Atlantis Regained
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There was a mermaid unlike any other. Mermaids are sleek long-haired beauties that like to be together, frolic and swim the seven seas. This one had a round, chubby, happy face, which too often was transfigured to long, sagging and sad by the cruel wagging tongues and flapping fins of her sleek cousins. These lovelies of every sailor's dream called her Walrus because of her overbite and lumpy size. They would have nothing to do with her and would not allow her to accompany them when they followed the ships, lest the maritime net her into its dreams and ruin the legend of the beauteous maidens of the sea.
Rather than be sad for the rest of her life, she decided that she was her own best friend and worked on becoming content with herself. She wanted only a secluded cove to live in and rest her fins on a lonely jetty. She scoured the Mediterranean Sea hoping to find the ancient lost city she had heard so much about from her mentor, a giant sea turtle who was supposed to be thousands of years old. Unfortunately so was the great turtle's memory which was fading and his directions were not clear. After years she finally gave up, thinking that the turtle obviously was imagining such a place.
She then toured the seas looking for sunken ships but all she could find were rotting hulls and furniture mangled by clumsy sharks. Then one day, a very clear day, and having crossed the great Atlantic, she found an island above with tall buildings glistening in the sunlight. At night it was even more glorious as the skyline glowed in all color of light. Oh, how she wished she could live on that island! She settled for second best and chose to live under it among its many reefs and piers. Besides, she had learned from the ancient turtle that humans could be crueler than her flapping cousins.
While she swam round the island and took in the splendid sights, high above her on the this island a tall, thin man in a mansion midst tall buildings held a meeting in his office. He stood at the end of a long gleaming table. Sitting at this table were other men all dressed in blue business suits just as he was.
The tall man slammed his brown fist on the shiny surface and growled, "This insult must end! For over seventy-five years we were known as the city with the tallest buildings and now these upstart cities are throwing up taller ones like they were building blocks and erector sets."
A gray-haired city planner who had contributed his expertise to the construction of many of the city skyscrapers and the oldest at the table, cleared his voice in an effort to clip his leader's wings, "Mr. Mayor I warned you about this. There is nothing we can do about it. It is the law of physics. Our tiny island is over-built as it is."
"Poppycock!" stormed back the thin mayor, making it clear to the younger men that the old man was not to be taken seriously. "This is the greatest city in the history of man, and we shall make it even greater!" With a great flourish the mayor rolled out a large blueprint of a building. "Now, this is what I want you to start on immediately─a mile high skyscraper. I call it a space-scraper!" The younger men of the Lego generation─all gathered round the blueprint. They wide-eyed it and then eyed each other with sparkling excitement. All of the young builders but the oldest who was caught between the rigidity of erector-sets and the flexibility of Lego, agreed it could be done and were eager to start the gargantuan project right away. They turned deaf ear to the old city planner's repeated warning that the proposed building would be too heavy.
For years─the ambitious project was nearing its one mile summit─the mermaid continued her tour of the island, never tiring of its many wonders─its bridges, the immense ships in and out of the harbor, the splendid yachts and stately sailboats parading the rivers, the millions of automobiles that crossed the bridges and sped along the edge of the island, and the brilliant lights at night that outshone even the stars. But for the endless traffic of garbage scows, she was happy with her chosen neighborhood; still, she could not overcome her cousins rejection resulting in lasting loneliness and never a night would go by that she didn't dream of living on the island rather than under it.
One evening as the sun sunk behind the skyline, she swam out to greet the large lady in the harbor. How often the pleasant, plump mermaid wished that the lady would speak to her or kneel and swoop her up in her immense arms! Suddenly from behind she felt a massive undercurrent. The great lady above tilted. She thought: Did the lady see her? Was she really going to take her up in her arms? But then the excited mermaid was abruptly propelled through the harbor and way out into the ocean. No matter how much she flipped her fins and paddled her arms she could not fight off the winnowing tidal wave above. She could not understand how a tidal wave could have started from the harbor.
Finally the giant force subsided into the night and she began to swim back to her home. While swimming she looked above for the beacon in the lady's hand. She could not find it: "Could I have been pushed out to sea further than I thought?" Then she looked down into the murky depths. To her surprise and delight the lady was staring up at her! Her great face shining from the light in her arm. "The great lady has chosen to visit me!" she bubbled. "Perhaps to live with me, knowing I could not go to her."
The mermaid in delight sinuated round the lady whose lips she bubbled out a kiss, then swam up to caress one of her cheeks with her chubby hands and wiggle her fins in her ear. Looking up into her great eyes, the mermaid blinked her eyes, hoping the enormous ones would too. But the great lady seemed to just stare up at the stars overhead─stars the lady had never seen before. The mermaid swam up to look directly into her eyes. They twinkled with starlight and the mermaid was satisfied that the lady was looking at her warmly. She swam to sit on the book edge nestled to the lady's breast. Her fat cheeks hollowed from sighing bubbles of thankfulness.
She then gazed up to take in the city lights. The mermaid wondered why they had not lit the tops of the buildings as they always do until she squinted into the night's dark waters and it seemed as though there were no buildings, no piers, no shore. She peered further north—still nothing, but below in the water she saw many lights flickering and seemingly one by one going out.
