Myrial the Mermaid


The assignment from http://writeanything.wordpress.com is to write 500 words based on this picture. I like doing these sorts of writing exercises because they help me to tap into my creative side, which is really valuable to my career as an artist.

Myrial the Mermaid
By Stan Levine

Eveleen was seven years old. She lived out in the country away from town with her grandparents in a little cabin by a lake. Eveleen was never aloud to be near the lake without an adult. The lake was cold, and people had drowned from hypothermia from being in the 20 degree water too long. Eveleen loved to swim. She could see the lake from the window in her room, and she liked to watch the sunset over it every evening. Sometimes she would wonder if there were mermaids that lived in the lake, or maybe even sea serpents. She had heard about the legendary Lockness Monster from her chapter books that her grandparents got for her from the library. Eveleen wasn't afraid of these things. She thought it would be cool if she could actually meet a real mermaid.

One evening as the sun set, she watched the lake from her room. Eveleen's grandparents had gone to bed early as they often did in the summer, because of the heat. Then she saw a tail splashing out of the water and what looked like a grown woman swimming around near the dock at the lake. Eveleen's heart skipped a beat. She knew she wasn't supposed to be at the lake alone, but she was compelled what she had just seen. She had to know that she wasn't just imagining things. Eveleen had thought she had seen mysterious things going on at the lake before, but every time she had been mistaken. Eveleen had developed a reputation for making up stories about the things she had thought she had seen at the lake, but this time she was prepared. She had brought with her a video camera that she bought with the money she had saved up over the years. She ran with a little awkward wobble as she wasn't the most coordinated of six year olds. She had the video camera recording at the dock by the lake when the mermaid surfaced right in front of her.
"Are you video taping me?" The mermaid asked.
"Yes," said Eveleen. "I hope you don't mind."
"Actually I do. I would appreciate it if you would put that away, and please don't show anyone."
"Aww...It's just that I've been telling people about you for years, and nobody believes me. Can't I have something to show them that I'm not just making all this up?"
"My name is Meryal, what's your name little lady?'
"Eveleen."
"Eveleen, I understand that you want to prove to people that you're not crazy; that you actually have seen a real live mermaid, but please take a moment to consider how this would affect my life. The last time someone got video footage of a mermaid, a group of scientists hunted down my mother and made a public spectacle out of her. The government had her locked away for years. I never did find out what happened to her."
Eveleen began to cry. "Oh..I'm so sorry! I didn't realize...My bad." She put the camera away in her bag.
"Tell you what." Meryal said."
"Don't tell anyone about me, and I'll give you the ability to breath underwater."
"Wow! That would be awesome!"
"Swear to me that you won't tell anyone about seeing mermaids, or show anyone you video...I don't want to see my fishy tail flappin about on Youtube, or I'm going to have to leave my home here and you would never see me again."
Eveleen was a lonely girl. There weren't any children to play with by the lake. It was just her grandparents and the other old people they knew. It was awesome to have a friend closer to her age. Eveleen promised not to tell anyone what she saw. Then Myryal held out her arms and said, "hold my hands, and I will give you the power to breath under water."
Eveleen was so excited about this opportunity that she threw all caution to the wind. She was not aloud to be by the lake alone, and she was definitely not aloud to talk to strangers by the lake, but Myrial was a nice mermaid.
Eveleen reached out to touch the mermaid's hands. Myrial gently grabbed onto Eveleen's hands. They were warm. Myrial drew Eveleen towards her. Then the mermaid's jaw unhooked, and her mouth got really big. Razor sharp teeth raced towards her, as the hungry beast pulled the child in. Blood splattered and sprayed all over the dock, and turned the water red. In the morning the patrolman found what was left of Eveleen's body. Her grandma was so upset, she had a heart attack and died. Eveleen's grandpa was stricken with rage. He was going to find out who did this to his precious grand daughter. Mr.Gratochia, Eveleen's grandfather had a lot of fishing friends that he assembled together to hunt down Eveleen's killer. They had all sorts of guns and explosives. They searched all over the lake with bait and traps, but they couldn't find anything.
Mr. Gratochia was getting very aggravated. Everyday after work, he would meet with his fishing friends at the bar, and drink until he passed out. His friends would have to carry him home, where he would wake up the next day on the porch with a headache.
That night, he decided to go hunting for the monster alone. He sat by the lake in a lawn chair on the dock with a twelve gauge rifle on his lap. As the sun set he saw a tail flap out of the water. He had already finished a bottle of peppermint schnapps, so he was slow on the draw. When he stood up, he lost his balance. The rifle went off in the air, as he fell back into the water. The mermaid devoured his fallen soul like a mad dog. His body flopped around like a rag-doll under the water, before the patrolmen found his body washed up with teeth marks all over his neck with his head missing.
A marine biologist was hired to study the bite marks. Dr.Green could not identify the animal that had killed Mr.Gratochia. Dr. Green took a special interest in this case. He had done a lot of research, and discovered the history of unexplained deaths that had occurred over the years by the lake. His reports convinced the military to set up explosive charges all over the surface of the lake. People around the lake had to evacuate. The government had seized the town by the lake. After the explosives went off several creatures were found, one of them was Myrial the mermaid, but nobody would ever know because the town had been closed off from the world by the government. To this day it remains as a secret base somewhere off the coast of New Mexico.

The End

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