Fairy Tale Fix - 124: Hollywood, Are You Listening?? feat. Chadwick Heiberg

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

The Siren’s Hunger, The Sea Remembers, & Rake Up! It’s MerMay and we’re joined once again by our very own mystic siren, Chadwick Heiberg! Chadwick’s lifelong love of the sea brings two very satisfying mermaid tales (ha, get it?) for MerMay, starting with The Siren’s Hunger, where a familiar character returns but is forever changed – then a new kind of tale called The Sea Remembers, a timely reminder to respect our natural resources. Then, Abbie finishes with a Ruth Manning-Sanders story we can’t believe we haven’t read on the podcast yet, Rake Up! where a mermaid and her good friend Mark get their vengeance, as mermaids do. Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe. You can find us on Instagram @fairytalefixpod, and chat with us on our Discord channel! Join our Patreon at patreon.com/fairytalefixpod and visit us at fairytalefixpod.com. Fairy Tale Fix Podcast is a Fantastic Worlds Production. Fairy Tale Fix is performed and produced by: Abbie Lammel (@bonanzafamine)Kelsey Horne (@monsieurcheval)With tremendous thanks to our good friend, Dustin Alexander In partnership with our Patreon producers: Angel EspinozaGisselle M. InganCynthia LammelWilliam JohnsonElizabeth MasoudDami SchlobohmCaroline DonhamMelissa BuronRabia SadiqTamra DerryLinda Kay PardonnetDana DomkoCait Williams Books and other media mentioned in this episode: Check out all the books from the show here!A Book of Mermaids Fairy Tale Fix Podcast is a Fantastic Worlds Production.

So I thought this was really funny. We got a message on Instagram from our good friend, Roz, who, by the way, has been sending us all the good book recommendations. She sent us fairy tale recommendations. She was like, I'm still trying to look for a pirate book or a pirate fairy tale. I'm so glad that Roz is on the case. Thank you, Ross. Thank you so much, Roz. But I thought it was so funny that literally yesterday I was reading our messages. on Instagram, which if anybody ever wants to send us fairy tales, please do it. It helps us tremendously because sometimes it's hard to find them or just find one that I want to read, you know? We're mood readers. Exactly, exactly. But she said this message, will Chadwick be doing a guest episode this year and looking forward to his Norway or more Slavic tales?

Oh my God. And I was laughing because, and I didn't say this to Raz because, because. I didn't want to ruin the surprise. But Roz, we're literally recording with him right now. Welcome back to chat. Hello. Hi, Ross. That's what's weird.

Your wish is our command, Roz. I know. It's like you knew it was happening. I was like, I really wanted to be like, oh, my God, we're recording with him tomorrow. That's so cool. That's wild, yeah. I love like little synchronicities like that. Right.

Well, and it makes sense, too, just because your stories are so much, your stories are so much fun. We all look forward to the next one. So it's so cool that you wanted that you were ready to kind of come back on. I love being with you guys. Yeah, we love it too. I'm so excited. But before we get into your story, I know you have some news. I mentioned in our last episode with Jack the Giant Killer that you're moving to Cornwall.

Yes. Very cool. Yeah. So my partner and I are relocating. And actually, we are going to be planting our roots in. Cornwall the UK, yeah. That's awesome. I'm so, like, how does it feel to be moving somewhere where, you know, Jack the giant

killer was born, where he slew the giant Cormoran? Yeah, I find it really interesting that there's so many, there were just so many giant tales that episode that come out of Cornwall, or with a Cornish main character. And, yeah, I hadn't seen any giants when I was there last, but I'm excited. I did to potentially do so. Because he murdered them all. Yeah, yeah. There are no giants left in Cornwall.

Don't worry about it. Also, I learned earlier, Chadwick is 6'5. Almost 6, 6. Oh, okay. Yeah, so I actually relate to giants a lot. Ain't no thing. Maybe just watch out for lads named Jack. Read their belt and just to clear.

It would be interesting if they kind of saw me as a giant there. Because also, interestingly enough, they are shorter than the European average. Oh, okay. So, yeah. So actually, while I've been here in Belgium, I feel like I'm about the same size as everyone on average. Are the Belgians pretty tall on average? Yeah, they're like the Dutch and the Netherlands, which are the tallest. They're about the same height.

But when I went over there, I did feel like I was towering over many people again, which is something I feel in the United States a lot. Yeah. Yeah. So it'll be interesting. So I don't, you know, when I was in the United States, I'd often have like little kids point and call me like, say, oh, mommy, this guy's really tall or like, you know, or something like that. So and I would always feel a little embarrassed, but also like, you know, I'm not embarrassed by being tall itself. But I guess I do, it is a little freakish at times to some people, especially children. Or a massive aspiration because I think that anybody who is short just wants to be tall.

Yeah, it's weird too because I always think about this. I feel like people are always looking up my nose effectively. I'm like, well, I'm so tall that like the view I have myself in the mirror or whatever is never what people are seeing. They're usually seeing up my neck or up my nose on average. So, yeah, that's part of the giant lifestyle for sure. And also maybe why giants are misunderstood because like people aren't. 100% at their level, so they don't like... They're just jealous that you can reach all high shelves.

And so they're like, oh, giants are dumb. No, they're not. They're just... You just can't see. And that makes you upset. Yeah, I'm 5'3. I've actually been struggling. So I've been painting my bathroom.

And... That's a great tie-in story. And Adam and I have just been like making this, that joke. about like, I can, I can deny it no longer. I'm small because I cannot reach the, like, top corner. That's right. Can't help you out. Uh-huh.

Luckily, Adam is kind of, he's pretty tall. He's like 6'1, so he can reach it. Yeah, cool. But it's just so funny. Like, I can't even imagine. I feel like I would get vertigo if I stood up that high just to see how, like, you see the world. Yeah.

I do sometimes feel a little bit like that, actually. Yeah, a little bit of where to go, yeah, for sure. Or like when I get up really quick, I have like a lot further to go. So when I get up, whoa, that was, I should have done that. I'm so excited to see all the like photography and creative things you do in Cornwall because I know that it's just such a beautiful area. Literally like I was Googling it earlier to like see where exactly it is on the map. Give myself a little geography corner in my brain.

which I've been doing a lot lately. But yeah, the first picture that pops up is like an actual castle. Like it's just so beautiful. Yeah, they have a castle that has along a stone trail to it that you could walk from the coast to the castle. But when the tide comes up, it disappears. So then the castle is just floating in the water in the distance. There's got to be a story behind that, right? Yeah, yeah, probably.

Yeah, I'm really excited to learn more about the fairy tales because as much as we do get like some references to Cornish fairy tales throughout like more known tales and stuff. I feel like it's not as prevalent as you think it is. And it's actually one of these places that has like some of the coolest fairy tales. Like when I was there, I was talking to someone and they were telling me about like the owl man. There's like an owl man who's been cited creature thing. And then I mean, I'm just learning a little bit about it now. But yeah, they have the different like.

a different type of troll fairy type of creature that I've never heard of before going there. And then there is like just a very mystical feeling in Cornwall, I would say. Like it just feels like you are in Camelot at sometimes. I want to know more about the owl man. Yeah, the owl man. Yeah. I know a little bit about it. I just heard that there was numerous sightings over like a 70 year span in the same area.

