Beautiful Esmeralda loved her life swimming in the deep blue sea. She believed her luminous green tail was the most beautiful of all the Sirens, only she didn’t like them to feel inadequate. Esmeralda liked swimming with Cecily the green turtle as her shell was as lovely as a Siren’s tail. When it came to diving down deep,  Morgan the humpback whale, was the best choice, but what Esmeralda wanted most was someone to love all her own.

Esmeralda lay in the hull of a sunken craft and watched the boats sail overhead and she even swam in close to the beaches to see the people float on their rafts. She liked watching the small hammerhead sharks swimming in and around all the dangling toes. Just once she would like to give one of those pink toes a nibble to see how fast the humans would swim to the shallow waters of the sandy beach.  However, what Esmeralda really hungered for was a companion to have all to herself.  She looked endlessly for that someone special that would be all hers, someone who could see her and not be afraid.

The years went by and Morgan grew to be an older whale with a few grey whiskers on his chin and even Cecily was showing her years at sea. Her flippers were cracked and torn while Esmeralda’s tail was just as shinny and beautiful as it was five hundred years ago when the wooden ships crossed the seas. Now the metal sailing ships were like floating cities and Esmeralda was shy about revealing herself to a whole fleet of sailors, when she really just wanted one very special sailor.

It seemed to be the bane of her existence not to have a forever friend or even a mate. Cecily had had many partners over the past fifty years why couldn’t Esmeralda find just one? Beautiful day after stormy day and even the changes in the weather would not entertain her, would not engage her. Esmeralda went to the closest beach and thought of chucking it all, you know going two-legs, but just as she was ready to quit the life of a Siren she saw a little boat sail out where none of the other boats would go. Esmeralda did not know who was sailing, but he was her kind of sailor; fearless.

Esmeralda watched from beneath the surface as the sailor dove down deep. He swam to the sunken shell of a boat where she kept her collection of things she cherished. He pushed open the chest that held gold coins and jewelry and he filled a very large sack until it bulged. He then tried to stuff what he could into his pockets. He was running out of wind and his cheeks once full and round with air were now flat against his skull. He tried to swim up with his haul but he was unable to do so.

Esmeralda swam up to him and she shook her finger at him. She said clearly in her own language, “You should decide what the most important treasure is: air and life or gold and death?” 

He chose poorly. Now Esmeralda has a sailor to love. She keeps him safe in the chest with the gold coins and treasure at the bottom of the sea.

Happy Halloween

Original Image created on canvas with Holbein’s Aqua Duo Oil Paint