Mermaid Pirate Dispatch

“Where did they go?” Peter stared into the distance as though lost in thought while Bret whipped around frantically, breathing heavily.

“What just happened?” he asked, eyes wide with terror. “What happened to all the trees?”

“Slow down,” Peter said calmly. “You’ll give yourself whiplash. I need to think.” A long way off in the flat, open expanse stood a lone cabin that had been hidden from view before.

“Oh look!” Bret exclaimed. “A house!”

Peter rolled his eyes as Bret started toward the run down structure. Getting to his feet he groaned and pulled the spell book up with him, tucking it under his arm. He ran through the spell again in his mind. Surely he had mispronounced an essential word in the incantation. Clearly something had gone wrong. The spell had nothing to do with trees. It was supposed to be… “Bret!” he called out sharply. “Stop!”

But it was too late. Brett was already waltzing inside the house. Peter rolled his eyes so hard it hurt while his heart thumped furiously in his tight chest. For all he knew that house was some cursed side-effect of the spell, a trap to punish incompetent magicians. But from inside he heard his friend’s voice call out faintly, “hey Peter, come here!”

Peter slowly made his way through the doorway, letting his eyes adjust to the dark indoor space after the treeless forest had let the full power of the sun’s harsh light assault them. The book under his arm felt heavy and forbidden. He wished he’d just left it where he’d found it. He wished he’d never opened the cover or turned the pages.

“Look!” Bret whispered, pointing to the far wall inside the cozy hut. It was cool and still inside, a minimalist living space with a pot hanging over long-dead embers in the fireplace and sparsely arranged furniture. A table, two chairs, a trunk, and a bed. Bret thrust his pointing hand at the bed again and Peter looked.

There, fast asleep on the bed, lay the most beautiful maiden he’d ever seen. She had long, golden hair and a gentle, soft face. Her velvety lips pouted quietly while she took long, steady breaths through an adorable button nose. She was tightly tucked in under a quilted blanket and lying on her side, a sweet bundle of soft warmth that melted Peter’s heart instantly. He wanted to climb into the bed with her and wrap his arms around her, but he restrained himself against the urgings of his lovestruck heart.

“Maybe the spell worked after all!” Bret breathed, grinning widely. “She sure is pretty! Isn’t this exactly the kind of girl you’ve been dreaming of buddy?”

Peter’s heart jumped. Could his friend be right? He pulled the spell book out from under his arm and flipped it open, quickly turning to the love spell he’d been attempting earlier. His eyes darted rapidly along each line, searching for any indication that it could possibly conjure his dream girl, or, for that matter, cause all of the trees to vanish.

“I don’t know,” he muttered, tracing his finger along a particularly long line and recalling how he had stuttered his way through it. “I doubt it though,” he said, quickly glancing up at the sleeping girl. He gasped when she stirred, staring at his friend with wide eyes. “I think we should go,” he said. But as he said it the maiden’s eyes flittered opened and he gawked, frozen in place while her beautiful, sleepy eyes focused on him and bulged with terror.

Without a peep she scrambled back against the wall and sat up, fishing erratically around under the covers before quickly producing a small knife and brandishing it defensively. With a soft, angelic voice she said firmly, “don’t come any closer,” her eyes darting back and forth between the two friends.

Peter closed the book and took a few steps back, his eyes locked helplessly on her. She modestly held the blanket against her body with one hand while wielding the knife with the other, jabbing it back and forth between Peter and Bret.

“Hey now,” Bret said cautiously. “We don’t mean any harm.”

“Get out,” she ordered. “Leave now.”

Peter glanced at a nearby window, the harsh sunlight blasting in through thin curtains. The girl’s gaze shot to the window as well and she did a double-take.

“What…” she whispered, staring nervously at the brightly illuminated curtains.

“It’s the trees,” Peter said. “They’re all gone.”

The girl glared at him, then scooted out of bed, still holding the blanket against her body. She kept an eye on the boys but sidestepped to the window and slid the curtains open with the tip of her knife, staring briefly out at the treeless world.

Her eyes shot back to Peter. “What happened?” she demanded. But he was distracted, gazing at the white, lacy night gown that was peeking out from behind the quilt. “What happened to the trees?” she barked again.

Peter shook his head quickly and stuttered, “well, uh, I was trying to cast a spell,” he lifted the large book a little, gesturing out the window with it, “and I think something went wrong.”

She took a step forward, leading with the knife, and pointed at the table. “Put the book on the table and back away,” she instructed. “Let me see. Open it up to the spell you were trying to cast.”

Peter obeyed, flipping the book open to the love spell and setting it down on the table before retreating back several steps.

The girl approached the book cautiously, keeping an eye on the boys who were backed against the opposite wall from the table, both watching her as though they’d never seen a girl in a nightgown before. She looked down at the book, read briefly, then back at the boys. This continued for several moments before she relaxed enough to gaze at the book for gradually longer periods of time. Eventually she was hunched over the book, staring at it intently. Her shoulders relaxed and her grip on the knife loosened.

“And you say all the trees are gone?” she asked.

“Yes,” Peter confirmed. “All of them.”

“And this was your first time attempting this incantation?”

