“I’m Just An Orphan From the Sea”

/ Michelle Moon

A few days ago, Julianna received a wonderful gift…

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…and the mermaid tail begat a mermaid tale.

Julianna, sitting in her pink cart, declared “ Hello! I’m Julianna. I’m a mermaid. “

Like all good stories, the tale of how Julianna the mermaid came to land was revealed layer by layer. My thoughts in italics.

J: I was blown in from a storm. I was at the surface, and then the wind took me and BLEW me right onto your deck! And I said “Oh, what’s this? Where am I?” And then I opened the door and I was shocked – there were humans! I’ve never seen a mom and dad to live with before…

M: Really?

J: I’m just an orphan from the sea. (Seriously, where does she get this stuff? So dramatic!)

She continued

J: And their last name was Snow, and my last name is Snow. It’s like I was meant for this family. (Notice how she’s talking about us – to us.)

We adopted her, of course — even though the details of her orphan status were somewhat murky.

M: And what happened to your parents?

J:  Her voice is grave and quiet — Mom, mermaids die sometimes.

M: Oh, so your parents died?

J: nods

M: And you were all alone?

J: Yes.

M: You poor thing. How long have you been alone?

J: thinks for a few seconds —  22 days.

 

As bedtime approached, the conversation shifted.

J: Do you have any rooms?

M: Yes, we have several rooms.

J: Do you have any soft, pretty rooms?

M: Most of our rooms are plain, but we do have one pink, sparkly princess room. But you’re a mermaid, not a princess – would that bother you?

J: I’m a princess mermaid! I like pink!

 

We wheeled our princess mermaid into her new room.

J: Ooh, I’ve never seen pink sparkly walls like this before!

 

We put her in bed:

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J: Ooh, this bed is so soft. My shell bed in the sea was hard.

What’s that black thing? (looks at the TV)

M: A TV.

J: A TV? What’s that?

 

And it went on and on:

J: What is that thing? It’s Hello Kitty, you say? Why does she not have a mouth? (It’s true – HK doesn’t’ have a mouth)…Have you heard of something called a book? I tried to make one out of seaweed in the ocean, but it did NOT go well. I’ve never had anyone read a book to me before…Is this a ponytail in my hair? I’ve never had a ponytail before! I couldn’t do this at sea… Can you turn on the black thing? So this is what TV is!

When it was finally bedtime (turning on “the black thing” pushed things back a while – clever mermaid trick), J tried to convince us to let her keep her tail on all night.

J: But mom, I’m a mermaid!!

M: Sorry – you can’t wear this all night.

After a few of these exchanges,

J: OK – Let me tell you something. I have a secret

M: What?

J: whispers — I can turn into a human

M: How?

J: shrugs her shoulders – I just do.

M: OK, so you can be a human for the night, and you can switch back to being a mermaid in the morning?

J: Yes!

 

The tail came off. I tucked J in and settled into the chair next to her bed. After about 10 minutes,

J: Mom, come here.

M: What?

J: I have to tell you something.

M: OK. I walk over to her.

J: I’m still a mermaid even though I have legs.

Bonus Features

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Mummy in a tutu.

 

Can you guess what this is?

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Animal stickers on green foam? Yes, but the J-inspired version is better:

The green foam is J’s “Handy-Pack” (which is her version of an iPad). She asked us to put the animal pictures on her Handy-Pack and told us that she was FaceTiming with the animal shelter.

CMTA fundraising update:

Thanks to your generosity, we have raised over $2000 in just a few days. Our total is now just shy of $17,000!! This is amazing. Thank you, thank you.

The number should go higher soon. A few weeks ago, World Class Martial Arts in Camas, WA held a fundraiser for CMTA in Julianna’s honor. This is Alex participating in the “Board Break-A-Thon.”  (video editing by Steve). WCMA raised over $3000 for CMTA.

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Help our Julianna make a world without CMT  — please donate to CMTA.