And it's around, I want to say it's around a. churchyard area that most of the time he spotted, but it's literally from my, the descriptions that people are saying, it's kind of literally a man, or kind of man-ish being, but has an owl face and owl wings. And it's extremely large, I think. I'm picturing that Robin Jacques illustration of the like owl face with the guy who's just so neat up. Yes. With the guy. Yeah, something like that. one of my favorite robbershock illustrations of all time is the owl man fucking yoked yeah i think i think the i saw a few pictures that that was the case yeah you should do like a photo shoot well actually i had a few ideas i'm actually also really

shifting a lot um with my photography and film too i think shifting how so um i feel like these past five years since the years of we shouldn't be talking about back in 2020 or so. A lot of things happened to me. I had not to harp on this because I talk about this way too often. But basically, I never really lost people in my family except one in my life. And then I lost both my grandfathers and my aunt to that. And then it kind of just shifted my whole being because after I went through the few months of feeling that pain and just kind of getting back to regular life.

Because also my grandparents, my grandfather's died within like a month of each other. And so it's kind of like compacted all of it actually. And so then you kind of like it puts you in a position where you're like almost going to the next stage of your life once your grandparents pass or at least that's what happened to me. But I wasn't ready. I was like, wait a minute. I'm a kid.

I don't know. I'm not a kid. But in my mind, I'm a kid. And I'm like, I just started this adventure. and now I feel like I'm in the father's place and my father's now and the grandfather's place kind of thing. It's a very transition for sure. Yeah. And it did like a number on me a little bit.

And I kind of feel like I was holding on to a lot of things that I had started creating in that time longer than I needed to. And I kind of resented it for a little bit because I one part of it was that I do love dark things. but coming up with dark things all the time when you're going through a dark time isn't always the most fun because it just brings up other things. I have like serious nightmare issues. So I would have just crazy dreams and then just have like tough days. But then also I was just holding on to versions of myself for longer than I normally would. I think like all my life I've been reinventing myself because I find it just a fun way to live,

honestly. I just find it like I get to really interact with life in like the fullest capacity because it's in the moment what I'm feeling and I'm not feeling ashamed about it. But I felt like there was a good five years where I felt a lot of shame because I was changing something that one brought other people joy and also brought me joy, but also connected me to a lot of people. Honestly, like to some degree even connected me with you, you know. And I feel like for a while I was just very, very confused. And luckily, very recently, it just, everything kind of shifted for me. I think part of it is moving to Cornwall because I realized that I'm going to be at this point where it's like, Cornwall is a small area. It's far from the major city. I'm

already far from a lot of Americans and my life back then. It's time has passed now as well. but also yeah I just kind of felt something switching my body where it was like I can now just live like extremely authentically and not hold on to anything of my past and for better for worse just live in the moment always and just kind of embrace the now of what I'm feeling and what I'm inspired by so even for a while recently I've been writing down what makes me like giddy you know instead of like instead of just like writing stuff that like oh, I want to be this. I want to be that. I aspire to write this book. I aspire to be a filmmaker, blah, blah, blah. I was actually just writing what really gets me going. Like what makes me be like, oh, you know, like silly.

And feeling like. He is such a good feeling too. Yeah. I'm going to start doing that. You inspire me so much today. But yeah. And I feel like once I actually wrote that all down, I realized that there's been like this common thread throughout my life that I go

in a circumstance. And I did it to myself the past five years, but in the past, I've gone into, like, let's say, a professional arena, so or whatever. Like, so I was a tattooer, and I worked at a tattoo shop in Connecticut, and screw those people. But anyway, they basically created a lot of drama for me, one around my sexuality, which is strange and outdated nonsense. But then, but also they created a lot of drama around, like, my authenticity, because what I was doing, at that moment was just reacting to my experience.

And at the time, I was interacting with a part of me that I don't always talk about, but I'm an indigenous person, indigenous first person. And like, while that's not the biggest percent of me, that is the roots of my history. And I feel like it's something that's important to me spiritually. And so at the time, I was reconnecting with my tribe. I was going to, you know, different events, powwows and meetings and like trying to also volunteer. And so a lot of my work was related to that. in that moment. And what happens is, that's just one example. But like, what it will happen in my life is

that I'll like get invigorated about something, feel great about it. And then someone will shut me down to an extent because it's not their world or what makes them happy or it makes them feel like secure, I guess, because I'm like thinking outside the box because I'm in the moment. So it might be a little wild. I'm a wild cat, you know? So it's like it might not be what they think tattooing is per se, but I'm not doing any harm. I'm a very ethical and kind person. So I was just experimenting with the art itself. You know what I mean? And like people don't need to get tattoos for me. They decide to get tattoos for me. Exactly. They don't have to sit in your chair. Like you're not tying them down and making get a tattoo from you. So, so basically, uh, they kind of brought me down to the point where I kind

of shifted what I was doing. And I think I would, I keep like, I kept doing that in my life. And it actually, the other thing that's kind of sick about it is that I found a lot of success when I shifted into the direction of what people wanted. And I, I realized that maybe that was okay for a young experimenting artist and someone who needs to learn these lessons. But now I'm an elder artist, I would say, in my mind. I've been 20 years, a full-time artist. And I feel like I now need to, like, for myself, establish what I'm contributing truly, deeply

to the arts and not what I wanted to dabble in. But again, also not control it. So in the moment, I'm really inspired by silly things. Like, you guys watch the show Friends? Yeah. Yeah. Obsessively when I was younger and still occasionally now, when I need a comfort watch. So if you remember, like, Monica's apartment at all, Monica and Rachel's apartment at all, there was.

Purple walls, yeah. And they had like, there's like some furniture aspects of that apartment that drive me wild to the point. where we're watching it now. My husband never watched friends before. So we're watching everything. Everyone needs this experience right of passage. And I watched, I'm watching it and I'm just like obsessing over their furniture. So that's like one little thing.

But anyway, to sum it up, because I could talk forever about this. I'm basically in the moment, really inspired by the sea. And this happened before the summer spring and summer energy started. but the sea obviously moving to Cornwall but also that's like where my roots are from my my parents are from an island and everything and um and i grew up i guess i was born in new york city so technically an island and island boy yeah island boy and um the but also that kind of interaction spiritually with the sea and also my grandfather the fisherman and he put his ashes in the sea and i always talk to him through the water so that's another reason why i needed to get back to the water but also um a lot of our things, but like that apartment has like bohemian aspects that I feel very connected to that I always felt like was so tacky maybe to put into my art. But now I'm like, you know what?

I don't give up. I'm going to do whatever I want. So there are going to be a little bit more like earthy, spirally, bohemian kind of meta things that are going to happen in my work that I'm feeling inside. and that's that, you know? So that's just basically the changes that are happening. And I think no matter what, my work always reflects storytelling in a lot of different ways. But I feel like there's going to be an expansive version of me and also a very, very me, authentic version of me coming out where I'm not as derivative.

