I've been writing this story for over two years now. Damn, not sure where time goes...haha.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!
Chapter 37
Ruta
Link's PoV
After eating breakfast at the Jeweled Hook, we join a large group of Zora gathered in the main square. Sidon walks up to us and asks if we'd like to join them for a trip up to the divine beast. Zelda answers with an ecstatic "sure!" and we go back to the inn to get ready for the short hike up the mountain. As we get ready in our room, she rambles excitedly about getting to see the ancient divine beast. She asks me questions that I avoid answering, which makes her irritated.
"You don't want me to run it for you, do you? I know you like surprises."
"I do. But-"
"You won't be disappointed, Zel. I promise." I reply with a smirk as we walk out of our room.
We leave a few minutes later and walk behind everyone else with Mipha and Sidon at our sides. I convinced the two of them not to tell her what's in store when we get there, so they tactfully avoid answering her questions about what we'll find. Zelda lets out a loud sigh and mutters something unintelligible under her breath and I say I know patience isn't her thing, but we're almost there. Impatient as I said, Zelda picks up her pace and walks faster ahead of the rest of us. Sidon laughs and tells her to wait up, we'll be there soon enough.
A few more turns and a couple of steep mountains later, Divine Beast Vah Ruta comes into view. Zelda gasps and points with excitement, grinning like crazy. The massive beast towers over the mountainside in all of its ancient glory, shining in the sunlight almost blindingly. It's giant trunk is curved up and spouting water high up into the air and back into its body.
Zelda squeaks in excitement before she takes off running toward it and we follow. She slows and stands about thirty feet from the beast and looks up at Ruta with wide eyes, giving us time catch up with her. I stop beside her and gaze up at it as well in almost as much awe as Zelda is, the stone giant is just as incredible every time I see it.
"I've heard the divine beasts were huge, but I didn't think it would be this massive! How did they even build it?!" She exclaims.
"My best guess is with old technology that has been lost to the world. The divine beasts are one of the world's biggest mysteries." Mipha answers.
"It's incredible."
"Definitely."
"Just wait till you see inside." I say, taking her hand.
We walk up the wooden stairs leading up to the round platform in front of the high, arched doorway. Before we even enter we can see the bottom of the enormous waterwheel inside. Zelda gapes up at it as she slowly steps up the entrance ramp and I don't blame her. The thing is beautiful as it spins with water sloshing over the huge paddles. The floor below is mostly flooded from the excess that falls down and runs into the pools of water on both sides of the room. I explain to Zelda that the water is recycled this way as it drains down into the floor and the trunk's mechanics bring it back up over the waterwheel.
The four of us walk into the room left of the entrance, which holds the indoor pool. Before coming here I'd never been swimming inside, I didn't think it was even possible. A slide comes down into the center of the pool, twisting in a wide loop around before ending in the water. The Zora had it crafted to look like part of the divine beast itself and it almost does looks like it has always been a part of it. The stone is a close match for the texture of the walls, the same decorative designs seen throughout Ruta have been added to it and it has even been weathered and colored with weatherproof paints. Last time I was here, Mipha explained to me how their most creative people came up with the design, searched for the right materials then hired contractors and architects from all over the world to build it. On the second floor next to the smaller waterwheel, there are added pumps painted to look like the pedestals in the divine beast. They create a flow of water down the slide to make a smoother ride. It's one of a kind, just like the pool, and I have never heard of any sort of slide like it existing anywhere else in the world.
The wall across from the entrance has open, glass-less windows above it that light up the room. The left and right walls are decorated with beautiful, detailed paintings of landscapes, people, buildings, etc. Sheikah radios hang on each of the three walls of the room, filling it with loud music as well as the noises of laughter and splashing water. The room is packed with people, either swimming or lounging around on the many sunchairs across the room. The strange bulb shaped control unit glows on the far end of the room by the wall of windows.
While Zelda is distracted and looking at everything I pick her up, which makes her shriek in surprise, and take a running jump into the pool. When we resurface she gasps for air and yells at me before laughing and splashing water in my face. I laugh as well as she wades over in the shoulder deep water and puts her hands on my shoulders before kissing me. I pick her up in the water and she wraps her arms and legs around me as we make out in the middle of everyone, not caring in the slightest.
