7. The big mountain, part1
Arilla opened the backpack that grandma gave to her and put a hand into it. Before she could grab something the backpack started to enlarge, bigger and bigger until it became a small house.
It was perfect for the place where they were because it enlarged all around and not really much in height. There was a small red heart shaped door that opened immediately.
They stepped in. It was nice, a fireplace was already alight and a crackling fire rendered warm all the living room.
There was a small kitchen full of things to eat and something already cooked that seemed prepared by grandma.
“Wow! That’s too nice!” exclaimed Arilla. The others couldn’t even open their mouth for the surprise. But they were so tired that they just dropped themselves on the sofa and armchair.
After a while Strawberry just busted out “Oh nooo, I’m too hungry! Let’s eat something!”
And at the same time the set up table that was in the kitchen floated in the middle of them.
They ate a lot and after few minutes all their dishes were empty and they were full and happy.
“Do you know what I really need now?” asked Arilla stretching “A soft bed and rest!”
“Yes, I agree with you!” said Peach.
“And you calm down Naoki” said Strawberry. Naoki was nervous and anxious.
“Whatever you have to do, it can wait a few hours more!” Naoki closed himself in the armchair with a long face.
“You don’t really want to tell us what happened, do you?” Blueberry tried again. Naoki shook his head.
They settled on the couch and the cushions and puffs that were around them. They fell asleep immediately.
After a few hours Arilla woke up smelling white coral coffee.
“Hey guys breakfast is ready! Look at that!” and ran to the table that was in the kitchen again. Everybody woke up little by little and half asleep reached the kitchen. They had their breakfast in silence, even Strawberry! When they finished they cleaned everything and got ready to go again.
“Ok, now, does anybody know how to close it?” asked Arilla.
Nobody answered, clearly this wasn’t a common object even for Under the Sea Kingdom inhabitants.
After they looked everywhere in the house for a string or a switch to bring the backpack to the normal, they decided to go outside and look on the external walls, but they didn’t find anything.
Arilla was the last one to exit. When she closed the door they saw the house just shrinking and came back to backpack size and shape. Without losing time Arilla closed it and put it back on her shoulders.
“Oh, wow, grandma is a genius!” she exclaimed.
The others were too astonished to open their mouths and say anything. They set off feeling the pleasantly warm water. The wood was still dark so they kept following Naoki’s golden glow.
After a couple of hours they saw in the distance some bushes loaded with fruits.
They ran over there and found that they were the flavour-you-like-fruits.
“Oh, wow, I know these! Paulien gave one to me when I arrived! It was so good in taste and nice to see!” exclaimed Arilla.
They ate a lot but decided to bring some with them. They put the little red balls into the side pocket of the backpack and found out they disappeared from view like they were swallowed by the pocket itself. While they were eating and picking the fruit, they realized that not far away from them there was a kind of wall, half hidden by a light mist
“Oh, maybe we’re at the mountain!” said Arilla “Ok, let’s go there and see if we can climb it”
When they arrived, they realized that Naoki was right: there was sharp coral and seaweed everywhere. Beside, the wall was completely smooth, so they couldn’t cling to anything to climb it.
“Well, we could swim and try to come over it from the top!” suggested Strawberry.
“Yes, that is an idea” admitted Peach.
“But it doesn’t make sense!” said Blueberry “If this is really a test for us, coming over the mountain is too easy!”
“Well, I’ll try it anyway!” and Strawberry just started to swim towards the top of the mountain.
“I’ll go with her!” said Naoki.
“Why are they running instead of thinking?” asked Blueberry.
“Well, there’s not so much to think about, I daresay…”said Peach.
“I think you are right” said Arilla and sat on the ground with her face in her hands, staring at nothing.
“Oh, come on girls! Have you already lost your resolution?”asked Blueberry.
“What do you think we can do?” asked Arilla.
“Even having a look around is fine, isn’t it, honey? But never ever give up if you didn’t try first!”
“I guess you’re right” said Arilla and she stood up again.
6. Naoki, part2
Arilla, Blueberry and Peach than said goodbye and headed for the path leaving Strawberry and the seahorse alone. They looked at each other and realized that they were scared. The place seemed darker and more creepy so they just ran after the others yelling “Wait, wait, we’re coming too!” and they laughed all together. The decision was made. Everybody knew that from that point onward it would be difficult and tough but they didn’t mind. They were together.
This was probably another teaching that grandma wanted to give her. You cannot do everything alone every time. It’s right to make your decisions but then it’s possible that you need help. And if you do, you can just ask your friends. Arilla was greatly relieved to know that the girls were going with her, although she was sure to go alone if necessary.
The path was darker and darker as they walked in. Now the foliage was made up by seaweed and coral. The three sisters’ glow wasn’t enough to see even a few steps ahead. They even tried to swim closer than before but it was useless. Peach tried to make Strawberry angry, not really a difficult task, but even her brilliant fire red glow was useless! They looked around to see if they could find some treasure chest infusion, but it seemed there wasn’t anything around them for miles.
