said apologetically.

Wiseman Wallen rubbed off the two droplets of ink that had come out of his eyes. I could believe that he was about to
cry, supposing that ink was his tears.

“ You can now depart.” He ordered.

“ Noooo!” I screamed and leaped forward to Allegra. “ No. No. You shouldn’t disappear.” I hugged her tight.

“ And Allegra?” He watched us dissolve in the fog under our feet.

“ Yes sire.”

“ Happy Family Reunion!” He chuckled.

In the count of three, two... We vanished in the bright fog. My heart was beating really hard, but my friend’s wasn’t.
And altogether, we vanished into the thin air.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

SEVENTEEN

Please, I want to go home. Please!

Aaaaah! I screamed as we went like a bullet from a gun, but surprisingly, she was still brave and not afraid. It is like
she has ever been through this. But I didn’t care because we were in a really bright void moving at a light speed. I didn’t
like it at all. I mean, where were we? At the edge of the world, in an abyss of nothingness...or maybe in the black hole—I
wish? I had no other option but to scream all the way.

Aaaaah! I screamed with intense dread.

Allegra gripped my shoulders tight. “ Albert, Get hold of yourself!”

“ Stop freaking out?” She yelled.

She tried to calm me down but that was not helping. We were travelling faster every second. Our speed was accelerating
every second.

“ Aaaaah!” I kept on screaming. She became very worried like she wanted to say This is not good. This is not good.

She touched my chest, checking for my heart beat, still racing. Then her left palm touched my neck, inspecting my
temperature, still normal.

“ Calm down, Albert. Calm, down,” She insisted.I shook my head, as if to say, I can’t.

“ Okay. Just look at me, Albert. Focus on me.” She turned her attention to me.

Her intense stare made me blush. My eyes rolled East and West, still not focused.

“ Albert, focus on me,” her voice grew calmer and softer.

“ Focus...on... you?” I stammered.

“ Yes. On me.” She touched my head and forcibly made me look at her..

Her blue intense glowing eyes stared at me. And I did the same.

“ Now breathe in.” She said hastily.

I inhaled.

“... And out.” She continued.

I exhaled.

“ See?” She touched my upper chest. “That feels good.”

“ Yes it does.”

“ We are not going to die, Albert. Don’t freak out.” She said.

I sighed. “ Where are we?”

“ We are in the realm of teleportation.”

“ Come on Allegra. That’s not a real thing.” I said.

“ Yes it is.” She said. “ In other words, we are in the middle of our original place and our destination.”

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“ So how and when do we stop?” I asked.

“ Oh! By the way, it ends in three, two...”. As soon as she completed the countdown, we dived into a dumpster. Ew!
That stinks. I jumped out of it and threw up in some polythene bag.

“ That’s the worst destination ever.” I said.

“ Yeah. Teleportation under water is a little bit funky.” She rose out of the dumpster. “But you will get used to it.”

“ Great,” I grimaced. “Something to look forward to.”

I looked around and realised that we were in a passageway. Ahead of us was a billboard which read: Welcome to the
bright city, Atlantis.

“ So we are in Atlantis.” I said.

“ Yes. At its entrance,” She said.

“ Where are we going?” I inquired.

“ To the Kraken’s dungeon.” She replied.

“ That’s it.” I snapped. “ I want to go home.”

“ You can’t, Albert.”

“ Why not?”

“ The storm will continue. And your family may end up dying especially your uncle... You said that he was a captain of a
ship.”

“ How...”

“ You talk in your sleep.”

“ I...um..”

Shhhh! She touched my lips with her first finger. “ We are being watched,” She whispered in my ear.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

EIGHTEEN

The crab I called a chicken...Oh my, that was a

terrible mistake!!
By whom? I wished to ask but she shushed me.

Keep quiet! She had said. I am trying to locate the eavesdropper.

“ The what now?” I said.

“ The guy who is watching us.” She whispered.

I saw a certain shadow crossing the road near the billboard at Neptune’s street.

“ Come back here, you coward.” I yelled at the anonymous shadow.

It clenched its fists— actually, there were more of claws than fists... the crab kind of hands.

Allegra took hold of my hand and whispered. “ I don’t think he’s the eavesdropper.”

“ How do you know?”

“ I can feel it.” She replied. “Using my super natural powers.”

“ The eavesdropper escaped. I could feel his presence disappear.”She continued. “ And the environment around us
changed too.”

“ So what you are saying is that...”

“ You have called the wrong guy a coward.”

“ Oh no!” I felt disappointed in myself.

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EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

She glanced at me. “ You called him.” She said. “ Do you have any ideas of getting rid of him.”

I looked at the gigantic shadow which was drawing nearer and nearer to us. “ Hide!” I yelled.

I[the guy who had called him a coward] was now acting like one. I clasped Allegra’s palm and ran to the back of
dumpster... where we had landed after teleportation. Turns out! The trash receptacle I hated was now helping me.

“ Now what next, genius?” She grimaced.

I looked at her blankly. “ Oh This is great? We have no plan.”

“ The coward is here?” The stranger’s voice thundered the passageway. I raised my head and peeked.

I saw the creature which I had referred to as a chicken...its large moustache, its large red biceps and masculine body.
It looked like a large crab... Of course it was. I had never seen a two and a quarter metre tall crab before. Its large red tail
swung behind it and knocked down some dust bins.

“ Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that... Or did I?” He kicked more dust bins and dumpsters, one after the other.
“ Oh my... He’s going to kick every dumpster including our cover.” Allegra said hastily. “ I am going to talk to him.”

“ No. No. Don’t,” I never liked this idea. If she messes this up, she will be murdered by the large mutant crab. I never
wanted that at all. Her risking her life for me. I didn’t want her to do that for my sake. I wanted to stop her but she insisted.
And finally let herself go off my grip.

I have to do this Albert. She had said.

Emmy W. Isaac
EMMY. ISAAC. WALAKIRA. MERMAID’S TALE

You’ve given me no other choice.

I watched her approach the sea creature... The angry crab monster.

“ I am sorry sir,” She said. “ I was just practising my lines for the audition that will take place at Poseidonic theater this
evening.”

He drew nearer to her and immediately gripped her throat.

She tried to breathe, but she couldn’t. Her throat was being squeezed. I saw her pummeling the air, struggling for her
life. I was horrified. I wanted to rescue her. But how would I fight the large crab with its claws. My mermaid friend was
stranded between the claws. The gigantic crab was throttling my colleague. I couldn’t take it anymore. So I threw a piece of
trash at the freak. It immediately let go of Allegra’s throat. It scanned around the passageway, nothing. The dumpsters, still
nothing. It looked back and saw me dragging Allegra. It scowled at me and charged. It reached out for my throat. And I
screamed in agony. He began crushing my windpipe slowly. I strived to breathe but I choked out one word. “ Help?”

Allegra rushed towards me and the crab. She removed off her veil and picked up one potion from her purse. She then
put it in her veil, held the other end of it and began swinging it like early man’s tool... the bolas. The potion zoomed out of
the purse and hit the crab’s back. The sea creature was sent flying across the passageway until it fell like about five metres
away from me. My face planted in some bag of trash.

“ Albert! Albert! Are you alright?” She gripped my shoulders and shook me violently. My first finger and my thumb’s tips
met as the other fingers stayed upright, a finger gesture for I am okay.

“You freak of nature!” He yelled while charging towards us. Swift as Allegra was, She took out some pellets and threw
them on the ground. Fog cloud made up of snowy clouds immediately swirled above us. And we were gone in a flash.

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