She sat by the water’s edge, watching the dolphins play. She wished he were still here, reminding her to be careful or telling her the same joke he’d told time after time. She could feel his presence so strongly by the water. It brought her comfort to know that he’d been proud of her, that his last breath had been to tell her he loved her. It was the kind of closure many people never get. Still, what she wouldn’t give to...

He loved her enough to let her go, and she loved him enough to come back. Each year, true to her word, she returned to the sea. Although she was grown, he still cautioned against the forces of evil. When she found true love, he accepted him. And when she gave him grandchildren, he delighted in them. Time passed, and the king was near death. “You’ll be queen soon,” he said softly. “I don’t wish to be queen. Please, don’t l...

“I hate you!” she cried; her temper as fiery as her hair. “I don’t wish to punish you, but to keep you safe!” he said sadly. “I lost your Mother to the land; I cannot bear to lose you, too!” Her misery broke his heart, but his duty was to protect her. Eventually, contempt grew heavy in her heart. Accepting fate, she reached for her father’s hand. “I love you!” she cried as their hands joined. Suddenly, the barrier dissipa...

“Stay below the waterline,” her father always said. But she was a redhead; she was stubborn and didn’t listen. She often defied him and would sneak out of their watery kingdom and head to the cove. Once there, she would not only poke her nose above the waterline, she would also lift herself up out of the sea and onto the rocks near the dry land. She craved the sunshine of the human world and grew tired of watching the sky...

As they sat watching the sun dipping into the blue-green water of the gulf, they sighed. It wasn’t the vacation they had planned, that was for sure. They’d spent the past two years planning an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa. Their chosen destination was Kenya, where they would have spent eight days on a safari, two nights at the Giraffe Manor, and one final night at a luxury hotel in Nairobi. It was their drea...