“Well, I guess we’ll use grandma’s backpack from now on!” said Arilla.
“I think so” said Blueberry.
“Oh no, I would like to know what we’ll do once we’ll finish the provisions!” said Strawberry.
“We’ll think about that later! Or possibly will find something on the other side of the mountain!” said Peach.
“How long do you think it’ll take to go on the other side?” asked the seahorse. The girls just looked at him like they forgot they had another one in their party.
“Are you in a hurry?” asked Arilla.
“Kind of…” he answered.
“Well, we’ll see when we’re at the foot of the mountain” said Blueberry.
“Why are you in a hurry?” asked Strawberry swimming curiously next to his face.
“I can’t tell you!” he answered, embarrassed. He turned his face away from hers. He seemed hurt as well.
But at exactly the same time Arilla ran after him, like she saw something strange.
“Hey, what are you doing?” asked the seahorse trying to avoid Arilla and her handkerchief.
“Shut up and stay still!” said Arilla polishing him with the handkerchief.
As she was rubbing his skin, a kind of light started to glow. Golden light.
“Wow, Arilla, you are genius! How did you think about that?” asked Strawberry.
“Well, I saw something sparkling when he was embarrassed, so I thought that polishing him would be of help” Arilla explained.
“Oh I was concentrating on my business that I didn’t think about that!” said the seahorse looking sorry.
“It’s ok!” said Blueberry.
“Well, if you don’t want to tell me what you are doing here, can you at least tell us your name?” asked Peach.
“Oh yes, how impolite. I got your names listening to the conversation, but I didn’t tell you mine. My name is Naoki.”
“Oh it’s a nice name!” said Arilla.
After she finished polishing him the bright glow gave such light that they could see much better, not only the path but also a bit around it. They set off again feeling more confident. The wood seemed quiet and they even started to play a game: they had to identify some shapes on the tree trunks. The winner lead the group for a bit.
At this stage, closed in the wood, they couldn’t tell what time of the day it was. They felt just a small change in the water temperature so they assumed that it was night already. They were hungry and tired too, so they decided to camp out where they were for few hours.
6. Naoki, part1
They stopped exactly in the middle of the fork looking around. Peach and Strawberry each swam to one of the paths.
“Oh this is still red!”said Strawberry.
“This too!” said Peach disappointed.
“And now?” asked Arilla.
“I think you have to choose honey!” said Blueberry.
“Why me?” asked Arilla.
“Because we’re just going with you! But this is your journey, you have to decide, I’m afraid” answered Blueberry “But whatever you decide, we’ll be with you!” and smiled.
Arilla sat on the ground and began to think staring at the two paths, examining them and trying to catch every small difference. They looked exactly the same.
After a while they heard a strange noise from the right path. They got up scared and hugged each other. A few seconds later they saw a huge golden seahorse coming from there. He was really tired and looked worried as well. In fact, he didn’t look dangerous at all!
“Hi Mr. Seahorse!” said Arilla releasing the sisters. She didn’t feel worried but curious.
“Hi little girl” answered the seahorse.
“Hi!” the three sisters said in chorus.
“Hello to you all, ladies! What are you doing here at this fork?” asked the seahorse, but he seemed quite sure about the answer.
“We have to decide where to go. Which path should we follow” answered Arilla “We are going to Death Land”
“Where?! Are you crazy?” answered the seahorse alarmed.
“Why?!”
“It is a land sad and full of sickness. Why do pretty ladies like you want to go there?”
“I have to find my mum and tell her that I love her. I refused to say goodbye when she went away! They’re coming with me!”
“I see” said the horse. He became sad all of a sudden.
“Can you tell me, Mr. Seahorse, what I can find on the path you are coming from?” asked Arilla.
“Well, that is a long, really long path that never ends. It actually seems to be going in a circle! I don’t even know how I managed to come back!”
“I see. And do you know, by any chance where the other path leads to?”
“Well, that’s even worse! At the end of it there is a huge mountain, covered by sharp corals and seaweed. It seems impossible to climb or even find a cave to pass through. If I were you I would try with this path!” said pointing the direction he was coming from “At least it is easier!”
“Oh thank you very much for your help Mr. Seahorse” said Arilla “Now I know where to go!”
The three sisters were already active and without asking anything they headed to the right path.
“No, girls, this way!” said Arilla pointing to the other one.
“What?” asked Strawberry.
“Yes! I’ve already decided!”
“But why? Haven’t you heard what he’s just told you!?” asked pointing the seahorse.
“Yes! And that’s why I decided on the other one! So, are you coming with me, girls, or not?” asked Arilla.
“I’m not crazy Arilla!” busted out Strawberry.
“As you wish” answered Arilla and headed to the left path.
“Arilla, sorry” said Blueberry “Why exactly did you decide to choose that one?” she didn’t move from her spot. Neither of the other two sisters moved either. Nor did the seahorse.
“Because of what grandma said to me before we left her house. She told me that growing up means choosing even if it isn’t really easy and that’s why it is painful. So if she told us to follow this path there’s a reason! She’s good and smart and cares about us so I think she knew we would find this fork.”
