The Misfit Mermaid, Part 1

Down deep under the sea, there was once a beautiful kingdom. In this kingdom lived the mermen and maids of the ocean. And at the center of the kingdom, was a magnificent palace covered in pearls. The pearl was their national jewel. In this palace, lived the Mighty, Awesome, and Almighty King Tristan! He was the ruler of Pearlopolis, and his word was law. No one dared disobey King Tristan, or else they could be sentenced to years in prison, or worse. No one dared disobey him that is, except his second to youngest daughter, Atalie.
Atalie was a misfit among her watery sisters. She did everything that they were always told a princess shouldn’t. She was late for events and banquets, never combed her hair, didn’t participate in the royal choir, and kept a collection of human trinkets instead of a stately garden. Her biggest offence however, was her almost daily trips to the surface. Tristan was terrified of humans, and the possibility they might discover Pearlopolis. No one was allowed to venture to the surface, except for extreme emergencies. And in order to be qualified for such, the offender had to fill out piles of forms and appear in court to explain for their misbehavior. Unfortunately, before the law was passed, he had once taken all his daughters for a quick trip up above to explain the dangers involved, and Atalie had loved it instantly. Scarcely a day went by when she didn’t sneak past the palace guards and visit the outside world. And when she wasn’t doing that, she was exploring old sunken ships in search of treasures. It was clear, that Atalie had a unique fascination for humans.
“Let’s see…two guards in the corridor, four at each gate and dozens of them patrolling the walls. This isn’t going to be easy this time.” Thought Atalie to herself. She had already sneaked past scores of guards without raising a single question, but the outer walls and courtyards were always trickier, especially with her reputation. But, as always, Atalie had a plan. At her side, was her trusty friend, Gloomer. Gloomer was not a mermaid, he was, in fact, an unusually large red and yellow hermit crab. About the size of a housecat, to be exact. At Atalie’s signal, he scrabbled forward, and clicked a massive claw onto a guard’s tail. Howling, the guard swam about, furiously trying to remove the crab from his tail. As other guards swam to help him, Atalie causally floated by, not noticed by a single one. Once she was clear of the palace gates, she swam toward an underwater current she had discovered two months before, and allowed it to carry her far away from Pearlopolis. Now that Atalie was free from disturbance she waited for Gloomer to catch up. Sure enough, in a few minutes she could see him spinning about in the current. She swam up and plucked him from its grip.
“Ha ha, did you see the expression on that guards face?” He asked gleefully.
“Good job Gloomer, no one even noticed I was leaving.” She replied. “Let’s go see what’s going on at the surface.”
“Well…we could just hunt for sea stars instead…” he muttered doubtfully.
“Oh don’t be such a scardy crab. Nothing is going to happen.” She grabbed his shell and swam up and up. Soon, her head popped free of the water, and she examined her surroundings.
“GLOOMER! LOOK OVER THERE!” She exclaimed in his shell. The grumpy crab poked his head out long enough to look, then hid it again in a hurry.
“No Atalie, no! Not another ship sighting!” he groaned. But it was of no use, she was already swimming to it as fast as her tail could carry her. In a matter of minutes, they had arrived at the ship. Pausing for a minute to decide what to do next, she grabbed onto the side of the ship, and by using her hands, she managed to crawl up the side of the ship.
She stopped at a little round window, and peeked in. She happened to be looking into the captain’s personal cabin, and there on a dirty bed was the captain, fast asleep. Gently, she pushed the small window open a crack, and took a better look at the room. It was smallish, dirty and smelled horrible. This didn’t phase Atalie a bit.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” She whispered.
“Yes, its…real great. Now can we go back into the water?”
“Wait, there is someone coming into the room.” She paused, her gaze fixed on the jiggling door handle. She never got to see who came in however, because a mighty wave crashed up, and she lost her grip and was tossed back into the sea.
A moment later, she popped up again, and looked around. The sea was calm again, and she decided there was nothing more to see. With that, she dove back down under the water.