The young girl smiled as the hand was outstretched toward her, grin widening as she slipped her small hand into his.
"There she is, the little Belle," he said, squeezing her hand lightly.
"Hello, Le Vieux," she said, giving him her best smile.
Carefully, he led her to his umbrella boat and helped her climb on. Le Vieux made sure she was sitting safely before leaning back to give them a push and get started. He squatted beside the young girl, looking ahead of them as they floated gently along the calm blue water.
Her face lit up even more when she saw three of the tall, serious looking men in bright red jackets standing on the land where they would dock, hands behind their backs, looking straight ahead, toward them, at attention. The Comets.
With Le Vieux's help, the young girl climbed upon a merry go round horse behind one of the Comets. Le Vieux made sure she was holding tight before going to the merry go round horse behind her, climbing on behind an identical looking Comet.
The girl let her head fall back to look at the sky as they flew through the air on those merry go round horses. The cool wind rushed past her face and she smiled. She felt free, and that was the best feeling in the world.
Before long, they landed and striped people, the Zebras, came dancing toward them. Two of them came up either side of her, grabbing hold of her hands, and together they ran, hair flying wildly in the rushing wind created by their speed. The Comets weren't fair behind and Le Vieux a little behind them. He was old, and slower, but the little girl didn't care. He was just as much fun as the others.
The Zebras looked at her with a mischievous gleam in their eyes. She knew what came next. Almost in sync with her stripy friends, the little girl took a deep breath of air and held it, and together, she dived with the Zebras into the water. They swam a way, and emerged miraculously dry on the other side.
Everyone smiled, the little girl brightest of all. They had arrived. They'd had the fun journey, and they'd arrived.
One of the Zebras crouched, so their face was mere inches from the little girl. They rubbed noses and the Zebra smiled, leaning back and doing a backflip into the water, jumping right out again a moment later. Here, the fun begins.