Dive into a world of wonder beneath the waves, where secrets shimmer and dreams come alive. In this timeless fairytale, we follow the journey of a curious young mermaid who dares to venture beyond the depths of her ocean kingdom. Join her as the little mermaid discovers love, bravery, and the power of true magic—where fate takes her above the surface to a world she never imagined.
The Little Mermaid
This story begins with a secret. Not just any secret, but a secret world, hidden from memory, in the depths of the ocean. Beyond the strange fish and dangerous floating lights of the midnight deep, beyond the shipwrecks and underwater volcanoes, further still, there is a kingdom, full of bright and beautiful creatures. The most beautiful of all of them were the Merfolk.
Mermen and Mermaids, whose heads, shoulders, arms, and chests were just like yours and mine, but where our bodies become legs, the Merfolk had TAILS! Long, flowing, elegant tails with sparkling scales and silken fins that allowed them to glide gracefully through the water or, if they so chose, power through the water faster than a sailfish.
These magical creatures were ruled by a kind and strong king, who lived in a great underwater palace with his five daughters. They lived happy and free, and they wanted for nothing. It was a perfect world untouched by greed or pollution or war; the Merfolk had never even heard of such things.
There was just one rule that the Merfolk all obeyed: Never, NEVER go to the surface. The King would not allow it, for he knew the dangers that lurked up there. This was an easy rule to follow as there was no good reason to go there; the Merfolk had everything they needed.
There was one mermaid though, one mermaid who was a little more curious, a little more adventurous, a little more headstrong than the others: The Little Mermaid. She just happened to also be the King’s youngest daughter.
From just a Merchild, The Little Mermaid had always liked to explore the furthest reaches of the kingdom, places she knew she shouldn’t go, but she just couldn’t help it. Something inside her told her there was MORE, and she had to know. And as she grew older and discovered more, she found that the more questions that were answered, the more she had to ask.
On the day our story really begins, The Little Mermaid decided she could wait no longer, so she snuck out of the palace and away from the Kingdom and up, up, up until her head broke the sparkling surface of the ocean, and she finally breathed fresh air, saw the sky, heard the birds. Her senses were alive, and it – was – incredible.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over her, and, panicking, she dived back under the water as a huge ship came crashing through the waves. Full of more questions, she followed it and climbed up the side to see what she could see.
It was full of humans! Playing jolly music, dancing, singing, celebrating something. And among them, a handsome prince! She looked into his kind eyes, and The Little Mermaid fell in love, hook, line, and sinker. There was no going back down to the Merkingdom now. She knew that if she went home, she would never see him again, and her heart would be empty forever.
Just then, a storm started to swell, and the waves grew as vast as mountains. Lightning cracked open the sky, and thunder boomed. The wind, spray, and waves tossed the ship this way and that, and the ship could not take it.
As the ship disappeared beneath the waves, The Little Mermaid searched the lifeboats and the wreckage for the prince, rescuing many sailors as she looked, pushing them towards floating planks or lifeboats, the chaos around them so great they did not notice her scales or long tail.
Finally, she spied him, clinging to a barrel that was slowly sinking beneath the waves. She rescued him, taking him to shore and caring for him until a search party came to take him home. He was barely conscious, with just enough energy to ask her, “Who are you?” before she dove back beneath the waves to hurry home before she was discovered missing.
She tried to go back to her normal life, she truly did, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the prince.
There was one creature in the Kingdom, just one who might be able to help her, and she knew the dangers, but she sought her out anyway. The Sea Witch. She was beautiful and terrible, with purple eyes and golden teeth. The Merfolk knew she could perform great magic, but always at a great price.
The Little Mermaid told The Sea Witch everything, and The Sea Witch told her she could help. The Witch would give the Little Mermaid legs for three days, during which she must get the Prince to fall in love with her. If she succeeded, she would stay human for the rest of her days. If she failed, the Sea Witch would keep The Little Mermaid in her cave for all eternity. All she requested in payment was The Little Mermaid’s VOICE.
The Little Mermaid could see no other way and couldn’t bear a life without the prince, so she said “yes,” and the dreaded deal was done. “One more thing,” the Sea Witch said, “if you touch seawater in the next three days, the spell will be broken, and you will turn back into a Mermaid. No sea water,” she reminded her.
The Sea Witch gave The Little Mermaid a potion to drink which made her fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. She awoke on the beach dressed in human clothes, and under her skirts, she found she had legs! Real human legs!
She had just about gotten the hang of walking when the Prince came walking down the beach. He had walked the beach constantly since his rescue, desperate to find the one who had saved him. The Prince took her back to the palace, believing her to be a runaway or lost. She tried to tell him it was her who rescued him from the shipwreck, but without her voice, she could not. He gave her a pen and paper so she could explain where she came from, but it was no use. Merlanguage was different from human language, and he could not make head nor tail of the squiggles and lines she drew.
As time went by though, it seemed that The Little Mermaid and the Prince might just fall in love anyway, but out of the blue, a woman appeared claiming to be the one who rescued the prince from the ship, and quickly, they seemed to be in love instead!
The Little Mermaid was heartbroken. How could this happen? What could she do? She watched the prince and this mysterious woman together and tried to understand how this could be, when suddenly she saw a flash of purple in the woman’s eyes and a spark of gold in her smile, and The Little Mermaid knew it was the Sea Witch in disguise.
She knew what she must do. She filled a wooden bucket with sea water, careful not to let a single drop touch her skin, and she threw it with all her might at the Sea Witch. The spell that made the Sea Witch human was instantly broken, as was the spell that made the prince love her, and, enraged, the Sea Witch dived back into the sea.
The prince looked at the Little Mermaid, and in that moment, everything became clear. She was the one, the one he had been searching for. She had rescued him, and she had been right in front of him all this time. It was her that he really loved. And as that realization hit him, they both glowed with love, and the spell on the Little Mermaid was broken.
She could speak again! And she was to stay a human forever. They were married that very day, and they lived very, very happily ever after.
Also read: Rapunzel
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Welcome to Kiddom Tales, where magic and imagination come together! We bring fairy tales and bedtime stories to life, creating a fun and enchanting space for kids to explore wonderful worlds filled with adventure, friendship, and dreams. Our stories are perfect for sparking imagination, with every tale taking you on a new journey.
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