Chapter 6: The Girl Who Became a Mermaid

    This chapter tells the story of a girl who, three decades after the events of this novel, was befriended by mermaids, learned their ways, and shared their culture with the world of humans.  The girl's grandfather Glenn Kellerman, is a minor character in Emily and the Mermaid: a novelized fairy tale.

     The girl's name was Annette Kellerman.

     Annette Kellerman was an Australian girl who, at a very young age, developed a case of rickets, which severely weakened her legs.  Annette's father, remembering Glenn Kellerman's tales of meeting mermaids in Beauteous Kingdom over three decades earlier, felt that swimming mermaid style would strengthen her legs.

     After making a few contacts in Beauteous Kingdom, Mr. Kellerman placed Annette in the care of mermaids for a few months.  After a few more contacts that were supplied by mermaids and fairies, Annette continued her lessons in her native Australia.

     Annette learned to make the world's first "swimmable" mermaid costume.  Using techniques she learned from mermaids, she created underwater ballet and synchronized swimming.  She also became one of the world's greatest female divers and long-distance swimmers.  

     She was arrested in 1908, when she insisted on performing in a comfortable, form-fitting bathing suit.  She and the court reached a compromise, but the genie was out of the bottle.  The Annette Kellerman bathing suit became so popular so quickly that it soon replaced the bulky garments women had previously worn at the beach.

     When Hollywood became a center for making movies, Annette moved to Hollywood and made several movies.  All her movies involved swimming, and most involved mermaids.

     It all goes to show that magical things can happen when you're befriended by mermaids.