The weather is bad. Hope Terra, the tiny island surrouunded by the ocean, has no protection against the storms. Still, if it rains, who cares?
They all are half mer people, and mermaids and mermen are not afraid of some water. Some rain only means they can stay on land for a little longer before having their daily swim.
Hope is getting pretty good at gardening, and she tries to teach Aquid some. They found more seeds, but the crops are yet very limited.
The only one not enjoying the rain so much is Animere. She has no scales, her legs look pretty human. She isn't very fond of swimming either, which makes her feel different.
Animere enjoy listening to her mother's stories, though. Hope tells them about how it was to grow up underwater, about her father and mother, and half sister Myrnah. Myrnah with orange scales just like Hope, but black hair.
And Hope tells how she met their father, Rasmus Klinge.
Years go by, and the youngest girl, Shimmerita, reaches Animere's age, and the two of them can play more together.
Shmmerita loves to swim. No matter what they play, they end up swimming. It often makes Animere run back home. She gets tired of seeing her little sister admiring her scale covered legs.
Hope finally managed to grow an apple tree! Now she wonders how big it might grow, and if the apples are any tasty at all? Now that she has learned that Animere has no interest in the waters, she might need some alternative food. Apples for Animere, fish for the others.
Hope learns them the better way to eat Kelp. They love it, all of them but Animere.
Then they hear strange sounds outside the house, and a huge shadow is seen through the window!
What's out there? The kids are afraid, Aquin says it reminds him of a horse that he read about. Hope says it looks nothing like a seahorse, they never leave the waters anyway. The big thing moves away, and they dare to look outside.
There seems to be three of them! Three huge animals on tiny Hope Terra? There must have been some sinking ship in the region, the horses must have managed to rescue themselves. There's no other plausible cause.
One night when Aquid is fishing, a blue mermaid swims by. It's Nesla Scalor. He shouts hello, but there is no response. Aquid knows that Nesla has a son and a daughter, and the daughter looks pretty nice. Her name is Clammensa, but Aquid never really got a chance to talk to her.
Now that the cribs became too small, a set of bunk beds were placed in the living room. Animere and Shimmerita sleeps there, next to the kitchen corner. They love it, and Hope doesn't mind that the girls sleep right outside her own bedroom. When Aquid and Davitor gets a little older, they will help expanding the house a little. There is no trees on Hope Terra though, no timber and they can't wait for the next ship wreck. So, they might need to build with stone instead.
Also Davitor reaches teen stage, and Hope teaches him to use his fishtail. Then she looks forward to taking bot the boys to Mersea North. She needs to show them the polluted area! She must teach them about the toxics, in order to make them understand the Mersea Group's worries. But the girls are too young to come, can she leave them alone?
One day she tells Aquid and Davitor to come with her to Mersea North.
They pass the Portal of Mersea South, where Hope and her family moved to when the toxics forced them to leave Mersea North.
It's a good swim, but eventually they get there. Hope tells them that right under them is the area where she grew up. The sea ground became polluted, mer people resting onto the ground got sick and died.
This used to ne the head area for the Mersea Group. Hope has not been down there since long.
Everywhere the Kelp plants are killed by toxic, the ground is almost black, and it all looks sick.
The ground looks much worse than Hope expected. The black stuff is obviously spreading!
The boys discovers a strange construction that Hope can't remember. It looks like a big wagon or container. Something that fell of a ship? She tells them to be careful, and to come with her, because she wants to show them the old court room!
And right there it is. The circle of stones, one stone representing each of the rings that once formed the Mersea Group. The meetings were in there, back when all was joy and peace.
Suddenly Hope can feel that something is wrong. And it seems Davitor has got a real merman's sensitivity as well, because he says he feels they ought to be quiet. Hope wanted to show them the stairs that leads to the real portal, but it's time for them to leave. This place is no longer safe, and she knows for sure that someone is secretly watching them!
So they silently slide back to the surface, heading back home.
Next update March 20th
Two family members had a birthday, Davitor and Shimmerita, so below are their fact cards. On the Hope Terra main page you will find all the current household members' cards :)
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