Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The day started off the same as any other day, it was bright sunny and warm. Lurg was screaming orders to the crew. The crew with whom was now missing Bella Dizzy, Hackin Eve Bones, Maximo, and Finale.

Skully was fishing with ham sandwiches for mermaids again as he often does, but this time he was fishing because the day before he thought he saw a mermaid swim by the ship and again he had the fishing rod in one hand and a cocktail in another. An hour passed when Skully felt a pull on the line. He started yelping as he reeled in the line. It took quite a while till he got the small mermaid out of the water. The mermaid was dangling from the line with a ham sandwich in her mouth. Skully pulled her in and dropped her onto the deck. She was flapping around the deck like fish outta water. She had a bluish/green fish bottom, seashell bikini bra, pale white skin on her upper body, and green and black hair covering her face. The green in her hair was actually seaweed.

The crew gathered around to see the mermaid; they were all amazed that Skully caught one. The mermaid cleared away the hair from her face. Everyone on the ship gasped, for the mermaid was Audra Bellamy!!!! Audra said hello to everyone. The crew then battered her with many questions like, how are you alive? And why are you a mermaid? Audra sat up and began to tell the story of her “death”. She went back to went she met Deidre Vasquez. She explained how she finally got Lurg to fall in love with her; and about the time they made sweet love that one night before she died. Audra then went on to explain how Condi came up to her that nite and struck her with the knife killing her. Lurg whipped out a sword and held it to Condi’s throat. “Ill kill you!” decried Lurg. “Wait!! Stop!!” Cried Audra. “You don’t understand. Condi wasn’t right when she killed me. Deidre and I messed up a potion that we were practicing the night I was killed. The potion was to make Deidre immortal. But something went wrong and it turned Deidre evil. The evil Deidre then destroyed and broke Condi’s heart and tricked Condi with mind games into killing me. It wasn’t until Deidre hit the water from walking the plank that the effects of the potion wore off. Once you guys made Deidre walk the plank and the evil potion wore off, she was found by a mermaid who had found my body the day before and Deidre was able to bring me back to life. But once I awoke again the ship was gone so as a token to the mermaid who saved my body from sharks or other things I had Deidre turn me into a mermaid, and I joined the mermaid in her travels. Months later when the Judith Prosperous finally returned to these seas, I was really enjoying being a mermaid and I committed to staying with the mermaid who saved me, her name was Madison Oceanus, made it so I couldn’t come back to you all right away. We as mermaids followed the Judith Prosperous when it was in the Caribbean because we knew that after every mealtime Ursula would dump all the leftover food into the sea. Oh how I longed to come back to you all… especially you Lurg—I love you”.

As Audra talked her fish bottom turned back into human legs and she had sat there with her bottom blowing in the wind. It wasn’t until Vasca told her that she was not only had human legs again but she was also naked. Audra covered herself up and explained that when in water or wet her low half turns into the fish, but when dry she turns back into a human with legs. Lurg and Audra hugged and embraced each other as Skully said “ well I finally caught a mermaid, but I can’t have sex with her… I mean I did have sex with her but she was all human then”. Lurg glared at him. “Her favorite position is flying doggy… I mean it was her favorite position, Im not too sure she would still be able to do it with a fish tail now, kinda need 2 legs to go over each shoulder…. Uh-oh… Umm…” Skully went on babbling getting himself in more trouble.

“Audra” the cry came from the water. The crew ran to the side of the ship, just as the most beautiful mermaid vanished under the water, it was Madison Oceanus, Audras pal and savior. Audra explained that mermaids are very scared and shy of humans. Because over the years mermaids have gotten a bad reputation of singing to ships and either luring them to crash into reefs or rocks or by making men fall over board. And Audra told Skully that in fact it was true mermaids love ham sandwiches.

Skully told Audra that they knew she was a princess and that they met her mother the Queen. Audra became pale. Skully told her not to worry, the Queen was very accepting of the pirates and always welcomed their presence in her palace. The Queen was just glad that you got to live out your dream and be happy.

Loud screams suddenly came from the sea. Everyone looked over it was Madison Oceanus. She was being attacked by a swarm of string rays. Audra jumped over board and immediately turned back into a mermaid once she hit the water. Lurg jumped in after her. He didn’t want to lose his long-lost-love-who was now back-but could be potential gone again if the stingrays got to her. Vasca and Chester threw a fishing net overboard onto the stingrays, trapping them and saving Madison, Audra and Lurg. The 3 of them were pulled on board. Audra dried off, and her legs eventually came back. Madison was set into a large bathing tub. Audra poor goats’ milk onto Madison’s stings. Madison seemed nervous to be around the pirates, but Audra assured her that she was safe. Madison told the pirates about her life as a mermaid and how she became exiled from her mermaid family because she had an affair with a dangerous pirate who set her set, stole from her family and tried to kill her and her family. The evil pirates name was Daris BlueBeard. Skully told her that they too knew of Daris, and didn’t like him at all either. The mermaids had a strict rule about their interactions with humans. And Madison was then banished by her family. She lived for a few years being friends with only the sea animals. She then explained how she found Audras body, and saved it from being eaten by fish or sharks. And then the next night she saved Deidre form drowning. Deidre brought Audra back to life and she lived with Madison as her first human/mermaid friend in years.

Skully invited Madison to join them on the ship, for they would make arrangements to have a large tank built for her. Madison after a few moments of thinking accepted. But until the tank was built Madison returned to the sea. You see Madison was a real mermaid and must be in a lot of water to survive, but Audra on the other hand was a mermaid when only wet.

Audra told Skully that Deidre was living on an island near Brazil and that she is very sorry that she made the wrong potion and went nutty. Audra then admitted that it was her fault. Deidre asked Audra to get white shrimp for the potion but instead she got grey ship and that little error turned out to be fatal.

That night the crew had a large dinner together. And of course the food served that night was stingray! And they then retired to bed.

The next morning Audra and Lurg set out off to Spain to see her mother the Queen. The Judith Prosperous was slowly losing its crew.