A New Precious

Chapter 27

We spent a little more time at the petting zoo, visiting and petting each animal, and even feeding some of them, and of course, a few more of them played with my zipper. I wonders why they loves it so much, but I finds it so endearing and adorable. All the animals were so precious. I loved each of them very much. Máiréad loved the fluffiest animals. She always compared their softness to a sweater. Awww, so cute she was. Sméagol could understands why she felt that way about them.

Before we left the petting zoo, we washed our hands. Then, we took a stroll down the road. We didn't know where we wanted to go next, so we kept walking... until we turned a corner that led to a beach.

"Oh, my goodness!" I said breathlessly. "Never have I seen the ocean before! Oh, it's so beautiful!"

"There's no oceans in Middle Earth?"

"There are, but... not where I lived. Always heard stories about the ocean, but never did I get a chance to sees it for myself. Always wanted to, though. I dreamt of the day I'd go fishing in the ocean... or even for a swim."

"Do you wanna go for a walk along the sand?" Máiréad suggested. "Maybe we can find some sea shells."

"Oh, so wonderful that would be, yes!"

And, so, we did.

"I love the beach," said Máiréad. "I remember when my grandfather brought me here when I was little. I'd always pretend I was Ariel, and he would play Sebastian since he did a great Jamaican accent." She laughed to herself. "Of course, we thought Sebastian's name was Scuttle. We got the two characters confused, until I realized that Scuttle was the seagull. The Jamaican crab my granddad was pretending to be was Sebastian."

I laughed softly. "Such a cute story."

"Have you seen The Little Mermaid?"

"I have, yes. I watches it with Aaliyah a few weeks ago."

"Did you like it?"

"Very much!"

"Yeah, me, too. It always made me wanna go to the beach, and every time I came to the beach... I thought of Ariel, even when I got older."

"I can understands why. I can pictures her here right now."

"Me, too. I loved how she wasn't afraid to go after what she wanted, even though it scared the shit out of her dad."

I smiled.

"I understand why he always freaked out, though. He was so terrified of losing her. I'm not a parent, but I know how that feels, especially after all the loss I've experienced." She sighed sadly. "You know, my grandpa and I also used to look for seashells. There were so many colors, but I wished I could find a rainbow seashell. I looked all over the beach when I was a kid. Never found one, but my granddad said that, if he ever found one, I'd have it. I don't know why I wanted a rainbow seashell so much. I guess I thought it would be cool."

"It would be, Precious."

"Yeah, and plus, I love colors. They're visual sensory heaven."

As we continued walking, I helped Máiréad look for seashells. There weren't many good ones. Most of them were broken, but I would not gives up until I found her at least one nice shell.

"Sheesh," Máiréad huffed, "you'd think there'd be at least a few good ones. They're all just tiny pieces."

"Keep looking, Precious. You'll find something. I looks, too."