“So?!” said Peach.
“So, I’ve just thought that I’m too tired of running away. It’s time to grow up and assume my responsibilities”
There was a moment of general astonishment and then Blueberry spoke.
“Ok, Arilla, you are right! Let’s go there!”
“Are you mad Blueberry?” yelled Strawberry.
“No, Strawberry, but you can take the other path if you want, with Mr. Seahorse! I’m going with Arilla. What about you, Peach?” she asked to the other sister.
“Well…maybe” she was thinking, and after few seconds “Ok, I’ll go with you girls” she said at last.
5. The Red Path,part2
They all agreed and after a while they set off again. By that time Arilla’ s golden glow was gone, so the only feeble light was given by the three sisters light coloured glows. It was barely enough to see the red path. They were flying near the ground to render the coral sparkling.
“Oh, it’s really creepy this wood right now” said Arilla shaking.
“I told you honey! Before it was easier with the golden glow but now we have to be careful!” said Peach.
“Why?” Arilla asked.
“Because of the huge sharks that live here! They usually patrol this wood to find good and juicy little girls like you!” said laughing Strawberry appearing from behind Arilla’s back, causing her to jump frightened.
“Strawberry, that is not funny!” yelled Blueberry “That is not true honey, but we have to pay attention anyway”
They kept walking. Arilla didn’t know how many hours passed since they left the house but she noticed that the water was becoming colder. She thought that, probably, on the surface the day was coming to the end.
“How long will we have to stay here? Where is the end of this wood? It’s cold now!” said Arilla, now visibly worried.
“No worries honey, I don’t think it will take long!” said Blueberry swimming near her shoulder.
“Oh come on!” exclaimed Strawberry “You don’t know that yourself! We’ve never been here either!”
Peach immediately put her hand on her sister mouth and glared at her ordering to shut up!
Arilla started to cry in despair and it was after a while that Peach and Blueberry managed to calm her down.
“Strawberry told the truth, Arilla” Peach said “But that doesn’t mean we are lost. We’ll just follow the red path like grandma told us and we’ll be fine!”
“Ok, I’m sorry girls to cause you so much trouble” admitted Arilla “Maybe I’m just a spoiled girl! Grandma is right, I have to grow up” she said sitting on the ground, not sure of what to think.
“You are a little girl” said kindly Blueberry “And you just need to grow up a little, but it’s a natural path. You can’t expect to do that in a couple of days!”
“Oh yes, it’s already two days I’m here and now we don’t have the foggiest idea of where we’re going to. We’re lost and nobody will find us again! And we’ll stay here forever without any hope to go back home!” Arilla was crying again in fear.
“SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN, YOU SPOILT LITTLE GIRL!” yelled suddenly Strawberry becoming fire red. Some sparks even flew here and there. She looked like a small fire. It worked anyway!
Arilla froze on the spot, looked at the little fairy, startled and after a while, unexpectedly, under Peach and Blueberry’s worried look, started to laugh, followed by all of them.
“Sorry again, girls” said Arilla blushing this time. “I’ve always lost hope at the first difficulty” she looked around and saw the puzzled and worried look her friends and she understood she was worrying them too much.
“Ok, let’s go ahead!”said Arilla then with a resolution that she didn’t know she had. She got up and she began to walk.
“Good idea! I knew that somewhere there was a nice and wise girl!” said Strawberry and went to sit down on Arilla’s shoulder.
The other two looked puzzled at the strange sketch that had just happened in front of them and decided that it was better just to follow shaking their heads. They kept going on the red path for another few hours until they arrived at a fork.
5. The Red Path,part1
They woke up early in the morning, had their breakfast and set off to leave.
“Here dear, I’ve prepared something for your trip!” said the grandma handling a blue backpack to Arilla.
“Thank you so much grandma!” Arilla said and hugged her.
Arilla put the backpack on and with her new friends left the house from the backdoor where a reddish path, made with coral powder, was leading to a distant wood.
“Just follow the red path girls! It will put you on the right way to get to Death Land!” grandma said.
They set off, Arilla not without a little anxiety. She loved the three sisters but couldn’t help it. She felt so protected with grandma that she was tempted to run back to her house. She realized, anyway, that this was probably what grandma meant to make choices and to grow up.
The morning was bright and some sunlight was filtering through the water making it warm.
Arilla looked around, it was full of coloured fields all divided by seaweed bushes and fences made with coral.
“I’ve never seen so many flowers of so many different colours and shapes!” exclaimed Arilla.
“There are not only flowers!” said Peach.
“Ah no?”
“No, they’re also plants that give you drinks and food!”
“Really?”
“Yes!” said Strawberry “Wait here!” and swam away, coming back only a minute later bringing something too big for her “Help girls! This is a bit heavy!” and immediately her two sisters went to help. They carried what revealed to be a lilac flower shaped like a tea cup with a little saucer and full of a fragrant and steaming golden liquid.
“Wow! What is that?” asked Arilla stretching out her hands to receive it.
