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“I’m going to prove to you that it does exist, Father!” yelled Aurelia.

“Aurelia, don’t be irrational,” said her father sternly.

“YOU are the irrational one here father, I WILL prove to you that true love exists,

and you can’t do anything about it!” Aurelia shouted.

Aurelia’s father had been scarred by love many times and didn’t want his

daughter to get her heart broken and make the same mistakes that he has made.

Aurelia was a hopeless romantic; a teenaged Mermaid who, despite her current

family troubles, longed for the love she once saw in her parent’s marriage.

Aurelia immediately grabbed her belongings and swam as fast as her little tale

could take her through the clear, beautiful waters of the sea. She soon realized that she

picked the worst time to swim away from home because a strong hurricane was brewing.

The storm made the waters incredibly treacherous, and eventually flung Aurelia onto the

land of a small beach resort.

Once she reached the surface, she realized that she didn’t have any clothes to

wear. “I better find something to wear fast or else the world will be seeing my very own

birthday suit.” She quickly snuck onto the unpopulated edge of the beach and ran into the

bushes. “What the heck did I get myself into?” she muttered under her breath. Out of the

corner of her eye, she noticed a pair of ripped-up jeans and a button down t-shirt that

looked like a men’s size but she did not care. Aurelia quickly reached for the clothes

without anyone noticing, or so she thought. “Uh, excuse me, what do you think you’re

doing?” asked the stranger behind her. Aurelia was a complete deer in the headlights,

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completely butt naked, trying to cover herself up with the clothes she found, but she was

too shocked to turn around, “Uh, I like to air-dry after I take a swim?” she hesitantly

replied. Wow Aurelia, how stupid can you be? You like to air-dry?! She thought to

herself. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go put these clothes on now.” Aurelia replied

while walking forward, still facing the opposite direction of the stranger. “Well as

awkward as this encounter has been, I hate to tell you that those are my clothes you are

about to steal.” Replied the man behind her. “Uh, it’s sorta hard to explain but I don’t

have any other clothes at the moment, would you mind if I borrowed these?” replied

Aurelia in an embarrassed tone. “Um, I guess that would be okay. Boy, you do know how

to make a first impression.” Replied the stranger. “Yup. Ok bye!” exclaimed Aurelia and

she scurried away half nude. The stranger shook his head and walked away with a smile

on his face.

After her awkward encounter with the stranger, Aurelia realized that the sun was

almost hidden beneath the horizon and she had to find a place to hide. Aurelia thought to

herself while shaking her head, perfect, just perfect. The first potential lover that I run

into, I’m basically in the nude and I’ll probably never see him again. Aurelia started to

panic as she searches for some sort of shelter for the week’s stay. She soon came across a

small lake that looked pretty isolated, so she decided to take her chances. Aurelia

graciously dove into the lake and her exquisite, multicolored tail began to form.

As she was swimming around, trying to clear her mind, an elderly man, who was

out for a walk before nightfall, caught a glimpse of something shiny in the lake. Is that

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what I think it is?! No it can’t be…the old man thought to himself. Aurelia heard

branches rustling and suddenly became frozen beneath the waters surface. Do. Not. Move.

A. Muscle. Aurelia thought in a panic. The old man backed away with squinted eyes and

slowly walked away confused, scratching his head.

As dawn began to break, Aurelia hopped out of the lake, put on the stranger’s

apparel and headed into town. As she was walking, she overheard a conversation of a an

elderly man talking to what sounded like the gorgeous stranger, “Yes, I know it sounds

crazy but I know what I saw. Just think about it, can you imagine how much publicity we

could get from a Mermaid?! This could be our big break for the resort!” said the old man.

“Mermaids are not real! How can you say something like that?! I have to go.” Said the

gorgeous stranger while shaking his head. As he turned around he accidentally bumps

into Aurelia and she tries to act like she wasn’t panicking at the moment. Crap, he sees

me, I’m busted, thought Aurelia.

Aurelia looks up to see an incredibly gorgeous guy; he was roughly 19 years old,

with dark hair, blue eyes, and a strong build. She couldn’t think, she could only stare into

his eyes like a love struck fool. “Oh so this is what you look like with clothes on,”

chuckles the stranger. “Oh my goodness, I’m so embarrassed, can we pretend like that

never happened and, errr, start over?” gushed Aurelia with beat red cheeks. “I’m Aurelia,

it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says and she sticks out her hand. The stranger shakes her

hand and looks deeply into her eyes and replies with a smile, “Whoa, cool name. I’m

Lucas. Not as elegant of a name as yours.” She laughs, “I like Lucas, it is cute yet simple.

