DLTK's Crafts for Kids
The Little Mermaid

Far out in the ocean, far from shore, there lived a princess. This princess was very much like other princesses you may have met with one small exception - Sara was a mermaid!

She lived deep in the ocean at the palace of her father, the Sea King. Her father had that his 6 daughters could not go to shore until their fifteenth birthdays.

Finally, on her birthday, Sara swam to the surface of the water. The sun had just set as she raised her head above the waves; the clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. She swam up to a large ship. The young mermaid swam close to the windows where she saw a young prince. He was so handsome with large brown eyes and it was his sixteenth birthday and they were celebrating. There was even fireworks flying through the sky.

The party was so loud that the sailors did not notice the lightning flashing in the sky along with the fireworks. In what seemed like an instant, the raging storm blew across the ship.

"Look out!" Sara screamed, but no one could hear her over the music and the storm. A fierce wave crashed into the ship, tossing it violently and, to her horror, Sara saw the prince was washed overboard.

Sara dove deeply under the dark waters, she managed to reach the young prince and pull him to shore. She then gently cradled him to keep him warm, and sang softly to him till the sun came up. She saw the colour came back to his cheeks.

A young girl approached the beach, and Sara quickly hid. As the girl drew near, the handsome prince, he opened his eyes and said, "Thank you for saving me, you have a beautiful voice."

"It isn't me who saved you from the sea," the girl replied, "but I am ever so glad I found you; the whole kingdom has been searching for you since late last night!”

Sara dove sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father's castle. For two days, she wept alone in her room. On the morning of the third day, Sara woke up having made a decision to go back to the human world, which she knew her father would never allow. So she went to see the Witch of the Ocean.

The Witch smiled when she saw Sara approaching, knowing magically exactly what Sara would ask for. ”I warn you girl," the old woman said, extending her hand with a small bottle of black liquid towards Sara, "in exchange for your wish to be human you have to trade me your voice and if your true love your true love does not marry you- you will never speak again and you will perish.”

The little mermaid carefully took the bottle from the Witch and swam to the shore where she had last seen the prince. She drank the magic potion and fainted.

The prince was walking dreamily along the shore and spotted Sara and ran over to her.

"Who are you and how did you come to the beach?" the prince asked gently. But Sara could not answer. She instead instead smiled and he offered his hand and took her back to the palace.

The prince was kind to Sara but to her sorrow, he treated her like a little sister. His heart was with the woman who found him on the shore, whom he thought had rescued him from the sea.

After a time, Sara realized that the young man would never be hers.

Sara's sisters were worried about her- so they made their own deal with the Sea Witch; they traded their hair for a magic knife.

As Sara walked along the beach one morning, she was surprised to see her sisters without their hair. They explained their trade and gave her a magic knife. Letting Sarah know that If she kills the prince with the knife she will be allowed to return to the sea as a mermaid once more.

Sara smiled to her sisters and waved them farewell. She threw the knife deep into the ocean, she could never bring herself to kill the young man who had her heart.

So the day came when the prince and the woman from the shore were married. All of the kingdom rejoiced. Although she felt sorrow, Sara was happy that she had gotten to spend time with the prince and happy that he had found someone to truly love.

“All that is left is for me to melt into the seafoam and rejoin the ocean that was once my home.” Sara sighed to herself.

Just then, a fairy who had been watching the scene, flew down and placed her hand on Sara’s hand. The fairy had seen Sara’s great kindness and compassion. As the fairy lifted her hand, Sara found herself becoming light as a feather and sprouting wings.

The little mermaid smiled brightly for she could not think of a more wonderful way to live than fluttering like a butterfly, watching over the humans that she had left the sea to meet.