Sea of Harmony

This is a fictional story inspired by true events on Steem. Although, similarities to any Steemian in "generative art" are merely coincidental. 😝

---

---

She muffled a sob as the events of the awful day replayed in her mind like a horror movie. The dull thud of her heart and the throbbing pain in her head made her oblivious to the angry waves crashing on her bare ankles. Only when she felt the cold against her skin, she came back from her stupor and wanted the waves to wash away her sorrows and drown the atrocity she had to face earlier. In the distance, the sea was deeper and calmer, unlike the boisterous tsunami in her heart.

She was bullied by her only best friend in this strange country who was supposed to be her safe-haven.

What difference does it make if she belongs to a different background or another religion? She was a good human, a good friend. Does anything else matter?

Apparently, it did.

As the full moon played hide and seek with the clouds, glistening tears rolled down her glum face, mixing into a sudden huge wave covering her from head to toe, making her lose her balance. She was so exhausted that she didn't even try to fight back and floated along the waves as if she were dead. It was too late when she realized that she didn't know how to swim. The deep sea engulfed her slowly.

She didn't know how long it took her to regain consciousness. But when she did, it was nothing like what she expected. She was under the sea and yet fully alive.

It wasn't quiet under the sea like on the surface. There were hundreds of people—merpeople happily swimming around. She was astonished to find out that she had also turned into one of them. She pinched herself hard to confirm that it was some kind of a dream. But it wasn't.

It was getting a bit overwhelming for her, seeing merpeople from different races getting along so well - a scene she wasn't used to seeing on land.

Nevertheless, she thought better of it and tried to find someone who spoke the same language as hers, who shared a similar background as hers.

But suddenly, she saw two merpeople approaching her, asking who she was and if she needed any help roaming around. One was Ukrainian and the other looked African from the attire. She wanted to run swim away with all her might but something in their body language made her re-evaluate the situation.

Quite reluctantly but she agreed and let them assist her.

They taught her the undersea norms, tips for finding good merfolk, exchanging traditional knowledge and skills, and secrets of a happy life. One that hit her hard: "Wealth is not in money but in true friendship that knows no bounds."

Days passed and she began to learn their ways. She had never been happier in her life. What happened on the land became a distant memory.

She used to think otherwise but the waters turned out to be different than the vicious land.

A normal day in undersea life was like this...

"A mermaid from the Arabian Sea swims to Camps Bay (a South African beach) to witness a braai. Another makes arepas for lunch instead of a chapati - a recipe gifted by the merfolk living in the Caribbean. Mediterranean folk sail to the Indian Ocean to try their favourite spices. Atlantic and Pacific mersingers sang each others song togehter. Arctic comes to Indian to congratulate on Eid and Diwali. Three different mer-leagues called themselves B-R-U because united they ruled the waters."

She had never seen a cultural diversity well embraced anywhere. Her only thoughts were if this profound undersea harmony could ever be destroyed by the differences at land...

---

---

^{All photos are generated through Bing's Image Creator with minor modifications to stay within the context.}

^{All written text, image generation commands, and ideation behind this post are 100% mine.}