The Mermaid and the City of Sharks

Miss. Curiosity

Miss. Curiosity

Honorable Mention | Age 0-9 category | Fall into Fiction Contest 2025 | San José Public Library

A very long time ago, there was a mermaid named Sunny. She lived in a city full of grace. Ever since she was 5, she had always wondered what was on the other side of the deep trench, that split the city she lived in and another unknown city. Sunny thought, "I'll never be able to make it to the other side!" She then sadly swam home. 
A few days later, Sunny overheard an older girl say to her mother," Did you know there is another way to cross the trench without getting eaten by sea monsters? It's a curvy trail next to the small shipwreck." Sunny was amazed by this! This was her chance to explore the other side of the trench! So at midnight,she went to the small shipwreck the girl had described in the conversation with her mother, then swam to the trail next to it. While she was there she saw a big shipwreck and decided to spend the night there. 
The next morning, she saw that the area was filled with all kinds of sharks including great whites. They were guarding a circle of sharp rocks. "A shark invasion!" muttered Sunny angrily, even though she really wanted to know what was inside the circle of rocks. She was also curious how the sharks had come today but not yesterday night. Was it magic?  
She kept swimming towards the sharks even though she was afraid. The sharks swam towards her at the same time! Sunny dodged them but got a scar. She made them bump into each other and finally managed to get into the circle of rocks without being seen! Then, to her great surprise she saw an emerald colored baby dolphin! After looking at the baby dolphin, Sunny thought about what she had seen and finally figured out that the sharks had been here yesterday and today. Yesterday, they were just sleeping. She felt angry at the sharks for capturing the poor baby dolphin. So she made a plan to get the baby dolphin back to its pod at night. Sunny knew where all the dolphins lived so it wouldn't be a problem. The dolphins usually lived by fin rock. So at night, she woke the baby dolphin and said, "Hi! I'm going to take you back home." She made sure that the sharks were asleep. Yes! They were asleep. 
The coast was clear. Sunny wanted to make sure that the dolphin was following her, but she didn't have to. It was right by her side making cute little sounds! Sunny wanted to give the dolphin a name, so she thought about the name Emma. She knew that fin rock was nearby because she could hear the dolphins. She swam really fast to catch up to Emma, for the dolphin was swimming really fast to meet her family. She went back to her family and waved goodbye to Sunny. "Finally, I can go back to my family!" said Sunny.She saw the small shipwreck and quickly swam into it. Then she went to her house. That was the story of how Sunny battled the sharks of the other side! 
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