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The village of Osua was a small village surrounded by large water bodies. Like its neighbouring villages, the major profession in Osua village was fishing. Almost every man was a fisherman, and the majority of the women were housewives. 

In Osua village, there lived a man named Effiong. Effiong was married to a beautiful woman named Ekaette, and they had a son named Emem.

Effiong was a very successful fisherman. In fact, amongst his fellow fishermen, he was one of the most successful. With the money made from selling his catch, Effiong would take care of his immediate and extended family. He made sure that no one lacked food and would gift his younger brother, parents, and even uncles some money whenever he made a big catch. Sometimes, if Effiong did not sell all the fish he caught in a day, he would take them home and share them with his family.

Like every other fisherman in Osua village, when Emem, his son, was of age, Effiong began to teach him how to fish. He would take Emem with him to the sea and teach him how to throw the fishing net into the water, how to pull out the net and a lot of other things.

For nearly 13 years after Emem was born, Effiong singlehandedly took care of his immediate family and extended family members. He worked so hard every day and never missed a fishing day.

Unfortunately, shortly after Emem’s 13-year-old birthday, Effiong fell very sick.

 However, despite everything Ekaette did to help him recover, he ended up dying after two years of being bedridden. Within the two years, Effiong was bedridden; all his friends and extended family members he used to take care of abandoned him and wanted nothing to do with him.

Even Effiong’s younger brother, who used to visit Effiong almost every day while he was still rich, stopped visiting Effiong. In fact, the same week he heard that his brother had fallen sick, he stopped visiting his brother and waited for him to die. If it hadn’t been for Emem, who had worked so hard to sustain his parents for those two years, things would have gotten worse with them.

When Effiong died, Ekaette was very heartbroken because Effiong was her best friend and the only family she had. Ekaette was an orphan, and she had no one to turn to after her husband’s demise.

About a month after Effiong was buried, Ekaette fell very sick. Because she was still mourning her husband, she became very depressed, refused to eat or even go out and ultimately, she fell sick. 

When Ekaette fell sick, Emem was not really worried because he thought his mother would recover in no time. He believed that his mother would be back to her usual self after she was done mourning, but he was wrong. A few months after Ekaette fell sick, she died in her sleep.

The morning Emem realized that his mother had died in her sleep, he was very devastated and heartbroken. That morning, Emem woke up early to make breakfast for his mother before leaving to fish, not knowing that Ekaette was already dead. It wasn’t until when he took the food to his mother’s room that he saw her lifeless body on her bed.

Two days after Ekaette passed away, Effiong’s family organized a small and quick burial for Ekaette because they knew that no one was coming to claim her body.

A day after Ekaette’s burial, Emem was in his late father’s house mourning when he heard a knock on the door. Before Emem had heard the knock, he had heard voices outside his house, but since he wasn’t in the right state of mind, he didn’t know the voices were coming from outside his house until he opened the door to see his uncle and his family.

“Emem, my son, how are you doing? We came to check on you,” Emem’s uncle said as soon as Emem opened the door.

“Uncle, what are you doing here?” Emem asked in a confused tone.

“What do you mean by that? Isn’t this my late brother’s house? I came to check on you, of course,” Emem’s uncle said.

“Why is your entire family with you, and why are you with these big bags? Are you travelling?” Emem asked.

“No, we are not travelling. We came to stay with you. I know that if I had asked you to come to our house, you wouldn’t have agreed, so we came instead. Emem, you’re going through a really rough time, and you don’t have to go through it alone. We are your family, and we are here to support you,” Emem’s uncle said.

When Emem heard that, all his hate and anger toward his uncle for turning his back on them when his late father needed him the most disappeared, and he hugged his uncle tightly.

“Don’t worry, my boy. We will take good care of you. I am here now. Your cousins will keep you company. My wife and I will do our best to take care of you,” Emem’s uncle said.

At that moment, because Emem was still mourning his dead parents, especially his mother whom he recently lost, he was emotionally down, and he needed company. As a result, he opened his arms and house to his uncle’s family, believing that they were genuinely going to help him, not knowing that his life was about to become more miserable.

