Once upon a time in a magical land, under the sea there lived a teenage mermaid named Riley. Every day she would always swim through the water, but she wanted to see more. Her father: the king of the merpeople, had made it forbidden to visit the surface world, saying that humans were dangerous. But Riley was to curious not to want to see humans herself. So one night, Riley snuck up to surface and saw a large ship. Riley used her hands to climb up a ladder to poke her head just over the side of the ship to see what was going on. There she saw a large crowd of people wearing elegant fancy clothing. Riley didn't know much of the surface world customs, but knew enough to realize this was a ship of royalty. Then came the moment that changed Riley's life forever. A large man stood up and said, "Announcing Princess Maya."

From a lower deck of the ship, Riley saw a teenage girl step up through a set of stairs and onto the main deck. Riley starred at the beautiful girl as she noticed her eyes were blue like the sky in the day time, her hair was yellow like the sun shining, and her skin seemed soft like a gentle breeze. Riley's heart began to beat faster as she starred at this princess that had appeared before her and felt emotions that were so unfamiliar to her. Then on the ship, a kingly figure stepped up and said, "Now that you have come of age Princess Maya, we now formally introduce you to the world. Not just the world you are familiar with, but the unknown parts of it as well. Now what do you wish to tell your people?" The princess known as Maya smiled and said, "My people. As princess, I will push for our kingdom to continue exploring our great world. But not so that we can conquer what we can find. But so that we can extend a hand of friendship, kindness, and understanding to those we meet. For we should not fear the unknown, but look to understand it."

As Riley listened to Princess Maya speak, she sighed. To Riley, this princess was not cruel like the humans her father had spoken of. This was a kind, gentle, and open minded individual. And Riley also found this princess to be beautiful. The most beautiful person to have ever lived. But then suddenly a storm began to brew. Wind suddenly appeared and began to shake at the boat. Riley heard people screaming to get below deck. But because the winds blew so hard, and the ship rocked so much, several people began to fall over board. And suddenly Riley saw Princess Maya fall from the ship and into the water.

Riley instantly dove after Maya. Even though Riley could swim well, the wind made it hard for her to see. Riley swam over and under the water to find Maya. Finally Riley found Maya falling below the water already passed out. Riley grabbed Maya and pulled her quickly over to a beach. The wind began to die down as Riley laid Maya on the beach. Riley pushed on Maya's chest and turned her on her side to let the water out of her body. Then Riley laid Maya on her back again and sat next to Maya's body looking down at the blonde beauty's face. Riley touched Maya's cheek with her hand as she said, "Don't die this night princess. Please don't."

Suddenly Riley saw Maya slowly open her eyes. Maya didn't fully open them, but her and Riley's eyes did meet. Maya began to see Riley's dark hair come into view, along with her dark eyes, and smooth wet skin. Maya could feel Riley's hand touch her cheek, and realized she liked the feeling of this touch. So Maya reached a hand up and touched Riley's cheek. Riley's face instantly began to turn red as Maya said, "You... you saved me." Suddenly Riley could hear the sound of people far away calling for Princess Maya. Riley then instantly crawled back to the water and then swam away. Seconds later, several royalty looking people appeared nearby seeing Maya. They rushed to her side as one of them said, "Princess Maya. Are you okay? How did you get here?" As Maya began to fully open her eyes, she stood up and said, "I... I was rescued... by the most beautiful girl that's ever come across my two eyes."

Back in the water, Riley swam back towards her home with a big smile on her face. For the first time in her life, Riley was in love. Riley the little mermaid was in love with the human: Princess Maya. What only hurt Riley though was that a mermaid could never romantically be with a human. However for Riley, she had a plan to change that.

TO BE CONTINUED...

*Author's Note - Feel free to leave comments, messages, and suggestions for the story.