LEGEND OF THE MER
Authors: Sheri L. Swift
LEGEND OF THE MER
by
Sheri L. Swift
KINDLE EDITION
~~~~~
PUBLISHED BY:
Sheri L. Swift on Kindle
Legend of the Mer
Copyright
©
November 16, 2009 by Sheri L. Swift
~~~~~
Cover
Art ~ Creativindie Book Cover
Assistant Editor ~ Selest A. Swift
Chapter 13 – THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Chapter 15 – THE BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE
Chapter 19 – BATTLE OF THE MER
In the mid 1700’s, Captain Jedediah Prentis sailed his ship (the
Grey Wake
) all along the
East Indies
trade route. Some say that he was more of a pirate than a merchant, with his ruthless ways. It was while on one of his many voyages that he came upon a Native American legend that told of an island that held the richest treasure and secret unknown to man. He later retired (at the age of 43) and bought an island in the
Atlantic
, off the coast of the
Carolinas
. Upon his death bed, he made his son and grandsons swear to guard the secret of the island and to always charge their male heirs to do the same. They agreed and have done so until this very day.
To my creator God, who hears and answers the prayers of His children.
To Mrs. Perry and Mrs.
Yonan and all other Creative
Writing Teachers who encourage dreamers to write their stories.
And to my Mother, Daughters
and Brother, who always
believed in Mermaids.
Lana didn’t mind
living on
Safe
Harbor
Island
, for in fact, that’s what it really was for her. It was a harbor of safety from the peering eyes of the rest of the world. The island population was little more than 1,000. Only in the tourist season did they see an increase. In those days, Lana had the benefit of being the lighthouse keeper’s daughter and would find her sanctuary perched atop. She loved looking out onto the
Atlantic Ocean
. It had a calming
e
ffect and she could stare out for hours.
Sometimes she would even catch a glimpse of a grey dolphin jumping out of the water. Lana would imagine that she was locked away in
the white tower waiting for a
rescuer to come.
There she could pretend that she was anything other than what she was.
Lana
had always been small for her age. She
was
also
born an albi
no and had the milky-white skin
.
Her hair had been a lighter shade of blonde, b
ut now at the age of seventeen
it had turned completely white. Her eyes were not red as some a
re, hers were silver and grey.
Aside from not being in the sun for too long, she could have lived with all of that. The things she hated most about herself were her webbed fingers and toes. She hid that fact by
never going barefoot in public
and
by
wearing her goth-style clothing that she made herself, including her (black leather) fingerless gloves. The only trade-off she felt she had gained in the gene pool was her heightened sense of hearing. However, that only allowed her to hear the non-ending jokes of her classmates. They had
dubbed her the
Island Vampire
. It was hard enough being a senior at the only school located on the island. There were only forty-seven in her senior class. Looking so different from everyone else made he
r an easy target. Lana couldn’
t wait for graduation, not that she had any plans for a future; she just wanted to not have to be around people so much. In six months, she would be free of school.
“Lana, make sure you take your slicker, it’s gonna be a wet one out
later today,” called her father
Cole Prentis.
“Okay Dad, thanks,” Lana said as she grabbed her rain jacket and headed out the back door.
~~~
As Lana headed to
wards
her locker, she heard the whispers of the other students
up and down the hall
; they thought she couldn’t hear them.
“Someone said that she’s never had a boyfriend
or even been on a date
.”
“I heard that she howls at the moon.” They all giggled.
“
I heard that
late at night,
on a full moon, her dad sits on his dock and talks to ghosts.”
When Lana reached her locker, she found an amateurish drawing of a vampire taped to it.
Really! Can’t you guys get a life and grow up!
She tore it off, wadded it up
and threw it inside the locker slamming the door shut
, t
hen
went
to class.
The only class Lana enjoyed at school was physical edu
cation. It was kind of ironic
be
cause in most of the activities
she had always been excused. The really funny thing was that Lana had lived most of her life on the island and didn’t know how to swim. Her mother had drowned when Lana was three and it so freaked her father out that he never allowed her in the water. What Lana enjoyed most about this class was
the Director
Rose Perry. She was a kind woman in her mid thirties with long dark hair and blue eyes. Lana always liked her. She was so different from any other teacher she ever had. She treated Lana as if she were more of a friend and never brought up her physical challenges. Lana felt she was the only person she could talk to about anything. Her father wasn’t much for talking, especially about Lana’s mother, or Lana’s challenges.
