The Rock Castle

At first, all they can see is sand, rocks, and seaweed. But as Acrilla takes them further down, the ocean turns from dark to a better bright blue color, even though there’s no light from above. She takes them to her home which is shaped like a castle. It’s large enough for the population of mermaids and mammals in the Atlantic. It is made out of beautiful bright-colored rocks from the ocean and surrounded by sea plants like coral and seaweed. The kids have never seen any place like this. A home that is the size of several mansions put together. There are mermaids, young mermaids, and sea mammals swimming in and out of the castle with the freedom to swim anywhere in the area. The mermaids look at the children curiously and with some fear, noticing they’re regular humans. Many are worried to go near them, and some become shocked when one of their kids swims over and holds one of their hands.

“Why are they looking at us like that?” Calem asks.

“Are they really afraid of people? Do they hate us?” Tyler asks. “They look like they want to run away from us.” Acrilla passes the other mermaids and reaches the entrance to the castle, her home where she and her friends live.

“Not to worry,” Acrilla says. “I think you will get along with many animals I know.” She takes the kids inside the castle where it seems to be much larger than it looked from the outside. Emma looks in first with her eyes bugging out. Tyler and Calem swim behind her and they too are surprised by what they see. Within the rock-shaped castle is a world filled with mermaids and more fish, dolphins, turtles, belugas, and small whales.

“This can’t be real,” Tyler says.

“But it is,” Calem says. “This is the most amazing place I’ve ever seen.” Emma looks at what the otters are doing with their young ones.

“Aww, look guys, baby otters,” she says. “They're adorable.” The otters collect shellfish and kelp before going up to the surface. Emma follows Acrilla to look at them. Many of the otters eat a meal while lying on their backs while others wrap up their young ones in seaweed. Tyler and Calem swim up next to Acrilla to look at the otters.

“Do you have a lot of otters who live here?” Emma asks.

“We do,” Acrilla says. “This is how they live and collect food in the oceans. They love to eat shellfish and warm themselves up with seaweed.” Emma still cannot help being amazed at how the baby otters are so cute looking.

“She thinks all baby animals are adorable,” Tyler says. He, Calem, and Emma follow Acrilla into a tunnel where it leads to an indoor swimming hole with walls surrounding the swimming area.

“That was amazing,” Emma says. She, Tyler, and Calem squeeze the water off their clothes. Emma shakes her hair.

“How is this place not filled with water?” Calem asks.

“These rocks were built like a wall to keep water out so we can enjoy time out of the water while still under it,” Acrilla says. They see a fin moving in the water.

“It’s like you get your private swimming area,” Calem says. He and the others shiver from being wet even though it’s warm and humid inside. Acrilla wraps them up with towels to warm them up. “Thank you, these feel warm and soft.”

“You’re welcome,” Acrilla says. “The material is compared to your wool blankets in the human world.” Emma looks down by her feet as she feels something smooth rubbing against her legs.

“Be careful,” Tyler says. “Don’t touch it.”

“What was that?” Emma asks. Acrilla looks down.

“No need to worry, that’s just my friend,” she says. She leans over to the water and watches her friend pop his head out. What the kids see is a male baby dolphin with shiny grey skin and green eyes.

“It’s a dolphin,” Emma says. She and Calem get all excited to see a dolphin up close. “We never get to see these around our beach house.” Calem sticks his hand out as they hear the dolphin make noises to talk to Acrilla.

“It’s okay Noah, these are my new friends,” Acrilla says to the dolphin. Calem puts his head closer to Noah.

“Can we pet him?” he asks. Noah lays on his back, making noises again.

“Dolphins love it when people feel their skin,” Acrilla says. Calem and Emma rub Noah with their hands and feel the slippery and wet skin. Tyler walks up and slowly places his hand on Noah.

“Wow, and he’s not afraid of us,” he says. “What about the other animals?”

“I know plenty of them, but Noah is my close friend,” Acrilla says. “None of them talk like humans, just us mermaids. But we do speak their language.”

“Where do we get to see more animals?” Emma asks. Acrilla and Noah take her and the boys back into the ocean by diving into the swimming pool area. She takes them to her home where her family lives.

On the way, Acrilla explains she is the youngest out of two brothers and two sisters. She tells them that many mermaids have a large extended family. But unlike her siblings, Acrilla doesn’t have children of her own, although she does have a strong bond with her niece and nephew, who are usually swimming freely outside of the castle. No mermaid child is allowed to go up to the surface until they are old enough, at least eighteen, to keep them safe. She continues to describe what their lives are like. The summertime is when the mermaids all over the oceans remain on high alert because of the number of people at the beaches. Many mermaids, especially the males, keep other mermaids and mammals safe from being captured and taken away. Emma looks at Acrilla’s sisters and how gorgeous their hair is. Tyler and Calem look at all of the strong mermen. They look at their arms, wishing they had strong muscles just like them. Acrilla’s brothers and sisters have different colored tails with pink, green, purple, red, and blue mixed in with gold. One of the sisters, Dawn, the oldest, has a pink gold tail. She waves it back and forth as she swims to a plant of seaweed. The middle sister, Lola who has a purple tail, takes some herself to wipe on her face.

“What are they doing?” Tyler asks.

“Seaweed is good for our skin,” Acrilla says. “It keeps our skin smooth and healthy.” Acrilla swims over to introduce the kids to her siblings.

“Acrilla, there you are,” Dawn says. She then looks at the children in shock. “Who are these humans, and what are they doing here?” Lola also looks quite unimpressed.

“It’s fine,” Tyler says. “We’re visiting. Your sister saved my sister from drowning yesterday on the beach.”

“Wow, that’s wonderful,” Lola smiles. “Come inside with us, and be careful.” The home gets even larger the further they move inside.