“It’s called treasure chest infusion!” explained Strawberry “Try it!” Arilla did what she was told.
“Oh, it’s really good!” she said happy. Only after a while she realized she was glowing of a golden light. “Oh, no! What happened to me?”
“Ahahaha, you’re glowing golden light! That’s the infusion side effect!” laughed Strawberry “Very useful during the night! Believe me!”
Arilla was too confused to speak.
“Well, considering we’re entering into that wood, it could be of help” said Blueberry and they laughed all together. In fact the wood they saw in the distance wasn’t far from them. It seemed to extend for many acres on both sides and forward.
“How long does this effect last?” asked Arilla.
“Well, it depends on the quantity you’ve drunk but usually a few hours!” explained Peach and they got going.
After a couple of hours they arrived at the wood and started to walk through the trees still following the red path.
Arilla noticed that what they called trees were all corals of a deep blue colour. On the branches there were a lot of sea stars of emerald green that were forming huge moving foliage.
“Wow, I’ve never seen so many sea stars all together!” exclaimed Arilla.
“They are still in training anyway” said the interpreter on her right ear “They’re not ready yet to be interpreters. You see, they’re green, which means they’re still unripe!”
“Oh, I see…and why are they here?” Arilla asked really curious now.
“Well” said the one on the left ear “In this wood there are loads of visitors. They can listen to them speaking and practice, until they become red or pink, which means they are ready to work as interpreters!”
Arilla found this very interesting and kept looking at the sea stars. The wood was dark but her golden glow was enough to see the path they were following. After another couple of hours she felt a bit hungry and said
“Why don’t we stop here and eat something?”
“Good idea!” agreed Strawberry.
Arilla took the backpack and started to open it to get the provisions grandma prepared for them.
“No, wait” said Peach.
“Why?”
“I’ll get something nice for you! Girls, a hand please!” and they swam up inside the foliage. Arilla moved to see what they were doing and saw them getting a huge seaweed wrap attached on a branch and dragging it down.
“What is that?”
“I honestly don’t know” admitted Peach “It changes every time! Just unwrap it!” Arilla did what she was told to and opened the little package. Inside there were a small round bud that seemed full of some liquid, a straw, two croquettes and a sandwich.
“Oh nice!” exclaimed Arilla “But how does it works now? I mean why is there a straw?”
“You have to drink the juice in the bud” explained Strawberry like it was obvious.
“And what’s this sandwich and croquette made of?” Arilla asked again.
“Well, it depends…” started to explain Peach.
“Just eat them! Don’t ask so many questions every time! Dare!”
said Strawberry.
Arilla was a little bit taken aback, but then started to eat with pleasure. In the mean time the three sisters went back into the foliage of another tree and came back with three small seaweed wraps. They sat on a root next to Arilla.
“Sea fairy size!” simply explained Blueberry. They had more or less the same things inside their wraps with the exception of Blueberry that got a slice of cake instead of croquettes.
“Oh, tell me this is the chocolate and Iced Sea berries cake!” and gave a bite “Yes, it is, it is…oh you’ll be the last though!” she said now speaking to the slice of cake.
“She’s really greedy, and this is her favourite cake!” said Strawberry laughing.
Arilla, more relaxed, began to eat her stuff. She didn’t recognize all the flavours but found her lunch really tasty. Peach and Strawberry tried her food as well so she knew at last what her package contained.
The bud was full of under bass rose juice, the croquettes were made up with ocean sweet corn and the sandwich was white seaweed bread filled with prawn-sheep meat and South Seas lettuce.
“That’s amazing! I’ve never tried something like that!” exclaimed Arilla.
“There is a lot you still don’t know, honey!” said Blueberry smiling.
“So, girls, I guess we are ready to go again!” said Peach.
4. New friends.Part2
“Good morning grandma!” she said.
“Good morning, honey! Come here, some seaweed coffee for you and here is a cake just out from the oven!”
Arilla ran towards the table feeling really hungry. She got two slices of cake. It was only after a while that she realized that Peach, Blueberry and Strawberry were eating sitting at the table.
“Good morning, girls!” said Arilla.
“Hi Arilla! ‘Morning!” answered the three sisters in chorus.
“Oh Arilla, so you’ve met my other guests?” asked grandma smiling for she already knew the answer “I didn’t tell you anything not to ruin the surprise!”
“Yes, and they are really nice! They said they’ll come with me!”
“Oh, did they?!” exclaimed grandma amused “I think this is a great idea, so you won’t feel alone!”
“Yes, I’m happy with that!” she said gratefully. At the very same moment they heard an “A-hem”. It was the two sea stars feeling a bit offended.
“Oh, no, no worries girls, you are so useful! I couldn’t do anything without you” and touched the two soft things on her ears. She heard them chuckle flattered.
After breakfast Arilla decided to stay another day because she felt really comfortable there. She was curious to see grandma’s house too.
It took all day long to see everything. There were fifteen bedrooms, each of them decorated in a different colour and style. There was a huge room used as wardrobe. One room used as an arcade, one as a teahouse and even a small theatre. Grandma said she loved to invite actors to play for her, at least once a week.
