An adaptation from the fairy tale The Little Mermaid.
The tunnel seems endless. Historia wishes so. She looks up, gazing through the glass ceiling. Dappled sunlight filters through the pool of water, playing on the surface of the grotto-like entrance. She then closes her eyes, as if the ceiling would disappear in the next second and she’d be immersed into this deep blue Kaleidoscope, the sea of tenderness.
Sometimes she really hopes she could become a fish.
Standing in front of this gigantic piece of transparent acrylic glass, Historia recalls the first page of her sketchbook, a quick pencil contour of the largest whale shark that used to be swimming tirelessly in this tank of water. She calls that night, the blooming fireworks in the sky.
“How are you, Ymir?” She mumbles, at this glass window that has long been empty.
Part I
“So, tell me more! What is the ocean like? How big is it? Is it even bigger than this aquarium?” Ymir asked her cousins almost over a hundred times. Ymir was the youngest, yet largest whale shark born in this inland aquarium. “I can’t describe it to you as it is so big that you don’t believe in the existence of the border! You must swim in there and you will understand.” Ymir sighed, thinking, if I’ve been in there I would’ve not come and ask you. Ymir swam away, but the Scallop Grandma called her up, “Ymir, do you want to see the ocean?”
“Yes, but I probably won’t be able to since I don’t know how long I have to stay here.”
“Well, if you become a person, you can get out of this tank and go see the sea. Stop doing that face, my sweetheart, I know this sounds impossible, but I have a plan.” The Scallop Grandma then opened her shells and took out the glittering pearl, “I had this pearl ready just yesterday. It only forms once in a hundred year, and it has a magic of turning a marine animal into a human being.”
Ymir stared at the pearl open-eyed.
“But you have to promise me that after you get to see the ocean, you must come back there, into this glass tank, your original birthplace, before the sunset of that day, otherwise this magic will erase all your memory, as well as the memories about you of all your marine family and friends. You will be forgotten by all of us, returning to be a whale shark again, and staying in the sea forever.” The Scallop Grandma looked at Ymir, “Do you still want to eat it?”
After a long silence, Ymir nodded.
The next morning, Ymir woke up in front of a glass wall, so familiar at first glance but she soon found herself lying on the visitor bench outside of her giant tank. She slowly got up on her elbows, stretched and yawned. What a strange but interesting feeling, thought Ymir, studying her hands and feet carefully. She heard some voices getting closer — the aquarium opened, and visitors were coming in. A girl first came close to the giant tank, holding a pencil bag and a sketchbook that somehow looked larger than her. She seemed to be looking for something in the water.
“So weird. Where has that whale shark gone?” The girl mumbled while flipping through her artwork pages. Ymir stood aside, surprised to catch that the pages were full of drawings of her as a whale shark. “Maybe it went into a human body.” The girl heard Ymir and turned to her, “You mean a person ate it?” Ymir didn’t find a proper word to respond. An unexpected giggle escaped from the tiny girl, “You’re so funny!”
The girl truly had a radiant smile. “I am Historia. What’s your name?” “I’m Ymir…” She was tall, and Historia noticed the freckles first — many of them, spread over olive skin like stars in the night sky. A singular finger could trace her freckles as they travelled across the bridge of her nose. Short dark hair. Curtain bangs were long and symmetrical and were stuck to her face. Historia couldn’t resist the urge to keep looking at her.
“Why were you looking for the whale shark?” asked Ymir. Historia flipped back to her drawings, showing them page by page, “Because I like drawing it. I’m especially drawn to the markings on its back — they are so unique and beautiful,” she then smiled, “Do you know? People in Madagascar call whale sharks ‘Marokintana’. It means ‘many stars’. I guess they are referring to whale shark’s spots.”
Ymir didn’t know where Madagascar was. “Actually, I am…” The Marokintana… Ymir looked at Historia’s smiley eyes, as if she could see the clearest ocean in them. She dumbed the words in her mouth.
Historia waited for her to complete the sentence. ”…Your art is beautiful,” seeing Historia’s bright face, Ymir continued, “I want to learn how to draw. Can you teach me?” I’m such a bad liar, Ymir thought, but at least there is a person who I can follow and go out to the sea with.
