Once upon an oyster bed, long, long ago, before the first human ever held his breath long enough to find a pearl, there was a legend. The legend foretold of a bewitching siren who would search the seven seas, explore the deepest chasms and trenches, comb the sandiest beaches in search of a treasure. The treasure would be more valuable that blue scallop eyes, more precious than moonbeams or stardust and more elusive than a zephyr wind off the coast of Tahiti. Men would shed blood for this treasure and women many a tear, but only one would ever find such fortune. She would be half heart & half mind, an air sprite that dreamed of the oceans. She would spend her days subjected and her nights succumbing. Her desires would be endless and her inquisitiveness infinite. Her greatest gift was an open spirit and gentle kindness and her fatal flaw an enormous hunger and insatiable thirst.

Then it came to be, once upon a time, long ago and far away, a princess was hatched from a tiny blue egg.The tiny blue egg had fallen from the sky. No one was sure if it was from a butterfly, robin or angel in disguise. She wore yellow leather slippers and a ruby-throated tiara. She grew to be tall with long yellow tresses that curled in the sun. She listened to music while the stars and moon danced above the Atlantic and Pacific. She painted lovely portraits in watercolors and dreamt of impossibilities. She wrote poetry at dusk and dawn. Her nights? filled with wondrous dreams.

Her mornings?

A bird cocked its shiny eye, twitched the yellow tail that the princess had sprinkled with magical salt and looked at her. She sighs and stretches...contented with such an image... She was an early riser, wanting to catch the sunrise in her hands.

And then he appeared by her side. She took his hand and they jumped down a rabbit's hole, falling, falling, swirling head over heels, tumbling.... but he lost hold of her hand but swam after her image reflected by the mirrored tunnel... "I have been away, kidnapped by an evil wizard, who lets me return to my castle between dusk and dawn...like Persphone," she whispers to him. She reaches out her fingertips to grasp his outstretched hand....her words whisper & re-echo in the tunnel as objects float past their bedazzled eyes.... an opened umbrella, a china doll, a fuzzy bear, a spoon, a bouquet of violets.... She closes her eyes and wallows in an ocean breeze that whips her hair about her face...

In a hopeless mist nothing was lost as he was enchanted by what sprang from her mind and now he had an image of her to cling to as they continued to wind a path toward that they now dreamed. He was strong and powerful and held on to her tightly and made promises about their new life on the bay or ocean where he said...." no one may find us if we don't let them." The princess's eyes opened wide, startled by the perfection of such an image..."with a star to steer them by" And the princess shakes her fuzzy head trying to comprehend the words of this mighty wizard...she is intoxicated by his imagery.

Her hand reaches back for his as they continued to fall into the present. hmmmmm. The princess makes sure she gets what she wants. Life is too short to dither.

"Invisibly our toes & tongues tangle..." he seduces. Her wispy blond lashes flutter as she drifts off in her arms in a dream.... The princess looks up from her bubbling crystal of champagne and nods her head. The warm Caribbean breeze tousles her hair as she rests in the hammock of hardwoods...the shush of the waves match the beat of her pulse... especially like the silver-eyed beauties and the egret..of course. Snowy white bird who guards the castle's moat.

But, he detects a note of petulance in her last replies as she now cautions him yet still bravely opens her soul. The man she says moves quickly yet she admits their goals are the same. Throughout their discourse he is yet to judge and there is no reason as she continues grasping him firmly in her spell. The princess nods her head...shyly of course, but with mischievous twinkle in her emerald eyes... He glided down a moonbeam and landed on the back of a dancing dolphin. Skimming over the warm waves , a phosphoresce in their wake she grinned. The princess's eyes twinkled like diamonds reflecting the stars as she headed for shore..to sugar sands and soft whispers in her ears... He finds her delightful, a true match for his wit and perhaps quite capable of challenging him beyond any he has faced before. Yet he is comfortable with her surrender if for no more than just a moment as each seeks to be themself and determine how involvement might enhance their existence. She is satisfied that he understands...and knows that the evening draws to a close, too much candy on one occasion ....

His dreams continue to hide providing only foggy images while hinting at her beauty. The last is one of her in an embrace and he imagines it is with him yet he still must dream of who his new found goddess might be. It matters little though as she has struck a nerve hidden deeply and for too long in his soul. Her magic weaves a gentle spell, "rest safely in her cocoon this night, oh captain...let this mermaid rock you gently in her arms to lullaby to sleep..." The princess vanishes in a cloud of earthly delights, to return again, "trust that it will be so"...as she whispers so softly that only he can hear as her lips touch gently his ear..."good night." She slowly opens one eye to see if the sun has yet risen. No. The princess knows that it is only the fog and impending rain that gives her cover from the light of the golden sun and the spell of the grand wizard. She opens both eyes and stretches like a sleek cat, her body taut. And smiles and says "Good Morning."

The tiny princess adjusts her tiny gossamer fairy wings and closes her eyes for but a moment. Her lashes rest gently blonde on her check as one tear slowly trickles down knowing she must leave. She gathers her magic wand & crystal ball and without a backward glance flies off into the sunset. He remains standing on the silver sands listening to the soft crash of nighttime waves. Waiting till she returns.