Murky Waters: Life Under Water

Life Under Water 

 

Synopsis:   A mockumentary about nyrads, mermaids, sirens and your general ‘fish folk’.   Even the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Douglas) and Swamp Thing get their time to shine in the spotlight.  

 

 

 

‘Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter take it from me

Up on the shores they work all day

Out in the sun they slave away

We’ve got no troubles, life is the bubbles

Under the sea !’—Some lyrics from ‘Under the Sea’ as sung by Sebastian the crab in The Little Mermaid (both musical and animated film by Disney)  

 

~*~CAST~*~

 

Aenon: (a merman) 

Calypso: (a siren, his mother) 

Caspian: (a nyrad, his father) 

Avonlea: (a hybrid, Aenon and Marrin’s child)  

Felix: (Avonlea’s husband)  

Marrin: (Aenon’s wife)

Jake: (her dad) 

Rachel: (her mom) 

Douglas (the Creature from the Black Lagoon): 

Swamp Thing: (Alex Olsen)   

Barbeau the Atlantian:  

Beckham (his son): 

Denise (his wife):  

Nen: (their middle son)  

Chantara: (the baby of the family)  

 

 

Scene 1—Wooed By the Sea 

 

Marrin:   (narrating)   It happened not so long ago.   I had always been a water baby, ever since mom and dad took me to my first trip to the ocean.    I never forgot the call of seagulls, the smell of salt water, the feel of hot white sand between my toes.    Dad always told me to be cautious of merpeople.    I thought they, Atlantians and other supposed ‘fish folk’ were all folklore, but on the event of my 18^th year, I learned differently that there was a whole other world right under our noses that was like ours that abided by its own set of rules.   

 

(flashback to the time Marrin was 18 years of age)

 

Jake:   Marrin !   Be careful !  The merfolk might take you away ! 

 

Marrin:  (blows raspberry)  Dad, that’s a bunch of bull jive and you know it.   You’re just trying to scare me.   The water is my home !   I know how to swim and I know how to avoid undertow.  

 

Rachel:  Jacob, you baby her way too much.   She’s 18 now.   Pretty soon, she’ll be graduating and heading off to college.   (sniffles a little)  It’s almost like it was yesterday I remember her taking her first wobbly steps.   Those little chubby legs of hers were so darling.   

 

Jake:   She’s a young lady now.   I know, Rachel.  (exhales sharply)  I know.   I have veered on the side of overprotection in the past.    I regret that.    She always did her own thing though.   

Woah… 

 

Marrin:  DAD !  Look !  I’m surfing !   Tubular !   

 

Rachel:   Look at YOU !   (applauding)   On a raft, no less !   

 

Jake:   (cheering)  Go, Marrin !   

 

Marrin:  (narrating)  In a flash, I was swiped from my raft by a force unknown to me.   My parents were doubly freaked out by it and immediately called the lifeguards to come and get me.    I went underwater but was met by the most beautiful gaze I had ever seen.   

 

Aenon:  (telepathically)  Mom was wrong about you and your kind.    I sense a depth of beauty in your eyes.   Your heart is pure.   So many others are like you.   If I could just make her and the Atlantians see that… 

 

Marrin:   (in her mind)  Are you using telepathy ?  

 

Aenon:  (chuckling, telepathically)  Oh, I forgot I can use this ability with all sorts of creatures, not just fish kind.   

 

Marrin: (laughs, telepathically)   You might want to return me to the surface before I drown. 

 

Aenon:   Of course.  Will I see you again ?   

 

Marrin:   Hopefully.   I want to get to know you more.   

 

Aenon:   That goes 10 fold for me.   Marrin, right ?  That’s what your parental units are calling you.   

 

Marrin:   (blushing)  That’s right. 

 

Aenon:  (offers her his hand, and there is an instant electric spark shared between them.  Her hair frizzles because of it)  I’m Aenon.   Until we meet again, Marrin.   I will hold you in my heart.   

 

Marrin:   (narrating)  Like that, I was sent back above the waves, back on my raft like nothing had ever happened.    Mom and dad panicked when they saw me disappear under the waves, but after that, I wanted to return to the ocean every year, even without them.   Since that time, I kept returning, and my love became deeper than the ocean herself.   

 

(scene fade) 

 

Scene 2—Tell Me More, Mom 

 

Avonlea:  (eagerly)  So, how did I come to be ?    

 

Marrin: (sighs in exhasperation)  You know the tale, Avonlea.   I’ve told you ten thousand times already.    

 

Avonlea:  What’s one more time, mom ?   Besides, you know how I miss him, seeing that he’s in the ocean most of the time, unless he uses a glamour.  

 

Marrin:   I know.   He is faithful and true to us.   We are close to the sea, which makes things a bit simpler, but you see him more.    

 

Avonlea:  (raises brow)   You jealous, mom ?   (she laughs, tickling her sides)  

 

Marrin:  No, not at all.   I have his shell.   We talk quite a bit.  Plus ever since our marriage, we were linked, body and soul.   What he feels, I feel.   I am never alone.   

 

Avonlea:  (hand over her heart) I feel that too.   Are all sea folk like that ?  What about Atlanteans ?    Do they have ESP and other psionic powers ? 

 

Marrin:  Yes, each tribe does.   They are advanced, so their minds are  a bit more evolved.   But, back to the story of (pokes her nose playfully) you my little mermaid princess.   

 

Avonlea:  (squealing)  Yea !    Story time !   

 

(flashback)   

 

Marrin:   (narrating)  It was 7 years ago today, Avonlea.    I was back at the sea, still very much in love with your papa.    

 

(We see Marrin running to the sea, and she is met by her love.   He has a present for her.   A remix of ‘Child of the Ocean’ plays and we see them get married under water.   Everyone is present, and exalting that the worlds of sea and land have united.)  