Suddenly, we are both jerked out of the water and before we have a chance to realize what's happening, we are flying through the air. We both scream as we separate from each other in mid-air and plunge back down into the water unceremoniously. We both come up for air and choke water out of our lungs before looking around for whoever interrupted us. The sound of laughter comes from every direction and it's obvious who threw us as many people are looking at Sidon. He just flashes us a grin before submerging and appearing in front of Zelda and I within a half a second.
"Enjoy the flight?" He asks before either of us can speak.
"Seriously?" Zelda grumbles.
"It'd be better with some warning next time. Perhaps some time to get air in our lungs?" I answer, holding my hands up in the air and shrugging.
"Right. Good point. Sorry about that."
A group of Zora kids appear in the middle of where we are in the water and where Sidon stands just then. They all simultaneously beg him to throw them next. Zelda and I glance at each other before we both laugh. Sidon grants their ecstatic cheerful requests and throws them two at a time into the air like he did us. They swim back and ask "again please!" and he obliges sending them flying through the air over and over.
Zelda's PoV
I can't believe we are inside one of the Divine Beasts! I'm completely blown away. This is just so spectacularly incredible. If the ancient Sheikah really built these things, I wonder just what else they were capable of. How does one make a structure this huge with the most impossible-to-understand architecture? I say that because the massive waterwheel taking up half the main room is held up by only one giant bar sticking out from one wall. It just doesn't look like enough support to hold it, but I have to assume it's much more soundly built than it looks. I mean, it has been like that for thousands of years and hasn't fallen apart yet.
As I sit on the edge of the pool I can't help but still gaze at everything in this room, especially the slide. I watch people emerge from the bottom every few minutes.
I was not expecting to get to go inside the divine beast. I also find it a little bit odd that the Zora would open up their most ancient treasure to the general public. For some reason I've always imagined that the divine beasts would be preserved by their respective races as historical treasures and they would keep them in the best original condition they could. But the Zora have gone out of their way to make this place somewhere everyone can experience and enjoy. Things could get damaged or destroyed by letting just anyone inside Ruta, but perhaps I am just overthinking too much. The Zora do seem very proud as well as being the kindest and most polite people I've ever met, so maybe it does make sense they would want to share their oldest treasure with the world.
I also found it weird that Link insisted I wear my bikini under my shorts and t-shirt before we left, telling me that I would need it but refusing to tell me why. I pulled off my outer layer of clothing after the Zora children interrupted our "moment" with Sidon and put them in the sun with Link's clothes so they could dry. I didn't think that Link would pick me up and jump in the pool with us both fully dressed, shoes and everything, but I guess it was worth it for that yummy kiss. I love unexpected surprises like that, though I am not used to them. Link seems to be changing that for me, however, and I enjoy that very very much. I hope he never stops doing things like that.
I make friends with a little Zora girl named Finley as I sit there. She tells me that she wants to be like me when she grows up and I am thrown off guard once again today. Hearing something like that from another person, even or maybe especially from a little kid, makes me feel really good inside. I smile and tell her she'll be way cooler than me when she grows up.
"Nah. You're Sheik! You are the coolest girl existing!" Finley exclaims before she giggles.
I laugh. "Well, thank you."
"You are welcome, miss Sheik!" She says loudly before she grins and then jumps back into the pool to play with her friends.
A minute later, I watch as Sidon picks Link up and throws him at Finley's commanding suggestion. Since he's ready for it this time, Link spreads his arms out like a bird so it looks like he's soaring through the air before he breaks the water surface in a dive. The Zora kids cheer and clap, complimenting his dive and even going as far to say it was very "fish like." I clap and cheer for him too, as he did "perform" his flying dive quite gracefully. At the other side of the pool, a huge goron man jumps in and creates a giant tidal wave in his cannonball wake. A few Gerudo girls who had been floating on their backs resurface coughing up water and he apologizes profusely when they resurface scowling at him. But then they laugh and forgive him.
I get up and walk over to the big, bulbous shaped thing on the other side of the room. It was the first thing I noticed after the slide when we first walked in here. After walking around it in a circle I run my fingertips over the smooth surface of the pedestal connected to the front of it. The details on it glow with blue light. It makes me curious about what exactly powers it, as the answer is not clear looking at it.
