The Prince and the Mermaid...

 

There once was a handsome Prince who lived in a castle near the woods. Eager to find a wife, he pondered for half of his life. He searches high and low for a mate, but heavens know what would come of his fate. One of the Prince’s handlers tells him of the ancient sea, but the Prince scoffs at him and replies, “That could never be. Fairy tales, folklores, all of them silly stories.” Yet the handler is adamant of his claims, telling The Prince, “that’s where his true love could be.” The Prince is skeptical, thinking all of this would be a spectacle, though he obliges. He sails across the ancient seas to a nearby beach, far beyond his reach. Resting upon the beach, he chants to the moon:

O’, where O’, where, will my love, be

To now I seek through the enchanted seas!

The Prince falls into a slumber, but a sudden sound wakes him up in wonder. A Maiden comes by, her hair streaked in white.

The Prince says, “Please come to me, my queen.”

But, the maiden says, “No stay away from me.”

The Prince pleads, “You’re all that I need.”

The Maiden replied, “Oh please, you don’t even know me.”

The Maiden runs away. The prince follows.

The Maiden says, “What is your wanting?”

The Prince replies, “It’s your soul that’s haunting.”

The Maiden still runs away, but the Prince, still enchanted by her beauty, follows.

The Maiden relents. “Okay, but you must keep my secret.”

The Prince obliges. “Whatever it is, I’ll keep it.”

The Maiden is reluctant; however, she smiles. “Stay with me till sunlight and I’ll love you, forever and always.”

The Prince holds her in his arms. “Whatever your secret is, I’ll keep it.”

The Maiden tells him, “Only if you’ll dream it.”

So, they lay together from dusk till dawn where they dream of dreams far beyond.

The Maiden whispers to the Prince, “Keep me forever and always.”

The Prince says to her, “I’ll keep you days upon days.”

The ray of sunlight rises, the Maiden wakes up in a crisis. “Oh I must go, you can’t keep me here.”

The Prince says, “Why not, it’s safe to keep you near.”

“You don’t understand,” the Maiden says. “The sun will dry up the sand.”

“My heart is what will ascend, for it is my love that will bring you back to me,” The Prince says.

The Maiden replied, “Just pray and I’ll be all you need.”

The Maiden rushes up to the sun, whatever path she’ll take shall be done. The Prince looks on, helplessly, hoping that this could not be.

The Maiden stops. Her heart quickens. She spins around, wishing the pain will not fill in.

The Prince rushes to her aid, crying to himself that the deed was not made. But then his eyes spark up in wonder, like lightning meets thunder.

The Maiden rises yet not a woman, but a child. She says, “I must go into the enchanted waters of rebirth, so I can fulfill the magic of mirth. If you love me, you’ll wait. For that’s all I can take. I will always love you, my dear prince.”

And as the woman-child swims off to the enchanted sea, the Prince waited for his Maiden in the castle ever since.

The moral of the story: True love comes to those who wait…