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Once they all quieted down, the old woman spoke to Siena and James. "Let us direct this argument a little more towards philosophy. Think of our many worlds, as possible worlds. Possible fictional worlds, existing...
She collected her bag and umbrella and stepped into the rainy afternoon at his side. While he locked the door, she opened the umbrella, a huge, transparent thing big enough to shelter them both from the relentless raindrops, then she let him take it from her and laced her arm through his.
"It looks like an overgrown, floating jellyfish," James said, observing the umbrella as they followed a narrow, gravel path across the lush, wet lawn of the garden.
He opened a low, black, wrought-iron garden gate hinting at the end of the property for her, and they found themselves on a well trodden path, which ran parallel to the wide, languid river. They turned left, their feet squelching through the mud with each step.
"It does," she agreed, smiling. "I have always had one of these, I love them because I can see the raindrops falling from the sky, and it feels like magic, walking in the rain and not getting wet."
"That's true," he said, never having thought of it that way before.
They walked in silence only disturbed by the sucking sound of their footsteps and the pelter of raindrops exploding upon hitting the taunt layer of the pellucid plastic above their heads, inhaling the petrichor reaching them from the waterlogged riverside gardens they passed by, both too intent upon how strangely good it felt to have a reason to touch, her arm resting upon his, his breath caressing her hair each time he looked down at her, her hip brushing against his thigh with every step they took.
"So what shall we do for your Little Prince?" James asked finally, finding the silence maddening. The bubble of intimacy their umbrella presented on this rainy afternoon upon this deserted path was making him want to kiss her... Would she push him away if he tried? Would she take a step away from him upon hearing how husky his voice sounded?
Siena didn't step away from him, making him regret his lack of courage for not attempting to kiss her. She simply replied, clearing her voice first, "The Little Prince mustn't die. But I don't want him to miss his journey either. Both he and his Rose needed him to leave in order to return. Only this way, they'll be able to appreciate each other for what they are, to really fall in love."
She looked up at him, and he noticed how the raindrops scattering above them reflected in her eyes, making them glisten as if she were crying.
"I think we should walk into the plot just before the snake can bite him and send him back home somehow. I always thought that he had spent so much time travelling from one planet to another that it might be the time for the flock of the migratory birds to fly by on its homeward-bound journey," she added when he only kept looking at her, speechless.
"That's a great idea. Maybe we could just wish them to fly by in that moment, and they will, as if we wrote them into our version of the story. I guess we will just have to try and see," James said, taking his eyes off her at last as they walked by a floating restaurant, a large, ancient-looking steamer moored to a small dock.
"If it's open on our way back, we could have dinner there," he proposed.
"Sounds good," Siena agreed. "Now tell me what you plan to do for your Mermaid?"
"Something similar as you proposed for your Little Prince. I would allow her to have the experience; she would never be happy without visiting the world of humans. I don't believe we could make her Prince love her though, so I suppose the best thing would be talking to the Sea Witch and persuade her to change that deal she made with the Mermaid's sisters. Change it into something the poor girl would be actually willing to do in return for being allowed to go back home. Killing her beloved Prince on his wedding night was an impossible task."
Siena nodded, then observed the imprints her grey wellington boots were leaving in the coffee-coloured mud for a while before she replied, "And if the Sea Witch won't agree?"
"Then we will have to steal the potion, the anti-serum of whatever she gave the Mermaid to grow legs. I always thought she must have it but didn't want to give it to her. Maybe that's where we should start in the story, follow the Mermaid into the Sea Witch's cave, look around, steal the potion, and then fast-forward ourselves in the plot, to the wedding night on the ship."
"That's... such a clever plan," Siena looked up at him again, admiration brightening her irises, making them look like two pieces of dark amber. "It's also so much more complicated and dangerous than mine, I mean, we would have to dive into the witch's lair... Goodness, I'm terrified of diving but I'll do this, I just hope that we can help the Little Prince first and try how good we're at this, before we jump into more dangerous plots..."
"Here we are," James said suddenly, disturbing her train of thought.
The path under their feet split in two. One continued skirting the river while the other swerved left, meandering around a property they both recognised easily by the flashes of white walls of the imposing Victorian house they could glimpse through the jungle-like vegetation trembling and scattering in the rain.
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