A Mermaids Tear
A story to my kids explaining how a shell could contain a mermaids tear after my daughter found a shell on a beach with a bubble of liquid in it. And the accompanying message from the Mer-people.
A Mermaids Tear – A Story of Magic and Hope for the Future.
Once upon a time, very recently, we were walking along the beach. The beach was very long and stretched way into the distance. But we were not going that way, we were heading to the rock pools and cliffs which were a lot closer. Here is where the fun is, where the magic happens. The rock pools left by the retreating sea are full of life. Small worlds that formed twice a day. Different visitors visted, some stayed for that tide only, some a few days, some for life. This was all very dependent on the particular creature and its level of mobility. But life went on in these pools that came and went twice a day due to the pull of the moon.
We worked our way through the pools, heading towards the cliff that had a wall of rocks lying in front of it. You could see in the cliffs where some of these rocks had fallen recently. The cliff was a natural barrier, harder rock that stretched out to sea and resisted the powerful combination of wind and water trying to wear it away. The pools became deeper, and more life seemed to appear in them. Our nets became full of more creatures and also, they looked a bit different. There was more variety of colours and shapes of fish, crabs and other things we did not recognise. They all seemed to look at us with annoyance as we lifted them out of their pools. We had a quick look at them, marvelling at their beauty and magnificence before carefully putting them back in their pool. Commenting on their colour, shapes, fins, claws or whatever we noticed about them. The plants were also very different. Lots of colours and shapes. Long and thin, full of fronds, some spikey. Greener, more purples and of course some brown. Snails and anemones were common. Loads of shapes, colours and tentacles – well the anemones anyway. All making their slow way across the rocks – well the snails anyway.
We reached the rock wall and looked around. A first glance we couldn’t see a way to continue past so were preparing to head back when we noticed a gap in the rocks, a sort of opening, which we were sure wasn’t there before. We looked inside and decided to head through. The tide was still going out and we knew we had a few hours until the sea would be back to this level. The opening was like a passageway, a small corridor that twisted and turned. It was short but felt like we had travelled a long way through the cliffs. We walked single file, the rocks black and damp went up past our heads, we could see the sky up above but not where we were going. After a few twists and turns, the passageway opened up and we were standing on the edge of a small bay.
The rocks and pools carried on a little way further before they ended at the beach of beautiful golden sands. The cliffs carried on round the back of the bay to meet the sands on the other side of the bay. The top was covered with bushes and trees. This looked like the only way in or out. An area that was cut off from the land but only open to the sea. We stood and looked with awe. It was a beautiful spot and maybe we were the only people to have set foot here. It felt magical, we felt like explorers who had found new lands and decided to explore further.
We looked out and at first there didn’t seem too much to see. But as with a lot of places in nature, as you start to look your eyes start to notice things that weren’t there at first glance. It as if they start to appear, but you have to stop and look first. Let you body slow down, eyes adjust, and your brain will start to see properly, not just look but actually see what is going on. A barren stretch of rock, or sand or rock pool all start to transform themselves with activity and colour once we learn how to look and notice.
First, we noticed the seaweed, lying flat on the rocks. Laid down by the outgoing tide. It first looks just like brown ordinary seaweed, but we could start to see layers of colour and texture. Light greens, darker greens, browns and purple all mixed up together and making a rainbow of colour draped across the rocks. When the sea returned, we could imagine this all standing up and swaying with the currents. A multi coloured forest home to many creatures. Fish swimming between the forest of weeds, snails crawling onto them, holding on tight, enjoying their fairground ride. Maybe even seahorses grabbing on tight with their tails. The whole area dynamic and fluid with the currents gently swaying the seaweed forests.
Sea birds sit on sentry duty looking out to sea and the closer ones to us, watching us carefully. Keeping an eye on these newcomers to their world. Perched on the top of rocks to give a better view or to better dry their feathers in the sun and breeze. They looked like seabirds as we know seabirds but as we looked we noticed little subtle differences. Beaks, legs, tails and patches of colour on wings and chests. All slightly different making them almost unique to each other. All a bit brighter and all a bit different. As if they had flown into an artist studio or a children’s art class and they had been splattered or painted for fun.
Along the shoreline, the same thing. Bunches of little waders, pecking and picking along the waters edge. At first glance the normal brown as you would expect but look a bit closer and they have been speckled with gold and silver in their feathers. Legs red or orange, the same with their beaks. All brightly coloured and many a bit different, again variety in the standard mix. They were following the waves out, picking up the exposed creatures left visible by the receding wave only to race back up the beach as the next wave came along and covered up their banquet. This activity keeping them busy until a group call sounds, and they take off as one and fly down the beach to a new spot and the whole process starts again.
We decided to venture further from our viewpoint and head over to the pools in the rocks and explore what they had in them. Firstly, we looked for a landmark so as to find our way back and there was a band of white quartz directly above us pointing the way to the passage we had come through. This band of white the only blemish on the smooth black rock walls. Once happy we could find out way back we went to look in the closest pool to us. Careful on the seaweed and being mindful to tread carefully as we went. We looked in the first and all around us the pools were the same.
