The Ankulen

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  Before I go on, I'd like to make one thing clear. Unlike your normal mermaids who wear nothing but pearls in their hair and large shells in key locations, Mynna was properly clothed. She wore a shimmery turtle-neck t-shirt that even covered part of her tail. She did wear pearls in her hair, as well as a pearl necklace. She wore shells in the form of a belt around her waist.

  I wasn't quite sure what she had done with the comb, or how she had been combing her hair when it had pearls in it, but I soon decided that it didn't really matter.

  Instead my thoughts returned to the two friends I had left onshore. It didn't feel right to run off and have an adventure without them. I should have had them by my side, Chris to protect us, Tisha to …

  Tisha to laugh with, talk with, share all my darkest secrets and deepest fears with.

  I almost let go of Mynna's hand at that thought. Was I really thinking of Tisha as my friend? Tisha? My bitter rival and unwanted sister?

  I forced the questioning thoughts aside. Tisha was my friend. My imaginary friend, strange though that idea was. It wasn't her fault that she was more beautiful than I … it was mine.

  I was the one who had come up with her. I was the one who had made her beautiful. Long blond hair, blue eyes, and a perfect singing voice were all my idea. I had been jealous of my own imaginary friend. It was ridiculous.

  “Are we going too fast, Jen?” questioned Mynna.

  “No,” I responded. “You have a very strong tail, Mynna.”

  “Thank-you.”

  Chapter 7

  In Which My Hand Gets Stuck at a Bad Time

  I hadn't thought it possible, but things looked even worse down here than they had on land. They weren't really worse – in fact, as I think back on it, things were actually in a much better condition. The main problem was the fact that the water itself was gray, compounding the grayness of the scenery.

  It was as lifeless underwater as it had been on land. Mynna and I were the only living creatures that I saw until we arrived at the Sea Castle.

  The Sea Castle, with the exception of the fact that it was all in dingy grays, looked typical of any underwater castle you might have seen in books and movies. Lots of skinny turrets, shells everywhere, built of coral, pearls and silver – you get the idea. It was actually quite pretty even without color, and I wished that I could remember what it had looked like before.

  Two mermen flanked each side of the mother-of-pearl gates, wearing Roman armor. Two held harpoons the other two clutched tridents. Their facial expressions were enough to make me shrink back.

  “Open the gates, good guards,” said Mynna, who didn't seem to be taken aback by the scowls at all. “A brighter future has come for us at long last, and I must inform my mother at once.”

  The guards saluted her, then hurried to do as she bid. Soon Mynna was pulling me through. I could feel the guards' gaze fixed on me the whole time, which caused me to cling tighter to Mynna's hand.

  Mermaids were swimming this way and that as we made our way through the twisting hallways. They seemed excited about something, so Mynna and I went relatively unnoticed. I received a few odd glances, but that was about it. Mynna seemed to know where we were going, of which I was glad, since I had no idea.

  Mynna brought us to a stop in front of a pair of heavy wooden doors, which also had mermen guards. At Mynna's request, these mermen opened this door, and we entered the throne room.

  The room was empty with the exception of a few large fish that reminded me of large angler fish, and one mermaid. She was swimming away from us as we entered, but upon Mynna's exclamation of “Mother!” she flipped over and swam towards us with twice the speed she had used before.

  “Mynna!” she cried, throwing her arms around her daughter. “Where were you! No one has seen you since morning!”

  “I'm sorry, mother,” said Mynna, earnestly. “I didn't mean to worry anyone, really I didn't, but I had the strongest feeling in my tail that something important was happening on land.” She pushed her mother to arm's length and gestured to me, “And I was right.”

  Mynna's mother and I spent several seconds examining each other before either of us dared to speak. Her hair was much darker than her daughter's, and worried lines creased her eyes and mouth.

  “Would I be correct in assuming that you are Queen Tailya?” I asked.

  “You would,” said Mynna.

  Queen Tailya's eyes fixed on the Ankulen, then flew to my face. “Lady Jenifer? Is that you?”