And I'm more speaking from like a personal place, but not, but just aesthetically, not necessarily that I'm going to be always speaking. But yeah, so that's kind of where I'm at. I can't wait. I mean, I love it. I love like more silly, whimsy in art and everything. And anything where you can be authentic and be true to yourself and make something that really brings you joy. Yeah. It's like you have to like regulate or police your own like desires and instincts.

Yeah. I'm so excited for you to be on this on this journey of like expanding your. yourself. Thank you. Yeah. And seeing what that's that looks like. And like, I think a lot of artists, I've actually was watching some interviews on musicians, like Tori Amos and a few others. And, you know, they kind of said similar things to what I'm feeling now that like what happens with them is that they'd get a famous song or album or three songs. And their teams feel like they need to double down that they need to kind of like keep that. This is what's trending. This is what's working for you. Yeah, this is what's going to make. And it comes down to a financial thing,

comes down to money. And that kind of like ruins the artist in them because it like doesn't let them respond to how they're feeling and really get it out and be expressive the way they need to be expressive. So that's basically a priority for me now. So yeah, whatever really comes, I don't 100% know. I know that I changed my Instagram to the drowned portrait. And that is because I just, I just, I don't know. I love the. name when I thought of it and I was like, that's that. So I did it. Impulsively, as always.

And then I want to make a series called The House of Mist. Oh, cool. And it's just going to be a trippy, I'm just going to be weird at the beach with people who get weird with me at the beach on camera. So like I have some weird scenes that I already wrote out and everything. And I just want to execute them and see how they look and how they feel. It's just going to be like kind of eerie and surreal, but sea and somewhat warm. And I want to like introduce like another thing that's happening with my house.

Like I feel like this past six months I've been changing my house over from like Harry Potter core and all that stuff because I just like that aesthetic of that kind of like typical English school aesthetic or whatever. But then I wanted to be authentic again. And it just started like coming together where I've been interested. introducing a lot of terracotta and a lot of, I'm not Mexican, but I love Mexican pottery and I love Latin and general pottery. So a lot of that. And yeah,

so I'm going to probably introduce that into Cornwall a little bit. Like give a little bit more warmth because they're a little bit more cool stone a bit. Yeah, get some of those warm earth tones. Yeah. Some rich reds. Yeah. Yeah,

exactly. And I'm still going to make it, like I still think I'm going to have at your equality. But anyway, yeah, these are all thoughts. But I'm excited to see what manifests. And I'm excited to share that with you. And yeah, and if you guys come over, maybe we'll create some photos or videos or some. Absolutely. We will, we will definitely, I think Kelsey Nail will be happy to be weird with you on the beach. Yeah. And actually, our goal is to find a place on the beach. Like that is the goal. If that will happen, we'll see.

But that's the goal to be like. No, no, you're manifesting it. You are already. You are already A Cornish beach man. So, because the big dream about Cornwall 2 is that like my dog is a beach dog. Like we got him in California. He were on the San Francisco. We lived on the beach in San Francisco. So he would go two or three times running around the beach. And he just felt so zen.

And like he's been a little not that way since we've been here. So I can't wait to like have that experience where I could just like have some morning coffee and go straight to the beach and then he could just run. You're both sirens. Speaking of. Yes. What I said I say, Happy mermaid.

Happy mermaid listeners and Chadwick and Kelsey. And Chadwick, I believe you have a sirenesque story. We should introduce the show all fast. Oh, sure. Why not? This is fairy tale fix. This is the show. Where Kelsey and I read classic fairy tales and fix them for a modern audience.

Or we invite our incredibly creative and artistic, wonderful friends like Chadwick on to tell us original stories that they wrote themselves that came straight from their hearts. And they need no fixing because our friends are flawless and perfect. Well, it'll be interesting today when I read these stories. So actually I have two short stories. Perfect. And one is a chapter that's in the tale that I've been telling you guys every time I've been here. Little Witches. And the tale involves, yeah, actually it's in the title, so I'll say it.

The Sirens Hunger is the Tales title. Oh my God, the Sirens Hunger, that sounds so good. So the tail is actually only like four pages, I think. Okay. And before you tell us anything or before you start, we need to make predictions. That's six pages, actually. Yeah, so exactly. So I think if it's okay with you guys, maybe two for this one, predictions each.

Just because it's really not that long. Perfect. I'll go first. Okay. This is why I thought of she hungers immediately as I'm going to predict gay. Okay. Excellent, excellent. And then

I don't think any of the girls are actually the siren in this one. I think the siren is a outside the family character. Okay. I try to be so quiet so I don't say anything. And your face,

your face is talking too. You go, you look, you stare off into a corner. Like, shh. You're like trying to be in your phone and like not listening to us. I don't see anything. All right. I had some numbers. I'm going to say it.

Okay, go on. I predict. I thought about this beforehand. I'm very proud of myself. I actually remember that we do predictions on the show. Good for you. I predict a cool, like, siren house, like, Baba Yaga-esque kind of under the water. Like, kind of like, you know, when they're going up to Ursula's, like, witchy hut underwater.

And then my second prediction is an aquatic sidekick. Oh, I love that. I want to see an aquatic sidekick. All right. The Siren's Hunger. Little Sarah Meacham awoke on a dark summer night, heat pressing against her skin like a fevered hand. The house sleeps around her, heavy and still, drawn by something she cannot name. She slips outside and follows a quiet pull of the stream under the pale blue moonlight.

As she approaches the river behind the house, she notices in this light the water is black, and shiny as glass. There's a soft movement as it caresses the land and heads towards the sea. She leans over it, searching for relief, and finds her own face waiting below. A sight cools her, steady sir, until it doesn't. Ooh. The reflection lingers too long and doesn't seem to move with her. She sees her eyes darken first, deepening into something gothic. Hmm.

I love the imagery. That's always so good. Her skin pales pale like the moonlight, drained of warmth. Her hair lengthens drifting and curling with the slow breath of the current. Sarah does not move, neither does the girl in the reflection. They stare at one another. Then Sarah gasps, and the girl beneath the water gasped with her. But where Sarah startles back, the reflection smiles faintly and slips slowly away into the dark waters. Yes, creepy.

Creepy. Oh my gosh. That gives me goosebumps. Sarah runs back to her family's house. She buries herself beneath her covers, trembling. Yet sleep comes creeping all the same. Just before she falls asleep, she turned to the window and saw the surface of the stream break. A small watching head rising from the black slick waters.

Morning turns. is the night into something fragile and unreal. A dream she tells herself. Only a dream. She says nothing to her sisters as they work beneath the sun, hands deep in soil, laughter light and easy. But Sarah's gaze wanders,

always to the distant shimmer of water beyond the farmland. When night returns, so does she. The stream greets her with stillness. She kneels searching and finds only herself, ordinary and unchanged. Relief loosens her breath. Until the water stirs.

A heavy sound breaks the quiet and she turns. From the dark, something rises slow and deliberate. She sees herself, or almost, a child shaped like Sarah with long black hair clinging in wet strands. A face nearly the same. I'm picturing like the girl from the ring. That was exactly. Samara from the ring always comes to mind. She's just kind of wet.

Yeah. Exactly. A child shaped like Sarah with long black hair clinging in wet. strands, a face nearly the same, but the eyes are wrong, vast and hollow as drowned wells. The skin glistens, thin, like edges tremble along her arms. I love a siren that actually has like fins all over and it's not just a straight up girl on top. Yeah.

