Serena

Serena is the Mermaiden Princess of the Mediterranean Sea. She has been chosen to represent my kingdom in first contact with the human world. In this she is truly pleased. All her life Serena has wondered about the landfolk and their strangeways. To be part of this historic time when our two worlds are finally united is such a thrill!

How Serena met Picasso
One day, several tails ago, Serena was taking a swimbreak in merschool and she happened upon a small gray triggerfish being bullied by some eels. They were teasing him and circling around and around so he couldn’t get away. The poor little guy was so upset! She quickly shooed those nasty eels off, scooped him into her arms and wiped the bubbles from his eyes. She asked him what the eels had been saying to upset him and he told her they were making fun of his nickname. Apparently in some places, triggerfish are also called “pig-faced fish”. When he told Serena this, he burst into a fresh batch of tear bubbles. After several moments and a few deep gulps, he calmed down and she asked him if he would like to be so beautiful that no one would ever call him “pig-faced” again. He just stared at her with his big grey eyes like she was crazy and said, “it doesn’t matter, I’ll always be an ugly gray triggerfish and there’s nothing I can do to change it.”

“Not true,” Serena said. Then carefully she wrapped her tail fin around him and concentrated as hard as she could on the most bright and vibrant colors she could imagine. She waited a moment to be sure her power had worked and when she opened her fin, his gray scales had transformed into the most beautiful rainbow pattern! He gaped up at Serena as she grinned back, then he quickly looked down at his little fins—now brightly striped with blue and green and yellow—and gasped. Their eyes met and he smiled the best smile she had ever seen. Without a word, they both raced up to the surface so he could see his whole reflection. Over and over, back and forth he jumped out of the water from all different angles so he could see his new colored scales shine off the water. What a joy to see him so happy!

Serena had never felt so good before. It was better than all the gifts and royal praise she ever received. That’s when she knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life—help others to feel happy! She does this through creating beautiful places and unique fish scale patterns. She even changed mermaids and mermen’s tail colors to all different shades, patterns and colors. She loves to see their smiles and how confidently they swim afterwards.

Anyway, so that’s how Serena met Picasso, the little gray triggerfish who no one will ever call “pig-faced” again. Ever since then, Picasso and Serena have been best finfriends. They go everywhere together and always have so much fun painting everything we see. He comes up with so many wonderful designs! She would love to show you some of their creations sometime.