"I'm not Hannah, I'm Sadde. Are you a mermaid? Nuclear bombs are bombs that are nuclear. They're very bad, they exploded two cities! And Nazis are evil people who don't like a lot of other people. They killed lots of Jews and stuff."

The little boy frowns. "Do I look like a girl?"

She looks between his legs. "No. Are you a mer—guy? Why are you naked? Weren't mer people meant to have tails?"

"Why aren't you? And I'm special." The boy pokes out his tongue revealing a rather sharp set of teeth. His cheerful expression is not dampened by his large, black eyes. "Are you another of Moira's brothers and sisters?"  

"'Cause you get arrested for being naked in public. At least in my world, maybe it's different here. I'm from another world."

"Mars? And even in the ocean?"

"No, another Earth, why does everyone think I'm from Mars? And people usually need to wear swimsuits in the ocean."

"There's another Earth? Where? And how'd you get the mer to agree to that?"

"Another universe, and there are no mer."

"Sounds horrible. I'm Michael." The boy ambles up beside Zaneta and plonks himself down. "You know where Moira is? She said we'd make sand castles."

"She's still at school," says Zaneta.

"This world is weird," she opines.

"Maybe so," says Zaneta. What in another world might've been called smartphone dings on her belt. She frowns. "I have to take this," she says, "Michael, could you keep Sadde company for me?"

She grins at Michael.

"You know where the water and snacks are, Moira and the others should be here in a few hours. Tell your tribe I said hi." And with that, