Writing Exercise
For this exercise, write an original fairy tale based on a natural phenomenon you see every day. I used waves.
My Writing
A young girl sits by the ocean, watching the waves as they splashed on the sand a few inches from her bare feet. Her brown boots sit beside her, almost forgotten as the water tries to touch the tips of her toes. The wind brushed back her long, braided black hair when she hears someone behind her. She turns to see her mom walking over to her to join her. She smiles when her mom gathers her green dress and sits down beside her.
“Mia, my love, what are you doing out here? The sun is going down,” her mother, Athena. says. Her amber eyes sparkle in the slowly dying sunlight. She pushes her own long, braided black hair over her shoulder when she raises her gaze from her daughter to the waves.
“Mamma, why are there waves in the ocean?” Mia asks, her own honey brown eyes gazing at the waves.
Athena smiles and wraps her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and pulls her closer. “Your grandma once told me that there are waves because of the mermaids swimming about under the water. She told me that their powerful tails, when they swim around, churn the water. And once that force hits the surface, it creates the waves we see.”
Mia gasps, and she looked up at her mom. “Mermaids? Have you or grandma ever see the mermaids?”
Athena sadly shakes her head while she pushes a braid back away from Mia’s cheek. “I’m afraid not, my little one. But I look every time I come to the ocean to see if I can glimpse a tail or some long flowing hair as a mermaid slips under the water.”
“Athena, Mia, come inside before it gets too dark,” a deep voice calls to them.
Mia turns to meet the loving chocolate brown eyes of her dad, Izaak. She giggles and grabs her brown boots, pushing herself up to her feet. She races over to her dad, who easily catches her and lifts her in the air. Mia nuzzles her dad’s neck, breathing in the rich soil mixed with sweat. It’s the smell he always smells of when he returns from a long day of farming. Mia runs her small fingers through his short black wavy hair as she does every evening when he comes home from work.
“Daddy, did you know mermaid tails cause the waves in the ocean?” Mia asks excitedly.
Izaak raises his eyebrows. “The mermaids? I thought it was the sea witch who had cast a spell on the ocean to make the waves bring her lost lover’s ship home. But because she couldn’t find his ship, she kept the spell on the ocean so others could have their lovers come home safely.”
Mia glances from her dad to her mom, back to her dad, not knowing which tale to believe. Athena chuckles when she joins her daughter and husband, placing her arm around Izaak’s waist. The couple turns away from the ocean to return home in their small village, Izaak carrying Mia in his strong arms. Mia looks back over her dad’s broad shoulder, her eyes scanning the ocean for any signs of a sea witch or mermaids.
A lone head rises from the waves and a young girl with wild raspberry red hair and soft hazel eyes peeks over the waves at the family of humans. She sees Mia looking intently at the ocean, which causes the girl to giggle. She turns away from Mia and her parents and dives back under the water. She flicks her ruby red fin up into the air over the waves. It splashes back down against the water and the mermaid disappears into the depths of the ocean.
Mia spots the flash of red and sees a fist tail vanish beneath the ocean. She lets out a loud gasp that catches her parents’ attention. They turn to see what Mia is gasping about, but only see the waves crashing on the beach sand.
Mia grins and looks her dad in the eye. “Sorry, daddy, but mommy is right. It’s the mermaids that make the waves in the ocean, not the sea witch.”
“Is that so?” Izaak says. “And you do you know that?”
“I just saw a mermaid with a really pretty dark red fin dive back down into the water.” Mia says it so matter-of-factly that her parents just stare at her in disbelief.
Athena and Izaak take one last look at the ocean before they turn away again and take the path back to their home. Mia grins at the ocean the entire way home, snuggling close to her dad as he carries her home.