Once upon a time there were two peasants named Harry and Millie. All their lives they had lived together in a village by the sea, and they knew each other very well. They went everywhere together, and anyone who didn't know any better would say they were brother and sister.

One fine day when the sun shone and the ocean breeze was just right, Harry and Millie went outside to stroll on the beach. Millie looked so lovely that day, with dune flowers braided into her dusty red hair and the nip of the breeze making her fair face rosy, that they were only able to walk a short time before Harry stopped. "Millie, I've waited too long to tell you this," he said, taking her hands in his. "I love you, and I wish to marry you."

Millie smiled in a sympathetic way. "Harry, you're a good friend. But I'm afraid I must refuse."

"Why?" Harry asked, taken aback.

"Because we are only very good friends--good friends, but still just friends. If I were to marry, I would want to marry my true love."

Harry became defensive. "And who is that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Millie answered, a dreamy look coming into her eyes. "Perhaps a charming prince will sweep me off my feet and I will live happily ever after."

"A prince?" Harry repeated, offended. He became silent for a moment. "Well," he said, slowly at first. "Maybe I don't wish to marry a peasant."

Millie seemed a bit stunned, but she tried to hide it. "Oh?" she said curiously.

"Yes, maybe I would like to marry someone more exciting, like...like...." He cast his gaze over the waves then had an idea. "Like a mermaid!" he finished confidently.

"You are kidding!" Millie exclaimed, though Harry said nothing more.

Harry's statement proved to be not completely unbelievable. Walking further down the beach in silence, he and Millie stumbled across a shocking sight: a mermaid, sunning on a rock, splashing her tail in the water, and fanning her beautiful face with an enormous sea shell. She smiled at Harry with a hypnotic gaze, and he found himself unable to resist grinning back.

"How do these two young travelers fare on this exquisite day?" she asked in a musical voice.

Millie sensed trouble and wanted to walk away, but Harry answered, "We are well. But what about you? What brings you to the shore?"

"I heard voices from the land world," she almost sang. "Your voices."

"That's very nice," Millie cut in. She tugged on Harry's sleeve and urgently whispered, "Let's go on."

But Harry was entranced. "In the middle of a conversation?" he said incredulously to Millie. Then he spoke again to the mermaid. "What did you hear us say?"

The mermaid smiled more brightly. "I heard that the lady wants to marry a prince, and that you would marry a mermaid." She looked rapt, and Millie became suddenly horrified. "I am no wish-granter, but I can do this." Before Millie could move very far, the mermaid took hold of Harry's wrist and vanished with him under the waves.

Millie was a sorry sight. She stood in the surf, water up to her knees, with salty tears stinging her face. As it happened, an old woman making her way down the beach saw the girl and stopped near her.

"What troubles you, fair miss?" she asked.

"A mermaid has stolen my dear Harry away to the depths of the sea," she said with a sniff. "If he has not drowned he is at least lost forever!"

"I am certain he has not drowned," the old woman assured her. "But it is true that you will have to go to great lengths to retrieve him."

"I will do anything!" Millie exclaimed.

"Then take this shell." The old woman held out a pink conch tied as a necklace, and Millie accepted it, unsure of what it would do. "It will prevent you from drowning while under the water," the old woman explained. "When you wear it around your neck, you will breathe with as much ease as you breathe air now. However, a warning I must give you. The color will fade, and as it does the magic will too. Once the color is gone, the magic will disappear completely, and you will no longer be able to breathe underwater."

Millie nodded her understanding. Wishing her luck, the old woman walked away and seemed to vanish.

Millie hung the shell around her neck and stepped further into the water. She was surprised to discover how easy it was to breathe; it was just like air, or even better. She also found that the conch gave her extra strength to swim through the water and overcome the pull on her to rise to the surface. Before long, she swam deep enough to see the undersea roads of the merpeople between towers of coral and rock. Ahead of her, she could see a city carved out of the towers' materials and decorated with a pearly substance of all colors.

As Millie entered through the wide gates of the city, she could already tell that a great celebration was taking place. Merpeople swam here and there in a flurry of activity, all seeming to converge in one direction. Millie stopped a mermaid and asked her where they were all going. "To the main plaza," the mermaid answered excitedly. "There is a wedding today."

"A wedding? Who?" Millie exclaimed.

"One of our sisters, and a human man! It is so interesting, and I mustn't be late." The mermaid hurried away.

"Harry!" Millie thought. "Oh no!" She swam quickly to where the mermaid had gone.

When Millie entered the main plaza of the city, she saw everything set up for a grand ceremony. And there at the head of it all was Harry, wearing a shell like hers and a dull look in his eyes. She was feverishly trying to think of how she would pull him away with all those merpeople watching when the wedding began. The mermaid whom they had met on the shore arrived, trailing pearls and flowers.

Millie suddenly surged forward, hoping to be able to get to Harry and pull him to the surface before anyone could react. However, she found herself stopped by dozens of hands intent on not allowing her to ruin the proceedings. She struggled to break free, but there were too many to overcome. Growing desperate, she yelled as loudly as possible. "HARRY!"

Harry heard her voice and turned to see where it had come from. Once he spotted Millie, the clouded look vanished from his eyes, and he instantly realized where he was.

"Do you promise to swim in harmony with this mermaid until the sun sets on your last horizon?" the merman standing by him was asking.

Harry blinked his eyes and shook his head. "Do I? No," he said. "No, I...Millie!" He hurried to her.

The shock provided by this scene was just enough for Harry and Millie to swim to the surface without being followed. They emerged onto the shore with no merpeople at their heels and with just a hint of pink left in the shells at their necks.

"Millie," Harry said, "forgive me for allowing myself to be swayed by that creature's spell."

"It is I who deserves forgiveness," she returned.

"Why? What for?"

"For imagining that a prince might be my true love!"

Harry smiled. "Does that mean you will marry me now?"

"I can't think of anyone in the world--land or sea--whom I'd rather have!"

The End