Ice Tears

Prince Gerald was not the best looking. Not born with muscles, not tall or flashy. He even had a rather pronounced bottom lip. He was I guess…average. But of course being a prince, he was above average by the mere fact of being a prince. Prince Gerald lived in summer. Everything he could want was provided on the trees, the lawn, the very air he breathed. He only had to take a lungful of air, wander out amongst the ginkgo trees, and exhale for his morning.  One birthday he was presented with the usual tiresome party with clowns, champagne, towers of balloons, and an…. ice sculpture. Not just made of ice, the usual chisel and chain saw marks were missing. She was a mermaid, reaching the sky, on a bed of seashells. Her breasts were small and up pointed, she had a little belly that ended just short of where her tail started and her bellybutton contained a red diamond. And what a tail. Magnificent emerald green, tiny scales, obscuring her feet, actually, covering everything. She had long combed hair that the light danced on. Her hair covered her chest, wrapped around her waist, and secured soft seating from the seashells. Seashells can be sharp, and quite  uncomfortable to sit on. Problem was, if she adjusted her position, it would pull on her hair and that hurt her head. Therefore, she remained still. Better to not move and avoid a bottom and headache.

A word about mermaid anatomy. If not for her feminine features, you really couldn’t tell her from a fish. Mermaids are asexual. They reproduce on their own. There is no thing, as “mermen”. They cascade hundreds of babies, live, not eggs, knowing that only one or two will survive the fish who gobble them up every season. Mermaids start out very small. So small called by air breathers as fry. Fishermen never see them because they are so small. They simply swim out of the gaps in fishermen’s nets. When they are older their scales get sharper, sort of like a serrated steak knife, to escape the deadly nets. It’s why fishermen blame torn nets on so many things. Mermaids never get older than 22. Even though their life expectancy is 126 and most live at least that long, Mermaids don’t age.

However in this case, the mermaid traveled just a few degrees north on the globe, of where she should have been. She was encased in a huge blue iceberg and was incased, no, became part of it, she became ice. Gerald instantly saw this fantastic woman/fish and fell in love. I’m not talking puppy love, No. Not to get in your pants kind of love…or in her case, into her scales…I mean he fell in love. Real love. Enamored, starry-eyed love. He saw the ice mermaid and everything was wiped from his mind. It really wasn’t her fault she was so trapped. An iceberg can happen to anyone! There are a few problems falling in love with a mermaid, even for a prince. Double the problems of one made of his duty of creating an heir. How?  She was made of ice. That could be problematic. Second, she was by definition, part fish. That also, a bit of a problem explaining to the countless dukes, lords, knights, and god knows what else in the kingdom. However, so great was his love he tried to solve this. She wanted to be with him as much as he with her. She gazed down at him and wept that they could never be together. How can a prince make a queen of ice? Try as he might, he couldn’t figure out how his future kingdom would accept a mermaid princes, not alone one made of ice.

But it was not to be. After all, she was ice, and he was a prince. He stole an empty wine glass from a passing waiter, and collected her tears. Oh how she wanted to be with him! Ice-cold tears he collected in the glass.

Forever long into old age, long after he became king, long after he won many lands, long after he proved himself, he cherished the glass that contained the tears of what could have been. His one true love, nothing else could bring her back, she melted long ago in the summer heat. Tears are not shed for no reason.