As Andrew was preparing to go into the water to swim across the sea, he suddenly discovered an old raft lying behind the sand dunes at a distance, partially covered by some tall grass. He jumped for joy knowing that God was on his side. He would not have to take that long swim after all. Andrew quickly ran up to the abandoned raft, grabbed it, and pulled it across the sand to the edge of the water. Then he jumped on the raft and took off. He knew he had to go in a westerly direction in order to cross the sea. It was already late in the afternoon. The sun was about to set. As the sun always sets in the west, Andrew had no difficulty determining in which direction he should go.

Soon night fell. Andrew was tired. He fell asleep on the raft. The raft drifted on. It was after midnight when Andrew suddenly awakened. The raft was rocking violently, the sky was pitch dark - not a single star was visible, and the wind was howling. Andrew realized that he was in the middle of a terrible sea storm. Wasting no time, he quickly took out his scuba gear from his backpack and put it on. He knew he was in great danger. He tried his best to keep the raft steady and stay afloat. Within moments, however, a severe gust of wind tossed the raft about, and almost instantaneously a huge wave, about 15 feet high, fell on the raft and capsized it. Andrew, unable to hold on to the raft, was plunged into the deep water of the sea. He began swimming under the water.

The deep sea scenery was very beautiful. Schools of fish of various sizes and colors were swimming around Andrew. There were corals, sea plants, sea horses, sea turtles, octopuses, and various other creatures Andrew had never seen before. But all of them were friendly. They just curiously looked at Andrew, but did not do him any harm. Even a shark swam past, ignoring him completely. Andrew actually started enjoying the underwater world and began to explore a little bit. As he looked down, he saw a round shiny object lying on the sand at the bottom of the sea. So he dived down to find out what it was. And this is what he found:

A beautiful pearl inside a mollusk. Andrew took the pearl out of the mollusk and kept it. Andrew noticed a happy octopus, sitting in the crevice between two rocks, watching him and waving at him. His funny appearance brought a smile to Andrew's face.

There was a red crab with large claws in the nearby area. Andrew left it alone.

As Prince Andrew was leaving the area, he came face to face with this beautiful fish:

It was a stunningly beautiful, purple fish. Andrew had never seen such beauty in his life before. Aside from its beauty, there was something special about this fish. Andrew did not know what it was. Maybe it was its eyes, maybe it was its lips. Whatever it was, there was something in this fish that resembled a human. As Andrew was staring at the fish, wide-eyed and mesmerized, the fish suddenly spoke in a clear woman's voice. "Hello," it said to Andrew, "nice meeting you. May I know who are you?" A stunned Andrew, stammering a bit, replied: "I am Prince Andrew. Who are you?" The fish said: "I am Princess Claudia. A witch turned me into a fish. Can you help me become a woman again? You are so handsome. I want to marry you. Would you marry me?"

The fish told Andrew that she used to live with her father, King Arthur, and mother, Queen Helen, in a castle on the other side of a huge jungle that extends almost up to the sea shore. One day, the witch came to their castle disguised like a princess and used sorcery, which turned King Arthur into a unicorn, Queen Helen into a flying pig, and Claudia into a fish. The witch probably came from a foreign country and needed a place to live and practice her witchcraft. That is why she turned Princess Claudia, King Arthur, and Queen Helen into three different animals and drove them away from the castle so she could take it over.

Prince Andrew promised Claudia that he would do everything possible to turn Claudia back into a woman. He also promised to marry her once she was turned back into a woman. But, he told her, he did not know how to cross this sea. Once on the other side, he would find the castle where Claudia used to live. Then he would teach the witch such a lesson that she would have no recourse but to turn Claudia, her father, and her mother back into who they were. The fish said: "Don't worry. I have a dolphin friend. He will give you a ride on his back and take you to the other side of the sea in no time."

The fish then turned around and disappeared into the deep water for some time. After a little while, the fish came back with her dolphin friend. Claudia introduced Prince Andrew to the dolphin. The dolphin said: "Pleased to meet you, Prince. Now, sit on my back and I'll take you to the other side of the sea in no time." As Andrew climbed onto the dolphin's back, the fish came near Andrew and planted a kiss on his cheek. No words came out her mouth, but Andrew noticed that Claudia's eyes were moist with tears. Andrew waved good bye to her, but could say nothing. Drops of tears rolled down each of Andrew's cheeks.

<< Page 1

Page 3 >>