"Hey Sheik." A voice says behind me and I squeak and jump an inch or two in the air. I spin around quickly to see Mipha there. "Hey." I answer in a breathy voice.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. The main control unit is quite interesting, isn't it?"
"Oh, that's what this is?" I say, turning back to the thing as she steps up next to me.
"Yes. Without it and the other pedestals, none of Ruta's functions would work."
I ask her how they got it powered up and it appears that I'm wrong to assume they did, as Mipha tells me that Ruta has always been active. She has a lot of answers and explanations for my many, many questions. I like how passionate she is about ancient history, smiling with every fact she tells me. I've always been curious about the divine beasts so it's super cool I've made a friend that knows so much about them; or at least this one.
Lulu walks up to us after a while and asks if she can hang out with us, needing a break from the guys. I tell her of course, then we walk out of the pool room. I walk over and stand under the spray of the amazing waterwheel with my arms held out to my sides. The water is freezing cold as it hits me but it feels so nice. Today was definitely a good day to come here, it's another particularly blistering summer day. We leave the main room through an high arched doorway and walk up the outdoor ramp leading to the second floor. I gaze at the spectacular view as Lulu asks me if I have ever been here before.
I shake my head and tell her this is all brand new and nothing like I expected. Mipha asks what I mean and I explain I how I never imagined that Divine Beast Vah Ruta would be so full of people.
"So you weren't expecting a tourist attraction." Lulu comments.
"I absolutely wasn't. I thought that all the divine beasts would be kept as sacred treasures, undisturbed and kept as they were originally."
"When we were little, it was preserved just like you imagined. But that changed when my little brother came up with the idea of exploring Ruta and opening it up for everyone to see. He tracked down all of our leaders and suggested the idea to them." Mipha says.
"Little brother? You have another sibling?"
Mipha and Lulu laugh and I wait for them to explain what's so funny.
"Sidon is actually my little brother."
"Oh. I guess I assumed that he was older since he's so tall, which I guess isn't great logic." I say with a nervous laugh.
"It's fine. I meet a lot of people who think the same thing."
"How did he convince them to open up Ruta to everyone?"
"There wasn't much convincing needed. Our people had always been curious about what rested inside Ruta, as nobody was allowed to even go near it without getting in trouble. It was a long debate between our leaders and elders whether to let anyone in here for a few months, but they finally decided to make it a public vote and it's obvious what we all chose. We were all so excited the first time we got see inside Ruta."
I find it interesting how all of the Zora were included on the decision. I think that is really cool.
"Wow. I definitely don't blame you guys for that. I was psyched the millisecond it came into view earlier. I would have been a little sad had we not been able to enter." I say with a little laugh.
"And they even agreed to Sidon's water park idea! It was amazing that they agreed to open up Ruta for anyone to explore, but to add onto the original architecture was even more of a complete shock to us all." Lulu says.
"I bet, but it was a good idea." I say as we walk back inside. I crane my neck and look up at the end of Ruta's trunk. The sun makes the water sparkle as it falls and crashes down into the giant paddles. I'm still in awe of it no matter how much I look at it.
I notice a few Rito flying up above the wheel just out of the spray of water. They throw something back and forth through the water and swoop down quickly to catch it before it hits the floor below. It's the hardest game of catch I've seen yet, if that is what they're playing. I suddenly wish I could fly too, it would be incredible to see the exterior of Ruta from the air. Well, it would be cool to see anything from above like that really...
I wish Hylians could fly. It's not fair.
I must be frowning or something because Mipha asks me if something's wrong.
"Oh no...I'm just jealous I can't fly like that." I say pointing up to the Rito.
"Flying looks scary to me."
"That's because we're meant to be in the water, Miphy. Besides, swimming up waterfalls like we do must be better."
"Don't call me that, Lulu. I hate it."
"That's why I do it."
I laugh as they throw a few comments back and forth before walking over to the smaller waterwheel in up here. It spins slowly in a pool of water where a few people climb up onto its paddles as they leave the water and ride them to the top before diving and jumping back down. A ladder leads up the wall between two matching cylinders coming up out of the little pool. I'm not sure what they are before I climb it and find myself at the top of the slide. The U-shaped interior of it has been painted blue with intricately painted scales on both sides. Above those scales there are various objects illustrated every few feet. Someone certainly spent a lot of time decorating it.
"Ready to try it out, Sheik?" Lulu asks me as she and Mipha join me standing there.