“
Lana, before you go for the day
I was hoping to talk with you,” called Miss Perry as the class was leaving.
“Sure, what’s up?” Lana asked.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to know if you thought any about what you might do after graduation.”
Lana shrugged her shoulders and said, “Don’t know.”
“Have you ever thought about going to college? You know, you are a pretty bright kid,” s
ai
d Miss Perry
with a smile
.
“I don’t think I could ever do that. It’s been hard enough just getting through school here,” said Lana timidly.
“Well, think about it. Sometimes we just need to take a risk in life. Which reminds me, how would you like to do something brave to end your senior year? How would you like to learn how to swim?”
“Wow, I don’t know about that one. My dad gets pretty freaked out about me and water
.
”
“Well, I was thinking that I could give you private lessons after school in the pool here,” s
ai
d Miss Perry, ignoring what Lana had said about her father.
“You know, I really would like to do something brave. I don’t think my dad would mind if it was in a pool; although I wo
uldn’t want to tell him. I’
d just like to surprise him one day,” said Lana somewhat excited by the idea.
Miss Perry patted Lana on the back and said, “Good, how about we start tomorrow?”
“Yeah, that sounds great. I can let my dad know I’ll be late.”
~~~
It was hard for Lana to lie to her father, but she knew she couldn’t tell him that she was taking swimming lessons. Instead, she told him that she started a new study group that was going to meet each day after school. He was so glad that she was finally making friends that he encouraged her.
The next morning, Lana packed the only swimsuit she owned. It was a faded
black and white
one piece that she had for the past three years. She hadn’t really worn it that much and was glad that it still fit, although she wasn’t sure she liked being the smallest girl in her senior class. Lana got dressed and put on he
r thick eyeliner, dark lipstick
and then her dark sunglasses and started to head out the door.
“Lana, I’m glad you like to make your own clothes and all, but do you think you could ever wear another color besides black?” her dad called out from behind his morning paper.
“Bye Dad, love you too
.
”
Lana smiled and swung her book bag over her shoulder and went out the back door.
It was hard to get through the full days schedule. She could hardly believe that she was so jazzed about learning to swim. You’d think it would terrify her (most things did), but it didn’t. She wondered
;
will I
be ab
le to swim in the ocean one day?
Lana had always wanted to. She decided that she better just take one day at a time.
Miss Perry saw Lana come out in her suit and asked, “Are you nervous?”
“Yeah, a little
.
”
Lana gave a slight smile.
“Well, before we begin, I’m not going to let you get in my pool like that,” said Miss Perry with raised brows and she handed Lana a box of wipes.
“What do you mean?” Lana asked confused.
“Miss Lana Prentis, I won’t have you wearing all that make-up in my pool. You’l
l turn the water black
.
”
Miss Perry
grinned with raised brows
, “And don’t forget to remove your brow ring, jewelry is not allowed in the pool.”
“Oh, sorry,” Lana said taking the wipes with her to
the changing room.
Wow, this is
gonna be rougher than I thought
.
Lana
quickly removed her make-up and
brow ring. Then
s
he
returned to the pool.
“Now that’s better. I always knew there was a pretty girl under all that goop
.
” Miss Perry
said with a smile
.
Lana felt like bolting and forgetting the whole thing, but what Miss Perry had said about her doing one brave thing before she graduated kept her nerve.
It felt so good to be in the pool. She couldn’t believe how comfortable she was with Miss Perry. Lana didn’t even catch her looking once at her fingers or her toes. Miss Perry kept focused on Lana’s face and giving her instructions. It was easier than she thought it would be. In no time, she was dog paddling and then really swimming. It was like she had always done it.
“Wow Lana, you’re my best student. Who knew you could swim so well?” Miss Perry said amazed at how quickly she was getting it.
“I know I didn’t,” laughed Lana. She got so brave that she began to swim even faster and went from one end of the pool to the other without Miss Perry.
“I do believe that you could be an Olympic swimmer, if you put in the practice.”
“Now I think you’re going too far,” said Lana with a half grin.
“Lana, I’m not kidding, I think that your unique hands and feet give you an advantage that we others don’t have,” said Miss Perry sincerely.
“Cool, you mean I might actually be good for something?” Lana laughed once more, but inside she felt a sense of pr
ide for the first time.
How I’ve wasted these years, I could’ve
enjoyed it soo
ner. Maybe not,
I wasn’t
brave enough to try before. Maybe this was the perfect
time after all
. Lana knew that she would continue with the lessons and would swim in the ocean one day, no matter what her father said about it.