Image © Claire Fuller
When I was seven, we found a mermaid. Right there on the beach, forgotten by the tide, tiny and curled up asleep inside a cockle shell. We couldn’t wake her, though we tried.
She came home with us and lived on a shelf in our bedroom, with the shells and sponges, the driftwood and sea beans. We didn’t tell anyone what she was. She was ours.
Yesterday, my daughter showed me a mermaid she’d found on the beach.
‘Look after her,’ I said and then, too quietly for anyone except the mermaid to hear, ‘while you still believe in her.’
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If you’d like to write your own 100 word story inspired by the picture, click here, or here to read other people’s.
No Frigate like a book 
Just beautiful
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Thank you, Neil.
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Ahh, very lovely.
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Thank you! I wasn’t sure if it was a bit sappy or schmaltzy or something like that.
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No, I don’t think so. I admire loveliness in writing. I can only ever write grim.
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Such a lovely story.
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Glad you liked it. Thank you for commenting.
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Sweet tale of childhood innocence. A shame we all have to grow up eventually. Well done.
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It is a shame, isn’t it….,
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That’s lovely, Louise – so much contained within your 100 words 🙂
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Thank you, Helen.
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You’re very welcome 🙂
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Dear Louise,
What can I say? Such a sweet and lovely story with a last line that rends the heart.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you. It was inspired by my daughter who still hasn’t quite got over her longing to see a mermaid.
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I loved the last line – beautiful story.
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I’m pleased you liked it. 🙂
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This is wonderful, love the thought of those tiny little mermaids…
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Me too. I still haven’t quite shaken myself free of the hope that maybe they really are out there……
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That’s just beautiful, not schmalzy at all. Too bad that we lose our sense of wonder and magic when we grow up.
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I know – and the odd thing is that you don’t notice it slipping away. By the time you realise, it’s too late…..
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So very sweet. Yes, do let us help them keep their innocence as long as possible.
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Hear hear 🙂
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