Art by me
Meredith and the Seaweed
Meredith, the mermaid, loved the waves more than anything. She adored surfing; it was such fun. Such freedom. But Meredith came from a long line of warriors. Her foremothers had fought in the great battle of Atlantis before it was buried beneath the seafloor after the volcanic eruption of Mount Atlanta. So, she had to attend tedious fitness and strategy classes, which she hated. Being the siren that she was, she often sang mournful songs about love, loss and heroism. Her voice was melodic, sweet and clear.
Whenever Meredith sang the entire ecosystem would join in and back her up, providing glorious harmonies that rang out near and far. The dolphins would bellow and roll, flying fish would, well, they would fly, the porpoise would sway, the jellyfish would light up and wobble and the seaweed would dance, it was a sight, indeed, to behold.
One fateful day while the sea was singing to Meredith’s song, a ship drifted by without a sail. Of course, it was closely followed by a pirate ship flying a magnificent sail bearing the mark of the dreaded cross and bones. The sea fell silent as they watched expectantly. Drama was about to unfold.
Pirates lay down planks in one great clunk, and shimmied across them onto the rudderless ship. Later, Meredith couldn’t remember exactly when she saw them, but at least we know that she did. A family of three(obviously there was a waif of a child among them), clutched and begged on the ship’s deck, surrounded by pirates with wickedness in their eyes and nefarious intent.
Quick, as look-at-you, Meredith began to sing. Flying fish flung themselves at pirate heads, dolphins rocked the boat, sardines flooded around and under the boat, while the whales crashed into the pirate planks leaving no room to escape. But it was the seaweed that saved the day. Meredith’s dancing seaweed, she conjured it like a snake charmer with her siren’s voice...the seaweed rose, in a massive writhing tsunami, completely encircling and capturing each and every pirate on the deck.
The porpoise carried the tiny family to the empty pirate ship.
Naturally, they told tales of Kraken, mermaids and seaweed when they eventually made it to dry land. The tales became legend, but obviously nobody believed them.
As for Meredith, she was just ever so grateful that she’d been trained in sea strategy, else the outcome might have been quite different. She sang and she surfed, but she’d learnt to pay attention to her lessons.
Please sign the petition against Shell Oil bombing the oceans off the cost of South Africa in their search for oil. The oceans will sing NO MORE. THEIR EFFORTS WILL KILL ALL OUR OCEAN’S CREATURES FOR MILES AND MILES INTO THE OCEAN
https://www.change.org/p/shearwater-geoservices-shearwatergeo-and-shell-stop-blasting-the-wild-coast-our-voices-can-make-a-difference-and-put-an-end-to-shell-blasting-in-the-wild-coast/u/29967935?cs_tk=AsXAwHDzKCWTQOBPxGEAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvISGEc35OKysFwqNJLaUx0I%3D&utm_campaign=a23e75072f5a42d29f54361069aaf168&utm_content=initial_v0_5_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs