The Creature From Coral City

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I'll tell you the tale an old mariner told me about a place called
coral city and the creature he had found there .

When Jack was young he dived for sponge and pearls in a vessel at home
on the open sea . Jack was strong and boisterous with an adventurous
spirit and with the help of some boat builders a large sailing ship
called The Sea Poacher was built .
Jack needed a tall ship with large sails to catch the winds of change
.
With a small crew off sailed The Sea Poacher on a voyage beyond the
Gulf of Clubber and into the far East of Tonamow where the sea shelf
fell for an eternity into a dark abyss known as The Fathomless Mystery
.

As the Captain and the crew looked out into the horizon a salty wind
sped their ship through the green waters that covered the seventh sea
towards the unknown mysteries of the deep .

Some seamen feared the journey especially the regions between Davy 's
graveyard and the Magnetic way .
Surrounded by the Coral Way was a small passage called Dire Straits
.
Along this passage hundreds of ships had strayed too close to the coral
and remained as prisoners anchored forever on the edge of the reef
.

Seaweek Jack and his crew were lucky and made it through .
Then there was another the strange place called magnetic way to pass
through . Most ships that ventured this way were drawn in by a small
perimeter of water that turned bright crimson as ships approached
.
It was in here that a number of ships with their crews had vanished
never to be seen again .

Once again The Sea Poacher was fortunate to escape this deaths dark
domain .

It was a long voyage that brought the Sea Poacher to an uncharted
place.
It was here in an attempt to explore the unknown Seaweed Jack had
stumbled upon Coral city . There is was a crystal like castle standing
on an island of coral . The closer the ship came to the castle the
thicker the oil slick was . Then there they were half afloat on the
surface .
Dozens of barrels of crude oil bobbing up and down spewing out its
deadly
Cargo into the water .

Through his telescope Seaweed Jack caught a glimpse of a strange
creature on the back of an exhausted dolphin that was trying to reach
the coral shore .
The creature took the form of a fish and a woman with long hair over
her shoulders . There was also a golden crown upon her head .
Jack had heard stories about Mermaids but never really believed them
until now . The mermaids body was covered in thick black oil and she
looked half dead . All around small fish lay motionless on top of the
water .

The Sea Poacher anchored and a small lifeboat was lowered down into the
water . Jack took a handful of men who rowed slowly to the crystal
castle.
As they stepped unto the coral floor the dolphin approached and dropped
the creature before the landing party .
Jack stood there breathing uneasy and felt ashamed and angry at what
lay at his feet . Not only was this seas creature covered in oil but
there was an end of a harpoon stuck in the mermaids side .
Some dark hand had done this and Jack was almost in a state of panic to
save the mermaid . He asked the crew to remove their shirts and he used
them to rub off some of the greasy oil from the mermaids gills .
The harpoon was not in too far and Jack was able to remove it without
any drama . The would was covered in oil and so there was no bleeding
.
The majority of the mermaids scales were now unclogged and she started
to breath much easier . The sudden twitching of her tail was a sign
that she was fighting for life .
They placed her into the lifeboat and rowed back to The Sea Poacher
.
In his cabin Jack bathed the mermaid in a saline solution and after
weeks of intense care the mermaid recovered .
The only sound she made was a high pitched shrill as Jack placed the
crown back on her head . He spoke softly to her at first and brought
her some food and a mirror and hairbrush . He handed her lotions and
oils she gathered up
Everything he gave . Then it happened .
The mermaid placed her hands on his head and Jack received a gift of
mental telepathy .
"I love you . " the mermaid said .
Jack nodded that he understood and she continued ,.
,"Welcome to my kingdom . Please allow me to return to the ocean
."
Jack nodded again .
The mermaid started to speak about her kingdom and told how she picked
flowers of the sea for castle home .
She told him she was The Coral Queen of the seventh sea .
She explained how very recently a plane had dropped some of its leaking
oil cargo into the waters around her castle .
She went on to tell of the ship that came and tried to capture one of
her large basking subjects .
Her intervention resulted in being targeted by a harpoon .
The ship was then overturned by a hump back whale and the crew were all
but eaten by a number of white pointer sharks .
Seaweed Jack thought briefly but before his thought was finished she
said ,
'No you're not going crazy . Its ok ."
That very moment Jack felt something he had never done before .
It was love and as he bent to kiss her she stopped him saying ,
"The ocean is my domain .You cannot live there with me but I will guide
you on your journey through all the currents that know me well .
I must move home to an undiscovered island near here where my secret
will be safe and the black oil cannot hurt me anymore . "
Jack smiled fondly and she continued ,
"My gills and scales are cracking . Soon I will be unable to move so
please return me to the ocean .
If not I will die ."
Jack lifted her and carried her up on deck . Then surrounded by his
crew he threw her into the water and shouted ,
"Go then Coral Queen for out there is your home and not with me .
"
The mermaid resurfaced and leapt high from the water into the air
.
Her crown glistened in the sunlight and her long hair clung to her
shoulders .
Some dolphins joined her and they raced together back and forward
through the waves .
The mermaid stood up on her tail and pointed in the direction of a
light that appeared form the sky . Suddenly a shimmering passage opened
up on the surface of the water . What no man had ever seen escorted the
ship away from Coral City . Neptune arose from the ocean blew a brisk
wind that filled the sails of the Sea Poacher . Instantly the ship
glided across the water until it came to rest by an island scattered
with the wealth of a thousand treasure chests . Jack and the crew took
all they could on board and made their way through the sixth sea until
at last they were back home again .
Jack and all the crew were now very old and it was hard to say just how
long their voyage had taken them .
That's how the story went anyway .
Seaweed Jack said someday he will go sailing again when the winds are
fair.

THE END