Part II
Since then, Historia had taken Ymir to different places to sketch and draw. Every day after school, Historia would meet Ymir at the bus stop and they’d travel around the city. They’d been to the local art gallery, where the exhibitions included artwork ranging from still-life paintings to animal sculptures. On weekends, with Historia’s friends, they would travel to the countryside where the finest view could be depicted down by an artist’s brushstroke.
What had been intriguing to Historia was that she spotted that Ymir, a girl so much taller than her, was no different from a child who had just left her parents and began a new life in kindergarten. Inquisitive about almost anything, Ymir could easily be absorbed in gazing at a flying bird, a floating cloud, a sleeping cat, or a drawing hand of Historia’s.
“Ymir, where is your home? You never mentioned it.” Historia once asked when she was riding bikes on the mountain road with Ymir at the backseat.
“A place full of shades of blue.” Looked out over the graceful lines of greenish valley, Ymir answered.
They got to the top of the hill. Far off to the west, the sun was sinking and the prairie down below was glistening. Historia pointed towards the far side of the prairie, “If we travel all the way across this land, we’ll get to the sea.” She cracked a smile towards Ymir, leaning her cheek against Ymir’s shoulder, “Summer holiday begins next week, shall we go?” The afterglow, combined with the wan twilight, glided Historia’s blonde hair, so bright that shined through Ymir’s heart.
After a long silence, Ymir nodded. Hearing the crackling fire outside of their tent, she was wide awake that night, tossing and turning.
Part III
Ymir tried to pick up objects she’d seen in human world to describe the exact feeling of summer but she gave up. There’s nothing quite like the smell of summer. It is the combination of many things, sparkling salt water, fresh soil, or citrus. How about colors? She then tried to recall the different tones of color Historia mentioned. Turquoise, butterscotch, marigold, navy, indigo, juniper…
“Ymir, you zoned out again.” Historia patted Ymir’s back, “We are getting off the car here.” Ymir followed Historia on the paved road to the beachside, holding two pairs of sandals. People here love walking barefoot in summer, Ymir could not figure out why, they don’t mind the stones that would inevitably hurt their feet. She tried to shift her focus away from the pain of walking on such gravelly track.
The flowers of sea lavenders still mauve close to the shoreland, the bright green leaves were all left behind as the soil gave way to finer sand. They walked faster, the shade of the woods lessening, the cool green opening up into a warm brightness.
This was what Ymir had long been yearning for. Glimmering and tranquil, the blue silk stretched to the distant horizon.
Children played on the sand, building castles and collecting shells. Historia took out her sunscreen, smearing on both herself and Ymir. She started running along the coastline, “Ymir! Do you feel the fresh air!” Their hair was dancing in the breeze. They ran into the water, feeling the sand squishing slowly through their toes, as if they were sinking down together towards the magnetic center of the planet. Ymir found herself in love with all this.
“The tide is rising soon, don’t go too far from the coast!” Historia sat down on the beach and shouted to Ymir, who was swimming in the deeper water. The air was getting cooler, and the sun was slowly approaching the horizon. Ymir looked up to the sky from below the sea surface, realizing that it was getting darker outside and she quickly got up. Historia tidied up her bag, “There will be a firework show when the night falls. Let’s grab some food and come back!”
Ymir tried not to look at Historia’s face which was full of excitement. At this moment, the Sun gave the horizon a tender kiss and sank fully. She knew that this was the last evening that she ever would spend with Historia, for whom she had been lying to all the time, for whom she had learned the colorful world from, while she knew nothing of all these things.
“Why are you standing there, Ymir?” Historia’s voice made Ymir’s heart suffer even far greater pain. “Historia. Thank you for everything.” She didn’t look back to her, kept saying, “Sorry, I’m not human but the whale shark you always drew in the aquarium.”
“The day you found me disappeared was the day human Ymir met you.” The magic, the pearl, and everything else she had experienced before living a human life, before meeting Historia. Ymir poured them out. She knew that it was the last night that she would breathe the same air, or look at the star fields, the fireworks with the girl standing right next to her. She knew that a lonely night, without dreams and thoughts, awaited her. “But it’s my decision, please don’t feel bad! I honestly hate the aquarium.” Seeing the blank face of Historia, Ymir panicked.
“Ymir.”
“Yes?”
“Your freckles are as gorgeous as those stars on your back.”