“I love to have people around!” she explained.
“Oh I thought you were alone!” Arilla said.
“Oh yes, I’ve said that. I just miss my Paulien so much! He used to live with me when he was young but now he’s an adult…that’s how life changes!” she sighed.
“I don’t like changes!” protested Arilla.
“Well, honey, it’s how life works. Even if you don’t like them they will happen anyway”
“Like what happened with mum?”
“Yes honey, like that”
“So I cannot do anything to change the events”
“Sometimes you can, sometimes you cannot. Sometimes you can repair errors and sometimes you cannot. That’s life! That’s what we call growing up!”
“So I don’t want to grow up!” decided Arilla.
“I’m afraid dear, it is inevitable. But what you can do is give your best in every situation” then she hugged Arilla and went on “And unfortunately sometimes it happens that there is nothing you can do!”
“But this is very sad….” said Arilla and started crying.
“Here, here, honey” said grandma dragging her away “Would you like some of my special hot chocolate?”
“Yes, please!” she answered drying her eyes. They headed to the kitchen and Arilla received a cup of chocolate so sweet and so good that she felt immediately relieved.
The three sisters drank from three small cups at the same time.
“Wow, grandma, your chocolate is the best I’ve ever tried in my life!” exclaimed Arilla asking for a second one “Even if the red colour puzzled me at the beginning!”
“Never look only at the appearance, dear!” said grandma.
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen, the girls drinking their chocolate and the grandma cooking the dinner. They talked a lot about everything. Grandma was wise and a good listener. And her sweet advices deeply touched our princess.
After they finished the meal Arilla said
“Grandma, I’m sorry to tell you this but I’ve decided to leave tomorrow morning”
“Well, very good honey” she said smiling “It’s always sad departing, but I know you have to do that!”
They spent the rest of the evening playing in the arcade and looking at pictures near the fireplace.
Then Arilla and the three sisters went to bed. Arilla felt good, loved and happy. Now that she was used to different things, she found the lullaby the oyster was singing for her pleasant.
4. New friends.Part1
When they entered the room Arilla was charmed. She had never seen one so nice before! It was small but really comfortable. It was softly lit so it was possible to see what was around.
It seemed that someone had just dug the whole room in a natural cave, in fact the surface was irregular. But it was shiny as well like it was full of jewels set in the stone.
They were sparkling, reacting with the light coming from the lamp on the bedside table.
The lamp was made with some seaweed planted in a shell and the light was coming from inside and continuously changed colour: light blue, pink, and orange.
“Wow, what is that light, grandma?”
“You go there and have a look! This room will be yours while you stay here! I’ll see you in the morning! Good night my dear” said grandma and closed the door. Arilla was so curious and excited that she wasn’t tired at all. She ran to the bedside table, pushed away the seaweed and peeped inside.
There were three little mermaids with small butterfly wings behind their backs and thin antennas on their heads. They were glowing different colours.
“Hi!” they said all together when they saw Arilla’s face.
“Hi, who are you?” asked Arilla curious.
“We are sea-fairies!” answered the blue one “My name is Blueberry!”
“I’m Peach” said the orange one.
“And I’m Strawberry!” said the light red one.
“Wow, you have the name of the fruit!” Arilla exclaimed surprised.
“Oh, yes, our parents are really obsessed with human vegetables and fruit!” said Peach.
“And who are you?” asked Strawberry.
“My name is Arilla and I’m the youngest princess of Mories!” answered Arilla.
“And what are you doing here?” asked Blueberry.
“Well…my mum took the ship to Death Land this morning. She was really sick…” and then she stopped with watery eyes and a sad face.
“So you decided to go and look for her, is it?” asked Blueberry. The other two elbowed her, wanting her to shut up.
“Oh it’s ok girls!” said Arilla “I just want to tell her that I love her. The last thing I told her was ‘I don’t love you’….”
The three little sea fairies were so sorry for her that they just said in chorus “Ok, we’ll help you to find your mother!” and started to glow a bright yellow light.
“Oh wow, you can change your colour!” exclaimed Arilla smiling again.
“Well, usually we change in just a few shades of our colour but when we are really excited or really sad we glow different, brighter colours!” explained Peach.
“Wow” said Arilla charmed.
“But now little princess it’s time to sleep!” said Blueberry “We’ll talk tomorrow!”
Arilla had always been an obedient girl so she did what she was told. She looked around and saw a huge oyster open behind her. Inside it there was a pillow and a cover white pearl.
“But I don’t have any night dress” said Arilla.
“Oh this is not a problem” said a voice. After a while she understood it was coming from the oyster shell and immediately from nowhere appeared a pink dress gown decorated with blue sea stars.
Arilla didn’t really feel tired but she fell asleep as she touched the pillow.
She woke up the morning after. Everything was brighter and clearer. Arilla got up and prepared herself for breakfast.
She went down the stairs and headed to the kitchen from where a wonderful smell was coming out.