 

 

 

 

15 thoughts on ““I’m Just An Orphan From the Sea””

  3. I love how the crown looks with the tail. Julianna you are right those shell beds are very hard. I learned to pad mine with lots of Seaweed so I am comfy. Did you know that when it is dark in the ocean there are fish that look like night lights? They are luminescent! I have one that swims very near my bed so I can read my stories to the little merlings before they go to sleep. Sleep well in your new human bed Julianna Mermaid and it sounds like you landed on the deck of a very special family.
    Grandmer Orchid

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  5. HAHAHAHAH how does J even know or get all this stuff. So convincing.

    My favourite parts are how her stories have no loopholes & even the ‘coincidences’ fall in place so seamlessly (‘And their last name was Snow, and my last name is Snow. It’s like I was meant for this family.’) – I mean like wow she said ‘meant for this family’ HAHA. That’s so well planned, & way to make anyone’s heart melt too :p ❤

    & "the black thing"!! I love how she just describes it and never once falls into her Self of talking about TV, but just being a clueless mermaid princess about a 'black thing' hahaha how does she do that seamlessly … but also yes – sneaky mermaid princess tactics & delaying bedtime …

    blessed midweek, mermaid princess! here's to more adventures. Heard that you might encounter a junior pirate ninja in the house you reside, do say hi & play nice!

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  6. Dearest Mermaid Princess Julianna,
    You have such a fintastically enchanting story about how you came to your human family! I’m sure it’s because of the wonderful kingdom that you came from to find them! Your under sea castle must be so sparkly in the iMagic-Nation ( the Nation of Magic) where you used to live! I know the iMagic Nation is a really big place! Did you know that all mermaids, mermen, fairies, unicorns, elves, gnomes and all sorts of magical creatures come from the iMagic-Nation? Oh…whoops! Of course you knew that!
    You truly have a lovely purple and pink tail! Your crown is so beautiful! What an incredible mermaid Princess you are! I’m glad that you can still be a mermaid a lot of the time so you can visit your under sea friends! I know they miss you when you are in your human form but it must be so much fun when you all get to see each other again! You know, I was wondering if you have cat fish or a dog fish (maybe both?) for a friend when you visit your Sparkly castle? What are their names? Do you do anything especially unique when you spend time under the sea? What games do you play with your friends? You are so lucky to have a castle under the sea as well as a house on land with such special human friends, human parents and a human brother who is so strong he can break boards with ONE FOOT! Is he a super hero? Wow! You really are lucky! Have fun little mermaid and keep telling us all about the wonderful Nation from which you came! We love going on adventures with you! I hope you know how much your mermaid and merman friends love you! We keep you and your family in our hearts and prayers all the time!
    Love to all,
    Mermaid Lyric

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  8. Love Julianna’s mermaid look. Jessica’s favorite Disney movie is Little Mermaid, she watches it everyday. We are all so happy to see Julianna is doing well. Sending love and prayers from Pedro, Sujin, and Jessica.

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  10. Hello,
    Thoroughly enjoyed reading and seeing the photos of Julianna & Alex in “I’m Just An Orphan From the
    Sea”. What an amazing child and what an amazing imagination! So pleased to see her fulfilling her
    dreams and her reality of being both a Princess and a Mermaid. : )
    Congratulations on your fund-raising goals and accomplishments for CMT. I have gone to the CMTA
    website and have signed up to receive their newsletter and I’m setting up quarterly donations to help
    win the battle. In addition, I have contacted over 25 clients and friends and have shared Julianna’s
    story with them and asked them to pray for her. My next step is to ask them to donate whatever
    amount they would like to CMTA to also help win the battle!
    Thank you once again for sharing your story and always providing us with hope, inspiration and enjoyment.
    All the best & God Bless each of you,
    Valentino
    Wednesday, February 17, 2016
    12:05pm

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  11. So I got here (again) because of the link from the “A Perfect Sunday” post, … & found myself amazed (& amused) again at the seamlessness of this dramatic story.

    Still love reading her encounter with”the black thing”, & dearly missing our “orphan of the sea”. 😌 ‘And their last name was Snow, and my last name is Snow. It’s like I was meant for this family.’ – & she will forever be the Snow baby 😌

    love to the junior pirate ninja, I hope he’s coping xx ❤💕

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