The Agana River meandered from the newly washed green jungle foliage and merged with the ocean surf near the village of Agana. It was near this stream at Minondo that a family once lived many, many years ago. There were three girls and one boy in the family. Sirena was the youngest and the prettiest girl in the family.
Unlike the others in the family, Sirena enjoyed swimming more than anything else in the world. Her mother tried to teach her to sew, to cook, to sweep, to wash and to do other dutiful things that a girl her age should know in order to become a good wife and mother. Sirena, however, only wanted to swim.
One day, Sirena's mother sent Sirena on an errand to get charcoal, for the iron, from her aunt who lived across the river at Agana Springs. The temptation to plunge into the river and swim was so great that, before she knew what was happening, Sirena was in the water swimming and enjoying herself. She soon lost all sense of time and, of course, forgot what she had been sent to do.
It began to get dark and Sirena's mother began to worry. She knew about Sirena's obession for the water, but that her daughter was a good swimmer. The mother became upset and angry because she had waited so long for the charcoal for the iron. Passionately she muttered, "I wish my daughter would turn into a fish." Sirena's godmother, who was visiting at the time, said, "Her upper half should stay the same."
While she was still swimming in the water, Sirena felt a change come over her body. Looking down at her feet, she could see them changing into a fish's tail.
As she struggled to leave the water, the lower part of her body turned into a fish. Sirena then knew that she would spend the rest of her life in the water that she dearly loved.
The current of the river began to carry her to the ocean. Sirena found that she could swim very well, and she was very pleased. She swam out to the ocean and was never seen again by her mother or godmother.
It is often told that many fishermen and ships have seen and have heard Sirena swimming and singing in the oceans of the world. Whenever anyone gets too close to her, Sirena swims away and isn't seen again for quite some time. She appears in many areas of the crystal blue sea.
Sirena can only be caught with a net woven from human hair. It is said that Sirena once was caught by a ship's captain but escaped a few minutes later and disappeared into the depths of the ocean.
Somewhere, beautiful Sirena is swimming and enjoying herself. The next person to see her may just happen to be you!