The first few days, Emem’s uncle and his family moved into Emem’s late father’s house; Emem did not suspect anything. In fact, he was very pleased he had agreed for them to move in because his aunty took good care of him. She would make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for him and even wash his clothes, but after a month of pretending to care about Emem, she began to show her true colours.

The very first day, Emem’s aunty yelled at Emem because he woke up that morning and didn’t do any chores in the house; Emem was shocked. But he believed that his aunty was having a bad day, so to make her feel better, he cleaned the house and fetched water for the whole family that morning. Sadly, Emem did not know that was the beginning of his slavery in his own father’s house. 

From that day, every day by 5 am, Emem would wake up to clean the compound and then cook for everyone. If there were dirty clothes, his uncle’s wife would ensure he washed everything before eating, and then she would ensure that Emem filled all the water drums in the house, even if it meant going to the stream 50 times a day.

When Emem started doing all of these things, he didn’t complain because he believed he was also contributing to the house and didn’t want to appear ungrateful to his uncle.

At the slightest opportunity, Emem’s uncle would remind Emem of how he came to take care of Emem when everyone else abandoned him, and whenever Emem heard this, he would feel indebted to his uncle.

About 4 months after Emem became a slave in his own father’s house, something else happened.

“My husband, for how long will we continue to take care of this boy? If you see the food he eats, it’s like 3 people’s portion. I’m tired of suffering to cook for your nephew,” Emem’s aunty complained to Emem’s uncle one evening.

“What do you want him to do? Even if you reduce the amount of food you give him, he will still complain and ask for more,” Emem’s uncle said.

“I think it’s high time he started fishing. His late father taught him how to fish, didn’t he? He is a man now, so he should start bringing money into this house,” Emem’s aunty said.

“Hmmm! You’re right. He is old enough to make money. After all, his late father was the one providing all of our needs, so if his father could do it, he can do it,” Emem’s uncle said.

“I’m glad we are seeing eye to eye. He is in his room; go and talk to him. We cannot keep wasting our resources on a big boy like him,” Emem’s aunty said.

Later that evening, after Emem’s uncle had that conversation with his wife, he went to Emem’s room as they had discussed.

“Emem, my son. How are you this evening?” Emem’s uncle faked a smile.

“I’m fine, Uncle,” Emem answered.

“I came here to discuss something important with you,” Emem’s uncle said.

“Ok, uncle, what’s that?” Emem asked.

“It’s about you, Emem. You are no longer a boy; you’re now a man. And as a man, you’re supposed to be making money to support this house. You know that the prices of things have gone up in the market, and the money we used to make before is no longer enough,” Emem’s uncle said.

“Yes, uncle, I know,” Emem said.

“You know how to fish, don’t you?” Emem’s uncle asked. He already knew Emem knew how to fish but wanted to play along.

“Yes, I do,” Emem answered.

“From tomorrow, you will go back to fishing. You see how successful your father was. He made a lot of money from fishing and took care of us with that money. I want you to follow in your father’s footsteps,” Emem’s uncle said.

“I have heard you, Uncle. I wasn’t ready, but now that you have talked about it, I will think about it,” Emem said.

“Look, Emem, there is nothing to think about. Your aunty and I have already discussed this, and she has given you permission to start. You don’t have to worry about the chores; your little cousins will take care of it,” Emem’s uncle said.

“Alright. There is no problem. I have heard. What about the fish? Do I bring everything home afterwards, or do I go and sell it at the market?” Emem asked.

“There’s no need to bring the fish home. We don’t want the whole house smelling like fish. Just take them to the market and bring the returns at the end of the day,” Emem’s uncle said.

“Ok, Uncle, I have heard you,” Emem said. Even though Emem knew that his uncle and his wife wanted to use him, He could not decline his uncle’s request because he knew that his uncle’s wife was capable of throwing him out of the house or starving him if he disobeyed.

