A poor but ambitious fisherman enslaves a mermaid-like water spirit and exploits her and her abilities for wealth and power.

In an idyllic fishing village off the coast of Kenya, BABU, a poor but ambitious fisherman, ensnares TALIYA, a mermaid-like water spirit, in stolen nets. Unable to get his 'three wishes' (or is it five) as told in the village's stories of old, Babu decides to exploit Taliya as a grand magical theatrical exhibit instead. He employs the Village Storyteller to help sell his story to the masses but soon comes to conflict with the Chief's Son and a White Missionary Priest, who wish to end his act. He manages to co-opt the Chief's Son who sees Taliya as a Weapon to exploit. But Taliya herself just wants to go home and so must effect her own plan, using Babu's own MAL-FORMED eight-year-old son as a crucial part of her exit strategy.