The Thing About Mermaids Is…

Good day, Thunderheads! For this latest installment… Oh wait. My producer’s talking in my ear. What’s that — 847 words — are you serious?? Huh. Ok. Well sorry for that, Thunderheads. Apparently we only have 847 words before we lose blogsignal. We’ll have to be brief then. Anyways, Thunderheads, I thought it’d be nice if you and I explored some findings tied to a very interesting and little known age-old mystery — a Thunderworld mystery.

Joining us in our discussion will be Dr. Meridian E. Wompus, Chief Marine Mammalian Paleontologist for the Global Waters Consortium, and Mrs. Josmindha Nghesh-Alaam, Editor-n-Chief of the New Briny Journal of Supernatural Phenomenon. And the topic on the table — Neredians. Fact or Fiction?

“Editor Nghesh-Alaam, we’ll start with you.”

“Josmindha, please.”

“Josmindha — the New Briny Journal’s April issue is set to hit the stands in four days. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this issue, isn’t there – particularly around the cover. Can you tell us why?

“Yes – well – I like to think all our issues create a stir, Mr. Jaime, but I suppose that’s because I’m Editor-n-Chief! Haha. Yes, well…a lot goes into our decisions at the Briny, you know — what stories we take on, our multiple points of view, the reliability of our sources. We certainly didn’t become a premiere publication on the basis of being generalists. Our readers want light shed on things that matter to them, Mr. Jaime, and we promise them that at the Briny. They want to know about Celestials, we give it to them! They want to know about Elementals, we give it to them! If they want to know about…about the secrets of Seven Thunder lore, we give it to them! We give them our best in investigative research and they reward us with their loyalty. It’s as simple as that. That’s how this whole business works. And our readers are choosy; I can tell you that. They value substance. That juicy tabloid stuff they can get from the SNOOP. We stick to what we know.”

“Yes…but April’s issue…”

“Ah yes. Right – well as you can imagine we get an awful lot of mail from our readers. Some want this, some want that, but many of them, a surprising number really, ask for the same thing — one issue totally devoted to nothing but Neredians. So we bit – and come four days everyone can read about what we found. I think it’ll be…eye-opening.”

“Ok. But hold on; I want to bring Dr. Wompus into the discussion. Dr. Wompus, you’re an expert in the field of marine life, specifically as it comes to marine mammals, animals that breed instead of lay eggs and actually have lungs to breathe. Am I right?”

“Ah, well, ah,” the poofy-headed Dr. Wombus mutters as he nervously composes himself to answer, “why yes. Mammals – yes.”

“So I take it then that you’re familiar with Neredians?”

“Ah, well — yes. But, you see, the thing is that -”

“So in your opinion, are they fact or fiction? Do Neredians exist?”

“Ah, well, ah,” the poofy-headed Dr. Wombus again struggles to say, “well I would have to say…no. Mer folk are just myths, you know… Like-like Aloysius living in the belly of the whale! — they’re fable. And so is Colliaquis. Trust me; if a city of the seas existed, we at the Global Waters Consortium would know about it. I’m a marine mammalian paleontologist, Mr. Jaime – I have two masters, one PH.D., and a full-time houseboat rigged with a plexi-glass floor and a down-periscope. I think I’d know if a race of underwater fishtail people were swimming beneath me. It’s what I do. Whether it’s round Triton…”

“Sorry, doctor, but don’t you mean Isle of Wey?”

“Yes, of course. Sorry, I’m a history buff so sometimes the old names stick. But as I was saying…whether it’s round the Isle of Wey, or off the Sarassii Volcano Coast, or up the Northern Artic Currents — it doesn’t matter. Nothing I’ve observed in my 35 years of field study point to such a race ever existing. I’m sorry. But that’s just how I see it.”

“Huh,” I say scratching my chin, “interesting… So you espouse that Neredians don’t exist. Josmindha, I presume from your earlier comments that you and the New Briny would disagree with Dr. Wombus.”

“Yes, well, Neredians aren’t just Mer folk, are they Dr. Wombus?” the dark-haired,Indian-skinned editor replies with a smile. “They’re ethereal creatures. So you must be open to ethereal means to find them. But don’t worry; the New Briny’s done its job. You want proof, Dr. Wombus? We’ll give you all the substantiated proof you’ll ever need. You do subscribe to the Briny, don’t you doctor?”

“Oops! Two words left so we’ll have to leave it there. Until our next blog, Thunderheads! — when we journey into Echoes Reach!”

Inkling #9:
What is The Seven Thunders:?  It is Godsight. It is he. It is she. And what of the Neredians? – ahhh — a must wait and see!