everyone knows the tale
of the beautiful girl

that once failed.

her red silky hair
a shade away from mine
her mesmerising eyes
the spitting image of mine
her dazzling smile
people said I had one just like.

everyone knows the tale
of how my mother ran away,
to find another man
left the crowned king
to find another man,

one less fishy
and more human
than my father ever was.

"don't ever fall for a man,"
my father would tell me
his heart broken
from the betrayal he'd once seen.

and I kept those words
close to my heart
as the merfolk around me
looked with pity

at the little mermaid
that looked oh so much like her mother.

and I promised myself,
never to be like that traitor
like the mother I once knew,
and heed my father's words till the end of time.

and oh I did.

for that day,
on that little rock
by the beach
with the wind in my hair,
as my heart thumped furiously,

i had not met any man.

no, I had met the love of my life

my destiny.

and it wasn't a man,
for God knew I was one to
heed my father's words,
and to keep my vows
to never become
a traitor like my mother was.

not a man,

but a gorgeous woman.

• • •

my entry for the "Rewind In The Classics" contest 2021 held by WattpadShortStory :)