The Little Mermaid (Faerie Tale Collection) by Jenni James Read Free Book Online Page A

me several pictures before I understood why it was so important to buy this white stuff too. Apparently, you must wear all the fluff underneath the pretty one on top. Do you understand?”
    Pearl gave him the funniest look he had ever seen. “But—why?” she gasped out.
    He could not help himself. He laughed. “I have no notion why they would do something so peculiar. Perhaps you should ask one of them.”

IT TOOK SEVERAL TRIES, and with the weight of the clothing in the water, it was almost impossible to achieve, but eventually Pearl was able to get the silly thing on. Who would ever torment females with such a getup as this? It was deuced awkward to stand as it was—she could not imagine attempting to walk as well.
    There was one good thing about the impossible layers of fabric, and that was that it managed to keep her so occupied in sorting out that she almost forgot about the pain she was in as her human legs fully formed. Almost. Eventually, the pain subsided, and her body was transformed.
    Once the sun had set, with the help of Keel, she was able to bob and float her way over to the land, and then came the difficult part—actually walking upon the sand to the flat ground awaiting. If she thought the soft, sinking sand painful with each torturously heavy step she took, it was nothing compared to the shooting agony that zipped its way up her legs as she began to walk upon the hard ground above the ocean toward the village.
    The pain of that first step caused her to crumble into Keel’s chest. And by the time she had become brave enough to attempt the third and fourth step, he finally commanded her to stop altogether.
    “Give your new legs a bit of time to rest.” He whisked her up into his arms and began to carry her, much like the prince had done.
    “Wait. Keel, you must not dare! If my feet are in this much distress, I cannot imagine what yours must be going through with my added weight. Put me down this instant.”
    Of course, the foolish merman refused to listen to her. Instead, he grunted his way for several paces until he found a suitable seating area amidst several magnificent buildings. Then he collapsed next to her. It was dark, and the streets made of stone were completely barren. The soft breeze of the ocean air found its way toward them, and he brought her into his chest and snuggled her against him.
    She was exhausted. Utterly drained.
    Curling up to him, she brought her shoe-covered feet upon the bench-like seat he had found for them and splayed the skirt of her clothing around her new legs, allowing it to dry out better. It really was a pretty bit of cloth. She knew that once the thing dried and the sunlight lit upon it, the whole dress would shimmer over her.
    Dress. It was such a funny word. Keel had mentioned that was what the store owner had called it.
    She smiled as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her in just a bit closer. She felt his chest expand as he took a deep breath of air. This was perfection. Just like this, sitting together in the twinkling twilight on the land as humans. The quiet, darkened street reminded her much of the faded colors of the ocean at night. Everything looked blue and gray and purple. But the similarities ended there. Where she was used to soft, more rounded buildings, these tall, flat structures were fascinating, each with reflecting windows to peek out to the human world from within.
    If she looked toward where they had come from, she could just make out the horizon of the darkened beach below them. Closing her eyes, she listened to the soft, gentle pull of the waves as they broke upon the sand. Quiet humming and clicking sounds could be heard above them as the landfolk spoke to each other, their open windows allowing the sound to travel to her. But for the most part, there was simply no one around. Just peaceful, quiet solitude.
    “We shall sleep out here tonight, and then tomorrow, I will work on gathering us some food.”
    “Food?” Ugh. Her stomach