The pools were clear and full of life. Tiny worlds of colour, texture and magic. Fish and snails darted and slowly made their way across the pools and rocks. We looked with wonder and awe at these magical displays. As with the birds, the colours and variations of the life in the pools was so much more than we would normally see. Little dots of colour or stripes on fins, bright eyes and tails. Seaweed that started green but ended up purple, orange and reds were plentiful. Each plant or animal doing its best to look different and bright. Showing off their artwork with a pride that was visible to see. As we continued our journey to the beach and the sea we were constantly surprised and pleased with what we saw. We stopped looking and just let the vistas come to us. The less we looked the more we saw.
The sun was warm and the breeze fresh, a perfect temperature. The air was clear and we could see for miles out to see. The sky was the deep blue of summer with no interruption of our view way up into space. As we got closer to the sea the rocks became flatter and more shellfish life was clinging onto them. Lots of variety here too. Shapes and sizes and of course colours. The shells like limpets and barnacles stuck fast. We trod carefully but could not avoid standing on some, although they did look as if they could take it. We imagined how this would look under the sea. With the long strands of seaweed waving in the currents, the fish swimming freely on the look for food and predators, the snails and anemones with their tentacles waving in the water to catch morsels of food as they floated by within reach. The place would come alive with activity.
We had moved closer to the sea by now and stopped to look around. We were being watched. A mermaid, yes, a mermaid, was sitting on the rocks by the sea, watching us. She looked just like a mermaid should, you know the ones in the stories, but this was no story, here she was. A faint smile played on the edges of her mouth and eyes twinkled with fun. She looked happy and in no way afraid of us. Almost like she was expecting us, she had probably been watching us for a while as was not surprised by our presence. We stood in silence and stared and then all closed our mouths at the same time.
She smiled and beckoned us to come closer. We followed our feet who reacted to her hand to join us on her rock platform by the edge of the sea. She was not surprised by us as she said she had seen us approaching the rock wall and had opened the passage through the rocks to let us through if we chose to take the path. We did. She said we trod with care and respect and she wanted to tell us her story. The story of the Mer-people and their concerns for the oceans and the lands as they were linked. She spoke with a voice that sounded like water babbling over stones and sea rushing up and down the beach. It was fluid and full of fun. But the message was sad and of concern but also full of hope.
She said that places like this were the last refuges of the Mer-people. That there used to be plenty of these places but they are now disappearing quickly. The plants and animals with their different colours and shapes were once normal but are becoming less so. Human impact on the world is affecting them. The colours are less bright and the different shapes and sizes are becoming less diverse. Everything that was different is becoming standardised. There is no celebrations of the different anymore. The world is shrinking in its diversity and the world is disappearing with it. A world that is too uniform with no variation will not last for long. We need variation in all the species to survive.
Her message was to let people know that different is good. Look for the little things and celebrate them. Make variety and different acceptable again and be grateful for what you have. Be happy with yourself and strive to be your best, but understand your life is a journey in which you grown and learn. Don’t hold people back but help them grow, wherever that growth may take them. Accept other people’s difference and learn what this offers you in your own grown. Give and take, find the balance. Chose reciprocity in all areas of your life. Give freely what you have to give, but not at your own expense, give what you have to give.
Then our world will recover, it will be slow but as more people accept these wishes of the Mer-people then the recovery will happen. Show people the magic that is still in our world. Allow people to see it, share it. Let people love this world again and then they will nurture it and will start to care about it. Look for the little bits of magic that are out there. Dew drops on a grass stem, a snail crawling up a plant just to look at the view (well maybe), a tiny plant growing in a rock crevasse, a tree and all the life that it holds, fungi springing up from the forest floor, the light shining through the leaves creating star light, a stoat poking it’s nose out of a gap in the wall. All these things should be seen by everyone and rejoice in the finding.
She put out her hand to our youngest and gave them a shell. A half oyster shell. A small area in the middle the shell had worn thin and there was a bubble of liquid. She said it was a mermaid’s tear, this is the most magical liquid. Mermaids are able to drop a tear into an open oyster shell and the oyster will look after the tear and guard it. When the oyster is going to die it adds part of its body to the tear and puts it into its shell. The combination of oyster and mermaid tear is a very powerful magic that can help heal the world. But it needs a special person to find these special shells and to use them wisely.
It could transform things to make a better version of itself. To add more colour or be a slightly different shape, to be more unique. To be a better version of itself. It had to be used wisely and at the right time. The person would know when this time would be and would chose well. To take the story of the Mer-people and spread the words to help heal the world and begin to start to love it again, its magical creatures and plants. Its beauty and all that is has to offer. She invited us to play on the beach and swim in the sea with her people and the creatures of the sea and seashore. They told us their stories and of their hopes for the world that needed people to put these things into place. They had no voice. Their stories and dreams showed us that the world could recover and become healthy again.
Eventually we had to leave to get back through the rock passage before the tide came in too far. The mermaid came to us to say goodbye. To asked us to look along the beaches for the oyster shells with mermaid tears in them and that we would find them. To gather them and give them to the children who would then pass on the shells and look for their own and pass these on with the stories and so the momentum would then build. The children would believe and listen and would be the future of the world. Children still had the magic in them and could see how the world could be cured and whole again.
So, look for the little things, keep exploring and learning. Be curious and also be kind. There is still magic out there, we just need to look and see with open eyes and heart.