Today's Prompt: A teenager who has spent their entire life on a boat learns there are other people in the world and the live on land.
I lean over the edge of the boat, breathing in the fresh, salt air. I watch as mermaids splash through the waves, slipping under and then jumping up. My bare feet are damp from being continuously splashed by the water leaping up from the sea below. I call it the Jewel of Moreno, as it was called when grandmother was my age.
"Pnevma tou Nerou" I turn around at the sound of my name. A fairy, so pale she is almost translucent stands behind me. Her silver-blue hair trails down her back and ends by her bare feet. She wears only a pale white dress that seems to fade into nothing at the end. I recognize her as grandmother's messenger fairy.
"The captain would like to see you." The fairy says. She flits around nervously, as she knows how my temper can get sometimes. "Captain says it's urgent."
"Tell her I'll be there in a minute," I say without moving. I want to enjoy my surroundings for a little while more since this will be our last time in the cove of the Jewel of Moreno for a very long time.
The fairy glances nervously between me and the front of the ship.
"Captain said now." The fairy flitters behind me. I sigh.
"Fine, go tell her I'm coming." I turn away from the rail, annoyed. What could possibly be so important? The little messenger fairy flies toward the front of the ship, quickly.
"O Thanatos tha pesei apo sas!" I spit and yell after the fairy. She flies just a little faster.
I untuck my skirts from the ocean blue sash tied around my waist and pull my shoes back on. I glance over the edge of the rail one last time to make sure that my appearance is acceptable. I sigh, noticing a strand of my jet black hair has fallen from the neat bun it was placed in that morning. But there is no time to fix that now.
I walk along the wood deck of the Spasmeno Chrono, the ship I live on, to get to the front where the captain stands. Despite her age, she still stands up straight, with perfect posture and grace. She lived to see the time when people still lived on land, with beautiful palaces and balls. I would love to go to a ball, where people wore beautiful gowns, and hair styled to the sky. Where people would dance, and laugh, and enjoy themselves. Where people didn't have to worry about what horrible creatures now live there. I wish I could have lived then.
But I didn't, and there is nothing I can do about that.
"Giagia," I say when I reach the captain. She turns around, and a warm smile spreads across my grandmother's face.
"Pnevma." She says. "I've been expecting you. You seemed to have scared Grasidi. Now, did you spit at her again?"
I look down at my feet. Spitting at a fairy is a sign of utmost disrespect. Grandmother of all people would be upset with me.
"Pnevma! You know better!" Grandmother shakes her head in disapproval. "You should be a proper young lady by now."
"I'm sorry Giagia." I really do try to be proper like mother wants, but I like being free, like grandmother. Unfortunately, grandmother agrees with mother. "What do you need me for Giagia?"
"Grasidi, go find Asteri. Pnevda will need her." Grandmother says sending her fairy to go find mine. "I have something for you, Pnevda."
I see my two older sisters, Angelioforos and Polemistis, coming towards us.
"But let's deal with them first, shall we?" Grandmother whispers to me.
"Grandmother!" Angelioforos says coming up to where we are standing. "Froura has come down with a fever again, and mother requests your presence."
"Tell Theotita I'll be down in a minute," Grandmother says. "I'm busy lecturing Pnevma."
"I will tell her," Angelioforos says. She turns and walks off with Polemistis. I see them giggling as they go, probably about my "lecture".
"Bye Ange! Bye Misti! Tell Mitera and Froura I said hi!" I call after them.
I turn back to Grandmother.
"What is is Giagia?" I ask. She puts her finger to my lips and pulls out a box from behind her back. It's small, about the size of a jewelry box.
Grandmother hands me the box. It feels right to hold it like it was meant for me. I open the lid slowly. Inside is a beautiful gemstone, milky white on the outside, with ocean blue swirling inside. It seems alive, almost like it contains the ocean itself. It's attached to a silver chain. A necklace, I realize.
"Giagia, it's beautiful!" I say throwing my arms around her. Grandmother pulls me off.
"It's special you know. It is the Water Spirit's Stone. Or in the olden language, I Petra tou Pnevmatos tou Nerou." She smiles and tucks the loose strand of hair behind my ear. "It is meant for you."
"Thak you Giagia," I say, stroking the necklace. And the second my finger touches the gem, a flash of ocean blue lightening illuminates the sky. I hear the screams of my mother and sisters from below deck.
Grandmother grabs the stone and hastily throws it around my neck.
"It will keep you safe no matter what Pnevda!" Grandmother calls over the howling wind. "And so will I!."
Rain pours down and I hear lightening crack once again. The ocean tosses are ship around like the little toys I used to play with.
"Pnevda, take the wheel!" Grandmother yells as she runs to the stairs. "I'll help your mother with Froura."
"Giagia!" I scream, but she's too far away to hear.
I turn to the wheel, just in time to see we are headed straight for a huge rock. I scream and am frozen to the spot. But just as we are about to crash, I feel a cold shock from where my necklace now is. I quickly grab the wheel and thrust it to the left, just barely missing the rock. I hear thunder crack, and lightning hits right where our sale is. I scream again, as the fire begins to spread down the mast. The was rock the boat viciously, and waves crash over the edge. The hem of dress it soaked, and the wind has torn my hair into a mess.
I see flames creeping towards me, and I run to the back of the ship, abandoning the wheel. The wind has full control of the ship now anyway. I keep running, trying not to slip on the wet deck.
But despite my efforts, I slip and fall. The ship tilts hard to the left, and I am flung across the deck. My dress rips on the old wood, and I lose a shoe. A wave crashes onto the ship and pulls me closer to the edge. I grab onto the rail as I dangle off the ship. I scream as the ship dunks me into the water momentarily. And then I see a wave jump up at me. It submerges me as it washes onto the deck. My grip falters, and the ocean recedes, carrying me with it.
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I wake up in a puddle of water, seaweed, and wet sand. I cough up some water and open my eyes. I don't know where I am. I try to stand, but fall right back down. I try again, this time I manage to stand, weakly. At least I'm standing. I'm dripping wet, with seaweed draped all over me. My dress is ripped, and my feet are only covered by half a sock. My hair is matted and tangled, and still half in my bun. Every inch of me is covered in cuts, bruises, and sand. And then I realize where I am.
I am on land.
I see nicely dressed people walking around on a wooden path above the sand. I see buildings beyond that. I see trees in the far distance. I am on land.
And I am alive.
I collapse back to the ground in a fit of laughter. And I barely manage to hear someone scream before everything goes black.