3. Grandmother. Part 2
By the time Arilla finished eating they arrived at Mr. Dolphin’s grandma’s house. It was made of pink and emerald green rocks, surrounded by coral of every thinkable colour. They walked through this strange garden and entered the house. It was small and snug.
“Hi grandma! Are you here? It’s me, Paulien!”
“Oh my dear Paulien!” Arilla heard an old voice coming from the other room. After few seconds appeared an old dolphin with spectacles on her nose and a bright yellow apron, bringing a tray full of chocolate crab shaped cookies. She left the tray on the table and ran to hug Paulien.
“What an incredible surprise! How are you, honey?! It’s been ages since I met you last!” said the grandma hugging him. It seemed she didn’t want to let him go.
“And who is your little friend?” asked noticing Arilla after a while.
“Oh yes, this is Arilla, grandma. She is the youngest princess of Mories” she gave a gracious bow to the old lady.
“Oh, is she? So, what about a cup of Ocean salt tea and chocolate cookies?” smiled the old dolphin.
“Ocean salt tea?!” asked Arilla puzzled “How can a tea be salted?”
“Just try it, honey!” said the grandma and gave her a yellow round shell full of steaming blue liquid.
Arilla not completely convinced tasted it and found out it was so sweet and so good that she asked for another cup without any problem.
Arilla and Paulien spent the afternoon in grandma’s house, looking at some pictures, listening to some fairytales and eating a wonderful dinner. After the seaweed sponge cake they drank white coral coffee and it was then that Paulien said “I’m sorry ladies, but I have to go now!”
“Oh really?” asked grandma a bit sad. Arilla didn’t speak.
“Yes, I have to go home. Tomorrow I have a really important meeting”
“Well, I guess I have to let you go then!” said grandma “And you Arilla? Do you want to stay here for a little more?”
“Actually…I don’t know, ma’am!” she kept looking down.
“Grandma is fine!”
“Well, I don’t know, grandma! I’ve left the castle without telling anybody but I want to go and meet my mum….but I don’t know how to do that and where to go!” she said, sadly looking inside her cup.
“I see. So why don’t you stay here with me for a couple of days? When you feel ready enough, you can go then!” said grandma resolute.
Arilla didn’t know what to say, so just looked at Paulien who said “Yes, Arilla, I think this is a great idea! You just stay here with grandma a bit! You’ll be in good hands!”
“So it’s settled” said grandma “You can stay in Paulien’s old room! It’s already done in case he would have stayed here!” she said with a bit of bitterness “But I have a wonderful guest anyway!”
“Oh, I don’t know how to thank you, grandma! You’re very kind!” and addressing Paulien said “Thanks to you as well Paulien! I was very lucky to meet you!”
“At your service, princess Arilla!” said Paulien and swam away.
“Thank you again grandma” said Arilla, once they were left alone.
“Don’t be silly, dear. It’s a pleasure for me! I really enjoy some company after all the time spent alone in this big house!”
“Big house?” she asked in surprise. She looked around her again, but she saw only a couple of rooms and a flight of stairs going up.
“I’ll show it to you tomorrow, my dear!” said grandma. “Now you need some sleep!” and she lead the way to a small bedroom that was just at the top of the stairs. It didn’t really seem that there was much left to see in the house, but she didn’t say anything.
3. Grandmother. Part 1
Shiny Deep was clearly a lively city full of colours and lights. As far as Arilla could see it was crowded with people.
They started to go down. They were heading to what it looked like the main square.
“Mr. Dolphin, what are you doing here? Are you a trader?”
“Yes, I am. But now I’m just visiting. My grandma lives here!”
“I see” she said.
“And by the way who are you? Where are you coming from?” the dolphin asked.
“Oh yes, how impolite, my name is Arilla and I’m the youngest princess of Mories”
“Mories eh?! Yes, I know it!” said the dolphin.
“Really?!” asked Arilla pleased and surprised at the same time. And immediately after that “Hem, I have a question for you Mr. Dolphin: why could you understand me and why could I understand you without the little sea stars?”
“Well, little princess, I travelled a lot during my life. I’ve spent hours with sailors on the surface and near the shores. And in my travels I spent many days in Mories as well! People are so nice!”
“Oh, I see” Arilla was charmed more than surprised.
They followed until they arrived at the square. In the middle there was a huge statue showing a group of seahorses and sea stars dancing all together around a seaweed and coral arrangement.
“Oh Mr. Dolphin this is beat….” started Arilla surprised. But suddenly stopped because the statue, that was moving already, just changed and, after few seconds, another one appeared in the very same place. It represented a dolphin playing with a child, a mermaid and a crab.
“But…this statue is moving…and it’s changing shape too!” yelled Arilla in surprise.
“Ahahahah yes, it does!” laughed the dolphin “Listen Arilla, I’ve just got an idea! Would you like to come and visit my grandma with me?”
“Yes, please” Arilla said enthusiastic. Her curiosity was over stimulated.
“Come on, she lives over there! We’ll walk to her house, so you can see a few things around!”
Arilla was amazed, she didn’t answer anything, just followed the dolphin with big eyes and open mouth looking around her. The town was lively and the square with the little food market was crowded.
