Daughter of the Depths: Ariel’s True Last Song

In 1824, sailors off the coast of Denmark reported finding a marble statue tangled in fishing nets. It was a perfect female form, half coral, half flesh. The Danish Crown confiscated it immediately.

Two years later, sculptor Edvard Hansen claimed he’d carved it “from a real woman.” He described a commission by a nobleman who wanted to immortalize his drowned bride. But Hansen confessed that during the sculpting process, the marble began weeping saltwater.

The nobleman never returned. Hansen disappeared soon after.

A century later, the statue resurfaced — cracked, hollow, and leaking brine. Samples taken from inside showed traces of human DNA.

The museum where it was displayed closed indefinitely when staff began hearing faint singing in the basement every time it rained.

The curator’s last log entry reads:

“She’s not a statue. She’s still waiting to breathe.”