  I bit my lip, then nodded. “That's what people have been calling me.”

  “You've returned at last!” Queen Tailya clapped her hands together in joy. “Oh, what a ray of light to shine upon these dark days.” The lines of worry had vanished, replaced by those of smiles. “I see that time has passed faster for you than it has for us, though I know that the grievance that was made you was not a simple matter, and I'm not surprised that it would take time for you to forgive it. It's good to have you back.”

  I wrinkled my nose and groaned inwardly, wishing that I didn't have to dash her hopes by telling her about my lack of memory. “A ray of hope, yes, but a faint one. Queen Tailya, I can't remember creating this place or how to fix it.”

  I winced as Queen Tailya's excitement subdued and her expression turned serious. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that me being here doesn't do a bit of good just yet because I can't do anything to fix this place,” I ranted in frustration. “The Ankulen indicates that my memories are here to be found, but I just haven't found them yet.”

  “She'll find them soon,” said Mynna, encouragingly. “In the meantime, she can still find the Queen's Necklace for us – that's why she came with me.”

  The smile returned to Queen Tailya's face as she held out her hand to me. “Your presence is most welcome here, as always, regardless of whether or not you brought your memories with you.”

  I gave her a small smile as I accepted her hand. “I'm glad to be here, and I'm sorry that the cause is the loss of the Queen's Necklace. It sounds like a terribly important item.”

  “It is very important, Lady Jenifer,” Queen Tailya confirmed. She turned to her daughter. “Go find your sisters and let them know that they're safe and they can cancel the search party they are planning. Don't tell them of Lady Jenifer's arrival just yet, though.”

  “Yes, mother,” said Mynna, planting a kiss on Queen Tailya's cheek. The doors were reopened and Mynna disappeared through them.

  The Mermaid Queen turned her attention to me. “I'll announce your arrival when we go to supper. Does that sound satisfactory to you?”

  “Sounds good,” I answered, as I found myself pulled towards some large pearls that seemed to be some sort of chairs. “Um, were you going to show me where you lost the Necklace?”

  She sighed as she settled herself onto the largest of the pearls. “I would love to take you now, but it's getting dark, and the darkness is dangerous.”

  I glanced up at the ceiling as I lowered myself onto the pearl nearest Queen Tailya. The roof was pure glass to allow light to pass through – if there had been any light.

  “I understand,” I said, shuddering. “I don't want to venture out in the dark. Nights are bad enough on land.”

  “I can imagine,” said Queen Tailya, motioning one of the angler fish closer to us so that we could receive greater benefit from the lantern it carried. “Come now, if it is not prying, tell me what has occurred since you were last here.”

  Since I didn't deem it prying, I went ahead and told her of how horrid my life had been since I had lost my imagination.

  I really surprised myself by opening up so freely to someone was practically a stranger. I realize now why. First, I no longer had Chris and Tisha to do my talking for me. Second, Queen Tailya wasn't a stranger. I had mentally forgotten her, but now that I had the Ankulen again, old habits were coming back to me. Third, I really needed a listening ear.

  Eventually my story came to a close and it was time for supper,
so I allowed Queen Tailya to take my hand again and guide me to the dining hall. I sat at her right hand, and there was much excitement over my arrival. Twelve toasts were made to my health, and it was a good thing that I didn't need to eat, since someone was always asking me a question.

  The chief culprits were Mynna's older sisters, Princesses Agua, Bubbles, Splaesh, Whirl, Merina, and Shelly.

  Eventually supper came to a close and I was whisked away to what was apparently my bedroom and left there in solitude for the night. Since I was inside in relative safety, the usual distraction of watching for danger was denied me.

  I wasn't sure how much time had passed before I addressed the Ankulen in desperation, “Is there any way you can speed up time or anything like that? I'm bored.” Deciding that it probably wouldn't hurt, I gave the gems a tap. “Without denying any of my imaginary friends sleep, make it morning.”

  My request was answered by a flash of purplish-pink light. When this light had died down, a few shreds of sunlight were filtering through the glass ceiling.

