Thursday, May 22, 2008

Girl meets mermaid


It was lunchtime. By that I mean, like a half hour past lunch and we were still inside a dark aquarium with four 2 year olds. Had it not been for the mermaid, I may have had a panic attack of worry. I do not like to think of my daughters' bellies growling with hunger.

We were making our way down the long circular ramp encased with wall-to-wall glass holding back sharks and fish bigger than my children -- sometimes running to catch up with some toddlers, sometimes stopping to oooh and awww -- when we spotted her.

The Mermaid.

She came up to the glass with big, bold eyes that weren't scary like the sharks' eyes. They were kind. They were ablaze with purpose. They were zeroed in on one person and one person only:

Liana (lee-ah-nah)

For what seemed like an eternity to me, but was probably five minutes total -- or ten -- this scuba diver who I only know now as the mermaid, put me in a trance.

By the way she stared at Liana I knew she was trying to communicate with her. So I asked Liana if she could show her how she spins in a circle. Desperate to communicate back, Liana spun.

So did the mermaid. Liana's contagious smile beamed across her face.

That begun a series of mirror like movements. The mermaid clapped her hands, danced, flapped her arms, jumped up and down under water each time after Liana did so herself.

Then, they held their hands up to the glass and blew kisses. I had to drag Liana away to get lunch or else they might have been there all day and all night and forever.

The thing that grabbed me, though, and pulled so hard on my heart was that this event created a crowd that included several other small kids.

But the mermaid never took her eyes off Liana. She never strayed. She only once spun in a circle for another boy, but she was humoring him.

And when we left, this beautiful mermaid swam off continuing her quest to feed the underwater creatures we were there to see.

My imagination ran wild, of course. It always does.

Just fresh from reading "The Alchemist" by Paul Coehlo, and looking at life a bit differently when it comes to our true purpose in life, I was deeply moved by this experience, now constantly wondering about that underwater woman and why she chose Liana to connect with that day.

And, more importantly, how that will influence Liana's future. If it will at all. Or, perhaps, she was always supposed to meet her for a purpose we'll never know.

Regardless, the mermaid made me believe in fairy tale endings again, at least briefly.




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6 comments:

Shannon said...

Oh, I don't know why but this just gave me chills. I have really been paying attention to connections, too, since reading that book and the little signs that bring awareness to certain people or places. Knowing that our children take in everything with more detail than we adults do, I imagine this special connection with a magical woman who lives with the fishes will no doubt nudge her imagination one day.
That was definitely one of the highlights of the aquarium!

Sleepandhersisters said...

What a wonderful thing to have happen, I got chills reading it... my arms got all prickly.

I am sure this experience will be rooted deep in Lianas mind forever.

bella said...

oh this was breathtaking.
Your writing gave me chills, took me right there with you and I could feel the hush, that sense that no one else was there, just the two of them, creating something they alone were meant to know.
Its a mystery. And lately, I've been rather loving this, rather than trying to untangle or make sense of it.
Thanks for offering me this new perspective on part of the mystery, those connections that come to us, the meaning and purpose of us being here.

Anonymous said...

That's the best moment I've read all day. All week in fact. Hurray for mermaids. May Liana always believe in this one at least.

Shelli said...

Yay for mermaids!

Cheryl said...

Fascinating and wonderful. We all thrive on connection. Mermaids too.