the little mermaid

nathaniel

"Come on, lassie, let's get you warmed up."

"Oh, goodness," said an old woman as the men pulled an unclothed Dorienne out of the water. "What happened to your clothes, dear?"

Dorienne shrugged as she was tossed a blanket that she wrapped herself up in.

She sat there shivering in the middle of the ocean, with nothing but a thin blanket to keep her warm.

"I turned you into a human," said Cordelia's voice in Dorienne's mind. "Surely I couldn't let you expose mermaids to the humans. Anyway, I just saved your life, and in return, I'll need your voice for a little while longer. I hope that's okay.

"To get it back, all you have to do is make that handsome boy you saved fall in love with you. He got you into this mess and he's the only thing that can get you out. Anyway, it shouldn't be too difficult for a pretty girl such as yourself.

"If you manage to make him fall in love, I'll return your voice, and I'll allow you to choose whether you would like to remain a human or come back to the wonderful world under the sea.

"In the meantime, I hope you enjoy yourself! Just think of this as another one of your little adventures."

Dorienne was so confused and now scared. She was in the middle of the ocean, which wasn't scary for her in most scenarios, but now she was a human...

She had so many questions to ask: What happened? Where were they going? When would they be safe? Of course, she had no means of asking these questions.

But she could predict what the answers would be to her questions if she as capable of asking them.

What happened? A shipwreck.

Where were they going? Another ship.

When would they be safe? Hopefully soon.

It was a mere hour later, although it seemed like days, that a ship arrived to save them.

It was called Carpathia, and Dorienne could hardly wait to get on it.

The next few days were quite boring, really. The ship workers took surveillance on who had been rescued and asked for everyone's names, but Dorienne couldn't tell hers.

The day they got rescued, Dorienne had fallen asleep right before the sunrise, so she didn't get the chance to see it that time. She was more excited about the sunset, though. She would make sure she witnessed that.

When the time came, Dorienne, now fully clothed, headed to the back of the ship to watch the sunset for the first time ever.

That's when she saw him - the boy she had saved, the boy Cordelia had practically sentenced her to life with, unless she didn't want her voice back. It seemed as though the boy had the same idea of watching the sunset as Dorienne did. She approached him, waved, and sat next to him on a bench.

"Hello, there," he said in a voice much different than the one coming out of his mouth when he had spoken to her before. His voice was friendly and inviting. "You look familiar."

Dorienne smiled at him.

"Were you on my floor on the ship?"

Dorienne shook her head, and the memory of a girl carrying the boy to safety and shaking her head whenever he tried to talk flashed into his mind.

"You're... you're the girl!" he exclaimed, then after a pause, "No, it can't be."

Dorienne gave him a flummoxed expression.

"See, the thing is, I almost died out there last night, but a girl came along and saved me. I think she was an angel..."

Dorienne began to nod her head frantically in an attempt to show that is was her, but she was interrupted.

"Nathaniel, dear, what are you doing all the way over here?" asked a high pitched, plummy voice. Dorienne looked up to where the voice came from and saw a tall woman in a long and very expensive-looking dress and a large hat adorned with flowers.

"I was just going to watch the sunset," he told her.

"And who is this?" she questioned, referring to Dorienne.

"I don't actually know. What's your name?" he asked Dorienne, turning his attention towards her.

Dorienne was so caught up in the moment that she tried to speak, tried to tell the boy her name, but failed in doing so. She grasped her throat with her hand to show that she was unable to speak.

"Can't talk, huh? That's too bad; it must be the shock. Well, I'm Nate," he said, outstretching his hand.

Dorienne graciously took it as the other woman said, "Nathaniel, we should be going."

"You can go, Mother. I'm going to watch the sunset," said Nate defiantly.

"Have it your way," she said as she walked away.

"My mother can be quite difficult," Nate mumbled to Dorienne. She wanted to tell him that she knew how overpowering parents could be, but she couldn't.

"So what are you doing back here?" he asked.

Dorienne pointed at the sky.

"Ah, came to watch the sunset as well? It's very beautiful."

She sure hoped he was right.

A few minutes later, she concluded that he was.

Dorienne had no idea the sky could be so breathtaking. There were so many different colors, just like her mom had said.

"Where are you headed when we get to New York?" asked Nate.

Dorienne scrunched up her face and shrugged her shoulders.

"Do you have any family?" he questioned.

She shook her head.

"But surely you have money?"

She shook her head again and tears began to fall from her eyes as she realized she had no place to go. The tears confused Dorienne. Why was she leaking saltwater? She must've been homesick.

"Hey, don't cry. Maybe I can convince my mother to allow you to stay with us for a while."

Dorienne's eyes widened and she smiled.

"It's no big deal, really. After being saved by that girl, I realized that doing little things for people can really change your life."

Dorienne realized that, too.