{"id":2800,"date":"2023-03-04T01:32:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T07:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/?p=2800"},"modified":"2025-11-26T03:07:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:07:50","slug":"the-naiads-necklace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/2023\/03\/04\/the-naiads-necklace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Naiad’s Necklace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Book One<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 11 (excerpt)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 and Gentlemen.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turtle\u2019s name was Prescott. He was loved by many and all. Prescott was the \u201cit\u201d guy to know in the Naiad Underground. He had a much farther reach than the late great Bosco. According to Gattie he was in contact with dozens if not scores of naiads; he could remember complex messages; and was able to carry up to one (1) necklace plate in his mouth for delivery (if he had to) within a reasonable distance. He was also known to have swallowed pearls for transport at point A and then expel them upon arrival at point B. He delighted in swimming and traversing the energy carriage water pipe system, he was great with names, and generous with his time. \u2018An all-around stud and he could fit in the palm of your hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gattie employed him to send messages up to Second and Third Floor in the \u201cRoller 24-5\u201d stack of apartments. Fourth floor was an open territory (mostly) and it was where the severely damaged and elderly naiads ran the food dumps. Prescott was friendly with them as well and used their space to connect back to any stack of apartments in the entire lower Temple. He kept to his turf. He knew other turtles and crayfish that had their own things going; other neighborhoods and agendas. He was careful not to encroach upon competing turfs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gattie introduced him to Joy as Market began for the upper floors. She wanted Joy to comprehend this critical piece of the supply chain \u201cjust-in-case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlright everyone, here\u2019s Prescott!\u201d She brought him into the living quarters early while everyone was waking up. Gat and Joy had just come off an overnight shift and had prepared the big bowl with a preserve of mashed sea-cucumbers poured over seaweed and garnished with slugs. After this, she was preparing to bag and deliver half the gourmet salad to Cassie (Just like \u201cNosh-Dash.\u201d I should wear a backwards red baseball cap)<\/em>, then purchase another batch of empty vials from the Color Guard, and maybe nap at their place. Maybe even crank cans for them as well. She had another visit planned to see Fannler, the guard bribed at the end of the Dugong tunnel. In the moment, though, Acara, Pootz, and Danio exclaimed their delight thusly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh my God! Prescott! I love Prescott.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey. It\u2019s my cute little man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYiss. Hey buddy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three of them spit in their hands, rubbed their palms together vigorously, and rinsed them in the floor water. Joy twitched at the simultaneousness of the ritual, but then decided she better do the same herself. Gattie respectfully set Prescott in Acara\u2019s open hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prescott stretched his head out of his little shell, turned it up toward Acara\u2019s face as though he were turning his face toward the warm rays of the sun, and (swear to God) smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, Prescott. Wish me luck for Market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper. Whisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try Prescott. No, I mean I will<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper. Whisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(sigh) I\u2019ll keep that in perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tear rolled down Acara\u2019s cheek and she looked heavenward blinking her eyes to make the tears stay inside. Danio accepted Prescott with one hand and offered him a bite of seaweed with the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you hungry little guy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The courteous sea turtle chomped the leaf. He chewed deliberately for his rapt audience, and then swallowed with a tiny \u201cgulp<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper whisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danio smiled; humbled. \u201cOf course you\u2019re right. I know you\u2019re right. It just\u2014it just takes time, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo true. Wise words.\u201d She passed him to Pootz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello again. I hope your family is doing well. Send them our love\u2014\u201d The other three nodded affirmation. \u201c\u2014and your health? I hope you\u2019re doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper (cough) whisper whisper. Whisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, you should do something for yourself for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper whisper whisper whisper-whisper. Whisper? Whisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry about me. I\u2019ll be alright.\u201d Pootz handed him to Joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLittle dude is like a Magic 8 Ball or something,\u201d she chuckled nervously. Joy lifted the creature and held him before her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello. My name is Joy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper whisper. Whisper whisper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHang on. All I can hear is \u2018whisper whisper whisper.\u2019 Am I doing it wrong?\u201d Prescott closed his eyes and shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHold him really close and watch his mouth,\u201d Gattie suggested. Joy complied and spoke again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to meet you. I bet you know a lot about what\u2019s going on around here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNope. Still nothing,\u201d Joy slouched. Prescott raised his eyebrow muscles and sighed a little turtle-sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTry holding him to your ear.\u201d She did. This time it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhisper whisper whisper!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh!\u201d Joy recoiled. \u201cWell yeah. Of course. I mean\u2014of course I will.\u201d Joy handed him back to Gattie who, in turn, transported him back to the workroom. She gave him some info to pass along, bid him a fond \u201carewell-fay,\u201d and slid him down the water track like a puck on a shuffleboard table. He did a twist and shot up the suction pipe with his flippers a\u2019flappin.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile in the other room, Pootz asked the question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, what did he say to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d Danio said while reading Joy\u2019s concerned reaction, \u201chalf the time I think he just says what you already want to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acara scoffed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe told me to try and not kill too many people,\u201d Joy said. The other three took a moment to absorb and ponder. They sat at the table and began tucking into the salad bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, that is<\/em> good advice, in any case,\u201d Danio said while savoring a dollop of creamed sea-cucumber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Temple of the Mermaid Book One: The Naiad’s Necklace. All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 2020, 2023 Matt Schumann<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book One Chapter 11 (excerpt) \u201c\u2026 and Gentlemen.\u201d The turtle\u2019s name was Prescott. He was loved by many and all. Prescott was the \u201cit\u201d guy to know in the Naiad Underground. He had a much farther reach than the late great Bosco. According to Gattie he was in contact withContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2800"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2908,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions\/2908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templeofthemermaid.com\/unicdn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}