  “Cool!” I observed, a grin spreading across my face. I could foresee this coming in handy.

  I didn't have to wait much longer after that before I heard a knock at the door. Relieved that my solitude was at an end, I swam over and opened the door to reveal Bubbles and Whirl.

  “Mother sent us to ask you if you would like to eat some breakfast!” Bubbles exclaimed.

  “Do you?” asked Whirl. “You don't have to come if you don't want to … but we'd love it if you would!”

  “Cook is making all of her best dishes!” added Bubbles.

  “Sure, I'll come,” I replied, extending my hands so that each could claim one. “Lead the way.”

  After that trip, I decided that I much preferred traveling with Mynna or Queen Tailya. Whirl and Bubbles went a bit faster than I was comfortable with … and sometimes forgot I was swimming between them. Had I been in Reality, I would have gained a few goose eggs.

  Fortunately, I was in my imagination, so I made it to the dining hall in one piece. Breakfast was served with a much more solemn air as we discussed my trip to Coral Mountain to retrieve the precious bauble.

  Soon it was time to go. Queen Tailya herself was my guide, and four of the mermen accompanied us as guards. I felt a bit safer on this trip than I had with Mynna, thanks to them.

  Whenever we passed anything of importance, Queen Tailya would point it out to me. Some landmarks were somewhat recognizable as what they once were, but most were completely obliterated.

  “Do the mermen ever talk?” I asked, deciding that I wasn't liking this tour.

  The question came as a surprise to Queen Tailya, and it was several seconds before she responded with, “No, they don't. You didn't think it necessary.”

  “Why not?” I was taken aback by this revelation.

  “You didn't spend much time here,” said Queen Tailya, after another pause. “You didn't see the point in giving personality to everyone who lived in the Sea Castle.”

  “Oh.” I decided to add the mermen to my list of things that I needed to fix. A thought occurred to me. “Why couldn't you give them personality with the Queen's Necklace?”

  “That wasn't an ability you gave the Queen's Necklace,” said Queen Tailya, shaking her head. “It could only control the landscape, not the people themselves.”

  “Oh.” I gave a deflated sigh.

  “The abilities of the Queen's Necklace are limited,” Queen Tailya explained further. “It's not the Ankulen, after all.”

  I made no reply to that, allowing silence to reign until Queen Tailya made the announcement of, “We've arrive,” and our swim came to a stop.

  Coral Mountain was well named, since it was a mountain made out of Coral. However, there was no life to it. No fish, no color, nothing beyond gray shells and lumpy masses.

  I noticed that Queen Tailya and the mermen were all giving me expectant looks, so I tapped the Ankulen. “Find the Queen's Necklace.” To my relief, the Ankulen began to tug on my arm, so I swam forward.

  The reason that the mermaids had been unable to find the Queen's Necklace was that it had fallen into a crevice between two large lumps that had once been brain corals. Unwilling to risk losing the Ankulen as well, I went fishing with my other arm. Soon, my hand closed on a round object with a chain. So far, so good.

  Queen Tailya's scream shattered the perfection of the moment. A cold dread washed over me. Slowly, carefully, I turned my head to see what had made the disturbance.

  I didn't blame Queen Tailya for screaming. Swimming towards us was the largest and most horrid creature I had ever seen. What little I could see of the body was scaly and reptilian, reminding me of a snake. The most noticeable feature, however, was its head … or rather … heads.

  There were hundreds of heads, each attached to a snake-like neck. The number wasn't the worst part, though.

  The heads attached to the necks were human.

  Young, old, men, women, light skin, dark skin – each head was different, save for the expression of utter despair it wore.

  A shudder ran through me. I had no doubt as to the identity of this beast. It was the Polystoikhedron.

  Snapping my eyes away, I tried to yank my hand out of the crevice I had wedged it into, but I was stuck. Realizing this, I yelled at Queen Tailya and the guards to forget me and just get out of there. They were imagination. I was not.

