“This is it, the voyage to the New World!” Miranda sung to herself in a quiet gleeful voice as she sat in the belly of a rickety boat. “Will you hush your lips? We’ll get caught!” older sister Elizabeth said in a hushed tone, huddled up next to her. “You seem to forget that we’re stow-away. If the men see us, we’re good as dead.”
“Right… My apologies.” Miranda said quietly as she grazed her fingertips along the wood of the planks beneath her. “I still do not understand why we need to be kept a secret.” She said under her breath. “Because,” Elizabeth went along to explain, “it’s bad luck for women to travel aboard a ship with men. Now shush, only a few more day’s more travel. We’ve made it this long, it will be foolish to be caught now.”
The younger sister nodded, her full black hair shifting around her. “Now, go to sleep.” Elizabeth said as she leaned her head on the side of the ship and closed her eyes. “I’m not tired.” Miranda thought to herself as she tossed about the floor. After about an hour or so of fruitless attempts of sleeping, she walked about the belly of the cabin. “Well… no one should be awake at this hour… and I am in need of fresh air…” She wondered to herself as she looked up at the hatch which let through small beams of light from the stars above. She slowly climbed the rickety ladder and slowly opened the door. Miranda peered out the small crack she made to make sure there was no one on the deck.
To her delight, no one was. She opened the latch fully and sprang up with joy at the sight of the sea and what it meant. “The New World is upon us! My sister and I shall be free of our debts!” She cheered silently as she peered over the railing. “Is that a woman aboard my vessel?!” A man grunted from behind her. Miranda turned around with wide eyes as she clung onto her dress. “Ay, it is a woman.” The mysterious man said slowly and deeply. “Is it just you? Or are there more?” He asked as he approached her slowly. Miranda didn’t reply, instead she quivered where she stood. “I said,” he continued, “are you the only one?!”
“No! She isn’t alone!” Elizabeth said from behind the man. “Elizabeth…” Miranda breathed out as she saw her sister near the hatch. “I knew you were up here when I awoke and didn’t see you. I knew you wanted to see the ocean.” Elizabeth explained with almost a plea. “No wonder my crew has been perishing left and right!” The captain said with distain. “Because two women have been aboard my ship without my knowledge!” His voice boomed about the deck of the ship, effectively waking up the first mate. “Peter! Bind them!” He ordered as he saw the second in command, to which he followed orders effectively.
Elizabeth fought the ropes as hard as she could, but once she saw the lack of protest within Miranda, she ceased. “I’m…I am sorry.” Miranda said as they were roughly sat down on the floor while the captain and the first mate set up the plank. “If I would have listened to you, this would have not happened.” She continued, tearing up. “No, do not say that.” Elizabeth shook her head and found the courage to fight against the restraints again. “We will get out of this!” She said, knowing that the captain will hear her to which he smirked. “Get the rest of the crew, Pete. They must see this.” He ordered with a bite.
The crew piled onto the deck, wondering why they have been called up at such a late hour. “Men… We have discovered the reason why so many of us have been lost over this past week…” The captain said pacing back and forth, finally roughly pulling Miranda up by her hair. “It is because of these vile creatures! They have plagued us since we left the port!” He explained, to which the rest of the crew booed and yelled profanities towards the sisters. “But tonight, we shall finally get revenge!” He announced as he roughly pushed the younger sister onto the plank. “No! No!” Elizabeth said as crew members held her up. “Kill me instead! Let her live to see the New World!” She pleaded with tears streaming down her face. “If I chose to let either one of you live, then that means I chose either of you over my faithful crew.” He said with bitterness in his voice. “You plagued us with bad luck, you must pay the consequences.”
“Walk the plank!” The voices of the crew rang throughout the midnight air. At first, Miranda refused but the captain shook the plank which made her move. “G-goodbye Elizabeth.” She said softly, seeing the last of her sister before she walked into the sea below. Elizabeth bawled as she was roughly thrown onto the plank. With no hesitation, she jumped into the icy depths below. Elizabeth looked above as she slowly sank to the bottom, closing her eyes as she accepted her fate. After a few minutes she was able to breathe in the salty water. Confused, she looked down at her legs which were binding together to create a fish-like tail. She looked at her arms which were growing green scales and hands which were growing fin-like fingers. “What’s happening?” She muttered to herself as she was seeing herself transform into a mermaid.
“Maybe this happened to her too.” She thought to herself as a grin grew upon her face. After she searched the water for what felt like hours as she got used to her new form, she saw what looked like her sister near a large rock formation that protruded out of the water. “Miranda!” Elizabeth said with glee. Elizabeth swam as fast as she could to her sister but a grin soon grew into a frown as she saw that Miranda did not change into this new form. “M-Miranda?” She stuttered as she approached the body sprawled across the rocks. Once close enough she found that she did not change at all and did not survive the icy waters. Elizabeth bawled as she held her lifeless sister’s body and held it close to her. “I will get vengeance for this, sister.” She vowed silently as her sadness soon turned into rage.
She swam the ocean, searching for the ship that was once a beacon for hope. “It happened to you too?” A voice said from behind her. Elizabeth turned around to be greeted by another mermaid. “You were thrown off a ship too? Because they thought you were bad luck?” The older mermaid said with a comforting voice. “Yeah…I was.” Elizabeth said slowly. “I am not the only one?” She asked as she swam closer to the other mermaid. “No, you’re not.” She laughed and shook her head. “There are more of our kind, here, come with me. My name is Emily.” Emily offered and took her hand to take her to an underground cave where 20 mermaids where chatting and laughing. Elizabeth introduced herself to the others and explained her story just as the rest did when they first were found. “I…just wanted my sister and I to live a good life. And now she’s dead.” She finished and looked down in shame. “We all understand.” Emily said while rubbing her back. “I want to take revenge.” She said as she clenched her fists. “Will everyone help me?” She asked and looked around. “We would like nothing more so.” Emily said with a nod and a smile.
The next night, she found the ship that they were banished from. Elizabeth perched herself to where only her top half was breached from the water and began singing the tune of a siren while the others followed behind. The captain of the vessel walked to the wheel of the ship to hear where they beautiful music was coming from. After he located where the voice was coming from, he steered the ship to where she was. “What’s a beautiful thing like you doing in the middle of the ocean?” he said in a daze, almost as if he was under a spell. Without saying anything, Elizabeth grinned evilly as the mermaids surrounded the ship and began tearing it apart board by board. Before the crew had a chance to fight back, the rest of the mermaids sang the same tune as Elizabeth did and put them in a trance as they all jumped in the water without question. As soon as the captain jumped into the sea, Elizabeth swam over to him and held him up by the collar. “You will pay for what you did to my sister.” She practically growled as she ended his life within moments. Satisfied, she watched as his body sank to the depths of the sea along with the rest of the crew that wrong her and her sister.