She hadn’t seen so many different kinds of people and so many kinds of food for ages and she felt curious and happy. Nobody knew that she kept reading books and seeing illustrations about Sonrisa although she didn’t dare to show her face outside the castle walls. Her brothers brought everything to her because they knew she was a curious girl. We could say she got a great theoretical culture. But we all know that practice is a hundred times better!
There were two mermaids, one younger and one older, pushing what looked like a pushchair. It was a white shell with a baby mermaid inside covered by a seaweed blanket.
On the left there were some kids, a sea star, a seahorse, sea cat and crab playing what looked like football. The octopus was the goalkeeper.
And the market was so shiny and coloured. They sold food so unusual in shape and colour that Arilla couldn’t close her mouth, open in surprise.
“Hey Arilla, try this one!” said the dolphin and gave to her a red ball.
“What is it?” Arilla asked.
“Just try it!” laughed the dolphin.
Arilla took a small bite “Wow, strawberry!” and immediately the ball assumed the strawberry shape.
Arilla than bit it again.
“Oh no, hold on! Now it tastes of chocolate sponge cake!” and the strawberry became a small slice of chocolate sponge cake.
“What is this called Mr Dolphin?”
“The-taste-you-like-fruit!” he explained “You can go on with changes until you finish it! It’s a really common fruit and grows everywhere in the country”
Happy she learned something new, Arilla followed the dolphin eating the fruit that smaller and smaller became an ice-cream, a spaghetti omelette, a cherry and a piece of chocolate with almonds.
2. Shiny Deep
And the day came, so the queen, although really sad that she couldn’t say farewell to Arilla, had to go.
There was a huge procession. Everybody wanted to say goodbye to their beloved queen.
“My dear wife, I’ll reach you soon” said the King.
“So this is just a goodbye my love” said the queen “And farewell to you my dearest sons and daughters. Just tell Arilla I love her. I love all of you and it’s with great pain I’m leaving” then she turned away and started to climb the wooden boarding bridge leading to the ship.
But as result of the huge crowd nobody noticed little Arilla, who snuck out of her bedroom and followed the procession.
She hid in a little slope behind the principal dock and watched everything from far away. She was really sad, she didn’t understand why her mother had to leave; she didn’t want to let her go. Lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice the level of the water that was rising, wetting her shoes first and then her dress.
The ship started to move and grew smaller and smaller in the horizon. People started to go back to their houses and the sky became darker and darker.
Arilla kept hiding behind the wall crying, ignoring the level of water that was rising.
Suddenly she heard a strange noise but when she turned to her left it was too late. A huge wave engulfed her and everything that was around there.
She started screaming scared and thought she would die soon without breath if she didn’t get out from there.
“That’s better” she thought eventually “So I can reach my mum though!”
After a minute, however, she realized she could breathe in the deepest water. She was puzzled but looked around curiously.
It was all dark, but then she saw a pink light in the distance. She decided to swim in that direction and see what it was. She found out it was really easy to swim even though she never learned how to.
As she went closer she noticed few sparkling lights in the middle of what she discovered was a transparent bubble.
When she arrived there she bumped into something pink, soft and jelly. Arilla looked around but she couldn’t see any door, window or passage that lead inside the bubble. She just saw a sparkling light and she heard in the distance the sound of a flute.
“I want to see the musician! This tune is so nice!” she said to herself.
“Well, so just go in!” suddenly a voice next to her said. Arilla turned on her right side to see where the voice was coming from and she stared at the creature in front of her: a dolphin.
“Hi Mr. Dolphin!” was the only thing she could think of.
“Hi little girl!” said the dolphin “I said you can go in if you want!”
“How can I do that Mr. Dolphin?” she asked “There are no doors or windows!”
“Well, you can use the little spoon you have in your pocket and eat a little of jelly. It’s good! And if you want it is strawberry flavour!” explained the dolphin.
“But I don’t have any….” Arilla said searching inside her pockets automatically “Oh, no, hold on! I have it!” she said surprised.
“Ok! So let’s try!” smiled the dolphin showing her the little silver spoon in his flipper. He took a spoonful of pink bubble and ate it “Hum, yummy! It tastes chocolate!”
And after a while a brownish little ball appeared from nothing, wrapped the dolphin and he passed through the huge strawberry jelly.
The only thing Arilla heard were few words told by the dolphin.
“Think about a flavour” before he disappeared on the other side of the bubble. She felt a bit puzzled and also scared because she was alone again. Eventually she decided to try and put the spoon inside the jelly and suddenly she thought about cherry. Again, from nothing, a reddish ball appeared and wrapped her. It smelled of cherry and when she tasted, it tasted really like cherry!
She saw the ball passing through the strawberry flavoured one. She was a bit scared so she closed her eyes. The music she could hear from outside became louder, it sounded like a lullaby. Little by little she also heard words in the music. As soon as she floated the words become clearer and clearer. The lullaby spoke about a princess and her kingdom. She couldn’t understand all the words properly but felt sleepy after a few minutes and without any idea of where she was going to she closed her eyes again, feeling cuddled and safe after a long time.
