There are many stories about the meeting of man with mermaids. Very often mermaids fulfill people's wishes, and if a person is good, all is well, but the evil mermaids can not only take away their gift, but also very seriously punish him.
Polina Grigorieva had her own story of meeting a mermaid. That summer she and her grandmother went on a trip to a small seaside town. When she and her grandmother went for a walk, Polina met a local girl. This girl's name was Sarah, she had black hair and piercing brown eyes. She was a little older than Polina, and with her were her friend Veronica and her cousin Masha, who had come to visit her on vacation. They got to talking, and Sara suggested:
- Paulina, do you want us to show you something? Don't worry, it's not far, Grandma won't be looking for you.
- Well, let's go - cautiously answered Polina, and looked in the direction of her grandmother - if only quickly.
And indeed, what Sarah wanted to show her wasn't far away - at the other end of the park. It turned out that there was...a mermaid sitting there. And although she was wooden, she had a very lively face.
- Beautiful - said Pauline admiringly - but what is unusual about this mermaid?
Sara looked around to see if anyone was listening. She looked at Polina and asked sternly:
- You won't tell anyone?
- No, I don't.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah. (chuckles)
- This mermaid - Sarah spoke even quieter - this mermaid can grant wishes.
Pauline looked at Sarah incredulously.
- I understand," she said, "you don't believe me. I wouldn't have believed it myself. But when I asked the mermaid for help with my studies - I wanted to be an excellent student - I finished the next quarter without a single "B". And when Masha came to visit me last year, she made a wish that she would get a kitten, and here - Masha came closer and showed a picture with a fluffy red cat on it - she had grown up already. And Veronica wanted to learn to embroider, and here, look - Sarah showed Polina a bird embroidered in smooth - She gave it to me for my birthday.
Veronica came over and showed some more pictures she had embroidered. Polina looked at them.
- It doesn't look like they're lying," she decided and said, "They're beautiful pictures. How do you make a wish?
- You don't have to say anything," Sarah said, "see, she has a little altar, like a table? You write a note, fold it up, and leave it here. Do you have paper and pen?
- No." Pauline shrugged.
- Oh, you, you little rascal! Here - and Sarah took a notebook and pen out of her purse, tore out a sheet of paper and handed it to Polina. She did as she was told, folded the sheet and put it on the table.
- That's all. Don't worry, the wish doesn't need to be told to anyone. On the contrary, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Will you find your way back?
- Yeah. (chuckles)
- Bye, then. And by the way, the note won't be here tomorrow.
Pauline said goodbye to the girls and ran to her grandmother's house. She was glad she didn't have to tell anyone the wish. It was too personal. The thing was that the grandmother, with whom they now went on vacation, and who was Polina's best friend, lived in another city, and because of this she and Polina spent very little time together. So Polina made a wish to spend more time with her grandmother.
- Oh, grandmother, the girls just showed me such an interesting thing! - said Polina, coming back to her - I'll show it to you tomorrow, too.
- Okay, you'll show me later, but now I'm tired. - Grandma agreed and they went home.
The next day Pauline did take her grandmother to the mermaid. She wanted to make sure that the note was not there. And indeed - the note was not there. But Polina was not so naive, and realized that the note could have gone anywhere - the girls had taken it away when Polina left, someone else had taken it away, or it had been carried away by the wind. But it turned out that her grandmother knew the little mermaid and told Polina many interesting things.
Nothing unusual happened during the rest of the vacation. Sara, Veronica and Masha, by the way, Polina didn't see them in the park or anywhere else.
Nothing unusual happened on the way home either. Except that when her mother came to pick her up, Polina noticed that she and her grandmother were whispering strangely. She didn't understand what they were talking about, except that her mother was worried about whether or not she was going to make it. What it was, Pauline never understood.
But it didn't take long to guess. A little less than a week after her arrival, my mother came to Polina's room. She looked very puzzled. Polina asked what had happened.
- You see, daughter, I have an important decision to make, and for that I need your opinion. I know that you love Grandma Taya very much, and you miss her very much when you don't see her for a long time. I was offered today to transfer to our branch, which is in the town where she lives. If we move there, Grandma will live in the neighboring yard, but you'll have to change schools. And you may never see some people from the school or wherever. And what your new school will be like, I don't know yet either....
But Pauline was no longer listening to her.
- Mom, how can you decide! - she threw herself on her mom's neck - of course we're going to Grandma's! The Little Mermaid helped me!
So the Little Mermaid fulfilled Polina's wish. But no one ever realized where the note went. What do you think?
The end.