A Mermaid’s Wish (4 page)
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Taem leaned on her trident and flicked her tail.
Can you believe it has been five years?
Yes. Tolyi just turned four, so five years sounds right.
Sardu swam up next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist just as he had every day for the last five years.
How is the new construction coming? I hear there is a new wave of colonists eager to try their hand at roughing it.
He laughed in her mind and stroked the brilliant ruby scales of her hip. Her colouring had changed; it was simply brighter. The muted tones of brown that had been part of her camouflage were gone. The locals nicknamed her
Blood of the Ocean,
and as primary defender of the colony, she earned that name in many ways.
The construction is proceeding quickly. The mining and grafting systems that we put in place are making quick work of the new structures. The school should be up by the end of the week.
Taem sighed and leaned against her husband. Five years and two children later, they were finally settling in and forging a new society. It felt good to have a fresh start. It felt even better that her parents’ names were on the incoming colonists list. She wondered how her mother would take to the twice-weekly hunting classes that Taem taught.
Timea-sah decided that two little grandchildren could not be out of her reach, and since her other daughters were not having any offspring because it would ruin their appearance, she was willing to follow the next generation.
Taem had forgiven her mother once she had her own daughter. She wanted nothing but the best for little Tolyi, and if that meant nagging her to eat her vegetables and putting up with tantrums, she would do it. Being a mother meant forgiving the little things, and considering that Taem was now married with children of her own, the past was a little enough thing to forgive.
She had gotten her wish, after all. Nothing else mattered.
Sci-fi and mermaids never seems to feel right, so I had this batch preparing for another world. Yes, I skipped over how they managed space flight, but that is a little thing in the scheme of a mermaid tale.
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.