The Mermaid and The Goddess

The woman before the mermaid was the most ephemerally beautiful person the mermaid had ever seen. Hair as white as the moon, dressed in silks of white and gold, and a matching sheer veil. A faint glow seemed to wrap around her whole body and the mermaid couldn’t keep her eye away. This goddess watched her with a soft smile, visible even through the veil, and began her walk towards her. Had she heard her wish to be human?

This goddess was on the shore, a few dozen feet away from the mermaid that tread the surface. Even with water between them, the goddess kept walking. With each step she took, her bare feet graced the surface of the water like a spider that couldn’t break the surface tension. She didn’t sink at all. In fact, lily pads grew and bloomed up under her feet before she could touch the water. They didn’t sink, and her feet never got wet. Her dress tail gently dragged behind her across the surface of the water.

When the goddess reached the mermaid, she crouched down on her toes, and held out her hand to take. The mermaid was smitten. No way could she refuse her hand. So she took it. Her hands folded into the goddess’. Her hands were as smooth as expected. Before she knew it, the mermaid had not only left the water, but by the goddess’ hand, was floating above it. Not even the fins on her tail touched the water.

The goddess raised her hand which held the mermaid’s hand. Did she… want her to twirl? The mermaid angled her arm, and with a bit of initial difficulty in moving in the open air, began to slowly twirl. As she did, she could feel the rest of the water drip down and off her body. As it dried, first she felt her scales fall off the same way as the water. First around the hip, then traveling further down. What was left was smooth skin, and soon, she could feel something like two tails, except completely different.

The mermaid looked down. She tried extending one leg in front of her a bit. Hard at first. She could only move her ankle. Two tails that move independently of each other. What a completely different feeling. The goddess adjusted her body, and moved to her side. They were both now facing the shore. She took a small step forward, turned to her once again with a small smile on her face, and nodded to the lily she had used as steps on her way over. As graceful as ever. The mermaid sighed in the goddess’ beauty as she momentarily forgot what she wanted her to do.

The mermaid concentrated first on her right foot, willing it to move as hard as she could. She got her ankle to move, just like before. But she couldn’t figure out how to move the rest of her leg. She turned to the goddess, worry written all over her face. But she didn’t need to know a word, as she knew exactly what was the problem. The goddess first looked down to her leg, which the mermaid followed, and then took another step, slowly this time. First, the top half of the leg was raised, then the bottom half was extended, and finally the foot was placed down.

The mermaid turned back to her own leg. First the top half… then extend the bottom half… aaaaand down she goes. It seems she must have gone a bit too forward, as now her face was rapidly approaching the water below them.

But it never met.

Her arm yanked but when she looked to the goddess she was still in the same, graceful and beautiful position as before. Not even her arm had changed to accommodate her accidental descent. She took another step forward, and helped her right herself. The mermaid muttered a thanks. How embarrassing! She tripped in front of the goddess!

With help from the goddess, the mermaid made it to the shore through much trial and error. Though, not with as much ephemeral grace and beauty as the goddess did. The dirt was moist, nothing like the dirt under the water. She was busy digging her toes in the muddy earth when the goddess took her hand again.

She froze, and watched as her hand was raised and the goddess gave it a kiss. Her whole body heated up in embarrassment but it didn’t stop there. Her hand dropped and the goddess stepped up close to her. So close, she could almost see her face through the veil. She took her head, and tilted it down. Through the veil, she gave another kiss on her forehead.

When the mermaid looked up, the goddess was gone.