A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids

Excerpted from the introduction What drove us from our watery sanctuary onto dry land? Like other sea life, mermaids were evolving too. And mermen had become quite rare, private, and in great demand. When mermaids tried to expand their mating options, enticing men into their aquatic territory, the poor fellows had a tendency to sink, rendering them, sadly, rather dead. So we mermaids abandoned our natural psychic habitat to seek mates on shore, and we have been like fish out of water ever since. We've adapted admirably to our landlocked circumstances, mastering most of the skills of landfolk, and managing, with much effort, to "fit in." But the mermaid within longs to slip on her tail from time to time and vanish beneath the curl of a breaker, leaving behind her unwashed dishes. We yearn to be fully immersed in the weightless world of our free spirit's true home, where our playful natures return to us with each sweep of our fantails, and protocol is silenced by a far more joyful call of the sea. We want to be refreshed, to remember, to find our way back to the part of us that is mostly ocean. Some women have forgotten their primal origins and have donned the way of man, adjusting to civilization's formalities and institutions. Others recall their nature but feel alone and odd, veiling their restlessness and suppressing their impulses. Sighs wash over them like the lapping shores. There are, however, an increasing number of mermaids that are growing their tails back, and they know how to use them!Datz, Margot is the author of 'A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids', published 2008 under ISBN 9781582701608 and ISBN 1582701601.