𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖆 𝖘𝖍𝖊-𝖍𝖊𝖉𝖌𝖊𝖍𝖔𝖌

      Once upon a time, in ancient times, deep underwater, in the sea world, in a large and crystal palace, there lived anthropomorphic animals with fish tails instead of legs. They were called mermaids and mermaids. The most important mermaid, also known as the king of the sea, lived in the palace. It was a black and red hedgehog with a black fish tail and a black trident with red stripes in its right hand. He had thirteen mermaid children. Six daughters and seven boys. All thirteen hedgehogs. Each hedgehog and female hedgehog were a different color. Three boys and three girls were pink, and the rest of the children were black and red, like their father. Among the thirteen children, the youngest sister stood out more noticeably not in appearance or color, but in character. Her name was Amy, and her mother's name was Rose. I don’t think it’s worth mentioning the names of the other brothers and sisters, as they are not worthy of it. For this I will mention the name of the sea king himself. His name was Tyraton. The king was strict and harsh towards the entire sea world and hated surface people to death. He treated his sons and daughters with love. Except for the youngest. Since their mother died, having fallen under the pirate ship of some evil captain with a chef's spatula instead of a right hand, Amy, without the love and care of her mother, grew up on her own and lived her naive dreams. The father devoted his love to the children extremely rarely, since he had the responsibilities of government and he had to make sure that in his kingdom there were no riots, famines, wars, hard work and complaints from other mermaids and fish on one topic or another. In other matters, some children, since they were older than Amy herself, calmly survived the death of their common mother and tried to live in the present, and not in the past. They were well aware, even after ten years, that sooner or later the time would come and they would have to take care of themselves, because perhaps there would be no one else around. No mom, no dad, no brothers, no sisters. Therefore, all of them, except the youngest, resigned themselves to such a life and moved on with their lives, studied, grew and took care of themselves. Sometimes on rare occasions it also happened that they helped and cared for each other. Which is logical, because they are relatives. When each of them turned fifteen years old, the father allowed each of them to leave the sea and go to the surface within this time. At the same time, he strictly punished them so that they should under no circumstances come into the sight of people and other creatures from the surface or from land. And also did not try to contact them. They were, of course, well-mannered and obedient, so they did as their father told them. Each of them, when leaving the sea, quietly watched the nearest ships, how people live on land, catch unfortunate fish with nets, kill them, fry them and eat them, which sometimes frightened them. Some are fortunate enough to have avoided such horrors first-hand. Someone saw earthly flowers on various shores. Someone noticed birds flying past over their heads. Someone saw horses running past beaches and seashores, some of which were ridden by people themselves. And someone saw multi-colored lights in the night sky. At the same time, they did not even understand that it was a fireworks display. Descending back to the bottom of the sea, they then told each other about what they had seen. Some were wonderful, and some were terrible, making them hate people. The youngest sister also listened to all this, but did not want to believe that people could be as bad as her older brothers and sisters thought. Of course, they tend to hate people, but to Amy they seemed nice. Every night, she sailed away from the palace and sat on various stones, looking up at how various ships sailed above them. If she had wanted to, she would have violated the condition and swam to the surface ahead of schedule to take a closer look at the people. But you can’t swim against the will of your parents.

***

      Another new morning. Amy is still fourteen years old, and there is only one day left until her birthday. All her older brothers and sisters had long since woken up, and she was the only one who woke up later than everyone else. Getting out of bed, she swam to the kitchen for breakfast. Eleven older brothers and sisters were floating out from there at that time. At first they were in a good mood, but as soon as they saw Amy herself, they immediately changed their calm faces to rudeness. Swimming past her, one of the older ones moved her elbow towards Amy, thereby pushing her. Anyone in her place would have shouted or complained for such impudence. However, Amy grew up kind and honest. Therefore, she tried not to complain and only said: — I'm sorry! — she said and at that time received exactly the same push with her elbow from one of the brothers. — Sorry! — she told him and tried to float around the others so as not to get it from them too. At that time, another older sister, who was already seventeen years old, was swimming behind her. She also floated to the kitchen, just like Amy. Having overtaken her, she also extends her elbow and hits her. — Sorry! Yes. Unlucky little mermaid. No one loved her, no one respected her. Otherwise, the older brothers and sisters believed that they were not to blame. They thought that they deservedly hate her because she was not like them.

***

      Sitting at the kitchen table, the merman butler, who looked like a dolphin, prepared seaweed for breakfast for Amy and the one who had previously elbowed her. The elder sister devoured them with great appetite, and Amy was sad that everyone hated her, that even her appetite was gone. — Eat quickly, otherwise it will get cold. — the eldest says to the younger, gobbling up both cheeks. — Don't want. I'm not in the mood. - Rose answers with boredom, and the older sister begins to wail: — Food is your gas, Amy. If you are stubborn and don’t fill the tank on time, your engine will die. So shut up and eat! — Why do you all treat me so badly? I'll tell dad everything and he'll punish you. — for the first time she dared to say this. — Just try it, sneak! And father loves us more than you. He also won’t like the fact that you swim to the surface before the age of fifteen and too often. What if one of the people noticed you and caught you in a net? Haven't you thought about that? You're still too young and stupid. Are you tired of living after our mother died? — Having finished scolding her younger sister, the eldest ate the last seaweed from her plate and poured more seaweed from Amy’s plate into hers, not allowing her to finish eating. — This is the first thing. And secondly, if we find out that you will swim to the surface again today, before your fifteenth birthday comes, we will report this to dad and he will put you under house arrest for a year in the dark tower. For one thing, our eyes and ears will no longer see and hear you, and at this time we will finally take a break from you. — Having finished the last seaweed, she swims out the door and before that finishes: — You, Amy, are a disgrace to the entire race of mermaids. The unfortunate sea urchin felt sad when she heard it. The dolphin butler, of course, felt sorry for her, but he believed that they were right to scold her like that, because there was no point in breaking the rules and sympathizing with something that, according to logic, should be hated. But it’s not Amy’s fault that she is the only one who was interested in and liked people from the surface, while other mermaids and mermaids were supposed to hate people. After all, unlike mermaids, they cannot hide and survive. They live on their own, compose, invent and create. Amy even dreamed of once becoming exactly the same when she grew up.