The following morning, Emem woke up at 5 am as usual, but instead of doing his chores, he prepared his fishing equipment and left for the sea, hoping to catch a lot of fish before midday.

Unfortunately, Emem couldn’t catch anything that day. He cast his net several times into the water but still could not catch fish.

After staying in the water for hours, Emem was forced to go home. It was already noon, and the sun was very hot that day. Also, he had not eaten anything since the previous night, and he was very hungry.

“Emem, why are you back so early? Have you sold everything at the market already?” Emem’s aunty asked as soon she spotted Emem walking into the compound.

“No, Aunty, I haven’t sold anything,” Emem responded.

“Why haven’t you sold anything? Didn’t your uncle tell you to take the fish to the market and sell them? Who do you expect to take them to the market for you?” Emem’s aunty began to yell, “You must be very foolish to think that I will help you take the fish to the market,” she added.

“Aunty, I didn’t take anything to the market because I didn’t catch any fish,” Emem tried to explain.

Immediately Emem said that, his uncle’s wife burst into laughter.

“You must think that I am very stupid. So you left this house since 5 am and returned with nothing?” Emem’s aunty asked.

“No, Aunty, I’m not lying. I didn’t catch any fish today. I decided to return because I was hungry, and my stomach was rumbling,” Emem explained.

“So now that you are back home, where do you expect to get food from?” Emem’s aunty growled.

“Oh! Aunty, I thought that you had cooked,” Emem said innocently.

“So I have become your house girl, Abi? Look here, Emem or whatever you call yourself, you are not eating in this house today If you do not go back and catch enough fish that will fetch us a lot of money,” Emem’s aunty yelled.

“But, Aunty, I tried my best. There is nothing I can do again,” Emem tried to explain.

“So you can now talk back at me. I think you are forgetting that I am not your uncle, and I will not tolerate such insolence,” Emem’s aunty said, ” In fact, I do not want to see you in this house. If you do not have any money, do not come back into this compound,” Emem’s aunty added before chasing Emem out of his late father’s compound.

Since Emem’s uncle was not at home when his aunty chased him out of the compound, Emem was forced to return to the shore. Instead of attempting to fish again in that hot weather, Emem slept in his boat.

Later that evening, around 5 am, Emem woke up because he could no longer deal with the hunger pangs. 

“If I try to go home again, my aunty will not let me into the house, so I better remain here,” Emem soliloquized.

“Didn’t you go home since morning?” Emem heard a hoarse voice from behind him. It was a fellow fisherman who had seen Emem at the shores that morning.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t catch anything, so I’m thinking of fishing again this evening,” Emem answered.

“You’re just like your father. He never gave up, and I guess it’s in your blood already,” the fisherman said, then chuckled.

Unsure of what to say, Emem smiled back at the man and turned his gaze back to the sea.

“Have you at least had anything to eat? If you’re going to try fishing again, then you need strength to cast and pull the nets,” the fisherman said.

“No, I haven’t,” Emem said.

“Here, have this,” the man said as he handed Emem a small flask of food,” my wife made okra soup. I ate some at home, but she still packed this in case I got hungry again, but you can have it,” the fisherman said.

“Thank you very much, sir,” Emem said as he collected the food flask from him. As soon as the man gave his food to Emem and walked to his boat, Emem began to eat.

He was so famished that he even forgot to wash his hands. After eating to his satisfaction, Emem slept off again, but by the time he woke up, everywhere was very dark, and the water was very calm.

“If I go home without anything, my aunty will not let me sleep in the house,” Emem soliloquized as he prepared his boat to go into the water.

Even though Emem had noticed that there were no boats in the sea and he couldn’t spot any fisherman, he still went ahead.

About 15 minutes after Emem sailed into the water, something strange happened. Suddenly, the water became very stormy, and Emem’s boat began to rock violently. Amid the storm and the rocky boat, Emem spotted a large fish, the tail of a fish precisely, and without wasting time, he threw his net into the water.

