A Hidden Treasure

It was a sunny day on the Wailea resort of Maui, Hawai'i. The weather was hot, the ocean was cold, and Aaron knew that this was going to be a great day. Aaron had traveled for hours from his home in Honolulu to make it to his vacation destination, away from the stress of his life back home. His work was tedious, his emails were piling up, and his love life was non-existent. He had gotten so tired of his friends and family constantly asking him when he was going to get married that he decided some time away would help him relax. He arrived in Maui and was greeted by salty air and a blue lei around his neck. For this specific vacation, he had decided to turn off his cell phone. No communication between him and his life back home is exactly what he needed. He headed up to his room, put on his swimsuit, and headed down to the beach.

Aaron made his way to a nice, secluded area of the beach and laid out his towel. "I am going to relax," he said to himself. As he lay down on his towel, he heard a splash in the ocean. Aaron decided to ignore it; it was probably just a fish anyway. A few minutes later he heard the splash again, only louder and bigger. He looked up, and saw a blue and silver fin. "Did a dolphin just wash up on the shore?" he asked to no one. As he stood to his feet, he saw the fin...and arms...and long black hair. Aaron had just seen something he was sure did not even exist. A mermaid, in plain sight.

"Go away! Don't look at me!" cried the mermaid.

"Are...are you real?" asked Aaron in disbelief.

"I'm as real as you are! Now are you going to help me back into the water or not?" said the mermaid, obviously annoyed.

Aaron did what he could to help the creature back into the water, but, to his surprise, she did not swim away. "You're kind of cute, for a human that is," said the mermaid. Aaron didn't really know how to respond to that, so he just looked at his feet and smiled.

"Onix. That's my name." she said firmly.

"I'm Aaron, and you're beautiful. For a mermaid, that is." he said playfully.

A few hours had passed, and both Aaron and Onix were deep in conversation. They had learned so much about each other, where they came from, about the ocean, and so much more. Aaron knew that he would soon have to leave Onix, and he knew that he might not ever see her again. The end of his vacation was coming up, and he decided he couldn't let that happen. Aaron asked if she wanted to come back with him to Honolulu. Onix agreed, and swam next to a boat back home with Aaron. Once they were back in Honolulu, he picked her up and carried her inside his beachfront home. He placed her in the tub and ran the water.

Days had gone by, and Onix was starting to wonder if the rest of her life was going to be spent in this bathtub. But, before she could think any longer, Aaron came running in. "My friends are here! They cannot know you exist!" he said in a panic. Onix immediately knew why; if any other humans found her, she would be taken by some scientist and hid away in a lab for testing. She knew that if anyone discovered her, she was as good as dead.

Onix remained as quiet as she could, but it was not enough. One of Aaron's friends, Ryan, had realized that he was acting extremely suspicious, and that Aaron kept eyeing the bathroom door. The second Aaron turned his back, Ryan bolted into the bathroom. Onix screamed and tried to explain as Aaron rushed in to grab his friend. Everyone else ran into the bathroom and made the discovery of a lifetime. Before Aaron could even begin to explain himself, one of his friends had posted a picture of Onix on every social media possible.

"Please, if they find her they will kill her." Aaron pleaded to his friends.

"Dude, people need to know that mermaids exist! Imagine the money we could make off her!" exclaimed Aaron's friend Ryan.

"No! I love her!" cried Aaron.

After hours of fighting and Onix being scared silent in the bathtub, Aaron finally got his friends to agree to keep Onix a secret, but they had all forgotten about the pictures that were posted. Later that night, Aaron was scrolling through Twitter when he saw the headline "Real Mermaid Found Hidden in Bathtub!" He knew that if he didn't take Onix back to the ocean, she would surely die. Aaron went into the bathroom, explained the situation as calmly as he could to Onix, and told her that the only way she will survive is if she leaves him. She cried, but she agreed to go back. They waited until midnight, and headed to the beach.

"I don't want to leave you!" Onix cried.

"I don't want you to leave either, but if it means keeping you alive, then you have to go!" said Aaron with tears in his eyes.

"I'll love you forever." And with one last kiss, Onix swam back into the ocean.

"I love you, too." Aaron whispered, only to the ocean.

Authors Note: The orignal version of this story is titled "Brauhard's Mermaid" and was written by F.A. Brockhaus. In the original version of this story, a man finds a mermaid on the shore of a beach and decides to take her home. She ends up living in his bathtub and being hated by his friends. The mans friends did not like the creature that was being kept in his bathroom, so they came up with a plan to poison her. They did end up poisoning her and she did die. The man decided to never remarry, and he gave the money he had been given from her dowry to the poor.

In my version of the story, I have made it set in the modern day with modern day social media. In my story, I gave the characters names, a more detailed setting, as well as adding more detail and dialog into the story. I gave a reason as to why the mermaid was not liked, and instead of having her die, I decided that she should be set free in the ocean.