***

      Unable to endure all the mockery and hatred of her older brothers and sisters, she still dared to swim to her father and complain about them, hoping that he would teach them a lesson and punish them. Then maybe they will finally stop mocking her like that? She didn't care about being called a sneak. She wanted this whole nightmare to end as soon as possible. She sailed to her father, who was sitting on a throne of pure gold, and the sea king drew attention to her. — A! Hello Amy. Did you come just to be with me or on business? — To the point, dad. That is, Your Majesty! - she says and bows. — I don’t need to bow down, Amy! Even though I am a king, you are still my daughter. — Tyraton answers, extending his free hand. — What's bothering you? — My older brothers and sisters. They hate me. — Rose explained briefly and stopped, afraid that he would no longer listen to her. — Further! — the king asked for full details and the daughter continued to explain: — They deprive me of breakfast, mock me, hit me with their elbows and even call me a sneak because I wanted to swim to you to complain about them. — What a cheek! — the king stood up from his throne. — Complaining and lying are two different things. — he said menacingly, and then calmed down and sat back on the throne. — However... I want to know the reason why they began to treat you this way. Maybe you did something bad to them, and they are just taking revenge on you for it? There's no way to get out of this. If it had been her choice, she would have boldly explained to them that she had broken his rules by swimming to the surface before the age of fifteen. However, she was afraid that if she told the truth, he would forbid her even tomorrow after her birthday and imprison her in a tower, which is what the elders intimidated her with. But somehow she quickly found some excuse. She knew that perhaps her father would punish her too, but where could she go? — They hate me because I’m not like them. — I don't understand? — the king raised his right eyebrow. — I know, it’s common for us to hate people... From there... From the surface. Amy explained, pointing upward. — But... They seem cute to me... But my brothers and sisters simply don’t understand me. — That's it! — Tiraton frowned and stood up from the throne, swimming up to his daughter. — Young lady, I understand your pain, but I still partly agree with your older brothers and sisters. — But I... — Amy wanted to object when her father interrupted her: — You are a mermaid, like the rest of us. Humans are our enemies. Do you even understand what they do to people like us? They catch us from the sea, take us to land and roast us over a fire, and then eat us like cannibals. People are very dangerous and the worst creatures on Earth. Therefore, your brothers and sisters are trying to change you for the better, so that you realize all this and change your opinion towards them. You understand? — Yes, but... — she tried to explain something to her father, but he interrupted her again and didn’t let her say: — And don’t be insolent to your father! Please!... You are still my daughter and must obey me. You know what will happen if you disobey me, even if you miraculously remain alive and return to us. - he hinted at the dark tower, even pointing there with the trident itself. — Yes, dad. — she whispered, lowering her head. But still the king had good ears to hear her answer. — Fine. — he added to her. — And remember! Tomorrow, when you turn fifteen, you can of course be on the surface, but under no circumstances should you get close to the people themselves or contact them. What if I find out that tomorrow you will disobey me and still approach at least one person or try to talk to him. I'll tear off your red scales. Amy nodded silently, not contradicting her father, and floated away from the throne room, leaving the king alone. He just watched her with a stern look and thought: — What a stubborn person she has grown to be. Your mom was never like this. Maybe if she had not left us that day, then under her care and love you would have grown obedient, like your older brothers and sisters? Lord Neptune gave me such a disobedient daughter! — Rolling his eyes, he sighs heavily, after which he turns to the throne and sits on it. — She seems to be an adult, but she still behaves like a child. What kind of stubborn mermaid has she grown into? All in tears, because her father did not want to listen to her and did not help, Amy floated back to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, covered her head with a pillow and cried. It is beyond words that she hated her life and the family in which she lives, and who did not understand her. If her family could understand her correctly, they would love her for who she is and accept the fact that she has a different opinion about people than they do. In fairy tales, perhaps everything would be like this. However, in real life, everything is always the opposite and everything is always worse. Evil always triumphs over good. The prince on a white horse will not gallop, no matter how much you dream and wait for him. And the whole world will always be dependent on money and live in hell, where all prices are expensive, where no one hires anyone, and where many homeless and starving people suffer on the streets. Life in the real world, unlike fairy tales, is much harsher and more terrible. It’s not for nothing that many people say that the real world is the reality of evil. After crying for a couple of hours and calming down, the sea urchin, in tears with red whites under her eyes, swam to the kitchen to drink tea from spotted corals, which sometimes calmed her down. However, the butler disappointed Amy. After all, the spotted corals have run out and he cannot brew new tea without them, since all the brothers and sisters drank it all and did not leave it for her. It was neither fair nor bearable, as she believed. She was already thinking that she was probably cursed and doomed to suffer like this all her life.