She left the lady's arm and swam further into the harbor. She flipped sinuously with joy; the entire island had sunk deeply into the harbor, whirling the lady’s tiny island and satellite perch under the surface as well. Her wish came true. She now lived on the island! Wriggling her webbed toes, she bubbled, "My, the wise old turtle was talking not of the distant past but of the future!"
Copyright © 1998 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: January 4, 2004.
Rather than be sad for the rest of her life, she decided that she was her own best friend and worked on becoming content with herself. She wanted only a secluded cove to live in and rest her fins on a lonely jetty. She scoured the Mediterranean Sea hoping to find the ancient lost city she had heard so much about from her mentor, a giant sea turtle who was supposed to be thousands of years old. Unfortunately so was the great turtle's memory which was fading and his directions were not clear. After years she finally gave up, thinking that the turtle obviously was imagining such a place.
She then toured the seas looking for sunken ships but all she could find were rotting hulls and furniture mangled by clumsy sharks. Then one day, a very clear day, and having crossed the great Atlantic, she found an island above with tall buildings glistening in the sunlight. At night it was even more glorious as the skyline glowed in all color of light. Oh, how she wished she could live on that island! She settled for second best and chose to live under it among its many reefs and piers. Besides, she had learned from the ancient turtle that humans could be crueler than her flapping cousins.
While she swam round the island and took in the splendid sights, high above her on the this island a tall, thin man in a mansion midst tall buildings held a meeting in his office. He stood at the end of a long gleaming table. Sitting at this table were other men all dressed in blue business suits just as he was.
The tall man slammed his brown fist on the shiny surface and growled, "This insult must end! For over seventy-five years we were known as the city with the tallest buildings and now these upstart cities are throwing up taller ones like they were building blocks and erector sets."
A gray-haired city planner who had contributed his expertise to the construction of many of the city skyscrapers and the oldest at the table, cleared his voice in an effort to clip his leader's wings, "Mr. Mayor I warned you about this. There is nothing we can do about it. It is the law of physics. Our tiny island is over-built as it is."
"Poppycock!" stormed back the thin mayor, making it clear to the younger men that the old man was not to be taken seriously. "This is the greatest city in the history of man, and we shall make it even greater!" With a great flourish the mayor rolled out a large blueprint of a building. "Now, this is what I want you to start on immediately─a mile high skyscraper. I call it a space-scraper!" The younger men of the Lego generation─all gathered round the blueprint. They wide-eyed it and then eyed each other with sparkling excitement. All of the young builders but the oldest who was caught between the rigidity of erector-sets and the flexibility of Lego, agreed it could be done and were eager to start the gargantuan project right away. They turned deaf ear to the old city planner's repeated warning that the proposed building would be too heavy.
For years─the ambitious project was nearing its one mile summit─the mermaid continued her tour of the island, never tiring of its many wonders─its bridges, the immense ships in and out of the harbor, the splendid yachts and stately sailboats parading the rivers, the millions of automobiles that crossed the bridges and sped along the edge of the island, and the brilliant lights at night that outshone even the stars. But for the endless traffic of garbage scows, she was happy with her chosen neighborhood; still, she could not overcome her cousins rejection resulting in lasting loneliness and never a night would go by that she didn't dream of living on the island rather than under it.
One evening as the sun sunk behind the skyline, she swam out to greet the large lady in the harbor. How often the pleasant, plump mermaid wished that the lady would speak to her or kneel and swoop her up in her immense arms! Suddenly from behind she felt a massive undercurrent. The great lady above tilted. She thought: Did the lady see her? Was she really going to take her up in her arms? But then the excited mermaid was abruptly propelled through the harbor and way out into the ocean. No matter how much she flipped her fins and paddled her arms she could not fight off the winnowing tidal wave above. She could not understand how a tidal wave could have started from the harbor.
Finally the giant force subsided into the night and she began to swim back to her home. While swimming she looked above for the beacon in the lady's hand. She could not find it: "Could I have been pushed out to sea further than I thought?" Then she looked down into the murky depths. To her surprise and delight the lady was staring up at her! Her great face shining from the light in her arm. "The great lady has chosen to visit me!" she bubbled. "Perhaps to live with me, knowing I could not go to her."
The mermaid in delight sinuated round the lady whose lips she bubbled out a kiss, then swam up to caress one of her cheeks with her chubby hands and wiggle her fins in her ear. Looking up into her great eyes, the mermaid blinked her eyes, hoping the enormous ones would too. But the great lady seemed to just stare up at the stars overhead─stars the lady had never seen before. The mermaid swam up to look directly into her eyes. They twinkled with starlight and the mermaid was satisfied that the lady was looking at her warmly. She swam to sit on the book edge nestled to the lady's breast. Her fat cheeks hollowed from sighing bubbles of thankfulness.
She then gazed up to take in the city lights. The mermaid wondered why they had not lit the tops of the buildings as they always do until she squinted into the night's dark waters and it seemed as though there were no buildings, no piers, no shore. She peered further north—still nothing, but below in the water she saw many lights flickering and seemingly one by one going out.
She left the lady's arm and swam further into the harbor. She flipped sinuously with joy; the entire island had sunk deeply into the harbor, whirling the lady’s tiny island and satellite perch under the surface as well. Her wish came true. She now lived on the island! Wriggling her webbed toes, she bubbled, "My, the wise old turtle was talking not of the distant past but of the future!"
Copyright © 1998 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: January 4, 2004.