"Yeah." I say nervously, looking down the giant twisty thing with the curved sides. "What do I do?"
"Just sit down at the entrance and push yourself forward with your hands. It's easy. I'll go first and then you can follow." She tells me with a smile and I nod.
I watch as Lulu does exactly as she said and the water seems to suck her down the chute at a rapid speed. She cheers and laughs as she goes down and I find myself excited. I hear a few people yelling my name from the water below and look down.
"Here I come!" I shout before stepping up to the slide and sitting down carefully with my legs in the water. I take a slow breath before I push myself forward and the water takes me immediately. I involuntarily scream at the speed before I laugh. It seems like no time at all before I'm feet from the end the slide. I barely have time to take a breath before I plunge underwater. When I resurface everyone cheers like I've done something amazing and I laugh, the adrenaline rush I just experienced still coursing through me. Link swims across the pool after Mipha joins me at the bottom. He asks me what I thought of the slide.
"I'm ready to go again. That was so much fun!"
Link's PoV
Zelda gets out of the pool again and says she's going again, jogging out of the room without waiting for me. A few minutes later I hear my name being shouted and I look up to see her at the top of the slide.
"Come up here!"
"Okay!"
I start to climb out of the pool before I get an idea. I swim over to the end of the slide instead and heave myself up onto one of the sides. I carefully stand up and step my left foot on to the top of the matching edge above the water. It's not hard to balance since it's flat and squared off, making it easy to stand on.
Zelda calls down asking what I'm doing and I look up, give her a thumbs up, and call back "daredevil stunt!"
"What?! Link don't-"
"I'm coming for you, Sheik!" I call up, interrupting her as I start walking up the slide. I hear her tell me not to be stupid but I keep going, knowing she's probably gonna be mad at me when I get up there. It's an easy ascent as the sides are only about two and a half feet from each other so walking up is almost effortless with my height. I stop at the twist part of the slide and look up at Zelda. She stands at the top watching as I make my way up to her, eyes wide.
"You better not fall!" She shouts.
"I won't!" I call back.
I pause and look around to see that we now have an audience and several other people are pointing at us and yelling things. Some people cheer me on and others just watch in horror. I keep making my way up the slide, careful of my footing the higher I get. It's not too steep and the walk up is gradual so I'm hardly worried about falling. Once I get to the top, I hop down and Zelda stands there staring at me.
"Thank Hylia...I swear y-" She starts but her sentence ends in a squeak as I pick her up and turn around quickly.
"What are you doing?!" She exclaims.
"We are going down together." I sit down at the top of the slide. I use my feet to pull us forward before she's situated on my lap and the water takes us down the slide quickly as a mess of arms and legs. I laugh as she shrieks at the turn in the slide and we zip down the second half into the water. At the bottom we both resurface coughing and stand up in the shoulder deep water.
"Are you insane?!" She exclaims as the several people who have been watching clap and laugh at the entertainment I've created for them.
"A little." I say, pulling her into my arms. "It's been a while since I've done that."
"You've done that before?" She asks incredulously.
"Yep. But it was better with you waiting for me at the top."
"You're crazy."
"I know. " I say planting a kiss on her lips and our audience goes crazy with louder cheers, laughter and whistles.
Zelda's PoV
He's absolutely insane and fearless and I want to be mad or irritated that Link pulled a stunt like that. Normally I would be, but this time I find that I just can't be even if he could have fallen and cracked his head open or something. I can only laugh as he pulls back from kissing me and giggle. Part of me loves that he decided to do something so weird and crazy, nobody else I know would have done something like that. I like that Link keeps things interesting, I don't think that he could be boring if he tried. I won't tell him, but I'm actually kind of impressed that he could walk up the slide like that.
After several more walks up to the second floor and rides down the awesome slide, we agree on taking a break. Link and I are both starving, having skipped lunch and from all the activity we've been doing. We walk across the main waterwheel room into a small room with a sign reading "Ruta's International Goods" outside the door. The first thing I notice as we walk in is a huge, glowing blue stone hanging from the ceiling. I walk over then reach up and place my hand on the smooth surface. I stare mesmerized as I watch the strange symbols move downward and vanish at the bottom and reappear at the top in an endless cycle. I realize then that it must be written in ancient text and grin, even if I can't read a single word. Link walks up behind me and I say that I wish I could read it. He tells me he thinks that it's a message to the Hero who lived during the Great Calamity. I think there's a good possibility he's right. That would make a lot of sense.
