The Little Mermaid
Fairy Tale Short Stories
A different kind of fairy tale retold
In the depth of the Caribbean Ocean stood a magnificent palace adorned with shells and pearls. There lived the kingdom of the mermaids. Matta, the Sea King’s youngest daughter, is curious and playful. She loves racing with the sharks, riding on the turtle, and diving with the dolphins in her free time. She particularly enjoys investigating sunken ships and hunting for treasures.
While exploring the different parts of the ocean, she will sing along. Her beautiful voice calms the sea waves, while the fishes are drawn to her presence to keep her company. Matta has always been curious about the world outside the sea. Whenever she feels bored, she will sneak up to the ocean surface to look at the beautiful island and activities surrounding them and secretly imagine herself walking on the sandy beach.
One day, Matta was near the sea surface when she heard a group of rowdy sailors on a ship. Matta decided to check out what had happened. As Matta approached the ship, she noticed a sailor laughing with a handsome young man. While watching them, Matta saw the attractive young man wearing what appeared to be a crown on his head. “He must be a prince.” Matta thought to herself.
After some time, the wind grew stronger. The vast wind rocked the ship vigorously. The young man felt queasy and sick from the erratic rocking of the vessel, and he went to the ship’s deck for a breather. Suddenly, the ship made a sharp movement. The young man lost his footing and fell right into the ocean. “The prince fell into the ocean! Somebody save him!” One of the seamen cried. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast, and the sea was choppy. Nobody knew where the prince was.
Matta quickly dives into the sea to search for the prince. Luckily, she was able to find the prince in a short time and swam as fast as she could to the surface. By then, the prince had already lost consciousness. After much effort, Matta ultimately successfully brought the prince to safety on land. She stared at the prince for some time, hoping that the prince would wake up. Matta was unaware the storm had subsided, and it was already morning. When the prince showed no signs of gaining consciousness, she started to sing from the sadness. Her enchanting voice filled the quiet morning, and slowly, the prince began to move.
A group of people heard Matta’s singing and followed the melody. As soon as Matta heard noises of people approaching in her direction, she dashed into the waters and hid behind a rock. “Look, someone is here!” the people spotted the prince and helped him back to safety.
Since that day, Matta kept thinking about the handsome prince and going on land. She yearned to find him to see if he had fully healed. Her grandmother noticed that she was not as cheerful as before. Out of concern, she went to check on her.
“Child, what is the matter? You can talk to me.” Her grandmother asked.
“Grandma, I want to go on land. Please help me fulfil my wishes.” Matta replied. Grandma thought about it and said, “Go to the sea witch. She can help you. But remember, there is a price to pay for what you wish for.”
“I am willing to pay the price,” Matta replied. With that, she searched for the sea witch in the darkest of the sea. After some time, she finally arrived at the path leading to the sea witch’s cave.
“Who has come to disturb my sleep?” The sea witch grunted. “It’s me. I’m Matta. I am here to ask for your help.” Matta said. The sea witch grinned. “I see, the princess of Caribbean Ocean has come to seek my help. How can I help you?” the sea witch chuckled. “I’d like a pair of human legs to walk on land.” Matta continued.
“Why would you want to be human?” The sea witch asked curiously. “I wish to look for a prince.” Matta replied.
“That is easy. But what do I get in return?” The sea witch asks. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do my best to give it to you,” Matta said.
The sea witch pondered for a while. “Give up your voice.” She said.
“On land, you have no use for your voice. Furthermore, if the prince marries you, you will regain your voice. However, if he marries someone else, then you will turn into bubbles and disappear forever.”
Matta hesitated.
“Who knows, you might marry the prince and have everything you want,” the sea witch added, flashing her wide smile.
Matta got excited. “Deal.” She responded.
“Very well.” The sea witch replied, as she drew a glass of luminous blue potion from her bag. “Drink this,” she instructed. Matta took the potion bottle and stared for a moment. “Drink right now. I don’t have all day.” the sea witch went on.
Matta opened the bottle, closed her eyes and drank the potion. Suddenly she felt dizzy and fell to the ground, losing her consciousness. After some time, Matta finally opened her eyes and sat up. She then looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, trying to figure out where she was.
“Sand.” She mumbled as she placed them on her palms and let them slip through the gaps between her fingers. Looking at the falling sand seemed to bring her memory back. She realized what happened in the sea witch’s cave. Quickly, she examined her tail and discovered only human legs! She finally got her wishes granted!
Matta attempted to stand up, but her legs were shaky. She was still getting used to having legs and was falling a few times as she tried to adjust her walking style. “Do you need help?” someone asked. When Matta turned towards the voice, she realized it was the prince! Since that day, the prince had been looking for the girl with the beautiful voice. He had been waiting by the shore to see if this mysterious girl would return to sing.
Matta wanted to talk to the prince, but no words came. She realized she’d lost her voice as part of the deal with the sea witch. She shook her head. “You cannot speak? It’s alright. I will take you to my castle to get some clean clothes.” The prince said kindly. With the help of the prince, she slowly walked to the castle. Matta became a guest in the prince’s palace for the next few days. The prince showed her around the castle and shared the stories he had heard with her. They became good friends and had a wonderful time together.
