"Come on, Patrick, swim deeper, follow me, I want to show you something," Angela said.
She led Patrick downward into the murky depths. Somehow his vision seemed to adjust to the darkness of the
Ocean floor. She swam deeper, and it got colder the deeper they went. Patrick hadn't realized how much
humanity had polluted the oceans, or maybe that was just the pathway Angela had selected. There were derelict
wrecks of boats and ships, even a rusted out automobile, lots of styrofoam, plastic bits, a bird skeleton with
the remains of plastic six pack holder around its neck, lots of plastic bags, and various man made debris.
They must've been hundreds of miles from shore when the entered the dark trench. The cold water seemed to get
warmer even as they went deeper. There seemed to be less trash down here. Glowing mounds and volcanic vents
erupted far to the right and left of the path which Angela swam. Ahead Patrick could see glowing lights. As
they drew nearer the lights, Patrick could see an immense underwater City rising above the floor of the
trench. Patrick paused as he imagined it teeming with mermaids. It was so huge. He swam faster to catch up
with Angela who hadn't slowed her pace. As the approached the outskirts of the underwater city, Patrick began
to notice abandoned buildings, and even a merskeleton just lying on the sandy bottom. Didn't merfolk bury
their dead? No, probably not. They let the fish and crabs eat them to return them to the sea, eventually the
waves would reduce the bones into sand. Somehow this seemed elegant to Patrick. At last they reached the
City.
Patrick was shocked to see the underwater city was far from elegant. Oh, it had been in its day, but its day
had long since come and gone. Most of the buildings stood derelict. Many of the gleaming spires and towers
were broken. Their tops had long ago collapsed leaving ruined towers still rising above the rubble. Street
lights gleamed on ancient paved streets, but the much of the pavement had crumbled away, and seaweed,
barnacles and anemones grew from the sandy patches in the stone streets. Two muscular mermen guards suddenly
loomed over Angela and Patrick. They carried tridents and glared at Patrick.
"I'm taking him to see the king," Angela said.
"Yes, your highness," replied the guard on the left, who seemed to be the superior officer as he wore an iron
anchor chain decorated with three star fish. The other guard just had an iron chain around his neck like a
goth dog collar. He grinned lasciviously as he looked Patrick up and down. The other guard followed his
chief's lead and looked lustily at Patrick. Patrick shivered, and stared.
"Come along, Patrick, there's someone I want you to meet," Angela said.
They swam on. The derelict buildings became less derelict as they swam toward the city center. They saw only
a few mermen out as they swam. They all looked older than Patrick, and Patrick noticed that aside from Angela
he hadn't seen a single mermaid. At last they reached the undersea palace. There were two guards outside the
gate. Each had a gold sash around their waists, and each wore gold plated sand dollars hanging from gold
chains.
"Ah, the queen mother returns with her catch," chuckled the guard on the right as they approached. He hadn't
meant to share that with Patrick, but the current was moving toward Patrick and carried the soft spoken words
on it.
"Yes, I have returned with a guest for the king to meet. Is he in the throne room?"