I take a slow look at what everyone has for sale as a Goron man calls Link over to his stand and attempts to talk him into buying some of his "colorful inedible rocks." I wonder who in their right mind would eat rocks before I remember that's exactly what the Gorons do eat. I really do wonder how their digestive systems work, they must have stone hard internal organs to pass...rocks. Their taste buds must be way different to consider them tasty as well.
Anyway, there is at least one seller of each race in here with a few people at each of their tables. There is a good variety of things being sold inside like food and drinks, clothing, jewelry, and there is even someone selling homemade suncare products.
My stomach growls at the sight and smell of the fried fish skewers a Gerudo woman is selling. I buy two and hand one to Link as he politely, and somewhat awkwardly, tells the Goron man he will have to pass up on some colorful rocks for today. Link and I sit outside on the bench at the top of the ramp leading to the second floor. The fish skewers taste even better than they smell and are flavored with some delicious spice I have never tasted before. I lick the wooden stick clean when I'm done. The Zora siblings walk up to us a few minutes later and Sidon gallantly offers to give me a tour of the rest of the divine beast. I stand up and tell him to lead the way, tossing my skewer stick into the little trash bin next to the bench.
We walk across the second floor and up the next outdoor ramp. I'm expecting us to come up to the third floor but instead we come up to the center of the massive wheel. I walk across the stone grate bridge and gaze up into the center. It's just so cool that you can stand in the middle to get an up close look.
"Everything here is just so amazing." I comment.
"Our elephant is an incredible mystery to behold." Sidon says.
"Elephant?" I repeat, totally confused. I've never heard that word in my life. I look at Link and he shrugs, looking just as confused as I am.
"A very old and equally ancient and extinct animal that existed around the time when Ruta was built. At least, that's what Zora Domain's oldest texts about this divine beast say."
"Whoa. That's definitely cool.
"Yes it certainly is. Even better, I hear the other divine beasts also mimic the shape of ancient animals."
"Really? Wow. I'm even more excited to see them now."
To our left sits a bridge that's obviously another non original part of Ruta. We walk across it and Link welcomes me to the third floor. The first thing I notice is this large square thing on the ground, lit up and glowing with blue light. I don't have to ask what it is for since it's obvious, the waterfall we saw earlier is right in front of it. I wonder how this switch powers the waterfall. Where does it get the water? I ask Mipha if she knows and just like I think, she's able to somewhat explain it a little for me.
"The water system must be connected inside Ruta and ancient technology paired with some sort of internal pumps brings the water up. At least, that's the Zora Domain's scientists and researchers' best theory. We can't really know since it's impossible to see under the floor."
"That makes sense." I say, sadly accepting that probably nobody has any certain answers for any of the brewing questions inside my brain.
I walk over to the ledge and peer over the ancient stone spout that reminds me sort of like three fingers of each hand side by side. Just as I look down the waterfall I see two Zora kids coming up swiftly. I hardly have enough time to stumble backwards a few steps before they break the top of the waterfall and collide into me. I scare them as well as they both scream and one almost falls down to the first floor before they land, saved only by Sidon's quick reflexes when he suddenly appears next to me. I apologize quickly as the kids do before all of us laugh.
The four of us climb a ladder on the wall opposite the switch, which leads to an alcove with matching ramps on both sides of the space. I'm shocked to see a circle of flames shooting up from the floor with another one of the old pedestals in the center of it. A thick, circular stone cage has been built five feet away from the fire around it. Several large metal signs reading various safety warnings are bolted into the stone.
"From the oldest textbooks and journals we have at home, we know that this was part of the test the Hero of the Great Calamity had to solve." Mipha says.
"But the fire around it...how could he have gotten past it?"
"Oh, that's simple."
"It is?" I ask, my eyebrows raising.
Mipha nods. "Ruta's trunk has the function to move up and down. The flames were put out by the water falling from it from that opening up there." She says pointing to the ceiling.
"Whoa. Really? So you guys could move it?"
"Sadly no. We don't know how to control any of Ruta's functions. The beast has been activated ever since the Calamity in the position it's in."
"Dang. I really would have loved to see the giant trunk move."