When Emem threw his net into the water, he didn’t think he would catch the fish because of how fast it swam, but surprisingly, he did. 

Excited that he had caught a very big fish that would fetch him a lot of money the next day, Emem pulled the net into his boat. Initially, he struggled for minutes before he could single-handedly pull the net into his boat, but after several attempts, he succeeded.

Immediately After pulling the net into his boat, Emem grabbed the kerosine lantern he had lit before sailing into the sea to take a look at his big catch, but what he saw next sent shivers down his spine. 

Emem realized that he had caught a creature he had only heard about in folklore and the bedtime stories his mother used to tell him: a mermaid.

“Please, let me go,” the mermaid said in a muffled voice, but Emem did not respond because he was still in shock.

“This cannot be real. Am I imagining things?” Emem soliloquized while staring at the half-human, half-fish that he had caught.

“Please, let me go. I will do whatever you want if you let me,” the mermaid said again.

“If I let you go, no one’s going to believe that I saw you,” Emem said.

“No, please, you don’t have to tell anyone what happened here tonight. If you can keep this a secret, then I will make you rich; richer than any man who has lived in your village,” the mermaid said.

“If I let you go, how will I know you are not deceiving me?” Emem asked.

“I was born and bred in these waters, and I control them. I have no reason to lie to you,” the mermaid said.

“Ok, I will let you go, but on the condition that whenever I come into this water, you must do as I say,” Emem said.

“I will do everything you want. I will not go back on my words. Please let me go; I cannot stay out of the water for too long,” the mermaid begged.

When Emem heard that, he pushed the mermaid and his net back into the water, and the mermaid freed herself.

“Thank you for releasing me, Emem. I am indebted to you forever. You are a good man, just like your father, and I will not go back on my promises,” the mermaid said.

The minute the mermaid mentioned Emem’s father, Effiong, Emem was very confused, but before he could ask any questions, the mermaid had already dived back into the water.

“I was already happy I had caught something for the night. Is this how I will return home empty-handed?” Emem soliloquized. But just as he was about to turn his boat back to the shore, something happened. A medium-sized, glowing seashell appeared in his boat and immediately Emem picked it up, he heard the mermaid’s voice and it seemed to be coming from the sea itself.

“If you need anything, speak into the seashell, and it will happen,” the mermaid said.

Without wasting time, Emem picked up the seashell and spoke into it.

“I want to return home with a boat full of fish,” Emem said, and almost immediately, a school of fish began to swim around his boat.

Shocked at what had just happened, Emem threw his net into the sea and caught a lot of fish that night. In fact, Emem caught so many fish that his boat was filled, and he barely had any space to stand. But that was not all. Instead of paddling his way back to the shore, Emem’s boat mysteriously sailed back to the shore without any paddling.

Thankfully, when Emem returned to the shore, he saw the fisherman who had given him food earlier that day, and he begged the fisherman to help him take some of the fish out of his boat because it was too much work for him.

By the time Emem and the fisherman were done filling the fish into large drums, about five large drums were filled.

“Emem, where did you say you caught all these fish?” the fisherman asked Emem after they were done.

“Not too far from the shore. I think I had paddled for about 30 minutes before I got to that point,” Emem lied.

“Hmmm! You’re lucky because this particular species of fish is hard to find now, and you can sell one for at least 5,000 naira,” the fisherman said.

“At least this will make my uncle’s wife happy, and I will not have to fish for a very long time,” Emem said.

Later that night, when Emem went home and told his uncle and aunty how many fish he had caught, they doubted him until they went outside to see the five drums of fish he and the other fisherman had brought back home.

“Did you say you caught all of this today?” Emem’s uncle asked in shock.

“Yes, uncle,” Emem answered.

“I knew it. I knew that you were born to be a fisherman. I’m very proud of you,” Emem’s uncle said.

The following day, Emem took the drums filled with fish to the market and in less than 2 hours, he sold out everything. Not only that, but he also made a lot of money that day. Emem had originally estimated that he would sell each fish for 5,000 naira, but when he told his customers he was selling one for 7,000 naira, they didn’t argue with him because the fish was big.

