Sawa the Mermaid

Once upon a time in Eastern Europe there lived a mermaid. The mermaid's name was Sawa. Sawa lived in the Vistula River.  Most of the time the river was a deep blue river; as blue as the deep blue sea.  Sometimes at night the river looked black; as black as the sky at night. Sometimes in the middle of the day the river looked orange; as orange as a persimmon. Sometimes, just before the sun went down in the sky, the Vistula river looked as red as a pomegranete.


Sawa lived in the river with her father who was a merman and her mother who was a mermaid.  Sawa had a little sister named Gertrude.  Sawa and Gertrude played in the Vistula river every day.

Sometimes Sawa and Gertrude  played happily together.  The sister mermaids shared their toys and took turns. Sawa and Gertrude both loved to eat herring.

Sometimes Gertrude and Sawa did not play happily together. Sometimes they did not share their toys.  Sometimes Sawa and Gertrude  did not want to take turns.

No matter how Gertrude and Sawa played they loved each other very much.  Sometimes Gertrude hugged Sawa around the neck.  Sometimes Sawa hugged Gertrude around the belly. Every once in awhile Gertrude tickled Sawa's fins with her fingers.  Every once in awhie Sawa tickled Gertrude under the chin with her fins.


Both Gertrude and Sawa went to school together. School for mermaids and mermen was right across the Vistula river from their house. Sawa always look both ways before crossing the river. She did not want to get hit by any boats passing overhead.  Gertrude always looked both ways because she didn't want to get hit by anybody throwing sticks or rocks into the river.

One day in winter Sawa was exploring a part of the Vistula River that went under a street.  Sawa could hear the voices of people talking up on the street. She swam closer so she could listen to the voices.  Sawa wanted to know what they were talking about.  Sawa heard that the people on the street were talking about sticks.  Suddenly a stick came down through the street and splashed in the water right in front of Sawa's nose.  Sawa laughed. She thought the stick was funny. She laughed so hard bubbles came out of her mouth and her nose.


As the years went by Sawa and Gertrude grew up to become adult mermaids. Gertrude still went to school. Sawa was finished with school and looking for something else to do in the Vistula River.


One day Sawa met a merman named Matthew. Matthew and Sawa played together. They played hide and go seek in the weeds.  They held races to see who could swim the fastest. They counted how many ducks were in the river.  They counted how many stars they could see in the sky. Sawa and Matthew were good friends indeed.

Sawa and Matthew decided to start their own family. Matthew wanted to stay close to his brother.  Sawa wanted to stay close to her mother, her father and Gertrude. Sawa and Matthew chose a home just a little way away up the Vistula river.


One day a Zsa Zsa was walking by the river with her binoculars looking for birds.  She saw Sawa and she saw Matthew.  Zsa Zsa called out to Sawa and to Matthew.
"Hello," said Zsa Zsa, "What are your names?"
Sawa answered first.  Sawa wasn't sure what to say so she blurted out, "War."
Matthew answered second. Matthew said, "Sawa."
Zsa Zsa answered, "Awesome sauce! I shall name this part of the river Warsawa. How about a fist bump?"  Zsa Zsa held her fist out over the river as far as she could stretch her arm.

Sawa looked at Matthew. Matthew looked at Sawa.  With their eyes they agreed they did  not want to give Zsa Zsa a fist bump.  So Sawa and Matthew swam away and hid in the weeds until Zsa Zsa went back to looking through her binoculars.
The End