MARIANINA THE FAIRY MERMAID

In a pretty little house made of shining coral in all shades of pink, at the bottom of a vast blue ocean at the very edge of the world, there lived a little mermaid called Marianina. She lived with her Mother and three sisters, and their days were spent happily swimming and diving and playing with the many wonderful creatures that lived deep under the ocean.

But Marianina was no ordinary mermaid. If you look at her closely, there, folded neatly on her back, was the finest pair of wings you could ever wish to see. You would have to look very hard though, for so flimsy were the wings, that they were almost transparent, and could only be seen when the sun shone brightly through the water and they sparkled like summer raindrops.

Yes, Marianina was a FAIRY MERMAID! Her Father was a handsome fairy Prince, but he had to leave his beloved and go back to the shore, for he could not survive under the sea, and Marianina’s Mother Antoinetta could not live on land. So, one day, with many tears and hugs, he kissed his darling wife and daughter, and went back to his homeland, promising to return as soon as he could.

Sadly, he never did come back. Marianina often dreamed about him, and wondered whether she was at all like him – apart, of course, from her wings.

One day, Marianina and her three pretty sisters Arabella, Carmina and Rosetta, were swimming and playing happily amongst the swaying weeds and the bright coral, when suddenly a great tempest arose. Usually, a storm would not have worried the mermaids too much; but this one was different. As the thunder crashed and the waves smashed and crashed against the reefs, sending up huge sheets of salty spray, the sky went as dark as the giant octupus’ ink, and the sisters could barely see each other.

Then the rain began to lash down, and the dark, dark sea turned and churned like a pool of boiling black treacle. Great whirlpools twirled and swirled around them, and they were very afraid. Even the electric eels and the jolly little neon fish could not see where they were going, though they huffed and puffed to make their bodies as bright as possible, and they swam away to hide as quickly as they could.

The sisters held hands and swam off to the safety of their home in a big cave in the reef, where their mother was waiting anxiously for them.

‘Oh my girls!’ she cried out with relief as she saw them, kissing each one as they swam into her arms.

‘But…..where is Marianina?’

Arabella replied : ‘I expect she will be hiding in one of the octupus’ caves. She’ll be back as soon as the storm passes’.

And so they waited; and they waited: but still she did not come.

Far, far away, Marianina was holding on tightly to a large fin, being towed along very fast through the water. The fin belonged to Wilfred the Pixie Whale, who had been swimming up a long channel of water on the way to New Puddlington, to visit his friends the Puddle Pixies, when all of a sudden Marianina had landed on his back.

She had been trying to keep close to her sisters, but got caught up in one of the mighty whirlpools, which tossed her high into the air and into the path of his brother the whirlwind, which blew her hither and thither until it launched her right over a beautiful rainbow. Then she felt the wind drop and became afraid that she might be smashed to pieces on the rocks below. Then – she remembered something very important – she had WINGS!

She shook her shoulders, and could feel them slowly unfolding, until they were spread out behind her like a shimmering gossamer butterfly.

Just a second before she crashed onto the rocks into the raging sea, she felt herself lifted higher and higher into the sky, as a soft warm breeze gently teased her magical wings. On and on she flew, marvelling at the land and sea below her; but in vain she looked for her home; it was impossible to tell which way she had come, and indeed how long she had been away.

She was feeling rather tired by now, and her shoulders and arms ached, for she had never flown before. To keep her spirits up, she began to sing a lovely song her Mother used to sing to her when she was small.

‘O’er the ocean flies a merry fay,
Soft her wings are as a cloud of day,
As she passes all the blue waves say
Marinanina do not roam, whither whither is your home
Come and turn us into foam……………….’

But as she sang, her eyes began to close and her wings beat slower and slower as she fell asleep, and began to float down down.. down………until she landed on the back of what looked like a moving island in a long winding river. She woke up with a start, and grabbed the nearest thing to stop herself sliding down into the water.

As she held on tightly, she saw two large eyes looking round at her, with an expression almost as surprised as her own! They blinked once, twice – then a voice said ‘Hello little fairy mermaid! What are you doing here on my back and all alone?’

Marianina was so surprised she almost lost her balance, but voice seemed so kind and friendly, that she merely smiled and said : ‘Hello, my name is Marianina. I got caught up in a terrible storm, and a whirlpool flung me high up into the air and over the rainbow. I remembered I had wings, but I soon got tired and started to fall….and here I am! I hope you don’t mind me asking, sir, but who are you and where are you going?’