Yeah. Still Sarah steps closer. Who are you? She whispers, are you hurt? The creature tilts its head, studying her with impossible hunger. The fact that she's like, are you okay? And so running away screaming is just like, Sarah is a really sweet kid. There's a lot of young, naive energy.

I have a sweet summer child. She is the youngest. So yeah, she has that kind of like childlike disposition. I am starving. A young girl's voice says softly, feed me. A voice calls from the house. Her sister, distant but real. The spell breaks.

Sarah turns and runs, leaving the river whispering behind her. But the night does not release her. She returns once more. Pockets heavy with stolen kindness, berries, a crust of bread hidden away, an offering. I just love the way you phrase things. I love pockets heavy with stolen kindness. That's great line. She hurries forward, but the earth betrays her.

She stumbles and the food spills on the edge of the dark water. She reaches and the river reaches back. It's fine. That's not what she wants to eat anyway. A long gray hand bursts forth, cold and certain and pulls her under. The world vanishes. Cold closes around her like a certain grave. The last threads of moonlight unravel above as she is dragged deeper, deeper still, into silence that devours breath and thought alike. She struggles, but the darkness is strong.

It fills her lungs, her every thought. Until there's almost nothing. She can faintly hear her sisters screaming for her back on land. They run to the water's edge, hearts pounding, but the stream now lies smooth and empty, as though it has swallowed her whole. Sarah wakes where no light belongs. A cavern yawns around her, damp and endless.

They air thick with the scent of water and something older. In the shadow something shifts. A figure sits curled in the dark. Long wet raven hair spirals around her pale blue skin, luminous like the night's moon. In the dimness or jagged teeth catch what little light remains. Sarah stood frozen, breath caught somewhere between fear and wander. As the creature slipped through the cavern,

gliding from shadow to shadow like a living current. The cave shimmered faintly, lit by the strange glowing stones embedded in the cave. in the walls. Their light scattered across heaps of pearl shells, piled high like forgotten offerings, casting ghostly reflections that dance in every direction. Treasure lay everywhere. Jewels twinkled from the dark, tarnished armor rested in silence, books swollen with water and inked in languages she could not read, lay half buried. I love the description of the Sirens Grotto. This is, hmm. I know, like, does this Count as a cool siren house.

Yeah. Among the shells, it was a place both wondrous and wrong. As though the world above had been gathered, broken and hidden away. The creature drew near, face to face, Sarah saw it clearly now, the long sinuous tail trailing behind it, scaled and slick, catching the dim light and sharp wet glints. Hello, it whispered. Sarah swallowed. Hello?

The creature leaned back slightly, as if startled by the sound. With a trembling hand, Sarah reached out. How do you do? She asked softly. The creature took her hand, cold, damp, and then echoed, How do you do? What are you? Sarah breathed. The being turned away, then glanced back with a small uncertain shrug.

A mermaid? Sarah said. My father told me stories of mermaids. Where is your family? Again, only a shrug. A mermaid turned and drifted deeper into the cave. After a moment's hesitation, Sarah followed. The ground beneath her feet was slick coated in a thin, glistening film.

The cavern opened into pockets of strange collections. One filled with golds and rubies, another with splintered wood, the bones of a long sunken ship. Each space felt like a memory half kept. At least, at last, they reached the end. A glow waited there, soft at first, then growing brighter, until it spilled into a radiant chamber that made Sarah shield her eyes. When she stepped inside, she gasped. It was beautiful. The room shimmered with pearlescent light.

It was adorned with spiraling shells and delicate fragments of life she recognized. Objects from the world above. A hairbrush, a gilded hand mirror, small familiar things arranged with quiet care. A real, like, little mermaids, grotto. Yeah. At the center lay a pool glowing with an otherworldly light. Sarah's fear dissolved into wonder. She began to turn slowly, then laugh, then spin beneath the shimmering glow,

her heart lifting as though she had stepped into a dream with the joy-only children can truly access. The mermaid watched and then began to copy her. The same turns, the same joy-filled smiles. These are beautiful, Sarah said. breathless. It's all so beautiful. Beautiful, the mermaid echoed, spinning an uneven imitation. For a time, they moved together through the room, marveling. It's so unnerving. Yeah, the mirroring. It's really creeping. I feel like it could be either really, like, innocent and sweet, or it could be just super sinister. And I'm so excited

if I know which. I can't say anything. For a time they moved together through the room, marveling at its treasures. Hour seemed to drift past. Sarah picked up the brush and gently drew it through her hair. Then she handed it over. You try.

The mermaid mimicked her, slow and careful. She laughed and ran to the mirror, holding it up. Your hair is very pretty, she said warmly. Aw. What's your name? The mermaid only shrugged. I'm Sarah. Sarah Meacham, she said. I'm Sarah, the creature repeated.

Nope. Sarah blinked, amused. No, silly, I'm Sarah. The mermaid's expression shifted. Something tightening beneath the surface. Okay. No, it said sharper now. I am Sarah.

Before Sarah could answer, the creature darted away and returned with something clutched in its hand. A small locket. It pressed it into Sarah's palm. Sarah opened it. Inside was her own face and her father's. Beneath them a delicate description to my darling Sarah. But she'll crept through her. Yeah.

When she looked up, the mermaid's mouth had changed. Stretching wide, unhinging into something vast and terrible. Jesus fucking Christ. Trembling with hunger. You said you were hungry. angry? Sarah whispered. In a single motion, the creature lunged and swalled little Sarah Meecham hole. Sarah!

Where are her sisters? Oh, my God. Seriously. Where's Babiaga's former repudus? Get her. I am Sarah, and murmured. I am Sarah. I am Sarah. I am Sarah. I am Sarah. I am Sarah. The words repeated like a spell as the creature slipped into the glowing pool diving deep into the hidden current below. It swam through a narrow winding tunnel that led back to the river at the edge of the Meacham's land. As it swam, it began to change. Finns dissolved into limbs. Dark hair lightened, shortening as it dried.

Scales faded into soft skin. Eyes to a light, honey brown. By the time it broke through the surface, there was no trace of the creature left. Only a sort of version of Sarah Meacham remained. the small hairs of my arms are literally extending up on that a little bit like this is creeping me the fact of it her family had searched the river through the night so when she emerged from the water at last they ran to her without hesitation calling her name gathering her into their arms relief washing over them like the dawn that was fast approaching and she smiled and said beautiful she watched as the sun rose into the sky slowly painting it with color She looked at the sisters, their faces full of tears and smiles, and said,

I am Sarah. They all laughed and hugged her and carried her home. As she was being carried in by her new family, the mermaid gazed at the passing clouds with a big smile, knowing that finally her hunger would be no more. The family belonging and life on land she always dreamed of is now hers. The end. God damn, that's so fucking good.

Bro, that's the end. It says the chapter, but yes, it's the end. I mean, Sarah's still there. You, Sarah? I'm sure that the siren will barb her up someday, maybe. I love the idea that that's just like that's Sarah now. She doesn't. It's kind of crazy if she doesn't.