 

Barbeau:   I saw that your child is going to help bring the world into a new era.   We Atlantians are still trying to usher it in.   Some are more open minded to the shift.   Others resist and remain in their darkness.  

 

Calypso:  Isn’t that quite a large burden for the wee un ?  

 

Caspian:  It does seem a tall order, Barbeau.   

 

Barbeau:   I only report what I saw through my visions.   Denise can clarify this.  She did tasseography and had a dream of little Avonlea doing incredible things.   

 

(Avonlea coos.)   

 

Avonlea:    Wait, stop !  (the film suddenly pauses) So I was born underwater ?    Cool.  

 

Marrin:   That you were, dear.    

 

Avonlea:  Do I have any connection with famous monsters like Swamp Thing or the Creature from the Black Lagoon ?

 

Marrin:   Like you, they’re hybrids but they’re famous for other reasons.    Douglas, aka the Creature, is actually intensely intellectual and quite the sensitive soul.   

 

Avonlea:   Douglas was at my birth ? 

 

Marrin:  Yes, both he and Alex came to visit.    

 

Avonlea:   (curious)  How though ?   They would have to dodge papparazi everywhere.   

 

Marrin:   Glamours enacted by the Atlanteans.   Atlantean magic is quite potent.    You, Douglas and Alex are quite good friends.   Dad knows them too.   

 

Avonlea:  Will I be seeing them again for my next birthday ? 

 

Marrin:  We had been planning that.   

 

Avonlea:   I just can’t believe I know such famous people !   

 

Marrin:   Famous, but not unlike us.   

 

Avonlea: (hugs her mom from the side)  I miss dad.   I can’t wait until he’s back from his oceanography expedition.  

 

Marrin:   He’ll be home soon enough.    

 

Avonlea:   Thank goodness.   He can’t stay above water long though, right ? 

 

Marrin:   No, actually, that’s untrue.   Yes, he needs the ocean, but Atlantean magic keeps him looking and thriving much like a human.    He simply wears Denise’s enchanted conch when he needs to walk on land for long periods of time.   

 

Avonlea:  Interesting.   When did Auntie Denise give that to him ?  

 

Marrin:  Not long after we were wed.   We did a lot of traveling before you were born.   We settled down after you came along.  

 

Avonlea:  (looks up at her mom)  Mom ?  

 

Marrin:  What, little starfish ? 

 

Avonlea:  I’d like to go on vacation with dad.  

 

Marrin:   We must see if the scientists won’t need him for another expedition. 

 

Avonlea:  (huffs slighty)   His schedule is so jam packed…I just pray this time is different.   I like it better when we’re together.   

 

Marrin:  (kisses her forehead)  Me too, Avonlea.   Me too.   (narrates)   Of course, as time marched on, Aenon, Avonlea and I went many places.     We were able to have cryptids hosting my daughter’s big birthday parties.   We had to keep them super secret so the paparazzi didn’t crash them.    Thing is, with cryptids, you never know who’ll try to rain on your parade.    Luckily, most so called ‘normal’ people are afraid of Douglas and they don’t really mess with Alex thanks to his affiliation with the Doom Patrol.    He and Douglas get called to events non-stop, but they enjoy being with us since our parties are very zen and serene.

 

(Scene fade)  

 

Scene 3—Present Day 

 

Nen:   (smiling)  This takes me back.  I might have been a baby when Avonlea was born, but I can’t believe she’s actually getting married !     I loved spending time with her over the summer.  She, Chantara, Beckam and I used to play underwater tea party ad nauseum. 

 

Jake:  It must be strange for you to be on land again.    

Barbeau:   It’s bittersweet.   When Atlantis fell, what Atlanteans were left had to make do on land until they had the resources to rebuild.  History states that we were completely wiped out. 

 

Denise:  History of course, is written by those above the water, versus those under it.   Luckily we’re telling our story now.    We weren’t always on the best of terms, but humans always tend to surprise us.   And now, we see another chapter in unity.   (weeps happily)  It is truly a thing of beauty !   

 

Marrin:   (as Avonlea and her husband wed, ‘Good Times’ plays in the background, given its many iterations and versions, even with Doja Cat’s version)  Avonlea has grown up way too fast.  It’s like yesterday I was watching her dive into the water for the first time. 

 

Aenon:  (tries not to laugh)  And you started to worry when she didn’t come up for over 15 minutes.   She is still quite the pearl diver !  

 

Marrin:  (chuckles)  I’m just glad she’s got Felix to spend the rest of her life with. 

 

Aenon:  He’s a good man.  A tremendous provider.   Someday he’ll make an excellent father, if that is indeed the path they take.    

 

Marrin: (kissing his cheek)   I’m so grateful that we have met all these challenges together.   It was tough when you were away on your expeditions.    Now that you’re back we can enter a new phase as semi-empty nesters.  

 

Aenon:   (laughs out loud)  The way you say ‘empty nesters’ sounds like it should be some horrid post-apocolyptic film.   (dramatically)  Coming next summer, brace yourself for EMPTY NESTERS !    

 

Marrin:  Aenon, I’m not that dramatic.   

 

Aenon:  (Gives her a knowing look and dips her to kiss her passionately)   You are, but that is one of the many reasons I adore you, my anemone.     

 

Marrin:  (narrating)   No one knows the roads one’s child will travel, but to see them carve out a path is strangely satisfying.    I’ve come this far with Aenon and my friends on my side.   Avonlea has plenty of allies whenever she needs an extra assist.   It brings me untold joy to see her strive.    

 

(They all dance to upbeat songs in the end, everyone having a tremendous time as the camera pans upward at the beach and ‘The End’ sprawls out with sea themes, much like an anchor, lifesaver, etc making up the words ‘The End’.)