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Nothing wrong with that.” The attraction between the two young people is apparent when

they realize they had been staring at each other for about a minute. Lucas nervously

coughs and continues the conversation, “So, what brings you to Cedar Beach Resort?”

Aurelia responds, “Well lets just say things are complicated with my family at the

moment and I needed to get away.” Lucas answers with a sympathetic and understanding

look on his perfectly chiseled face, “I totally understand what you mean. My grandfather,

the one who owns this resort, is incredibly strict. And now he thinks there’s a mermaid

living in Cedar Lake nearby… what’s next, he’s going to tell me that the sky is falling?”

Aurelia nervously laughs and realizes that Lucas’ grandfather was probably the one who

she heard the other night. Despite Aurelia’s sudden wave of panic and fear, she told

herself that she needed to calm down; this could potentially be the man of her dreams,

and she was not going to screw it up.

As they continued to talk, Aurelia started to realize how genuine this guy seemed

to have been; definitely not what she expected from his classic good looks. As they

finished up lunch, they started to walk around town, getting to know each other better. At

one point, Lucas’ hand accidentally touched Aurelia’s and immediate sparks ignited her

whole body. She was so confused because she had never felt this way before about

anyone, not to mention in such a short amount of time.

As the sun was beginning to set, Aurelia knew that she had bail before her tail

returned. “Lucas, as lovely as this day has been, I must get going. I’ll explain later. See

you tomorrow, same time, same place?” Asked Aurelia. “Of course, I’ll see you then.”

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Replied Lucas. Just as Aurelia was about to leave, he pulled her into a warm embrace and

gave her a kiss on the cheek, which caused an instantaneous rush of blood to her face.

She quietly giggled and walked away with an ecstatic smile on her face.

Once she returned from ‘Lucas Land’, she scurried back to Cedar Lake and made

sure she was extra discreet as she slid into the icy water. The elderly man was already

there, waiting behind a bush, to see this mysterious creature again. Aurelia heard strange

noises and peeked her head out of the water and could see the elderly man staring at her

in awe. He came closer as Aurelia backed away to the far side of the lake. “Please, I don’t

want to hurt you or scare you. Are you a real Mermaid?” the elderly man said as he

nervously gulped. Aurelia slowly swam back over to see that the old man didn’t want to

hurt her and was actually curious. “Yes, it’s true, I’m a Mermaid. But please don’t tell

your Grandson, he will hate me forever!” replied Aurelia in a distressed tone. “Please just

give me a little longer, I really like your son, and I don’t want to blow my chances with

him.” Exclaimed Aurelia.

“I promise, my lips are sealed. But think about this: our resort is small, virtually

unknown, and we don’t get much attention. If the public found out that a mermaid is

living on our resort, that could actually get us back in business and I wouldn’t lose my

job! Plus, if you do decide to make an appearance, you can stay with us at the resort,”

exclaimed the old man in a desperate voice. “I, I, err, I have to go, I’m sorry,” replied

Aurelia as she swam away. “Please, help save my business and my family!” shouted the

old man as he sighed and walked away.

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As the days went by, Lucas and Aurelia started to become good friends and she

thought that this could be her chance to show her Dad that true love does exist! She

slowly began to realize that maybe staying at Cedar Beach wasn’t a bad idea after all, and

the thought of helping Lucas and his family made Aurelia ecstatic.

On the last day of the week, Aurelia knew what she had to do. Lucas and Aurelia

were walking in a comfortable silence, when he remarked, “I’ve never felt so close to

anyone before. I know we have only known each other for a week, but I feel like I have

known you for my whole life.” Aurelia happily responded, “I feel the same way Lucas,

but there is something you need to see.” Aurelia took his hand and she brought him to the

lake. By that time, the sun had almost set and she stepped into the icy water. “Aurelia,

what is going on? Is everything ok?” he nervously replied. “Please, do not be scared, try

to stay calm.” Aurelia whispered. She let go of his hand and stepped into the water.

