The Merfolk's Fading Glories: SF/F

The water slid past my gills like a lover's kiss. I sighed. I missed him so much, but he had gone to ride the river up to the great gambling casinos where he could make a fortune diving after lost chips. We used to dive in the deep seas for pirate's treasure. We used to wait for merchant ships to sink to the bottom so that we could plunder them. We had a gentler life now, my people, but somehow I felt that it was also less promising. Where was the adventure in lurking in muddy river bottoms, waiting for discarded chips? Where was the magic in performing at sea world? Once we had been creatures of legend, mystery, and power. Now, we were just regular Joes, scraping for a living just like two-leggers.


Inspiration: The feel of air blown past my skin. A mermaid story.
Story Potential: High.
Finished Length: Could possibly extend to novel. Could be condensed to short story, at least partially.
Notes: Mermaids...in...SPAAAAAAAACCCCCEEEEEEEE!!! Hey, stop laughing. I'm serious. So merfolk are sort of a part of current society, in much the same way that gypsies are. And it's actually moderately futuristic--there's an honest-to-god space program. And there's an alien species contacted that lives in the water. Guess who'd make the best ambassadors? Guess who's gonna have a hell of a lot of culture shock and self-realization stuff to get through? That's right, folks.... Mermaids...in...SPAAAAAAAACCCCCEEEEEEEE!!!