I really look forward to the next chapter of if any of her sister's notice anything. If Sarah's acting weird. Yeah, right? Yeah. It sounds been really weird. So, you know, I will give away a little bit that, like, basically this is going to be a kind of long, ongoing thing. So it's not going to be like the next chapter. Things are going to change or anything.

That's why I kind of left it as it is. Also, I haven't written what exactly is going to happen to them. But for me, I thought, like, Sarah. I really didn't have much going on except being like a liability half the time. And she gets left behind a lot. Like I remember the last time you were on like, you know,

when this other sisters went on the road to Baba Yaga's house, they left little Sarah behind with like their mother. Yeah. So that was a later episode. A later episode later chapter. So yeah. So that happens a lot of the time where she's just like kind of this extra character. So I kind of gave her like a really big punch.

something going on. Yeah. We'll see what happens with the rest of that. Yeah. So good. I love it. Oh, that was so good. And also, like, I just, I loved how you wrote about, like, the underwater experience, like, the, yes.

I know. I was hoping for, like, a cool, like, description of where the mermaid is, you know? I love that. That was so good. Yeah, I was, actually, after I did. right at all, I was like, wait, this does give me a little bit, Little Mermaid vibe. So I totally got what you were saying. Yeah, but like evil little mermaid.

Yeah. You know, like, I love that like her hunger was for connection and warmth and family and not necessarily for food. Yeah. That was a really good twist. Yeah. So that was the Sirens Hunger, yeah. That was awesome. Really cool.

Like, what a cool story. I loved that. I want the movie so bad. Somebody, Hollywood, are you listening? Obviously, you need to hire a Chadwick for this series because it would be fucking sick. Do the Adventures of the Meacham sisters. Yeah. Pretty cool because they go on some pretty crazy adventures.

Yeah, yeah. Some of them don't make it. What do you mean? She's there. She's in there somewhere. I also, I love a changeling story too. Hell, yeah. I know.

It was so fun when she started mimicking her. I was just like, this is either going to go like really cute or really, really dark. And honestly, I never know because sometimes you have like a really nice thing then name. So it's like totally unpredictable. Yeah, it could be all the same the whole time anyway. Love it. So we got some points there, I think. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, I got a cool a siren house and Abby got the girls aren't the siren. Yeah. I mean, not at first anyway. Not at first anyway. The siren is Sarah now. She's Sarah. She said it herself and all of her sisters laughed and agreed. You're like, yeah, we know.

Yeah, we know, you little squirt. Let's go. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how that goes out. But, yeah. Great job. What was the, okay, you have a second story? Yeah, so I'm a second little short story. And I think I've kind of mentioned a bit about it last time or maybe the time prior to that.

But this is called The Sea Remembers. And it's just a very short little kind of overview of a movie I'd like to make. Or maybe I have been thinking it might just be like kind of an episode of the House of the Mist, or House of the Mist. So, yeah, basically that's all I could say. But the one thing I will say is that it kind of falls in line more with my, a little bit more with my direction moving forward, you know. So it's a little different than what we just heard. But yeah, I wanted to tell you guys this one.

Okay. How many predictions do we get? Because it's literally like three pages or something. I think like, you want to do two like two? I guess as well. I don't know. Is that okay? Yeah, two works great.

Two is fine. So what we got? Okay, the C remembers. Abby, do you want to go first again? Okay, sure, yeah. I was just, since I went first time, copy off your work. Okay.

I only came up with a few predictions. The C remembers refers to ancestral memory. Important jewel. Important jewel. Okay. I predict shipwreck. Ooh. I don't know.

I'm missed sea. That sounds right. Yeah. That sounds like it could be a possibility. And then I predict that this one's a tearjerker. It is going to get me right in my fields. We'll see. All right, let's see, the sea remembers.

Okay. All right. So the sea remembers. Long ago, a quiet blue sea, by a quiet blue sea, there was a small village called Maria. It lay cradled in a quiet cove where terracotta houses blushed. Their doors etched with ancient suns that seemed to breathe, the forgotten light. Along the shore stood white stone altars offerings to see gods whose names have longs, and slipped from memory, yet still linger, whispered in the salt and the wind. The people there

love the water. They spoke to it in the mornings. They thanked it in the evenings. They took only what they needed and the sea gave just enough. In that village lived a little girl named Nilda. She had rich brown eyes and gentle hands. She liked to sit by the shore and whispered to the waves. Aw, I love that description so much. One afternoon the sea whispered back, a strong storm stood up in moments' time. Nilda stood forward and walked into the wind, the wild waves, as if the sea possessed her. Wow.

The teal sea closed over her, pink sunset still illuminating her hair as she disappeared. The villagers searched and called her name, but the sea did not return her. So many years passed and the village forgot. After some time they stopped speaking to the sea. Big boats came, loud boats, greedy boats. They took too much, and the water grew still and strange. Many fish disappeared, and larger creatures would be found ashore and decay. The town had been a shell of what it was, drained of its color,

with other businesses suffering greatly in the shadow of the new industry that loudly churned day and night. Then one morning, the sea gave something back. A girl laid upon the shore nestled in seaweed. She looked 16 no more. She looked like the missing child. Her hair was the same. Her face was the same. But her eyes were crystal and blue.

The villagers did not understand, but an elder named Alira came close, very close, examining her face. And she demanded the men bring the child to the apothecary at once. They laid her on the table. She was covered in pale scar-like marks of spirals and shell shapes and felt cold like ice. Elira placed a satchel filled with a eucalyptus and lemon grass under her nose, and it began to wake the child. Alira remarked, it can't be. It's been 80 years. They wrapped a child in blankets as she sat up.

I fucking love a time jump. I love a time jump. You had brown eyes once, she whispered to the child. Nilda smiled. I remember, hello, my old friend. Alira realized it was her friend Nilda, a childhood friend from many moons ago. Nilda stayed in the village the next couple days and something in the air shifted. After that, small wanders began.

Fish found the little boats, and the big ships tangled and failed and could not hold their nets. Hell yeah. Creators that hadn't been seen for years now swim happily near the shores. You must ask, not take. she would laugh softly to the fishermen as she passed. The children followed her, the elders began to remember. The sun again rose for the village of Maria. One night the great boats could not move at all.

Water made its way into parts of the machinery and like magic produced thick rust. The sea held them still in silent and halted the industry that plagued the village. By the next week, they were gone. They thought the port was cursed and didn't return. The village grew gentle again. They spoke to the sea once more. They regained their worship to the sea gods. They took only what they needed.

And the sea answered. One evening, Nilda stood by the shore. Will you stay? A village child asked. Nilda shook her head. I was called once and I am being called again, she said. And now I must return. She stepped into the water.

The waves rose to meet her, spiraling around her body, then her arms until she was just a silhouette of sea. Then she was gone. And from that day on, when the nets were cast with care, the fisherman felt a quiet pull, soft, guiding, kind, as if she remembered, as if the sea remembered, as if the mysterious girl was still watching over the magical village of Maria. The end.

Oh, that was really, lovely. Really lovely. I'm like, is this a metaphor for capitalism? It's ruining everything. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Training all of the life out of our...

