Beneath the overhanging sweet gum and cypress trees, under the glassy lid of the lazy river, there was once a mermaid who was a creature of habit. Everyday she swam to the deep, fresh water spring along the same aqueous passage. She and her fish friends floated gently among the sunbeams, above the sandy bottoms and muskgrass shaded by the banana lilies. She was a delicate soul who wished no one any harm; she just loved to swim and witness God’s creation. Every Fall, when the air gets cool and the days get shorter, the manatees swim back to the warm spring to winter. The mermaid loves to see each friendly face as they drift in from the gulf; they share hugs and tales of there adventures in the deep blue sea.
Then one day a stranger came to the spring; an albino manatee that was haughty and more strident than the rest. The albino manatee claimed that it’s ancestors were the rightful owners of the spring and thus vociferously declared ownership of the spring and all the waters around it. The others didn’t pay much mind to the stranger, they were used to boisterous others that had come before it and pitied it for its nature. At first the albino manatee decreed that the mermaid and the manatees were allowed to joyfully swim as usual; however it didn’t take long before the new manatee began to object to the mermaid and her daily rituals. Surely, the manatee thought, that a mermaid who enjoys herself that much must be getting something from the spring, and though it was unsure of just what, it was something that belonged to the manatee. The albino manatee first put up a sign to stop the manatee from swimming along her regular passage. The mermaid was put off by the sign but decided to slightly change her route and continue to swim with her friends to the area of the spring. So the obstinate manatee hired some large, intimidating snook to patrol the spring and report any trespassing; however there was little to report. They informed the manatee that the mermaid swam past everyday, smiling and spreading goodwill. This made that ol’ albino turn flush pink and even more paranoid; certain that the mermaid was stealing something from the spring, something special. It was time to take matters into it’s own flippers, so it swam to the opening of the spring and decided to wait, just out of sight, and see what the mermaid was taking. Day and night the manatee waited, sure it was going to end the abuses of the mermaid. Eventually days turn into weeks, weeks into months until one day the manatee weak from hunger had to come out from the spring to eat and found that all of the other manatees had long parted as winter was over. The manatee was all alone. Alone except for the mermaid.
The mermaid circled the albino manatee from a distance and watched it nibble the grassy river bottom. She smiled a weary smile each time their eyes met. As the albino ate it gained strength; time passed and the days grew longer. It knew it was time to swim back out to the deep blue sea for the summer.
“Well Miss Mermaid,” the manatee grumbled, “I guess the spring will be yours until I return in the Fall!”
The mermaid smiled as she swam along her favorite passage.
“You really don’t get it, do you? The spring, the river, and all of its surroundings no more belong to me than any other living creature. We are here by the grace of God, and the spring will be here long after we’re gone.”
“But I own it!” the manatee protested.
“You may own it in your mind,” the little mermaid replied, “ but you do not live here all the time like I do. It is vital to me that it remain a clean, peaceful, and loving place to live. To me, it’s a gift from God to be respected and shared.”
The great white manatee gave a powerful flip of it’s tail and turned to the direction of the sea. It was still flush pink, and red-eyed from its ire with the mermaid. It barked one last order as it swam into the distance.
“You cannot share what isn’t yours to give!”
“And you cannot share what is yours to give.” the mermaid replied.
But she knew that the albino manatee didn’t hear her; it wouldn’t understand her even if it had. The mermaid knew that the albino would stay in her prayers for a good long time, hoping that one day it would see the light. In the meantime she and her fish friends would joyfully swim beneath the overhanging sweet gum and cypress trees, under the glassy lid of the lazy river, to the deep, fresh water spring along the same aqueous passage. She floated gently among the sunbeams, above the sandy bottoms and muskgrass shaded by the banana lilies.