"You, me, and everyone else."
We walk up the ramps on both sides of the room and onto a suspended platform where I see the top of the flames are also blocked off. A crank with large gears around it is attached to the walls, much like the one down on the first floor next to the pool room. The ceiling is open to the sky through a round opening and I can clearly picture the possibility of water coming through it like Mipha told me. I imagine it probably flooded this room as well with how much water the trunk outside spits onto the waterwheel.
In the right corner of the room sits a glass case with a silver plaque on the wall above it. The thing inside it is clearly old, broken into several pieces. I stare at it and then gasp, suddenly knowing exactly what it is. I call Link over as I explode in excited chatter.
"It's a Guardian Scout! I read about them a few months ago when I was staying at a stable. I met this historian guy who talked all about them and let me look through a textbook that he swore was handed down through generations of his family. There were pictures and detailed descriptions of several different types of these small guardians. I can't believe I'm seeing a real one!"
"This is the only place I've ever seen one. It's a good thing they're all dead nowadays with what this description plaque says about it." Link tells me.
I quickly read the text inscribed there and instantly agree. It says they could wield weapons and shoot deadly energy beams from their eyes. They we're also fast and vicious for being robotic creatures. Looking at the old and rusted scout inside the glass I believe every word. I'm very glad I'll never meet a live one.
Link's PoV
We leave the divine beast with everyone else when the sun goes down. After so much swimming, repetitive walks to the second floor to go down the slide, playing water games with various people and generally walking around, we're both pretty beat. I notice Zelda stumble as we walk back down the mountain and offer to carry her. She stares at for five solid seconds before asking if I'm being serious.
"Yes. Come on, climb on my back." I say kneeling down.
"Since you insist." She responds before doing so. I hook my arms under her knees and stand up.
"Am I heavy?' She asks.
"You're feather light, Zel." I reply and she yanks on my left ear.
"Ahh! Why'd you do that?!"
"My name is Sheik here." She hisses just loud enough for me to hear.
"Sorry..." I say rubbing my ear. "I wish there had been an ancient weapon for us to see. Too bad none of those were recovered."
"Yeah. That would have been cool. Especially if there was a bow."
"I'd have stolen such a bow." I say, half joking.
Zelda laughs. "You would've had a hell of a time getting it."
"True. But I'd have the coolest one in the world."
"I like yours, though. It's so pretty." She says, referring to the golden bow with intricate detailed feather limbs that I won at a contest in central Hyrule. I recall her marveling over it while we were inside the Rusty Horseshoe Tavern in Hateno.
"If I had an ancient one, I'd give that one to you."
"But you won the Golden Arrow with it."
"Still."
"I guess I have a new goal: Find an ancient bow."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
It doesn't take us long to get back to Zora's Domain. I almost think Zelda has fallen asleep on my back with how still and quiet she is until we start crossing the bridge. She tells me her favorite part is the arched beams above our heads. I tell her I once walked across this bridge from atop them and she lets out a heavy sigh.
"That does not surprise me. Especially not after today."
"I know that you hate that I have a want to dangerous things."
"Only because I care about you. I refuse to let one stupid accident take you away from me." She says.
"I'd never do something that would, Z-" I cut off before saying her name against like an idiot and Zelda's fingers press against my collar bone as she growls. "I think through everything I do now. I promise you that much." I continue turning my head to the side and looking back at her.
"Good. That makes me feel better." She tells me kissing my cheek.
Once we're inside the domain, I walk us up to the inn after Mipha and Sidon bid us good night and head up the stairs with the rest of the Zora. I give the inn keeper a purple rupee before we return to our room. Zelda collapses on the bed as soon as she lets herself down from my back. The water bed sloshes under her weight as she sighs.
"The coolness of the water inside feels so nice. My back really hurts. Link, would you mind giving me a massage, pretty please?" She says with her hands together above her chest while giving me her best puppy dog eyes. When I tell her I will she grins, sits up, and removes her shirt before laying down on her stomach. I take her sandals off her feet and kick off my shoes before sitting down on the bed. I take my time rubbing out the kinks in her muscles and before I'm even done she falls asleep. I've never given anyone a massage like this, but it appears I'm good at it. I pull my side of the blanket over her before I turn off the fish shaped lamp on the bedside table and lie down myself.