After selling all the fish at the market, Emem took the money back home, and he handed everything to his uncle’s wife, hoping that she would not bother him again in a while, but he was wrong.

The next morning, around 5 am, Emem was still in his room sleeping when his uncle’s wife went to wake him.

“Look at this boy, eh. How can you be sleeping at this time?” Emem’s aunty said as she aggressively shook Emem to wake up.

“Aunty, what’s wrong?” Emem asked in a sleepy voice.

“My friend, will you get up right now? Your mates are out there fishing, and you’re in here snoring like a pig,” Emem’s aunty yelled,” you better go out there and fish, else you will not eat in this house today,” she added.

“Fish again?” Emem asked in shock,” But Aunty, I gave you enough money that can last us for months,” Emem added.

“So because you gave me small money yesterday, does that mean you will not fish again?” Emem’s aunty yelled,” In case your uncle did not make things clear, let me do that for you. Every day, you must wake up early and go fishing. Is that clear?” She added.

“Yes, Aunty,” Emem answered reluctantly.

” Now, I’m about to close my eyes, before I open it, I want you to be out of this room,” Emem’s aunty yelled.

Knowing his aunty was capable of doing everything she said, Emem left the house that morning and went to the sea. But instead of casting his net several times like he used to do, he spoke into the seashell, and a lot of fish began to swim around his boat. Just like the previous time, Emem caught enough fish until the boat was filled, and then a mysterious force pushed his boat back to the shore.

Upon getting to the shore, Emem got some fishermen to help him pack the fish into big drums. Then he took them to the market and sold everything.

That day, Emem made a lot of money, even more than what he had made the previous day. Then he took the money back home to his uncle’s wife.

In the days that followed, Emem went fishing every day, even on his sick days, and he would always return home with a lot of money. It even reached a point where Emem’s aunty would expect a certain amount of money from Emem because she was confident he would catch a lot fish.

But one day, something happened. That Sunday morning, Emem had gone to fish very early and sold everything at the market as usual. But when he went home, his aunty told him to go back and fish for the second time, but Emem refused because he was exhausted and wanted to rest.

Eventually, after a lot of yelling from his uncle and aunty, he finally agreed to go fishing the second time. Before Emem left for the sea, he had no idea that his uncle and aunty had collaborated with the other jealous fishermen, and they wanted to find out how he was always able to catch only one species of fish while the other fishermen barely caught any.

Upon getting to the seashore, Emem was shocked to see so many fishermen in the water, because it was unlike any fisherman in Osua village to be fishing at noon, especially on a day that the sun was very hot.

“What do I do now? These fishermen might see me speak into the shell, and they will know my secret,” Emem soliloquized,” but if I do not return home with any money, my aunty will suspect that I have been up to something,” Emem added.

After contemplating for almost 10 minutes, Emem decided to sail into the deeper part of the water, which would be far away from the other fishermen, so they wouldn’t see him.

Luckily for Emem, he managed to speak into the seashell. Immediately after he did that, some fish began to swim around his boat, and he caught them. When the other fishermen around Emem saw what had happened, they rushed to the spot, hoping they would catch the same fish, too, but it was already too late.

“You must tell us why you’re the only fisherman in this village that catches this species of fish,” one of the frustrated fishermen yelled.

“But I am just a normal fisherman like the others. Maybe I got lucky,” Emem tried to defend himself. While Emem was trying to defend himself, the most shocking thing happened. His uncle and aunty whom he believed were at home showed up at the scene.

“Uncle, Aunty, what are you doing here?” Emem asked in shock,”Thank God you’re here, please help me,” he added.

“Emem, there have been rumours in this village that you are using JuJu to catch your fish. Why are you the only one catching the same species of fish for almost a year now?” Emem’s aunty asked.

“I don’t know. I only catch what I see. Are you not happy that I’m able to fish every day and bring home some money for you?” Emem asked his aunty.