Immediately, her tail began to form and her scales began to return one by one. Lucas was

in complete shock and awe; not just because of that fact that he had fallen in love with a

mermaid, but also that Aurelia had never looked so beautiful before. “Oh my goodness,

my Grandfather was right, you ARE a Mermaid!” shouted Lucas in an uneasy tone. “I, I,

can’t believe it, how did you, but you’re tail… all this time --” Lucas’ rambling was

interrupted by Aurelia’s soft lips that crashed into his. He stepped back for a moment and

admitted, “Wow, that was--” “Amazing,” Aurelia finished. He confessed, “I think I’m in

love with you. You are incredibly beautiful, honest, and not to mention a Mermaid! I did

not think they existed… until now.” Replied Lucas with a huge smile on his face. Aurelia

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could not believe her ears; she had found her one true love and she could now prove to

her father that love existed! “I love you too Lucas and I thank you for being so

understanding.” Aurelia stated. She then explained the offer his Grandfather made to

Aurelia and she decided that it was worth it.

And just like that, Lucas and Aurelia spent the night in each other’s arms on the

edge of the lake, blissfully unaware of everything around them. They knew that in their

hearts, they had found true love. The next morning she and Lucas went to discuss the

offer with his Grandfather, and it couldn’t have made him happier.

After Aurelia, “came out” as Mermaid, the Cedar Beach Resort received so much

wonderful and positive publicity from the press. The town was buzzing with gossip about

the famous Mermaid, Aurelia, who fell in love with a human. The once quiet and

relatively unknown beach resort had become an overnight success and Aurelia became a

local celebrity who helped put Cedar Beach Resort back on the map.

Aurelia reported all of the exciting news to her Father and he demanded to meet

this “Prince Charming” and Lucas’ family. Once everyone had met, her Father was so

proud of her accomplishments that he agreed to let Aurelia stay with Lucas and his

family. Aurelia was so happy about her decision and knew she had found her one true

love.

True love doesn’t need proof, for those who have found it, know it’s there. True

love does not discriminate nor judge; it is simple yet incredibly complicated, blissful yet

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sorrowful, and is truly a rare find. Once you have found that true love, do not look back,

do not question it…just hold on and enjoy the ride…. Or the swim.

Word Count: [2187]

Process Memo

I had a very hard time trying to figure out what to write about for my fairytale. I

originally was going to create a comic strip but realized it was incredibly time consuming

and I was not going to finish in time. I then decided I would write a fairytale but I was so

confused on what the story should be. I then realized how much I cherished the story of

The Little Mermaid when I was younger, so I decided to take aspects from that story and

create my own. After writing the tale, I didn’t revolve it around gossip but more so

gender. The fairytale is focused on the concept of “true love” and “following your heart.”

I believe that some gossip can be positive and not always negative. The role of gender is

seen between Aurelia finding her true love with Lucas, a human she met on shore. My

tale follows a chronological pattern in which the story begins with Aurelia leaving home,

swimming on shore, meeting Lucas, and falling in love. I feel like my third draft will be

more focused on the course theme; I pretty much just started writing a story and couldn’t

stop. I know I will have to go back and reevaluate the themes in my tale and edit them to

fit the ideas of gossip and gender. The protagonist in the story, Aurelia, is a beautiful,

teenaged girl. The love interest of Aurelia is Lucas, a caring young man with classic good

looks. The dialogue between Lucas and Aurelia is flirtatious and friendly which can

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relate to the gender and the roles that a young man and woman play when they like each

other. The gossiping that goes on amongst friends is a positive type of gossip because all

of Aurelia’s friends were describing the wonderful relationship that the human couple

shared and how badly they all wanted to find “true love.” My initial understanding of

gossip had strictly a negative connotation but now I realize that some gossip can be

positive. Gossip doesn’t always necessarily have to be focused on a negative discussion

about another, but can be as simple as someone doing a good deed and getting praise

from others indirectly. Like I stated in the beginning, I had a tough time trying to figure

out what my story would entail but I like where it is going. I also know that I have to cut

back on the word count because it exceeds the requirements. The moral that I chose for

this fairytale revolves around finding true love and not giving up hope. Even though

fairytales can be unrealistic and overly romanticized, the morals that are instilled within

these tales are always true. I believe that true love exists and I know that it is something

worth fighting for.