  Chapter 8

  In Which I Go Home For Lunch

  SO there I was, with my hand stuck and the Polystoikhedron rapidly approaching. I don't hesitate to say that I was scared. Even the ploy of telling myself that nothing could hurt me here didn't help. The Polystoikhedron was not part of my imagination.

  “What's this?” a number of the heads hissed, fixing their gaze on me. “Do we get an even tastier treat than the Queen's Necklace? Is that an Ankulen we smell?”

  “Go away!” I shouted at the beast, though I knew it probably wouldn't heed me.

  “Oh, Anka,” said another selection of heads. “Ankulens and imagination bring nothing but trouble. You should be grateful that we are willing to take it off of your hands.”

  “You can't have it! It's mine! My Ankulen. This is my imagination. I abandoned it once, but I'm not going to again!” I shouted back at it. “You're not getting the Queen's Necklace either!”

  “Braver words, Anka,” said yet another group of heads. “Words spoken by many – brave words, yet empty. We always get the Ankulen. We always eat it.”

  “Not today,” I muttered, a wild plan forming in my head. You may be wondering why it hadn't occurred to me to use the Ankulen to evacuate sooner, and, quite frankly, I wonder that too. I suppose it may have been because fear was muddling my brain, and the fact that I hadn't had the Ankulen very long. Whatever the reason for my delay, it was at that moment that I decided to finally make my dramatic exit.

  Frantically, I raised my wrist, thankful that I had used the other hand to seek the Queen's Necklace. Since my other hand was stuck, I tapped the gems against my chin and shouted, “Take me out!” I had meant to say the words carefully and powerfully, but they came out panicked.

  That was no matter, however, since they still had the desired result. There was a flash of purplish-pink light which caused me to squeeze my eyes shut. Then came the dizzy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  When I opened my eyes, I had to blink several times at the barrage of colors that met them, and it took me a minute or two to realize where I was. I was sitting in the middle of the stream, and I was still soaking wet.

  “Huh … that's good to know,” I muttered, wiping the water out of my eyes. Standing up, I looked around for my glasses. While I hadn't missed them while swimming underwater, I certainly missed them now. I also missed my flip-flops, but not as much. “I can leave whenever I like.

  It didn't take me long to locate them just a few feet away on the side of the stream. A grin spread across my face as I snatched up my glasses and shoved them back onto my no
se, and thrust my feet into the flops.

  To my surprise and satisfaction, the stick Walnut had given me was still in my hair, and I found the Queen's Necklace in my pocket. Good. The Polystoikhedron couldn't get them here.

  I was also pleased when I found my watch on my wrist, and when I discovered that the date was the same as what it had been when the adventures had begun. It was also now lunchtime, and now that I wasn't in my imagination, I was hungry.

  “I wonder if Mom will let me come in for lunch,” I muttered, wringing the water out of my ponytail. I glanced at the notebook and pencil that still sat on the stump where I had left them. “Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try.” For a moment, I considered summoning Tisha so that I could send her to the house in my stead, but I decided not to, now that I knew that she wasn't a real person. I started walking towards the house, my feet squeaking in my flip-flops. I left the notebook since I was too wet to touch it.

  When I arrived at the house, I knocked at the door, mindful of the fact that I had been locked outside, and I still didn't have a notebook with a story in it.

  Well, technically I did, but the notebook was still in the woods, and the story I had put in it wasn't the sort my mother wanted.

  After a few minutes, Mom answered the door.

  “Um, hello Mom,” I said. “Can I have some lunch?”

  “How much of a story have you written?” Mom didn't beat around the bush.

  “Well … I wrote a bit about how I lost my imagination this morning,” I quickly explained. “But then Chris showed up and he and Tisha revealed that they were really my imaginary friends. They helped be find my way back to my imagination – it's in terrible condition – a horrid creature called the Polystoikhedron is there, and is eating everything. So now we're looking for my memories. I was helping the mermaids find their Queen's Necklace when the Polystoikhedron attacked and I decided that it was a good time to see if I could have some lunch. As you can surely imagine, I've been far too busy to do any writing.”