Peter hesitated, glancing sheepishly at his friend. But when the girl shot him a glaring glance over her shoulder he sputtered, “yes, first time.”

She turned back to the book, gears turning in her head. Finally she set the knife down, turned to face the boys, leaned against the table, and smiled. Peter’s heart thumped wildly in his chest at the sight of her grin, but he also felt himself breaking into a cold sweat.

“I think I see what happened,” she announced, chuckling to herself. She peered knowingly at Peter, whose ears grew hot and his cheeks went flush. “Your spell includes the phrase ‘cor fibris’ which means ‘fibers of the heart,’ but you must have pronounced it as a single word, ‘corfibris’ which means heartwood. You were attempting to win a heart, but instead you inadvertently stole all the trees.” Her smile broadened until she snickered, then she put a hand over her mouth and laughed for a moment. Peter was horrified that she was laughing at him, but her laugh was too enchanting for him to care for long.

Bret shuffled nervously. “Can it be fixed?” he asked.

The girl kept her smiling eyes on Peter, snorting a little through her chuckles. She continued to smile while nodding in the affirmative. “It’s easy,” she said, “if you trust me.” She picked up the knife and slowly approached Peter, staring into his eyes without blinking. As she walked she let the blanket drop to the stone floor of the hut. Her thin white nightgown hung gently over a striking, seductive figure. He tried to look but her eyes commanded his gaze. They were a rich blue that pierced deeply into his mind. He could almost feel her freely rummaging about in his memories, going through his thoughts like a librarian hunting through a bookshelf. He hardly even noticed how close she got. Her hot breath danced and played on his cheeks while she held his eyes with hers. Their noses were just an inch apart, her chest brushing lightly against his pounding ribs. “Give me your hand,” she whispered.

He began to lift it but she already had his hand in hers. Her soft fingers felt light and graceful but firm and demanding. She spread his fingers and interwove hers between them until they were locked together. It felt… nice. It was amazing. His heart was throbbing loudly.

“Do you trust me?” she breathed, warmth falling from her soft lips as she inched even closer.

He tried to nod but felt frozen so he whimpered pathetically instead. She smiled and he felt the cold steel of her blade slip between their interlocked hands. It slid along their fingers leaving a burning hot line that threaded their weave with a thin red trail of stinging blood. He gasped in through his nostrils and she tilted her face into his, her velvety lips sliding against his until he was breathlessly melting into her kiss. She squeezed his hand, their warm blood oozing into the cavity created by their palms and gradually dripping out through the cracks. Suddenly she breathed in hard and pulled away, muttering words that his brain grappled with fruitlessly. As she spoke he felt a powerful tug on his heart, as though it were clamped in the grip of an eagle’s powerful talons and being pulled out between his ribs. She spoke one final word through rosy, smiling lips, and winked at Peter before turning and walking back to the table.

The room was silent for a long while. Peter’s chest pounded as he looked down at his bloody hand, the dark edges of a slice across his fingers standing out from beneath the shimmering red liquid. He looked back at the girl, whose thin gown barely concealed her figure when backlit by the brilliant sunlight still streaming in from the window.

The girl set her knife on the table, closed the book, and winked at Peter over her shoulder.

Cautiously, nervously, Bret stuttered, “what did you do to him?”

She turned around and cocked half a smile. “I took the trees back,” she said. Then added, “well technically I took all of him.”

The words landed on Peter’s ears like a gust of wind.

Bret stared. “All of him?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“He’s mine now,” she said flatly. “But that’s what he wanted, right?” She laughed. “Besides, now I can return the trees to the forest.” She looked out the window and blinked. Suddenly the bright window was cast in shadow, pinpoints of light dancing across the curtains as the leaves of the forest canopy swayed in the breeze. A gentle rushing sound could be heard outside as the forest’s many trees leaned into the wind that had been rushing through unimpeded just a second earlier.

“Wait,” Bret said. “You had to take all of Peter in order to get the trees back?”

“No,” she said playfully, walking back over to Peter and putting a warm, gentle hand on his cheek. “I didn’t. But I wanted to, so I did.”

Peter heard the words coming from her mouth but none of their meaning reached his mind. Instead his brain was busy processing an immense, strange feeling that had completely consumed him. He belonged to her. He didn’t know her name, he didn’t know her intentions with him, but he was absolutely certain that he was hers.

“Now,” she said, turning back to the bed. “I’d like to continue my nap.” She sat on the bed and looked at Peter. “Be a darling and grab the quilt on your way over, would you dear?” She looked at Bret. “Leave us. We’re going to nap a little longer.”

Peter walked over and picked up he blanket, his heart full of joy at the small act of service for this woman to whom he belonged.

“But…” Bret began. “But Peter’s my friend, he should come with me.”

“He’s mine now,” the girl said, smiling. She reclined and waited for Peter who climbed into bed behind her and pulled the blanket over their bodies. He rested his head on the pillow and she snuggled back into him while he wrapped his arms around her. Peter had never felt so comfortable in his life.

“But…” Bret continued to protest.

The girl let out a sigh. “You know where to find him if you ever want to visit your friend. But he is where he belongs now. He is mine.” She closed her eyes and purred, scooting back into his embrace once more while Bret reluctantly walked back out into the forest and closed the door behind him.