One day the King announced to the prince, “Son, it is time for you to have a bride. We have selected one for you. She is princess Aurora and will be ideal for you. Tonight, we’ll discuss wedding plans with her parents.” The prince was devastated when he found out. He had always wanted to marry the woman with the lovely voice, who had saved his life.
That night, the princess and her parents arrived. The prince was forced to sit at the table with them. “What a handsome man your son has grown to be. This is my daughter, Aurora. She has prepared a song to sing to your family as a gift.” The princess’s father said.
The prince was taken aback when Princess Aurora began to sing. The voice sounds exactly like the girl he’s been looking for a long time! The prince was delighted because he had finally found the girl, who would become his wife. When the meeting was over, the prince could not contain his happiness and shared it with Matta. Matta was heartbroken. She recalled her agreement with the sea witch. She didn’t expect the sea witch to use her voice on another girl.
The following day at dawn, Matta took a walk by the shore in despair. She missed her family but could no longer return to the deep sea. Sitting by the beach, her sisters suddenly swam up to the surface as they could sense her. Even though she could not talk, her sisters understood what had happened. They wanted to help Matta.
“We will come up with a solution, Matta. Return to the beach tonight.” Her sisters told her.
That night, Matta made her way to the shore. Her sisters came as promised. However, they no longer had their long, lustrous lock. To help Matta, they went to the sea witch and had exchanged their glowing hairs for a magical sea pearl. “Matta, take this magical pearl and give it to Princess Aurora. Once she consume it, she will turn into bubbles and vanish. You will be able to return to your original self and be back with us in the ocean again.” her sisters told her.
Matta took the magical pearl as her sister handled it to her, and left. Deep down, Matta was broken-hearted knowing that her family had done so much for her, yet Matta knew she could not bring herself to hurt another person.
The sea king, who expected Matta to return with her sisters, was enraged when she did not. The sisters had no choice but to tell the king what happened. Upset by his daughter getting hurt, he decided to go to land to check on her.
Meanwhile, the wedding was to take place on the ship. When the sea king came near the sea surface, he saw Princess Aurora and his parents onboard the ship. He knew that kind Matta would not hurt her. However, the sea king had to save his beloved daughter from turning into bubbles. To save Matta, he decided to confront the sea witch.
“Remove the curse from my youngest daughter!” the sea king bellowed as he entered the sea witch’s cave. The sea witch cackled and replied, “The only way to save her from her fate is to give me your sceptre.”
The sea king knew, if the sea witch has his mighty sceptre, she can rule the Caribbean Kingdom and become the most powerful creature in the world.
While the sea king hesitated, the sea witch took the opportunity and used her powers to seize the sceptre. She successfully snatched it and laughed loudly while taking off to the wedding ship to announce her victory. As the sceptre exudes magical powers, tentacles started twisting out from her body, and she transformed into a massive sea Kraken. “I am your king now!” she roared.
The gigantic Kraken caused an immense sea wave that rocked the ship erratically. Everyone on board the vessel screamed for help. Princess Aurora almost fell to the sea from the rocky ship when Matta quickly extended her hands to save her. This angered the sea witch.
“Why does everyone adore you, Matta!” she screamed. In her rage, she grabbed Matta and dragged her off the ship with her tentacles. The sea witch drew Matta close to her face, her mouth wide open while roaring at her. Matta was terrified, but she took a chance and threw the magical pearl into the mouth of the sea witch instead.
“No…..” The sea witch screamed. Slowly, the tentacles transformed into bubbles. Gradually, the body of the Kraken, and finally the sea witch herself became bubbles and vanished. Matta was now free! The sea, however, was still extremely choppy. Matta wanted to calm the ocean without thinking much about her lost voice. She opened her mouth to sing and realised her lovely voice returned, much to her surprise!
“No! I paid for the voice!” Princess Aurora croaked and stomped off. Matta’s voice captivated the prince, and he remembered the exact song he heard when the girl saved him. He understood what had happened.
Just then, the sea king returned with his sceptre. With a wave of his sceptre, the storm was over, and everything calmed down.
The prince approached Matta and said, “I have been searching for you, but all these while you were beside me! Will you marry me?” The prince kneeled and asked Matta. With a big smile, Matta nodded.
The wedding continued on the ship, in the presence of the sea king and the mermaid kingdom, and they lived happily ever after. (You May Like “Mermaid of the Carribean Ocean“)
Fairy Tale Short Stories ~ Let’s Discuss
Discussion About Little Mermaid
- If you were Matta, what will you do with the magic pearl? Will you give it to Princess Aurora?
- Would you exchange your voice for a pair of legs?
- Have you read the original Little Mermaid? Do you know that the Hans Christian Andersen, the original author of the Little Mermaid written in 1837, actually wrote that the prince married another woman and the mermaid turned into bubbles? However, this story was retold again to make it family friendly.
- There is a famous mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is inspired by the story Little Mermaid, who gives up everything to be united with a young, handsome prince on land.
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Cover designed By: StoryDino
Special Thanks To: My two boys for their suggestion on the design 🙂