Tad nodded and felt more warmth spread over him, realizing that he was happy Calvin liked it too. It boggled the mind. He would put it somewhere in the open where he saw it at any time and other people could see it as well. He looked down at his assignment and frowned because he knew no fairytales. Edward prefered to talk to him about old buildings from the past and architects and sculptors that usually bored him to sleep. "Um, Ciri?" he whispered. "I don't know what they are."
"Fairytales?" Ciri was sad he had no idea what they were. "One of my favorites is The Little Mermaid. There once was this mermaid living underwater with other mermaids and all the fish and plants. She was curious about what was on the surface where the humans lived from the stories her grandmother told her. She said she could go up there when she was fifteen so the little mermaid did. She saw a young prince and he was really handsome. Of course this made her want to know more about humans so she asked her family... and then later she went to a witch to make her human." Tad listened with rapt attention.
Ciri continued. "The witch cut off the mermaid's tongue to pay for her making her tail turn into legs. And then the mermaid and the prince got to be together... but the prince had to marry someone else and the mermaid could only be human for a few days before she had to die. The witch told her she could have killed the prince so the mermaid could turn back from a human but she did not... because she loved him. She died but her spirit joined other spirits of the air." Ciri frowned. "I know I missed a lot of detail but that is the story."
Tad wondered what it all meant and looked as Calvin made the drink float towards him. "Eyebrow Man must be a spirit of the air," he said and Ciri giggled. "Um. Milk." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Please. Calvin." Maybe saying a nickname was not a nice thing to do, and for some reason he wanted to change. "The mermaid wanted to find out stuff and the old witch didn't want her to. She was a jerk." Ciri hadn't thought of it like that. "She was happy and wanted the prince but the witch stopped her. She told her what to do kind of. It's not fair!" Tad threw his pencil down on the table. "She was mean just because she can be mean!" His throat started to swell and Ciri reached out to touch his hair - Tad edged away before he realized it.