TGC 05 In which we encounter a mermaid

I awoke with a shiver. Opening my eyes, I was astonished to see that I could – well – see! I could see I was in a huge cave, comfortably one hundred times the size of our small home that we had left far behind us. Hundreds of stalactites hung threateningly from the roof of the cave. They were so numerous, that they hid the roof entirely. They looked like a huge upside-down hedgehog. And a flickering blue light made them look as though they were swaying ominously, waiting to fall on those foolish enough to rest in their cave.

Looking around nervously, I saw mother sleeping peacefully – not four yards from me. I saw her hands clutching at the gold chain that she usually wore around her neck; she must have taken it off during the night. I wondered why she’d done that – to comfort her perhaps. I didn’t know how a chain could provide comfort but I hoped it provided her with some degree of solace. I wanted to wake her, but as I looked at her, I saw how pale she had become; how dark the rings around her eyes had become; how frail she had become.

Looking around, I noticed that we’d stopped right on the edge of an ominous cliff. Falling to my belly, I crawled to the edge and looked over. It seemed to fall into an endless oblivion. With a gulp, I edged myself backwards towards mother. I looked around. High above, I could see a hole in one of the walls of the cave. Had mother climbed all the way down from there carrying me! How on earth had she done that without falling? She shivered then and I looked at her guiltily. I was causing such pain. What could I do?

Keen not to dwell on her suffering, I ventured off over the strangely smooth floor of the cave. It was covered in hundreds of small shallow puddles. Puddles of strange silvery liquid. I walked around, dodging between the myriad of mysterious puddles. Suddenly, I heard a splash. I looked around, desperately trying to spot where it had come from. Then, another splash. Closer this time. I whirled around, eyes flicking this way and that. Then I heard a voice.

“You! Watch where you’re going.” It was a strange voice. It had a strength and depth to it that reminded me of Father Leiter, but it was so quiet that I had to strain my ears just to hear it. I still couldn’t see where the voice was coming from.

“This is ridiculous” I sighed. “An eternity spent in the impenetrable darkness of the mines and now there is light, the voices are invisible.”

“I’m not invisible,” snapped the voice - quite clearly offended. “I’m here, next to your feet.”

I looked down, I could see nothing. I crouched and to my surprise I saw a small figure. It couldn’t have been bigger than my thumb, but it was there swimming in one of the silver puddles.

“Who are you?” I whispered, suddenly aware that my voice must seem incredibly loud to such a small little creature.

“My name is Havfrue,” explained the creature. She made another splash in the tiny puddle, and as she did so, I realised that in place of legs, she had a jet-black fish tail.

“Are you a mermaid?” I gasped.

“Aren’t you the observant one,” she replied - her deep voice laced with sarcasm.

“But you’re so small.”

“And polite as well,” sneered Havfrue.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.