none of the mer-people wanted to leave their magical home. Most of them never even dared to dream about a different life above the sea.
All except one mermaid, that is. Her name was Sea Plum, and she was the brightest mermaid in all Shilepo. Her cleverness often got her into trouble, as she was inquisitive, bold and sharp-witted. She was always restless, and wanted to have real adventures.
Bored with playing hide-and-seek with her friends, she frequently dreamt about a life outside. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that there must be other places to go. To Sea Plum, the invisible boundaries felt like prison bars.
One day, while she was playing with her big sister Sea Pearl, she decided to run away. Because she was scared, Sea Plum decided to confide in Sea Pearl.
"You know we're told that we can't swim far up the river or sea monsters will eat us, and that will be the end of us?" asked Sea Plum.
"Yes, we all know that," replied Sea Pearl.
"Well, I don't believe that anymore," retorted Sea Plum. "I've seen the King coming back from up-river many times. Sometimes he brings treasures. Last week, I saw him towing a whole ship back, and once he carried a creature with no tail but two legs. He collects gems, gold, jewellery and other precious things from the ships that sail above us. I'm sure of it."
"Questioning the King's rules will only bring us trouble," replied Sea Pearl, as she nervously looked around to see if anyone else was listening. "Anyway, what's so awful about staying here?"
"Oh don't be so boring," scorned Sea Plum. "Come with me. We'll swim up-river while we have the chance. We could go right now and be back in time for lunch."
"We can't go against his orders," said Sea Pearl meekly, "even if the King is lying and we find a all kinds of things, we would be in serious trouble with everyone else."
"I don't care," declared Sea Plum. "I'm going with or without you. I just need to know one way or another what lies outside our kingdom."
With that Sea Plum swam defiantly up-current, leaving Sea Pearl perched on a rock, being a sensible big sister, and wondering what she should do next.
Sea Pearl waited for what seemed like hours, getting more and more worried about Sea Plum's safety. Had she been eaten by sea monsters?
Would she be kidnapped by passing ships? Had she been swallowed up by a storm? She dared not go home, because of course everyone would ask where Sea Plum was. She began plucking uneasily at her scales, counting them to pass the time as she waited.
Suddenly she saw Sea Plum, swimming towards her, glowing with happiness. She grabbed her sister by the hand and breathlessly told her what she had seen.
"I did it! I really did it, Sea Pearl! I went right to the top of the ocean, and I found myself in another world. There are no sea monsters or anything to stop us—the King has lied to us all this time so he can keep his secrets. What a greedy man! Come ON, Sea Pearl. Come and see things that will make your eyes wobble."
She stopped to pause for breath, her green eyes shining brightly amidst the tangle of her flowing mermaid hair. In the midst of the tangles, Sea Pearl spotted something shimmering and glinting.
"What's that?" she asked. "You've got something stuck in your hair."
"It's a gift, a present. Look!" chattered Sea Plum. From beneath the tangles she pulled out a beautiful hair comb, studded with glittering gems. "The creatures on the ships threw all kinds of things to me, that's why I came to get you. Come ON! Have some fun for a change."
By the next day, Sea Plum had managed to persuade Sea Pearl to join her on her next adventure. Together the two mermaids swam away from their home. Sea Plum led the way, gliding confidently through the water in full command. Sea Pearl, still unsure, followed more slowly, stopping every now and then to glance behind nervously.
They soon reached the top of the ocean, where a rainbow arced across the clear blue sky. Large sea birds flew close to them, and the girls rolled, splashed and dived happily into the waves. Sea Pearl soon forgot her worries. In the distance they saw ships of all kinds, and as one of the ships grew closer, they could see strange two-legged creatures aboard.
"Come on, let's swim really close," called Sea Plum over the crests of the waves. "I did it before—they threw presents to me last time!" she giggled.
But Sea Pearl was still nervous and shook her head. As her sister swam off, Sea Pearl wondered what to do. Should she turn back? Or should she follow her younger sister? She had a strange feeling that something dreadful would happen at any moment.
She struck out through the waves after her sister, sure now that they must get home as soon as possible. As she drew near to the ship she heard the strange creatures calling out, and yes! ... even throwing things into the water for them to catch. Sea Plum was laughing and splashing her tail as she dived for the treasures like a performing dolphin.
"Sea Plum! Stop! We've got to go..." Sea Pearl began. But as she called out to her sister she sensed danger. The weather had suddenly changed. The waves grew higher and rougher, the wind blew and the air filled with the cracking of thunder. Flashes of lightning ripped the sky apart. The ship began to toss around like a cork in a bath-tub.
"What is it?" cried Sea Plum. She, too, was frightened now.
"I think it's the King. Can you feel the water sucking everything down? I think he's come for that ship, and if we don't move fast he'll catch us up here. Swim for your life, Sea Plum. SWIM!"
The two girls disappeared back under the waves, and tried as hard as they could to swim back to the sea-bed, but try as they might, they found they couldn't. Something was holding them back. All of a sudden, out of the churning water ahead of them appeared a menacing figure. It was the King!
"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" he bellowed. "How dare you disobey the orders of the kingdom. You know what the punishment is, don't you?"
The two mermaids stared at him, trembling from head to tail, praying that he would be kind and let them go home.
But he didn't.
"From this moment on you will be turned into mud-skippers," he roared. "For ten thousand years you and your people will only be able to crawl on your bellies, and slither helplessly in and out of the water's edge. Perhaps then you will learn to obey the orders of your King." The King waved his golden staff through the waters around them and...
BOOM!...
The whole underwater cone of Shilepo shook and trembled and began to rise up through the water. The sea swirled angrily around it, foaming and crashing onto its edges, and as the cone rose the two mermaids felt themselves shrinking smaller and smaller.
Suddenly
