Emma's Castle

The sun is something beautiful and radiant, shining down on us during the long days to light our path and feed the plants. Rain gets a bad rap, but really it’s just as beautiful in its own way.

The smell of the rain is one of my favorites, like mixing mud with bubbles. There’s something both dirty and clean about it. There actually is a name for that smell, you know. It’s called petrichor and it’s that earthy, warm aroma after a lot of rain.

Sometimes I like to just lie in the rain outside the castle gates, spread out like I’m about to form a muddy snow angel on the wet ground. I close my eyes and imagine the drops are each tiny, little waterfalls that turn to rivers on my skin.

“I bet I could float away,” I murmur, picturing the drops grouping together to form a raging river that would sweep me off to the sea. “Or become a mermaid,” I fantasize, imagining my feet joining at the ankles and sprouting gold and turquoise scales.

I’m Esmeralda Marie Meredith Anne the third, Emma for short. I’ve lived in this castle my entire life, but I think each morning I find a new, untouched corner of the land and buildings to explore.

This morning, the sky was a dingy shade of gray and the rain prattled on the stones like a never-ending knocking at my door. Of course, I had to answer.

Some of the water had joined forces, moving in muddy streams around the land. I skipped along in my tightly laced boots. My mother, the Queen, had insisted I wear a cape with a good hood to keep the worst of the drops from my messy mane of waves, but it had quickly fallen to my back. I adored the feeling of the drops nestling in my curls.

I followed the water, watching as it curled and swirled, making its own path in the land with little care for others’ opinions.

Ships of leaves and twigs trudged along in its wake, simply accepting they were not in charge of their destination.

Before I knew it, I was standing before the shallow river that wound through the woods to the east of my home. The trickling puddles I’d followed dripped into the flowing water of the creek.

The rain had slowed to a sprinkle, like spit from the sky, so I set my cloak aside on a nearby rock and unlaced my tight boots. In the direct sunlight, it was quite warm and it peeked though the arching branches to dance on my skin.

My toes squished into the mud at the edge of the water, sludge oozing up between them. It was oddly satisfying the way it stuck to me like slime.

I took a few more little steps, balancing on the tiny stones at the edge of the water.

“Just a dip,” I said, easing my toes into the running water. “Oh!” I called out, becoming accustomed to the coolness.

For a moment, I sat on the rocks and wiggled my feet in the water.

“Hello fishie,” I sing-songed, my feet following him down the stream.

Watching him swim so freely was the sign I needed. I unlaced and tossed my heavy dress aside until I was just in my navy tights and red under dress.

I slid the rest of the way into the water smoothly, shocking my fishie friend away. The water covered me like a blanket and I felt at home.

“I am a mermaid,” I bubbled, floating in the water after the fish. I felt my entire body shift. First came my feet, joining together. The sensation moved up my legs, tying them as one giant fin to move me about the water. A slit formed on each side of my neck: my gills so I could breathe under the sloshing waves.

I swam and swam, losing sight of all things human, catching glimpses of magical sea homes beneath the surface, picturing the shore melting away and my entire world becoming the water that had enveloped me.

Eventually, I became hungry, my growling belly shouting to be heard over the current. Although I imagined mermaids dined on seaweed and stone soup, the idea didn’t sit well in my very human stomach.

I surfaced, pulling myself back to the weathered rocks at the edge of my mermaid home and clambered up them.

I tossed my dress and cloak over my shoulders and clamped my boots in my hand, already knowing I’d have to sneak past my mother to avoid a talking to.

Today had been an adventure, an amazing one. I had made friends with a fish and become a mermaid of the river.

Tomorrow, another adventure would call, and I, Esmeralda Marie Meredith Anne the third, would answer.