Gulls flew smoothly on the cool sea air.
A thick gray fog laid over the churning waters but the wind didn't warn of a storm yet. It blew the fresh cool salty air that filled a massive ships billowing sails as it moved through the sea.
As it crashed through the waves, the song of the sailor's rose up above the noise, their voices coming together as they worked and toiled away on deck.

"I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue
And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho
Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you
In mysterious fathoms below"

A young man dressed in a pair of navy pants, black boots, a red cummerbund, and a white collared V-neck with the sleeves rolled up leaned on the upper rails. His black hair ruffled slightly in the wind as he closed his ice blue eyes, taking in the refreshing smell of the ocean, his shaggy English Sheepdog by his side.
"Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face…a perfect day to be at sea eh Grimsby?"
The dog barked in agreement.
Grimsby - a slender, middle aged man, propped himself up on the other rail to glare at the boy.
"Oh yes…delightful!"
He chuckled as he watched his caretaker and best friend lean over the rail, green again.
"A fine strong wind and a following sea. King Triton must be in a friendly type mood!" said one of the sailors pulling on the rigging.
The boy jumped down to the main deck to help secure the rope.
"King Triton?" His eyes brightened, intrigued by the sailor's story.
"Why, the ruler of the merpeople lass! thought every good sailor knew about him," said another older sailor unloading the fish that were just hauled in from the nets.
Eric leaned down to pet his shaggy dog. He rubbed his ears as Grimsby staggered down the steps having caught hold of his heaving stomach for the moment.
"Merpeople! Eric, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense," he said straightening his tie and fixing his hair.
"But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth! I'm tellin' you!" the older sailor said shaking one of his fish at Grimsby. "Down in the depths o' the ocean they live!"
Grims waved his arms and Eric smiled as they edged closer to the rails. Suddenly the fish slipped out of his hands. Flopping wildly it slapped Grimsby several times in the face before it got itself completely over the edge and back down into the ocean where it breathed a big sigh of relief.
After a moment the fish started off again through the forests of kelp, scaring the colorful plumes of the barnacles.
It ignored them and kept swimming.
It swam for a while with a school of angel fish before turning off. Past the jellyfish, in through the caves, deeper and deeper it swam. Finally, in the dark depths of the ocean sat the shining, amazing city of Atlantica, home of the merpeople.
There was a grand concert that was being held inside the palace tonight and fish and merpeople from all around gathered in King Triton's massive concert hall to see the presentation of his youngest daughter.
The trumpet fish sounded the grand fanfare and the concert was set to begin. A small seahorse with a ruffle entered the hall and cleared his throat.
"Ahem . . . His royal highness, King Triton!"
The crowd cheered as the mer-king entered the hall. A trio of dolphins pulled a large shell carriage and the audience cheered. His crown and trident glinted as he circled around over the people's heads. With one last lap, the dolphins brought him towards the ceiling and his trident began to glow. With a wave he sent a bolt of energy into the chandelier above creating a rain of sparks on the crowd.
"And presenting the distinguished court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignatius Crustaceous Sebastian!" the little seahorse announced with a flourish.
A trumpet sounded and a small shell carriage exited the large doorway from where the king came from. The little red crab smiled and waved at the crowd before almost losing his balance as the two goldfish pulling his shell sped up and lurched. They pulled up next to the king who was smiling and waving, easily in control of his own mounts where Sebastian was not.
"I'm really looking forward to this performance Sebastian."
Sebastian chuckled and waved his claw.
"Oh, Your Majesty, this will be the finest concert I have ever conducted."
The king's carriage came to a rest in the high balcony and Sebastian turned around to continue.
"Your daughters - they will be spectacular!" the fish lurched again causing Sebastian to flip his shell.
Triton chuckled at the crab's efforts trying to crawl back into his shell to continued to the directors podium. "Yes, and especially my little Ariel."
"Yes, yes, she has the most beautiful voice…" he said proceeding to the stand and muttering under his breath, "If only she'd show up for rehearsals once in a while…"
The strings began tuning and the lights dimmed until only a single spotlight shined through the dark onto the little crab. His ride came to a stop and he straightened out his shell, nodding in acknowledgement of the crowd's applause before bending over and pulling out a score book and baton larger than he was.
The room was silent as he trapped the orchestra to gain attention on the stand. He then raised his hands and in a massive down beat the music started. An upbeat tune started and a curtain of bubbles was pulled back to reveal a stage with three large clams set on them.
The clams opened to show two girls in each of the shells who began singing.
"Ah, we are the daughters of Triton. Great father who loves us and named us well."
Triton puffed out his chest in pride over his daughters as they began their solos introducing themselves.
"Aquata,"
"Andrina,"
"Arista,"
"Atina,"
"Adella,"
"Allana."
"And then there is the youngest in her musical début."
A fourth shell rose up and the sisters surrounded it, ready to present the youngest.
"Our seventh little sister, we're presenting her to you."
Sebastian waved his arms grinning back at the king. It was time for the big finale.
"To sing a song Sebastian wrote, her voice is like a bell, She's our sister, Ar-i.."
The shell opened and everybody let out a collective gasp. Sebastian threw his baton in shock and turned around cringing.
Triton was now standing up, his weapon glowing as he angrily shook his head.
"Ariel!"