‘My name is Wilfred, and I am a Pixie Whale. I was just taking a trip to New Puddlington to visit my friends the Puddle Pixies when you suddenly landed on my back! Now just hold on tightly and we’ll be there in a few minutes’.

Marianina replied, ‘It’s very good of you to take me with you, when I arrived quite without an invitation.’ She sighed deeply, and a little teardrop slipped from her eye, coming to rest on her cheek like a tiny sparkling sea-diamond. ‘You are very kind, but I don’t know how this will help me to get home again!’

‘Don’t worry, little Fairy Mermaid, when we get to New Puddlington I shall ask the kind old Elder to help. I am sure he will know what to do, for he is very wise’.

Soon, they arrived at their destination. Some of his Puddle Pixie friends had spotted his water spout from a long way off, and were waiting at the Fairpuddle to greet him. Wilfred introduced them to Marianina, and she told her story.

‘..So you see, I am lost, and Wilfred thought the Elder might have an idea of how to find my way home!’.

‘Indeed I do’ said an elderly and very distinguished looking pixie, stepping forward from the back of the crowd.

‘I will ask my very good friend the Lord Merlin to help us. He is the most magical person in the wide wide world and all the universe!’

With that, he produced from his pocket a shining crystal. Holding it up to the light, he recited a magic rhyme:

‘MAGIC CRYSTAL SHINING BRIGHT
BRING LORD MERLIN TO YOUR LIGHT!’

As they watched, the crystal became cloudy, until it was full of a swirling mist. Then, as it slowly cleared, the face of an old wizard with a long flowing beard appeared.

‘Hello Lord Merlin’ said the Elder.

‘Hello my old friend’ replied Merlin. ‘I hope you are well. What can I do for you today?’

And so the Elder told Merlin about Marianina.

Merlin chuckled.

‘That’s no problem at all. I am sure this spell will do the trick!’

And Merlin took out his notebook, and quickly wrote something on it. Then he tore a page off, and touched it with his magic wand. There was a bang and a flash of light, and Marianina watched the paper float slowly down to land in front of her where she was swishing her tail idly in the Fairpuddle..

As she picked it up, Merlin smiled and said:

‘Now little fairy mermaid, you must read out the words on the paper, then shut your eyes and count to twenty. Then, you will soon be back with your family. And if you ever get lost again, remember the Spell, and you will get home safely. Now I really must go, there are so many problems in the universe I don’t know where to start! Bye bye all!’ Then the crystal clouded over again, the mist gathered, and when it cleared, Merlin had gone.

The Puddle Pixies crowded round Marianina. ‘Come on, fairy mermaid’, they called. ‘Read what’s on the paper!’.

Clearing her throat, she read out loud:

All folk who in the ocean dwell
Listen now to Merlin’s spell
All Magic spirits of the sea
All earthly sprites who wander free
Wherever Marianina may roam
Be sure to help and get her home!

As the last word was read out, the air became full of the sound of chattering voices, and the Fairpuddle sparkled and twinkled like a million stars, and the water splished and splashed from shore to shore, as a million trillion little voices from deep below the water joined with those in the air all echoing ‘HOME’!

As Marianina finished counting, she looked up in wonderment. A beautiful white-crested wave came towards her where she sat swishing her tail at the edge of the Fairpuddle. It encircled her gently, then carried her away across the Puddle and down the channel along which Wilfred had brought her to New Puddlington. The Pixies and Wilfred watched until they could see her no more, but could just about hear Marianina’s sweet voice singing the last verse of her special song:

‘O’er the mountains when the day is done,
When the clouds are gath’ring o’er the sun
While they weeping whisper one by one,
“Marianina come again
We have tried to dance in vain
Come and turn us into rain
Marianina, Marianina
Come O come and turn us into rain”!’

With the last note still hanging in the still air above the Puddle, the sky suddenly darkened; the most wonderful rainbows the Pixies had ever seen appeared above them, and large drops of rain sparkling like a billion jewels splashed into the water.

As the Pixies hurriedly launched their puddaloes to collect the precious rainbows, Wilfred smiled, for he knew Marianina was back home at last.