Ariel was a young mermaid who lived far below the surface of the water. There, sunshine danced in silver strands, and coral castles shone in pink and green. Her long hair floated around her like a veil of copper flames, and her eyes shone with the light of a thousand questions. Ariel’s father was King Triton, who governed the ocean and kept all the sea creatures safe. She lived in a big castle built of coral, seashells, and pearls that had been there for a long time. Each skyscraper rose up to the surface like a dream that was just out of reach.
Her sisters liked going to tidal pools and playing harp shells during royal shows, but Ariel didn’t. She was really interested in what was going on above the sea. She had a lot of stuff in her grotto that she found in shipwrecks, like rusty lanterns, unreadable books with ink, and forks she called “thingamabobs.” She imagined the world above as a wonderful place with music, dancing, and skies that changed colour.
Every night, she would swim to the edge of her father’s kingdom and look up at the golden light that painted the lake at sunset.
King Triton always warned Ariel in a voice as deep as the ocean’s core, “The surface is not for us.” People don’t understand us. Please follow your promise and stay away.
Ariel nodded yes, but her heart remained dreaming.
When she became sixteen, which is a special age for mermaids, she was finally able to swim to the surface and explore the world of people. Her heart raced as she pushed through the water until her head broke through the waves. The sky was purple and orange and seemed to go on forever. There was a ship in the distance on the water, and seabirds flew in leisurely circles.
She swam closer, hiding behind the rocks. There was music playing on the deck, and the lanterns looked like stars. To celebrate something, sailors danced and laughed. One of them was a young man with dark hair and kind eyes named Prince Eric. He lifted a glass and sung along to their joyous song with his coworkers. Ariel was pulled to him not just because he smiled, but also because he stayed there for a while and looked up at the sky in astonishment. That look was familiar to her. It was the gaze of someone who wanted something else.
All of a sudden, the wind howled as thunder rolled across the ocean. The storm was coming on fast.
The sky grew darker. The ship was hit by waves. A strong bolt of lightning hit the mast and tore the sky in half. Things went awry, and Ariel was scared. The ship broke up. Sailors clutched on to pieces of wreckage. They threw Eric into the ocean.
Ariel jumped into the rough waters without thinking about it. Her tail went through the dark sea. She saw him fall asleep and his cloak drag him down. She swam to the shore with her arms around him.
The storm was over by the next morning. Ariel tenderly laid Eric down on the sand and brushed the wet hair off his forehead. Her voice, warm and shaking, sang a lullaby that was gentle and full of hope, love, and longing. As he moved and opened his eyes, Ariel gasped. But before he could see her face, people yelled. She heard people coming and went back into the water.
She observed a young woman walk up from the edge of the ocean. She worked as a maid for the royal family. Eric got up slowly, and when he asked who had saved him, the maid blushed and shook her head. Ariel’s heart sank. He thought it was someone else.
Ariel was calm and safe in her underwater palace. She didn’t like her collections or her sisters’ music anymore. Her heart broke for the prince and the world he lived in. She wanted to know that world, to dance with him under the stars, and to walk with her own two legs.
Ariel couldn’t take it anymore one night and swam deep past the reef to the dark, swirling waters where the Sea Witch lived. People were scared of Ursula the witch because of her bad magic and smart heart, but Ariel was determined.
Ursula smiled at her in a way that made her feel guilty. “So,” she said, “the youngest daughter of the Sea King.” Why are you in my section of the deep?
“I want to be human,” Ariel remarked with conviction. “I want to live on land.” I want to be with him.
Ursula’s smile got larger. “Oh, love.” So wonderful. A lot of risk. I can make your wish come true, my love. But it will cost you.
Ariel didn’t know what to do. “What kind of cost?”
Ursula said, “Your voice.” “The thing that sets you apart.” In exchange, I’ll give you legs. You have three days to make the prince love you and kiss you. “If he doesn’t, you’ll go back to the sea as my prisoner forever.”
Ariel’s heart raced. Her heart was her voice, and her dream was her heart.
“Yes,” she said.
Ursula waved her tentacles and swirled evil magic around Ariel’s voice, putting it in a shell necklace. Ariel’s tail hurt as it broke apart and became legs. She screamed, but nothing came out of her mouth.
She woke up on the beach, covered in a sailcloth, with waves lapping at her feet. There was no sound as she tried to speak. Eric was drawn to her kindness and the calm happiness in her eyes when he saw her alone and unable to speak.
Ariel couldn’t say, but she laughed, clapped, and smiled, showing him the world via her ardent soul. They wandered through the gardens, rode horses along the cliffs, and sailed through calm waters. Ariel sang in her heart every night, but no one else could hear it.
Eric still thought that the girl who saved him was the one who sang, and he could still hear her voice in his brain. Ariel was heartbroken to see the plans for his wedding to that girl start. She didn’t know that Ariel’s voice had been used to hide the Sea Witch.
Ariel stood at the dock on the morning of the wedding, her heart breaking. She felt her legs getting weaker as the light got brighter. The enchantment would wear off soon. She looked out at the sea, where her sisters were drifting with sorrowful eyes.
One of them lay down and murmured softly, “We traded our hair for a knife.” If you kill the Sea Witch, you will be free.
Ariel snatched up the knife, but her hands were shaking. She couldn’t hurt anyone, not even the person who had hurt her.
Instead, she walked to the ship and stood there in the early morning light.
Eric saw her, and everything changed.
He looked into her eyes and remembered how they had met: not by talking, but by being brave, kind, and giving.
At that moment, Ursula’s spell broke.
Ariel’s voice came back in a wave of singing that was bright, loud, and clear.
“It was you,” Eric said softly. “It’s always been you.”
After leaving the altar, he ran to her and hugged her. As they kissed, the first rays of sunlight turned them into gold.
Ursula shouted in rage from the depths, but love and mercy shattered her spell.
The waves ceased. The wind stopped blowing. Triton, the king, came out of the ocean. He had been unhappy to meet his daughter, but now he was proud of her.
He said in a quiet voice, “She followed her heart.” “And showed us all a better way.”
He swung his trident, and magic sparkled all around Ariel. Her legs get stronger and more natural. She was no longer a mermaid who borrowed legs; she was now both land and sea.
The wedding was huge and took place in a lawn beside the ocean. People and merfolk from both worlds came. There was a lot of laughter in the air, and music drifted between the trees and the waves.
Ariel hugged her sisters, who cheered her on. Triton, who was a little teary-eyed, offered the couple his blessing.
Eric promised to care for the water as much as he cared for the land. They built a new society where no one was frightened to ask questions, no one was told to be quiet, and no love was against the rules.
The girl who had once desired to walk among the stars now danced under them every night, and the wind and waves carried her melody.
Ariel was a brave, kind, and curious mermaid who lived a life full of love, amazement, and transformation. People who heard her story remembered that true love isn’t about being perfect or having everything; it’s about understanding, letting go, and seeing the soul inside.
And every time she went back to the sea, it embraced her with open arms and sang back the lullabies she used to sing to the stars.
That’s all.