Everything. Everything. All the life out. Just a good environmental message of like trying to exist in balance with the environment around you and not to, you know, exclude it. And how like time is just hurling us in the wrong direction. you know, like all the things that are happening and all the things we allow to happen. So, yeah.

But, you know, a side note, my grandmother's name is Nilda. Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah, and I just used her name as the character because I was wanting to do that. Nilda is a beautiful name too. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that her eyes changed color when she came back, like she was changed. Yeah, is she like a little sea goddess now and that's.

Yeah, that's basically the premise. Yeah. But, you know, there probably could be a lot of lore and around, you know, the marks and everything and why different things happen and why that time frame happened. But yeah, I just really like the, you know, I think in a lot of, you know, any of us who loved charmed growing up or love things like that, it's because we felt like maybe

we needed power where we didn't have it, I think. And that's why those kind of shows really worked, at least for me, I would say. And the whole, maybe even the whole concept. psychologically of having powers and being a witch or something for that effect, you know. Yeah, absolutely. And so, yeah, I kind of wanted to explore that while also exploring the eco-consciousness of it all. But also this is just a very real thing, you know, actually in Cornwall, from my understanding, there's only one true fishing village left in that way that they are, you know, steadily producing

and that it's um it's but they're still doing you know what they're doing from the past like they don't have that new industry that has been built in however um different types of industries have kind of snuffed out the old ways of fishing the ethical ways of fishing and to the point where they only have one real village and they they have like random fishermen throughout um so it kind of like plays true to cornwall as well in probably so many different places and um yeah and i find it really interesting, you know, I think I've spoken about this, but my grandfather's a fisherman, my dad's a boatsman, my ancestors who moved to New England were whalers. And so I kind of feel like my history is intertwined with that same story as well. So yeah, you've got like you've got a lot of ties to

the sea and the ocean and like living living off the ocean and with the ocean. Yeah, almost every ancestor that I could trace back has lived like right on the water. Um, uh, uh, uh, and, uh, on an island or on a specific like coastal region. So yeah. So anyway, that's, that's where I'm at. That was the tail. That was great. That was really beautiful too.

I really, I really loved it. The only, you know, the only fix for it is a fairy tale fix classic, which is I want more information. Yeah. I know, right?

What happened? How was she chosen? What did she get those markings? What's been going on with her for 80 years? why'd she go back? Like, where has she been? What kind of like, say, world? Yeah.

Yeah, and I think, like, obviously, it's interesting to think of stories because you could expand or back out. And, you know, I think, like, a bit of my approach in my mind right now, but mostly because of the fact that I don't have a giant film industry behind me or anything like that, studio behind me. Obviously, it would just be me making films. But a lot of my films would be kind of mysterious. and give you more questions than answers.

Yeah. So I feel like when I wrote this, I kind of wrote that in mind too, because I was thinking that sometimes I don't have to give, we don't have, you almost like, it's more fun for your imagination to fill in those things. Oh, for sure. But 100%. Yeah, but also it's like almost a necessity for me in this moment

to kind of write a little bit more like that because I'll be making visuals like that where it's more questions than answers. But yeah. Oh, yeah. Which is also, which is very valid. You don't have to listen to me. I just, no, I just say, though. I think that's a big reason.

I think it's a big reason of why we like those stories, though. Like, we like to talk about what, talk about what we think might be happening. Yeah. Like, I don't think we actually need the story to give us more information. But I think it's just fun to talk about, like, what more information we want out of it. It might be fun to, like, have that, that those thoughts and feelings for now. And then one day get the story and then be like, oh, it's like almost like having like the tea you know.

Oh, yeah. So, so yeah, I definitely think that there's a world there to, to explore. But yeah, I've just been trying to,

yeah, just get out what I get out and see. But yeah, I'm also excited to find out what these markings are about. So, like, well,

when you figure it out, you have to tell us. Yeah. I do feel like, it's really funny that it's, I do think it's funny that the, yeah,

I gave, I do give characters tattoos a lot. Like I've noticed too. a little bit. I wonder why. Where could that be coming from? I like the spiral theme in both stories. Um, popping up. Yeah. I also notice a definite like attachment to that right now, especially like where I see it in nature. Um, and then, yeah, even just spirals. I found like a cool spiral played at the thrift store recently, um, that I could put like shelves in and it's like, it just looks really cool to like see them all lined up in the spiral. Anyway,

but yeah so yeah thank you for listening thanks telling us those I would say so I don't think I got any points I wouldn't call it a tear drinker it was more like lovely than sad what about refers to ancestral memory I feel like that almost is a question for you Chadwick I don't know that's something we can interpret I would say that it's maybe potentially all about

ancestral memory you know so I think that's it's a point. All right. Beir, boom, a barrel. Well, that's good. I need to

rack up the points where I can because I'm the person telling the next story and so now it's your point for tunities. So no important jewel and shipwreck,

I would say so too, but it depends on what you guys think about. I mean, I didn't get like a I thought there was going to be like a shipwreck or like that was going to be a bigger part.

So she goes wrecked some ships though. Not in the way that I had imagined. I'm not going to get myself. But you know, I would give that one to you because they do. Let's do half a point. Zero point. I love half points. I love half points.

Oh my God. I'm so excited to tell my story. I'm excited too. I hope you haven't already read it. What is it called? It's called Rake Up. I feel like I have, but I can't. I definitely have read this one.

Okay. Wait, Abby, say it again. What's the name of the story? Okay, so the story that I'm telling is from a book of mermaids by Ruth Bannings and the story is a Danish story called Rake Up. Okay. So I've definitely read this, but I don't remember. Like, I can't recall. Like, once you start reading it, I bet I'll remember. Rake up. So R-A-K-E-up. Yeah, that also sounds somewhat quite for some reason familiar to me too, but I don't know. And it's an exclamation mark, right? It's an exclamation point. Yeah. Rake up. Yeah, I've done, cool, because we have all the same books.

We haven't read it, though. Yeah. But if you don't remember, then you can still make predictions. Like, I feel like I'll remember once you start telling me the story. But I definitely don't remember right now. If you end up remembering this, I'm kind of surprised that you never read this to me. Yeah. Because I thought it was so fun. Okay. How many predictions do we get?

I'm going to say, because it's one, two, three, four. It's like five-ish pages. I'm going to go ahead and let y'all make three. Okay. Each. Chadwick, as our guest, would you like to go first? Yes. Yes.

Break up. Okay. There's an important fish. Important fish. Or a fish involved in the storyline, I guess. They're a character fish. Yeah. Or something incidentally fish.

and there is some sort of love story. Love story. And then there is an evil man. Evil man. Oh, three. Yeah, it's three. You hit it. You got it.

You got important fish, love story, and evil man. solid predictions for mermaid story right yeah for me i'm gonna predict sea witch i'm gonna predict i'm gonna predict i had something and then i forgot what i was gonna say i don't know i'm gonna predict friendship no not friendship and uh ruth manning sanders oh can i predict hey presto sure of I want a hey presto. You would always predict hey presto. I want to predict a hey presto. I feel like I haven't heard that in a story in a hot minute.

Okay. And then I also want to predict let's see a non-fishing character. Does that or like a non? Sure. No, I don't know. You can totally predict a non-f fishy character. No, wait, no wait.

