Mermendium Part 2• Mermay 2018
Mermendium is available as a book. Click here to learn more about it.
May 17, 2018 – A Supposed Terrible Thing
If you’ve seen The Storyteller, then you know what a wurdle is. For those of you who haven’t, it’s a monster who lives in ponds and lakes. He has a throng of beautiful daughters that lure people into the water and drown them. Now let me tell you about how we met one.
Our journey has continued north. I’m not exactly sure if we are now in Germany or the Netherlands. I’ve gotten used to traveling by river, and the scenery is beautiful.
The wurdle we met lived in a wide, slow-moving part of the river. And unlike at the Lorelei our captain, (Captain Muller) was more than happy to let us stop and see the beast. He smiled at us and said, “He’s as tame as a baby calf as long as you play him a song.”
So that’s what we did. The boat played symphony music through its speakers, and we all got a good look at the wurdle as he surfaced to listen. The fabled daughters didn’t make an appearance.
May 21, 2018 – Our First Adventure Underwater!
When we reached the North Sea, we said goodbye to Captain Muller and boarded a larger ship. Our itinerary says we are going North for a bit to see the famous Danish mermaids. We are on the wrong side of the country to see the Little Mermaid statue. But, I guess during this time of year the real mermaids migrate toward the British Isles. On Friday we spotted a pod of mermaids and have been following them ever since.
The next afternoon we got to take turns submerging in a bubble-like submarine to see them as they swam. I have to admit that I wasn’t looking forward to bobbing around under the ocean but it’s actually not so bad. We got a wonderful look at the mermaids too.
They looked a lot like what you’d imagine but not as pretty. Think of a more fishy version of Ariel. I could also tell there were quite a few mermen in the pod.
May 23, 2018 – Were They Real Selkies
We landed in Scotland. It would be fun to explore more here because that is where my name Oliphant comes from. It will have to be another time though because we are only visiting the Orkney Islands to see the selkies.
Would you believe we actually saw some? I wouldn’t if we hadn’t seen so many other Mermaids on this trip. All I saw were some super cute seals. But, if our tour guide, (A scientific-looking lady named Miss Brown) tells us they are selkies what can we do but agree?
Regardless, I had a great time drawing seals. For fun, I’ve also imagined what the human form of the selkie would look like as she gazes out to sea.
May 25, 2018 – An Evening of Storytelling
After spending another day on the water, we’ve found ourselves floating off the coast of Ireland. Apparently, on this trip, we aren’t going to set foot there which is a bummer. I do have to admit there isn’t as much chance of finding mermaids on land is there?
We did end up having an exciting day. Our boat “parked” in a place above a Merrow habitat. We got to take turns again submerging in the bubble thing I told you about before. There was what looked like a whole city under there. Mermaids were swimming all over the place. Not going anywhere really, just living.
Then after the sunset, we gather on the deck of the ship, and some of the crew told mermaid stories. My favorite was about a Merrow man who locked up the souls of drowned sailors in cages. Another great one was the story of a Merrow marrying a man because he stole her little cap.
May 28, 2018 – Into the Depths
We are now sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on our way home. The plan is to visit a few more mermaid habitats as we travel across the ocean. Today we again climbed into that bubble-shaped submarine and went down, down, down. It’s an unsettling thing to be so far underwater in the dark.
In the sub with me was Jeremy of course, Miss Brown, and the pilot. His name was Kevin.
Down there in the dark, we spied on a colony of deep-sea mermaids. They look different than any we’ve seen so far. Less human, with huge eyes and glowing body parts that lit up the dark. They shied away from the lights on the sub, but we still got a good look at a few of them
May 30, 2018- Attacked!!
June 2, 2018
Well, we survived. At the first signs of the Kraken, everyone on board was evacuated onto lifeboats. The massive monster wasn’t interested in us after that. We watched from a short distance as its enormous tentacles broke the ship in half and pulled it under.
There were about four lifeboats in all. Jeremy and I ended up in a boat with Kevin.
Oddly enough Kevin gets seasick In small boats. He was totally fine in the submersible and on the larger boat but the lifeboat not so much. Weird right?
Luckily, the captain radioed for help before we went down. So, we were only stranded for about three hours. When the rescue ship arrived the worst we’d suffered was a sunburn and a little dehydration in Kevin’s case.
We cut the rest of the trip short. The rescue boat took us to a harbor in New York. We fly home later today.
