The day is cold. You shiver as you enter the room, eyes widening as your eyes fall on me. The young woman who sits in a chair. A blanket covers my legs. I watch you as you enter. "Greetings," I tell you. "My name is Ami. I don't know your name, but that will come with time."
You are about to speak, but I continue. "Do you know the story of the little mermaid?"
You nod. "Doesn't everyone?" you ask.
I arch an eyebrow. "So you have heard of the story of the little mermaid, Ariel. But have you heard of Urchin." Smiling I add, "His story is mostly centered around hers. Unfortunately, his ending is not quite as happy. Then again, he's still writing it."
Urchin sighed impatiently. "When's King Triton gonna come out?"
From her seat beside him, Gabriella shrugged and signed. Ollie, her octopus friend and translator, spoke for her: "I don't think it will be much longer."
Urchin eyed the barely lit stage. "I hope so! We've been waiting forever!"
Gabriella read his lips and giggled. "No, it's only been a few minutes," she signed.
Ariel's first official public performance was today, and her two close friends, Urchin and Gabriella, had heard quite a lot about it from her. She was always groaning about how often Sebastian, King Triton's advisor and royal musical conductor, held rehearsals. She had often skipped the rehearsals with Urchin and Gabriella, as well as Ariel's closest friend, a fish named Flounder.
Suddenly, the stage lit up. Excited, the crowd hushed. Then applause broke out as King Triton appeared in his dolphin-pulled golden chariot. As always, the king was gruff and serious. He waved his glowing trident at the crowd, who all just cheered louder.
Urchin stuck his fingers in his mouth and emitted a high-pitch whistle. King Triton looked around for the shrill sound. When his eyes fell on Urchin, a small smile darted across the king's face. Urchin, Gabriella, and Ollie waved. In return, King Triton raised an eyebrow. He continued driving his chariot around the arena, pausing only briefly to shoot a beautiful show of light above the crowd's heads. They cheered even louder.
The little seahorse introduced Sebastian and out came Sebastian, in his own chariot. Ollie laughed softly as Sebastian tried to control the two goldfish pulling his chariot. The crowd applauded for Sebastian, who gave them all a big, proud grin. This was a big day for the old crustacean. He was as excited about it as Ariel was tired of it.
Sebastian's goldfish sped up to drive alongside King Triton's chariot, and the two exchanged brief words. Urchin poked Gabriella, who nodded and read their lips.
Ollie read her signs. "King Triton says that he is looking forward to this performance." Ollie then began imitating Sebastian's strange accent. "He-he-he! Oh, Your Majesty, dis will be de finest concert I have ever conducted! Your daughters – dey will be spectacular!"
Gabriella grinned as the goldfish reared and Sebastian almost fell out of his chariot. She continued signing the conversation. Ollie read, in King Triton's deep, somber voice, "Yes! And especially my little Ariel!"
Urchin grinned. "He got that right!" the merboy whispered. Ollie gave him a teasing grin. Looking away, Urchin blushed.
Gabriella frowned, looked at Ollie, and signed, "There's a bit more, but I couldn't catch it."
Urchin shrugged. "That's okay," he assured her. They watched as Sebastian finally managed to control his goldfish. He drove them up to the podium. Reaching into his shell-like chariot, Sebastian tugged a huge book of musical notes out and set it on the podium. The crowd was silent now, and the water seemed static with the excited anticipation. Pulling a little baton out, the crab stared down at the orchestra imposingly, and then began to wave his baton. The orchestra struck up a lively tune.
Urchin and Gabriella watched as three huge, beautiful clam shells rose from behind a wall. They had seen the rehearsal dozens of times, and weren't as excited as the crowd when Ariel's six sisters popped out of the clam shells and began to introduce themselves through song.
Finally, one more clam shell – even bigger and more beautiful than the other sisters' shells – rose up, and the sisters swum around it. They sang happily, gesturing to the shell, ready to introduce their youngest sister. The shell slowly opened to reveal –
But it was empty!
The sisters and the crowd gasped and began to chatter. Urchin, Gabriella, and Ollie winced. "Uh-oh," moaned Ollie.
"Here it comes!" Urchin added, covering his ears.
Livid and red-faced, King Triton leapt from his seat at the throne, howling, "ARIEL!"
Gabriella signed to her two friends. "Come on, let's go find her." Urchin and Ollie nodded, and the three set off in search of their friend.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Where is she?" signed Gabriella frantically as the threesome swam back to the palace. They had searched for an hour, but there had been no sign of Ariel.
Urchin stopped. Hearing lots of yelling coming from the throne room, he held his arm out in front of the other two. Gabriella gave him a questioning look, and Urchin remembered that she couldn't hear a thing. "I can hear King Triton yelling," he told her, and Gabriella nodded. Another voice echoed through the palace. Urchin recognized it instantly. "And Ariel is with him! I think they're having a fight," he said. Just then, there was silence, and Ariel sped past them. She looked miserable.
They watched as she swum off, Flounder hot on her tail. Ollie exclaimed, "She's heading for her grotto!"
He and Urchin started to swim after her, but Gabriella signed frantically. Ollie read, "She needs to be alone, I think."
Urchin folded his arms in frustration, complaining, "Then why is Flounder going with her?"
Gabriella signed again. "You know how Ariel is when she's upset. Flounder's one of the few fish in the sea who can comfort her. We should just wait until she's feeling better."
Flipping, Urchin grudgingly admitted, "Alright, alright." He glanced in the direction of Ariel's grotto.
Gabriella smiled at him and signed, "You're a true friend for wanting to comfort her, Urchin."
The fourteen-year-old merboy gave Gabriella a weak smile. "Yeah, I know."