Dedicated To Disney

14: Plan A

I sincerely hoped that Ariel liked me now. She did give me that wave and smile so that was something positive. But maybe it wasn't genuine?

"Excuse me!" A man stopped Zeke and I as we trekked toward Royal Rounds. I gritted my teeth and forced a smile. "I'm sorry, but do you happen to know if you have any characters from the movie Tinker Bell here? Abby wants to see a fairy."

I glanced down at the child clinging to his hand. She offered a small smile, giving me a timid wave before adjusting her beanie hat. I couldn't even see her hair underneath it. I looked at Zeke for the answer. He had been there longer.

"No, I'm afraid we don't," Zeke apologized.

The man nodded and turned to the girl as she looked up at him sadly. "Sorry, Abby. You want to look at something else instead?"

Abby nodded politely but tears glistened in her eyes. She looked up at the man, now oblivious to the two other people watching. Her pale skin clashed with the sunlight. "Will I see a fairy before I die?"

I did a double take, my eyes widening at her words. What? Zeke shifted in surprise next to me, his shoulders tensing slightly. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, noting how his jaw clenched. I hid my reaction better than him, it seemed.

"Hey, you're not going to die so soon," the man comforted. "You still have a fun life to live."

"Okay, Doctor Rych," Abby mumbled, adjusting her beanie again.

She had cancer. That was what the signs pointed to. I bit my lip, looking at Zeke for help. She wanted to see a fairy. I didn't want to crush that request; not for a little girl who could be suffering right now.

"Hey," I said as they began to walk away. I gave two quick-stepped jogs to stop them. "Give me your phone number and I'll call you as soon as a fairy arrives."

Abby's doctor gave me a kind smile as Abby let out a muffled squeal. "Alright."

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Fortunately for me, Ariel waved and smiled at me when Zeke and I approached her exhibit. Unfortunately, people were crowded around her confinement. At least twenty. Now what?

"Should we just wait until after work to ask her?" I ask my supervisor.

Zeke shook his head. "We want to try and carry out this plan tonight, correct? We need to know that she's on board so we can plan more thoroughly and..." He paused to give me a strange look as I released an awful excuse of a cough to cover up a snort of laughter. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just...you said we need to make sure she is on board." I grinned as it sank into his thick noggin'.

He shook his head, sticking his hands into his pockets. "Haha, I'm so hilarious. Seriously. We need to do this now."

I nodded, putting on a serious face but miserably failing as I began chuckling. Zeke tilted his lip into a subtle smirk. All I could think of was Ariel turning into a mermaid on board the ship in the movie. Zeke was being sarcastic saying he was hilarious. I am arrogant stating that I really was hilarious.

"Okay." I inhaled deeply to calm myself. "How do we get them to leave?"

Zeke glanced around us, his eyes quickly landing on one of those orange cones you use to block off an area. It sat beside the curb that separated the grass and path. "Go around the exhibit and tell Ariel to feign a faint."

"Will it work? She may not even listen."

"If she doesn't, then we try something else."

"Why don't we just ask them all to leave?"

"Because then there will be questions, and some visitors may even complain to Stermin and Ykell. Getting their attention is the worst thing to do," Zeke said. "Having her "faint" in front of them will help them to witness firsthand that they need to leave because something is wrong."

That actually made sense. "Okay, fine, I'll be right back."

I could feel Zeke watching me as I retreated. Just make a round to the back of the exhibit, Gianna. Nothing to it. I smiled to myself. Make a round to the back. I was in Royal Rounds.

I cracked myself up sometimes.

It surprised me that the back of the exhibit was see through. You might think the back should be like a solid wall because Ariel didn't exactly have a point looking back at nothing behind her. Then again, the vent in her exhibit was supposedly big enough for her to slip through. The founders failed in some areas at making ComplexDisney.

I rapped on the glass, taking care to keep myself concealed behind a clump of seaweed so that no one on the other side saw me. Ariel turned swiftly, her green eyes quickly locking onto me. She didn't hesitate in escaping her gawkers to press her palm againt the glass and study me curiously.

"Hi, can you hear me?" I asked. Her green tail swished back and forth in a mesmerizing motion.

"Yes," she replied, bubbles swirling out of her mouth as she spoke. Her voice was muffled and gargled from the water but I could hear her.

"My supervisor and I need to speak to you about something important," I said, deciding to cut to the chase. "Can you pretend to faint so that these that people leave?"

The mermaid gave me a skeptical look, looking over her shoulder. Her red hair billowed around her, floating to frame her tanned face. "What is it you need to talk to me about?"

"It's critical," I said, hoping she knew the definition of the word critical. I didn't want to explain it all to her now. "It involves getting feedback we might be able to use to free you."

At those words, Ariel smiled widely. "Oh, yes! Okay. Let me see if I can...faint."

I nodded. She swam back to the front of the exhibit and I headed back toward the front to watch. Hopefully her audience believed it. If not, Ursula might be loose for longer than I wanted.

I didn't want more children going missing.

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Do you think pretending to faint will work in getting the crowd to leave?