Barbara, The Dinosaur, and the Water Horse: Chapter 1

Hello friends!

As many of you may know, I have multiple unpublished manuscripts.

UPDATE: This book is officially published! Click here to find it on Amazon or read the first chapter below:

Enjoy!

Barbara, The Dinosaur, and the Water Horse

Synopsis: Who was Barbara Madison and what was she made for? The paleontologist jumps into a world of myth and legend, followed by a past to grieve over. Looking too much like a certain doll with a very similar name, she learns that she herself is also capable of anything - the good and the bad. In the author's childhood, dolls under a certain name were never just keeping house or finding the prince; they were also saving their sisters, taking care of their pet dinosaur, having successful careers, and defeating the evil plans of a mysterious horse. "Barbara, The Dinosaur, and the Water Horse" is a story with a modern reflection to this past, the first science fiction author Mary Shelley, and a reanalysis of where her storytelling started; with her toys and her aunt - within her great-grandmother's rose room.

Chapter One: The Deep Sea 

The Water Horse was a misunderstood creature. Sure, perhaps he viciously murdered Kenneth Zenith, pro surfer and fiancé to Barbara Madison. It was an accident; the water ran too fast; he ran too fast. He always forgot that humans could not breathe underwater. 

The Water Horse ran closer and closer to Barbara. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve made this mistake too many times. Don’t be afraid.” But Barbara was on land - and could not speak horse.

The Water Horse thought that perhaps if they collected enough seaweed, they could transfigure, or turn into a human every now and then. It took a great deal of energy, so this was only when absolutely necessary. The Water Horse collected the seaweed piece by piece, tying one to another so as not to lose them. 

Meters of seaweed was not enough to become human. Birds collected pieces of hair and string for their nests, yet still remained birds. The next step was the fiercest of them all - the Water Horse had to answer to the siren’s call. The Water Horse’s hooves shook with fear at the thought of the sirens. They were beautiful, but had nothing much more to reveal about themselves. The sirens kept their personal lives a secret, just like Medusa. She still lived in a cave to the south with flowing locks of venomous snakes and eyes that turned men to stone. However, most people thought she was dead. 

It was once said that the sirens could not compel men to a gruesome death by the notes they sang alone. They haunted men to an unfortunate end by what the sirens had to say within their eight part harmonies. It was the words. A haunting tune. Perhaps they told of personal misdeeds. Perhaps they spoke of true love, or rather a future the men wanted to hear. Perhaps they told stories of how the men would meet their untimely deaths. 

The Water Horse was so compelled by the depth of the sea - so compelled that when the bravest humans found themselves on a water horse’s back, there was no use and no point of return. Kenneth held on for dear life; that was exactly his demise. Before he died, he did whisper, “but, my fiancé-” which made the Water Horse very sad, although he had no idea who she was. 

“You’ll need more seaweed,” the first siren said. The sirens’ cavern was coated in bioluminescence. Although deep into the ocean, the cave hosted a large pocket of air at its highest point. There were aquatic plants that kept this pocket breathable for land creatures, resupplying the oxygen for the sirens that lounged on the driest spot of the underwater beach. It felt like night and day, underwater and land, all at the same time. 

“This seaweed is good, but it’s not enough,” the second one replied. 

A crowd of them nodded and murmured in agreement. 

“How much more?” The Water Horse replied. “What do you do with it?” 

“We eat it.” 

The Water Horse looked in horror. 

“Come now,” said the first siren. “You couldn’t think we could just live off of eating the hearts of sullen sailors and pirates. Some of them we just can’t bear to consume. Some of them have too kind of a heart - we let those ones go. Some of them smell too vile. Those are the ones we try to sanitize.” 

“Or we feed those to our guppies,” a small one stated matter of fact. 

“Yes,” the second one replied again. “We are mostly vegetarian - besides the whole luring men out to sea and eating their flesh bit.” 

“A-Again, how much more seaweed?” The Water Horse asked. 

“Well that depends, you are afeared of us. That’s a good thing. Why do you want to transfigure into a human?” 

“Yes, what are your motivations?” 

“I killed a woman’s fiancé. I would like to apologize,” the Water Horse said bashfully. 

“Why? The man was not your first nor your last victim.” 

The Water Horse didn’t know what to say. “I know what I am.” 

“Careful that you don’t become more of a villain than you already are.”

“You killed her fiancé.” 

“This time it was an accident.” 

A siren raised an eyebrow. “It was?” 

The Water Horse searched for words. “Well, I’m forced to send people to the bottom of the sea. That’s my role. I don’t like being one of the each uisge all the time. What if I’m really sorry?” 

“You’re infatuated.” The oldest siren mused. “You really should be careful.”

The sirens deliberated. They had a democracy after all. After many hours of the Water Horse pacing back and forth, they paused. “We are hungry and we have a job to do.” The sirens agreed. “You must bring us more seaweed if you want to become a man for a day. Meanwhile, we can find her psyche. We can help you enter her dreams. Try to tell her. Who knows why you want to do this, but you do.” 

“What if I would want to be a man, like a good man, forever?” 

The sirens scoffed. “Why on earth would you want to do that?” 

“I was made for the sea as a water horse, I know that. What if I want to be more?” 

“To be a good man, you would need a lot of character growth.” The sirens nodded. “Not just legs.” 

The Water Horse argued in return. “Legs would be a good place to start.” 

The first siren’s eyes grew red with a sacred fury. It stunned the Water Horse into a silence. “Some selfless actions, such as not sending innocent humans to the bottom of the sea, would be a good place to start. Not legs.” 

The Water Horse tried to find an argument against the many sirens that surrounded the creature. “I’ve been guarding the sea for so long.” 

The sirens looked at each other, then looked back to the Water Horse. They agreed unanimously. “No one in the sea would want to be on land longer than a day. If you collect enough seaweed, you’ll see why.” 

One old siren coughed. “I remember.” 

“What?” asked the Water Horse. 

“There was once a siren when I was young that fell in love with a man. Why this man - we do not know. Did she ever hear him speak?” 

“No?” replied the sirens. 

“No. Did she even know his name?” continued the elderly siren. 

“No?” replied the sirens. 

“No.” 

“Exactly, anyway, I guess he was attractive, but you would never believe how many attractive men we find have rotten hearts. Sometimes you see it in their eyes.” 

“We have to feed them to our guppies,” the younger-looking one reaffirmed. 

“Anyway, he never loved her back, which broke her heart and she died. She was a fish out of water.” 

The Water Horse tried to find some confidence. “I’ll find the seaweed. I’ll get some legs. I will.” 

The sirens sighed. “You’ve already killed her fiancé. It’s not worth it.” 

The sirens all agreed, yet the Water Horse never listened.

--- To Be Continued ---