I changed my mind. I want to roll over aquatic sidekick. Incredible. Okay. Amazing. Because that's fun. Okay. I'm very excited to read this story.

I thought it was super cute and very fun. If anyone listening would like a copy of a book of mermaids or any of Ruth Manning Sanders other works to themselves. You can always order this from bookshop.org or you can go learn more about it on Mabbs Media's Instagram page and their website. And just want to thank Melissa Berrin once again for republishing these. What a service. What a gift to the world.

You're the best. You can also message us and I'll literally send you a link. Exactly. They're so good. We love these books. We will help get these out there more. Okay, rake up. Once upon a time, there was a mermaid who kept a herd of sea gray cows and a huge bull cow called Mark.

Oh my God, I love Mark. I know. Mark is awesome. What a great name. That's actually an automatic point for Kelsey because Mark is... Aquatic sidekick. And the aquatic, he's a sea cow, so he's an aquatic sidekick. Cute. One day, the cows said to the mermaid,

We eat and eat and eat and always the same seaweedy trash. If you don't give us a change of food, our milk will dry up. And the huge bull, Mark, said, The cows speak truly, what they need is grass. Now the mermaid knew that beyond the shore, there was a wide stretch of good green grass. So riding very queenly upon the foremost cow, she led her herd out of the water up over the sandy beach and onto the grass.

Said she, now my darling gray cows and you, my huge bull mark, eat your fill. Are they just regular cows? I think so, but they just live under the sea. And here's the illustration at the top of the page. Oh, my gosh. It's just a bowl. There's Mark. That's Mark.

I don't know why. That's like the equivalent of like people who name their cats like Dave or whatever. I know. I think that's so funny. And it's so funny to find it in like a fairy tale about like a magical bull that lives under the sea. And his name is Mark. Okay. The cow.

and Mark grazed upon that stretch of grass all day, and the mermaid sat on a stone nearby and sang to them and combed her hair. Beyond the green grass was a little town, and when the people in the town saw the gray cows and the huge bull eating up the grass and the mermaid sitting on a stone combing her hair and singing, they were, for some fucking reason, angry about it. They're like, this bitch. They're like, this bitch is stupid for grass.

That's rude. This magical creature with her... Uh-huh. But no, they're pretty pissed about it. And that was very wrong and selfish of them. And that was very wrong and selfish of them because they hadn't any cattle themselves. The grass was just lying there.

And the mermaid wasn't doing any harm by letting her cattle graze there. But it was just the way they were these people. If they couldn't make use of the grass, then nobody else should. This is also a metaphor for capitalism and industry being bad. You can't own land. I was going to say she doesn't pay taxes

and she can't have any grass. Exactly. And hey, I own this because of this piece of paper that says I own it. Even though I'm not doing anything with it. I'm not doing anything with it, but you can't have it. You magical mermaid with all of your magical cows.

Anyway, these people suck. In the evening, they took sticks and stones and ran round between the mermaid in the sea so that she couldn't take her cattle back to the water. And they beat that poor mermaid and set on the cows with their sticks and stones. What the fuck? Also, if they don't want you here, why don't they let her go back home?

Because now they have to punish her for grazing her cows on land they weren't using. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't. I hate these people. Go on. Me too. So does Mark. The huge bull, Mark, was bellowing like trumpets

and he would have made mince meat of the whole lot of these people, but the mermaid forbade him. Oh, come on. No, no, my good Mark, that is not the way to behave, she said, for she was queenly in her manners. Hell, yeah. Let the people be, it will all come right in the end.

So Mark stopped his bellowing. She's all like bloody from the... Right, she's like got a black, guy her nose is broken but she's turning the other cheek for now so Mark stopped his bellowing because he always did what the mermaid

told him and the people drove the whole lot of them cows bull mermaid and all up into the town and shut them in a yard with a great gate to it then they locked the gate and went away and held a meeting to decide what to do next kill the lot said one man

he was the butcher so But another man, he was the tailor, said, No, we can't do that. What about that monstrous bull? What about his long, sharp horns? He'd gore the life out of us before he let us touch one of the cows. Then the third man, the lawyer, said, Don't mermaids possess riches?

And having her cattle eaten down grass that doesn't belong to her, make her pay damages. And the people cheered and said, yes, yes, that's what we'll do. Make her pay damages and heavy ones. Here you go, it's all seashows. So in the morning, they went to the mermaid and told her they wouldn't let her go until she had paid them for the grass. The mermaid said, I can't pay. I haven't any money.

A likely story. A mermaid in no money. What about the girdle of pearls and rubies and diamonds you're wearing? Oh, said the mermaid. You're welcome to that. Now, the mermaid's girdle was most magnificent, gleaming with jewels, pearls, rubies and diamonds, bigger ones than any man of them had ever seen in his life.

And they thought, if we take those jewels to the city and sell them, we shall all be rich to the end of our days, but they were so greedy that they still wanted more. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes, they are. So they went aside and debated, and came to the mermaid again and said,

Give us your girdle and you shall go. But only on one condition that in three days time, you come to the shore where we shall be waiting and bring us three more such girdles. Whatever. I will do that, said the mermaid. She took off her girdle and gave it to them, and they opened the gate of the yard.

They were eager to let her go now, for they knew they could trust her to keep her promise about the other three girdles. Totally. Yeah. Oh, you'll get your girdles. riding like a queen on the foremost cow, the mermaid led out her herd,

and away they went very orderly, out of the town and over the stretch of grass, and down to the sand of the shore. The people stood in a crowd outside the walls of the town to watch them go. The huge bull, Mark, was ambling along behind the cows, quiet as a lamb.

And when the herd got down to the water's edge, the mermaid slid from the leading cows back, and then the cows went into the sea and disappeared, one after the other. now only the mermaid and the huge bull Mark was left on the shore. I love how much the story is like, his name is Mark. Yeah, he's Mark.

We love Mark. The mermaid doesn't have a name. No, the mermaid doesn't have a name. Oh, that's interesting. It's very important that Mark is the only named character in the story. And the story also wants you to know he's a huge bowl. And so it's always the huge bowl, Mark. So Mark put his horns down and begins to rake.

the sand. He raked the sand till it flew up in clouds, and still he raked and still the sand flew up. It flew up over the green grass and buried it till not a blade was seen. And still the huge bowl raked, and still the sand flew on and on. It swirled up towards the watching people

and buried their feet and filled their eyes and noses. They staggered away before it, before it back to the town, and gotten their houses and slammed the doors, and still the huge bull raked and still the clouds of sand came on and on. Hell yeah, Mark.

Hell yeah, Mark. Fuck him up. Yeah. The sand lay thick in the streets. It swirled against the windows of the houses. It half buried the church. Soon, there would have been nothing left of the town but a great sand heap if the burden hadn't called out,

enough my bowl. Stop raking. The huge bull, Mark, lifted his head and gave one bellow. high and clear as a trumpet and followed the mermaid into the sea and they both disappeared. The people spent all day shoveling up the sand,

hard work it was, and the town looked but a sorry mess when night came and they had to lay down their spades and shovels. And next morning they were added again with brooms and buckets and all as bad tempered as could be, the women howling,

the men shouting and cursing. The lawyer wasn't used to such work. He tired sooner than anyone. So he threw down his spade and said, What about those jewels? We have them, even if the town is a mess. I'll be off to the city now and sell them. You won't go alone, they all shouted,

for not one of them trusted the other. The butcher and the tailor must go with you. So the three set out, the lawyer and the butcher and the tailor to sell the jewels. And halfway to the city, they sat down by a milestone to rest their aching legs. They were worn out with the heart. work of clearing up the sand.

