Maritime Elves

They always think the worst of us because we are different, we are blue, and we live by the sea in such houses underground. Sure, it’s made of sand, but we found a way to make it solid. So solid we can literally live under the sea… People say it’s magic, so maybe that’s why they fear us…

…But we are always eager to help as some people can testify…

My name is Lily and my hair is white. My ears are spiky, and I turn into a mermaid when I touch water. I heard that’s how people call those creatures with fishtails… But maybe they simply saw my kind… However… My hair is the reason why I got such a name… That’s very typical of us – maritime elves. Our hair is the factor deciding what flower will give us its name… And here it is – my story.

*

I’ve been friends with these three people for three years. I met Janis, James, and John kind of by accident. They simply found a secret entrance on the beach to our village, and I literally found them in from of my house! I just went swimming like always, and I found such a surprise when I came back… They were so kind and curious just like me, so I invited them in. We talked about everything and nothing and then I served them our traditional fancy food. After the meal, I showed them the rest of the village. I can really say that they loved our food and architecture… It’s so easy to read people’s feelings! They are literally written on their faces!

After that very first meeting, they kept coming back every day, and I believe I could call them my friends. We’d got very close and familiar for those three years…

But one day, everything changed… I lost two of them, and I saw all of this. Janis explained later to me that the war had started and what we both saw was just one battle. I don’t understand their wars… Why would a brother stand against another brother? In the end, they are the one kind!

Anyways, James and John were killed on the same beach we all used to meet. I realized it was no longer safe on the ground, so I asked Janis to go underground with me. But well… It meant she had to leave her world maybe even forever… Or at least the dead bodies of our friends and three horses on which they arrived there… And just for a while…

Of course, I gave her time to think it through, but she also knew she couldn’t go home because she would die too… So, the choice to hide in my house under the sea was a very logical choice.

I gave her the special wine that helps us forget about tough moments of our lives. It was unusual for their kind though. Janis said she had never had such a wine before! She drank two cups of it! No wonder that she fell asleep immediately after that… And she didn’t remember what happened, what she was doing in my house or even who she was anymore when she woke up! I told her about our friends and the war. She started to recall all of that… But not really! Or maybe Janis just decided to leave her past life behind…? I guess we will never know!

After four years the war eventually ended, but Janis wasn’t the same girl anymore… She told me she wanted to be Violet now and she told me to dye her hair purple. She decided to become one of us… And she also decided to build her new house on her own… That’s unusual even for us! And this way these few war years passed by…

As I’ve said, the war ended, so we could finally leave our underground town in the end. Horses were apparently gone, but James and John stayed… I mean, we found their skeletons on the sand… I don’t know if Janis, I mean Violet, remembered them, but I did… And I knew it wasn’t right that they couldn’t find peace, being unburied for so long… So, yeah… We prepared a little funeral for our friends. This is not just a human thing – we maritime elves bury one another too. And it was a very moving, but also a remarkably beautiful ceremony – I saw two swallows flying above us… Did Janis see them…? I don’t think so…

Now, when two years have passed, flowers and grass are on their graves…

But let’s better think about creatures who are still breathing! Meanders became a new home for Violet. She never came back to her village… But I think she never regretted this choice. She found a new life and love here…

*

So, Janis in the past, Violet now, is the best example of someone who can testify that we are not so terrifying after all! I bet that we, maritime elves, saved her…

Can the rest of humankind save themselves as well? Can you declare no more wars that kill… You? And the rest of the world habitants…? I mean, I couldn’t go swimming for four years… Oh, come on!

But it’s not just about me and nature… We can live without water after all, birds can fly away… But you, people, can’t live this way. You can’t hide in canals without going crazy, you can’t escape somewhere where the concept of war doesn’t exist at all and where what you saw won’t hunt you… So, such wars mainly work on you, and you are the reason for starting wars at the same time… It’s so sad, and I’m so full of compassion for your kind!

Okay, but what more can I say about Violet and me…? Well, she asked me to give her a sip of another special vine and her skin turned blue… Only her ears can’t become spiky, so it’s the only sign of her human nature… And well… She decided to marry the love of her life, and start a family as a real maritime elf… She’s still my best friend, and I’m actually happy that I can call her my sister now! Oh, yes… She fell in love with my brother Daffodil! Crazy, I know!

Well… And this is how my side of the story ends.