4. The Mermaid Sisters' Gardens

      Each of the six mermaid princesses had her own little garden plot to decorate as she saw fit.

         N’Shal patterned her garden plot after the shape of a dolphin and kept her garden plot fairly simple.
     Ayon made hers into a wide arc, so that she could turn her head and see it on three sides of herself. She arranged the plants and items in her garden according to size. The smallest items and plants were placed closest to the inside of the arc, and the largest plants and items were placed at the back. Others were placed in between. Here and there, a rock or larger item would be placed to make the arrangement look more natural.

     Eeba preferred a complex arrangement of passageways rising to eye level or above. Anyone swimming through it would discover a different arrangement each time he turned a corner.


     Sirena kept a small garden plot, in which she created an imaginary, miniature sea kingdom. Rocks, for example, represented mountains; and small plants represented much larger plants.

     Makki patterned her garden plot in the shape of an S. To her, this shape traced the movement of a mermaid when she is swimming through the water. At least that’s what Makki said after she had completed her garden. Not having the imagination of her sisters, she just wanted her garden to look like a garden. Fitting the garden to the space available to her, it ended up shaped like an S.

     All of the mermaid princesses adorned their little garden plots with things they had found after ships had sunk into their kingdom. They especially liked things that sparkled and shone: gold and silver coins, jewelry, watch chains—even broken glass—as long as they were beautiful.

     Don’t let me forget to mention Momo’s little garden plot. Hers was in the shape of the sun. She chose red and gold and orange sea plants to adorn her garden. As for decorations from wreckage,

      Momo chose only one thing: A life-sized statue of a human boy stood in the very center of her garden. At times when she was daydreaming, Momo would occasionally imagine that he was a real boy.
   Entering her world of imagination, she would ask him about himself and about his life on land.