The lawyer was carrying the mermaid's girdle in a black bag, and as he sat resting, he opened the bag and took out the girdle to gladden his eyes with the sight of the jewels. Just want to look at it. I mean, I also just, I would too. I don't know. A big belt with big chunks of shiny diamonds. Yeah, sure. There lay the girdle now across his knee with the great rubies and the huge diamonds and the big

pearls gleaming and flashing in the sunlight. Thousands of pounds we shall get for these gems, he said. Nay, millions. Wow. I know. He's got big dreams. Hand that girdle over to me, said the butcher. I shall carry it the rest of the way. No, I shall carry it, said the tailor. And they both snatched at the girdle.

The lawyer made to put it back in his bag, but the butcher got hold of one end of it and the tailor got hold of the other end. And they were tugging and scrabbling. the girdle broke and the rubies and pearls and diamonds rolled into the road. And Kelsey, you're just so good at predicting these things. Rubies and pearls and diamonds. When the three men leaped to gather up the jewels, all they gathered up was a handful of dried seaweed.

Amazing. So they turned and took their weary way back to the town. On the third day, the mermaid came to the edge of the sea, In her hands she held three gleaming girdles. She held them up. The rubies and the diamonds and the pearls flashed in the sunlight, but no man stood on shore to receive them. Here are the girdles, called the mermaid.

No one answered. Only far away on the wall of the town. A man stood up and shook his fist at the sea. It was the lawyer. Your girdles called the mermaid. Come and fetch them. But no one came. The mermaid tossed the girdles onto the sand where they turned into three little heaps of brown seaweed.

And the mermaid laughed and dived back under the sea. The end. That's so cute. Okay. So cute, but I have a really funny modern fix. Oh, please. Is that they go and take the jewels in and it's all just like plastic. Like none of them are real.

I love that. Oh, my God. So it's just like really, really good fakes. Yeah. It's just your human garbage. actually. It's just, oh my God, that's so funny. Or maybe it's like a cow manure or something.

Yes, cow manure. Like cow manure and like plastic garbage that's been thrown into the ocean. So good. I also really wanted Mark to beat someone up. I know. I feel like she should have let Mark trample a couple people. Like that was my original fix. I started to think rake up would mean she would like yell rake up and he would start like

raking up like this. the people. Like tossing the people into the air with his horns. Yeah, I'm not really a fan of when characters do the right thing. I know, right? It's a bummer. They literally beat her with like sticks. I know.

Or like when you're supposed to like, I guess kill a bad guy, right? And they just leave him alive because your moral something comes up in that moment. I'm like, that's ridiculous, you know. It like just end them. It is. I feel like she should have let Mark trample a couple of them to teach them a lesson. Yeah. I like really strong vengeance in stories.

Yeah. But it is funny that it went the way it did. So that's cute. I just, I did think it was cute. And I like that she's just like, she's like, she's like, Mark,

bury the town. It's so cute that it just turns into seaweed. Like that's very, some fairy nonsense. Mm-hmm. Some good fairy nonsense. So good. I got one point with the aquatic sidekick and Chadwick, you got one point for an evil man.

Evil man. Lots of them. Evil, greedy, greedy villagers. Yeah, what's the fun. It's not all men, but what the heck. It's most men. And in a mermaid story, it's always a man. Yeah, it's always a man.

Yeah, and I guess the mermaid should have. a name too, yeah. Yes. What are we naming her? Um, there's another name. There's another name that, um, is in my family tree that I always want to put into her character. Um, and her, the name is Arelia.

Ooh, that's such a bloody name. Okay. Queenly Aurelia. I love that. It is a very queenly name. Yeah. And she has queenly manners. So.

And Mark. And Mark. Yeah. Oh, gosh. I love that you got a, I was, I, I, I'm delighted that you rolled over aquatic sidekick because I was so excited because there is one in this one. I like that it's just like a cow. It's not even like, when you said sea cow, I was like, oh, so they're like a manatee.

Yeah. Yeah. You're like, no. Literally cows. She's just chilling. her herd of literal cows at the bottom of the ocean. Yeah. Every time you said Mark, I saw like all capitals letters.

Mark. Yeah. Yeah. The bull, Mark. The big bull. The big bull. The big bull. Mark. The story was very, very concerned that you might forget that Mark is a big

bull. It was giving like a main character. Exactly. The story is really about Mark. I feel like they really didn't use him enough. He really should have beat some people up. Yeah. No, this is this is why I think the correct fix for the story is while Mark is tossing sand,

Mark is also tossing people. Yes. Yeah, agreed. Or like get a little dark with it and they bury them and they die in the sand kind of thing. Yeah. I like that too. We're like they just all suffocate to death under all of that sand. Yeah.

Awesome. Hell yeah. That was great. That was such a good mermaid episode. I love it. Yes, happy mermaid. I can't believe it's mermaid already. And I can't believe the first episode of mermaid is already at its conclusion.

But as always, thank you so much, Chadwick, for coming on and telling us your incredible stories. You could find me at the drowned portrait on Instagram and TikTok. We just, we love hearing them. You're such a wonderful. such a wonderful writer. We love your stories. Love you guys. If anyone else either wants us to read a story that they found or they wrote a story

and they want to talk to us about it, you can find us at info at fairy tale fix pod for email. Yep. Or you can DM the fairy tale fix pod Instagram account where you can talk to Kelsey about that Because she is the lovely, magical, uh, social media wizard who handles all that. And, um, uh, what else do you do? You can go to our Patreon at patreon.com forward slash fairy tale fixpod. If you would like to support our mermaid bonus episode this month, right? We do have a, uh, uh, mermaid bonus episode.

So yeah, yeah. You can get enough of mermaid. Hop on that Patreon. on. Absolutely. Oh, if you would like to support us by leaving us a review, we would surely appreciate it. You can do that anywhere,

pods are cast. And we would prefer a five-star rating if you can at all make your fingers do that. If you can't, don't worry about it. If you want to leave us a word review or your podcatcher will let us do that. What's the word for today? Mark. Mark. It's Mark.

The Big Bull Mark. Big Bull Mark is what you should write as a review. Yeah. How do we want to do fixes? Well, Chadwick doesn't have any fixes. His story was perfect. Both of them. Amazing.

Excellent. I can't wait for the next one. And then I guess you can just mention your fix. Yeah. And Mark tossed all of the bad people around in addition to the sand. Many people suffocated on dry land as they deserve for beating up a queenly mermaid. Because she has queenly manners, she sort of like patted her lips with a handkerchief and like looked away and was like, oh no, Mark, stop. Don't.

But Mark knew that she doesn't really mean that. And so he continued burying the town. And then she gave him like an apple or something because he's a good boy. And then they went back under the scene. They all lived happily ever after the end.