The Creature From Coral City

The Creature From Coral City
By Paul Mc Cann

 

I’ll tell you the tale an old mariner told me about a place called coral city and the creature he had found there . 

When Jack was young he dived for sponge and pearls in a vessel at home on the open sea . Jack was strong and boisterous with an adventurous spirit and with the help of some boat builders a large sailing ship called The Sea Poacher was built . Jack needed a tall ship with large sails to catch the winds of change . With a small crew off sailed The Sea Poacher on a voyage beyond the Gulf of Clubber and into the far East of Tonamow where the sea shelf fell for an eternity into a  dark abyss known as The Fathomless Mystery  .

As the Captain and the crew looked out into the horizon a salty wind sped their ship through the green waters that covered the seventh sea towards the unknown mysteries of the deep .

Some seamen feared the journey especially the regions between Davy ‘s  graveyard and the Magnetic way  .

Surrounded by the Coral Way was a small passage called Dire Straits .

Along this passage hundreds of ships had strayed too close to the coral and remained as prisoners anchored forever on the edge of the reef .

Seaweek Jack and his crew were lucky and made it through .

Then there was another the strange place called magnetic way to pass through . Most ships that ventured this way were drawn in by a small perimeter of water that turned bright crimson as ships approached .

It was in here that a number of ships with their crews had vanished never to be seen again .

Once again The Sea Poacher was fortunate to escape this deaths dark domain .

 It was a long voyage that brought the Sea Poacher to an uncharted place.

It was here in an attempt to explore the unknown Seaweed Jack had stumbled upon Coral city . There is was a crystal like castle standing on an island of coral . The closer the ship came to the castle the thicker the oil slick was . Then there they were half afloat on the surface .

Dozens of barrels of crude oil bobbing up and down spewing out its deadly

Cargo into the water .

 

Through his telescope Seaweed Jack caught a glimpse of a strange creature on the back of an exhausted dolphin that was trying to reach the coral shore .

The creature took the form of a fish and a woman with long hair over her shoulders . There was also a golden crown upon her head .

Jack had heard stories about Mermaids but never really believed them until now . The mermaids body was covered in thick black oil and she looked half dead . All around small fish lay motionless on top of the water .

The Sea Poacher anchored and a small lifeboat was lowered down into the water . Jack took a handful of men who rowed slowly to the crystal castle.

As they stepped unto the coral floor the dolphin approached and dropped the creature before the landing party .

Jack stood there breathing uneasy and felt ashamed and angry at what lay at his feet . Not only was this seas creature covered in oil but there was an end of a harpoon stuck in the mermaids side .

Some dark hand had done this and Jack was almost in a state of panic to save the mermaid . He asked the crew to remove their shirts and he used them to rub off some of the greasy oil from the mermaids gills .

The harpoon was not in too far and Jack was able to remove it without any drama . The would was covered in oil and so there was no bleeding .

The majority of the mermaids scales were now unclogged and she started to breath much easier . The sudden twitching of her tail was a sign that she was fighting for life .

They placed her into the lifeboat and rowed back to The Sea Poacher .

In his cabin Jack bathed the mermaid in a saline solution and after weeks of intense care the mermaid recovered .

The only sound she made was a high pitched shrill as Jack placed the crown back on her head . He spoke softly to her at first and brought her some food and a mirror and hairbrush . He handed her lotions and oils she gathered up

Everything he gave . Then it happened .

The mermaid placed her hands on his head and Jack received a gift of mental telepathy .

“I love you . “ the mermaid said .

Jack nodded that he understood and she continued ,.

,”Welcome to my kingdom . Please allow me to return to the ocean .“

Jack nodded again .

The mermaid started to speak about her kingdom and told how she picked flowers of the sea for castle home .

She told him she was The Coral Queen of the seventh sea . 

She explained how very recently a plane had dropped some of its leaking oil cargo into the waters around her castle .

She went on to tell of the ship that came and tried to capture one of her large basking subjects .

Her intervention resulted in being targeted by a harpoon .

The ship was then overturned by a hump back whale and the crew were all but eaten by a number of white pointer sharks .

Seaweed Jack thought briefly but before his thought was finished she said ,

‘No you’re not going crazy . Its ok .“

That very moment Jack felt something he had never done before .

It was love and as he bent to kiss her she stopped him saying ,

“The ocean is my domain .You cannot live there with me but I will guide you on your journey through all the currents that know me well .

I must move home to an undiscovered island near here where my secret will be safe and the black oil cannot hurt me anymore . “

Jack smiled fondly and she continued ,

“My gills and scales are cracking . Soon I will be unable to move so please  return me to the ocean . If not I will die .“

Jack lifted her and carried her up on deck . Then surrounded by his crew he threw her into the water and shouted ,

“Go then Coral Queen for out there is your home and not with me .  “

The mermaid resurfaced and leapt high from the water into the air .

Her crown glistened in the sunlight and her long hair clung to her shoulders .

Some dolphins joined her and they raced together back and forward through the waves .

The mermaid stood up on her tail and pointed in the direction of a light that appeared form the sky .  Suddenly a shimmering passage opened up on the surface of the water . What no man had ever seen escorted the ship away from Coral City . Neptune arose from the ocean blew a brisk wind that filled the sails of the Sea Poacher . Instantly the ship glided across the water until it came to rest by an island scattered with the wealth of a thousand treasure chests . Jack and the crew took all they could on board and made their way through the sixth sea until at last they were back home again .

Jack and all the crew were now very old and it was hard to say just how long their voyage had taken them . That’s how the story went anyway .

Seaweed Jack  said someday he will go sailing again when the winds are fair.

 

THE  END

 

 

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