She woke up after a while hearing strange noises she couldn’t understand. Looking around still half asleep and confused, she saw a lot of odd faces staring at her and telling her something in a language she couldn’t understand.
After what she thought was a long time she eventually heard a familiar voice.
“Here, here, little one you put this on!” it was the dolphin.
Arilla was terribly confused. This was her first time outside the castle after long time and everything was so strange and new that she felt almost overwhelmed.
The dolphin put a hair-band made with seaweed of a brilliant green and purple among her shiny blond hair.
As she wore the hair band she felt a strange feeling on her ears. When she touched them she found out there were a couple of spongy rough surfaces.
“Oh no….what have you done to me?” she started to scream and cry.
“No, no, dear, calm down!” said the dolphin “They are only our interpreter sea stars. Just listen!”
Arilla stopped crying and found out that she could understand what the voices around her were saying.
“Oh, how cute is this little girl!” said one.
“She is scared, poor thing!” said the second.
“Oh, she seems better now” said the third.
“You see” said the dolphin “You just need to relax and the little sea stars will do the rest. Now you can go wherever you please the two sea stars will translate everything you’ll hear or say”
“Oh thank you Mr. Dolphin” said Arilla now smiling. She was happy again “But where are we now?”
“This is the capital city of Under the Sea kingdom. It is called Shiny Deep! It is the centre of life, trade and everybody knows it!” explained the dolphin “Come with me I’ll show you around and then I’ll go”
“Oh no, don’t leave me here alone again!”
“Don’t worry! You’ll be fine! You’re a nice and smart girl. You’ll have no problem at all” said the dolphin “Come on, just jump on my back, we’ll be faster”.
Arilla did what she was told to and they set off. She realized she was just outside the wall of the town. They swam higher and higher and she could see the wall going around all the houses and fields. She thought it was a second protection after the jelly ball.
1.Mories
Mories was the kingdom located in the north-west part of Sonrisa’ s main island. It was surrounded by the sea on the north and west and bordered on the south with Black Dragon Kingdom and Etysop Land.
It was said that in this country all the most skilled craftsmen were born. It didn’t matter which kind of craft you were talking about. The handicraft was the most important thing in Mories,
and, as a consequence, the trade was vital for the economy of this kingdom too. There was a huge lively market constantly held between Sparia, the first town you meet coming from the Etysop Land, and the castle. The rest were fields of cereal or fruit trees.
In the market they sold everything. If you wanted to find something strange or rare you could be sure to find it in Mories market.
Although the natives were of human kind, there were loads of people coming from all over the country to trade, to buy and to sell their own items.
The royal family was one of the most loved in the history of this country and of Sonrisa in general. They were the royals but you could see them going around the market, talking to people and buying something nice. The queen and the king seemed like two teenagers on their first date every day.
Also the princes and the princesses were very nice and gentle and loved mixing with other people. The only exception was Arilla, the youngest princess. When she was only four she was scared by a vampire coming from Ghost-land. She ran away in fear and there was no chance to get her back to the market.
Everybody lived happy in this country. Almost nobody broke the law, the king was a good and fair man.
Unfortunately we all know that it’s impossible to think that everything is absolutely good. Unfair and sad things happen everywhere and to everybody. And Mories wasn’t an exception.
There was an old Sonrisa tradition which said that when you grew too old or too sick it’s the time to leave your kingdom, your country, your home. A ship leads to an outer land. It is said that this land is a dark island full of sickness and sadness. You can walk on the gloomy and rotten fields and hear screams and wailing all around you. Over there, it always rains and the sun never shines up. It is a long and endless winter. Death Land, is what this place is called.
It is clear that nobody had ever come back, so mostly it is a legend to scare spoilt children.
And eventually it came the time to go for Erileen, the queen of Mories. She wasn’t old at all, but she fell sick one day of the metal seasons (the coldest of the five season you have in Sonrisa) and she couldn’t improve her condition anymore. The doctors did their best and all the important physicians and wizards and shamans were summoned to Mories from all over Sonrisa but nobody could find a cure for her. Unfortunately this meant that according to the tradition it was her time to go.
It was very sad for her family and her subjects.
“No mother, don’t go please! What will we do without your wise advice?” cried the little Arilla.
“Oh my little daughter… I know it’s really sad…but I have to go, it’s the tradition, it’s the law. I have to give a good example to my people! I am the queen, my little one! I’m sure you’ll understand one day!” she explained.
“No, I won’t and I don’t want to accept it! I don’t love you mother, you are just leaving us!” yelled Arilla and she ran away.
Everybody was really sad but there was no other option.
The doctors did their best but without results, they said it was better to remember her for what she was, rather than for what she would be after, even in a few weeks.
They then organized a huge farewell party. All the people in Mories were invited as they loved their queen so much.
Only one person didn’t attend the party: little Arilla. She barricaded the door of her bedroom and never came out. The servants could hear her crying but nobody, even her favourite brother Marisen, could convince her to open the door.
