The magic mermaid who painted the sea couldn't quite decide what the best colour should be. First, she tried green with a splash of white - she thought she'd like orange, but it was quite bright. Then she tried pink - to match the shrimps - but the magic mermaid didn't think it was rosy enough - and she had to tell the octopus to go get some more of the stuff. The magic mermaid next painted the seaweed green ... it was the best colour for seaweed that the sailors had ever seen. The magic mermaid had a very artistic plan, but found she didn't have enough paint left in her can. She went to get a better palate to make the sea look great ... with more colours than a rainbow, and multi - coloured skate. However, the mermaid still worried that the fish wouldn't rate their new bait. She wanted to paint the sea the colour of the sky, but it left the fish all muddled up as they were swimming by. When the magic mermaid painted the tide ... so many different colours, there was nowhere left for them to hide. Next she tried crimson, which made her red in the face ... the magic mermaid painted colours all over the Atlantic place. She couldn't find a brush large enough for the stuff. A starfish fellow came up to say "Hello !" and suggested to the mermaid a yellow colour which would make the sea glow. The magic mermaid who painted the Sea then tried to paint it the colour of snow ... the surf, of course, was the first thing that he chose to paint, he thought now the shade of aqua was really rather quaint. The whitebait, of course, thought it was great. Purple, perhaps, with a touch of lilac as well. The magic mermaid thought it looked swell. The Magic mermaid who painted the sea, asked a cod which colour he'd like best, he said that crimson would be fine, probably better than the rest. The magic mermaid majicked colours all over the place .... he magicked a haddock red and a plaice brown instead. There was still some paint left in his can, so the magic mermaid majicked a whole beach of sand. A few spots of paint splashed on the sky and soon the birds noticed that the air - brushed clouds had changed colour as they were passing by, dyed. Naturally, the magic mermaid liked watercolour best ... but when he painted clouds grey, the magic mermaid felt a spot of rain ... very soon it was pouring down all day with the mermaid's multi - coloured spray. The magic mermaid luckily had enough paint left, to paint the cafes and fish and chip shops ... he even had enough paint left to paint the bus and then the bus stop. Of course, the magic mermaid gave the buses a new colour, too. The bus conductor said that he liked the new colour of it's hue. The magic mermaid painted this and painted that ... when he painted the fireplace, he accidentally painted the cat sat on the canvas mat. The magic mermaid painted the zebra's stripes black and white ... then he painted the sun and gave it it's bright light ... he even painted the stars like starfish at night. It was the magic mermaid's paintbrush that gave the leopard it's spots ... and the ladybird it's glossy dots. In the kitchen, the magic mermaid painted the pots and very soon, he painted the fridge cold and the oven hot. Once the magic mermaid's emulsion had covered the waves, the mermaid then decided to see if he could paint the cliffs. The seagull helped, with a splattering here and there ... very soon, he realised, he'd painted magic everywhere.
© Jacqueline Richards 2007
This story was written in dedication of my father, who always made me laugh and really knew how to paint the town red.
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