“Forget about the money, Emem. We want to know your secret, and you must tell us today. If you do not, we will assume you have been using Juju, which is not allowed, and we will punish you for doing that,” Emem’s aunty said.

“But you cannot punish me for something I did not do. I didn’t do anything. I don’t use Juju; I come to the sea every morning like every other fisherman. Why are you doing this to me?” Emem asked his uncle in a teary voice.

“Look, my son, I am your family; you can talk to me. Even if you do not want to tell the others, you can talk to me,” Emem’s uncle said.

“Uncle, there is nothing to tell you. I catch my fish like every other fisherman in this village,” Emem said.

“If that is what you’re saying, then there is no problem. You guys can take him away; he is not ready to talk,” Emem’s uncle instructed the other fisherman.

As soon as the fisherman forcefully tried to catch Emem, Emem did something that shocked everyone. He ran to the sea and dived into the water.

“Go and get him. He will escape. If he is running away, then he is hiding something,” Emem’s aunty yelled at her husband, but her husband refused to run after Emem.

“Leave him; if he does come out, he will eventually drown,” Emem’s uncle said.

In frustration, Emem’s aunty ran after Emem, but as soon as she stepped into the water, she began to scream in pain. She had stepped into a school of flesh-eating fish, and they ate a big chunk of her right leg. Luckily for her, her husband and some men pulled her out of the water before things got worse.

When this happened, everyone stopped searching for Emem and turned their attention to his injured aunty.

No one knew, but the minute Emem jumped into the water, he spoke into the shell and asked the mermaid to help him. So, instead of drowning like his uncle had expected, he entered an underground Kingdom he had never seen in his life. As soon as he walked through the golden gate of the mermaid kingdom, the mermaid he had released from his fishing net appeared to him.

“So, all the folklores are real. There is really another world beneath the sea,” Emem said as he admired the beauties of the kingdom.

“Yes, and there are many more things in existence that humans have no knowledge about. For example, I have lived here for 100s of years, and I have seen 100s of human generations come and go,” the mermaid said.

“Wow! I don’t know what to say,” Emem said.

“Even though this is a beautiful place to live in, I cannot stay here for long. I have to return to my village,” Emem said.

“I don’t think you can return to your village. Your uncle and aunty might kill you. Just in case you haven’t noticed, none of them loves you or ever loved you. They didn’t even love your father, too,” the mermaid said.

“So, what do I do now? I have nowhere else to go to?” Emem said in a teary voice.

“You do. You can remain here for as long as you like, or you can go to another village and start a new life there,” the mermaid said.

“Another village? But I don’t have any money or the resources to go to another village,” Emem said.

“Do not worry about the money. I made a promise to you. As long as you live, you will not lack anything, and money will be the least of your problems,” the mermaid said.

“If you can truly help me, I prefer to go to another village. If I live in the water with you, I might forget my roots, and I do not want that,” Emem said.

“Alright, then. I know a nice village you can go to. Let me take you there,” the mermaid said.

When Emem heard that, he thought it would take him and the mermaid some hours to go to another village, not knowing he would be there at the snap of a finger.

Almost immediately, Emem found himself staring at another neighbouring village. 

“This is where you will live. The little bag you are holding contains a lot of money. Use it to purchase a house and some farmland. And if you need any other thing, just let me know. I am always with you even though you cannot see me,” the mermaid said.

Funnily enough, Emem did not even know he was holding a bag until the mermaid said so. When he looked inside the bag, he could not believe that such a small bag could contain so much money.

“Thank you very much. I appreciate everything you have done for me,” Emem said before walking into the village.

That same day, Emem purchased a house and settled in there before he started buying other things. Years later, he started a family, and just like the mermaid had promised him, she provided all his needs and made him a very wealthy man.

As for Emem’s greedy uncle and aunty, a week after Emem disappeared, Emem’s aunty passed away because of the fish bite injury on her leg. Unfortunately, no traditional healer or herbalist could heal her wound, so she died in pain.

The end

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