Love or a Stiff Drink Prologue - Page 2
Hannah rolled onto her back in her sleeping bag and stared up into the darkness of the ceiling. Her voice took on a slower, more formal cadence. “Once upon a time there was a young mermaid named Corabel. She was the only child of a merman who served in the sea patrol, guarding the borders of the merpeople’s kingdom. Her father was often away on duty for weeks at a time, and in his absence Corabel amused herself by tending her coral garden and studying diligently so that when she grew old enough, she too could enlist in the patrol.” “Where’s my mother during all this?” Corabel asked. Hannah shrugged. “Ran off years ago with a tuna rancher.” “Did not!” Cora protested. “Whose story is this? Fine, have it your way, she was abducted by sailors to work the South American side show circuit. Anyhow, one day Corabel was jolted from her studies by a knock at her door. It was her father’s patrol partner, home three days early. ‘There’s been an accident,’ he told her right away, ‘with a giant squid. Your father…’ Her father was dead, of course, and after the funeral his partner brought her home to live with his family. He had six sons but only one daughter, a mermaid named Hannah, and despite Corabel’s grief the two girls soon became fast friends, sisters by choice as well as circumstance.” Hold on,” Cora interrupted. “You said something about brothers. Are any of them cute? Cause I could totally be your sister-in-law. Or would that be some weird kind of aquatic incest?” |
