Wordshop Lore: Legend of the Mermalo

Concept by D, bad digital lettering by Mrs. Kristin, original mermalo art by Odarette.

Once upon a time, there was a girl whose imagination was fathomless.

Dragons, dinosaurs, mermaids, and monsters ran rampant as she daydreamed through class and dawdled down the street after her older brother. She covered reams of paper in detailed drawings of her imaginary companions before graduating to a digital pen and touchscreen.

Every creature had a story: likes and dislikes, a family, friends, a self-shaped place in her private universe.

But the girl wasn’t a writer.

No, writing was scary. It’s one thing to imagine in your mind and out loud, but it’s quite another to write those ideas on paper. Paper is kind of permanent. Other people can see it. They can judge it. She wasn’t a writer. She would never take a writing class.

Except. . . The lady down the street was nice. She usually had snacks. She once fixed the girl’s favorite stuffed animal. Maybe, the girl reasoned, a writing class wouldn’t be so bad if she took it with friends.

Her pencil didn’t touch the page during the first three weeks. The neighbor lady didn’t seem to mind. The girl laughed a lot and made up characters and stories in her head. She thought about them even after class was over.

The last session was about world building. The girl’s group created an underwater world. While pondering gods, the girl blurted, “Mermalo. A buffalo crossed with a mermaid. Big body, tiny tail.”

Everyone laughed in delight, especially the neighbor lady. The girl grinned, then grabbed a pencil and started making notes. It took her almost two years for her to call herself a writer, but the neighbor lady saw it happen on that August afternoon in 2023. Just like the mermalo, it was a moment of pure magic.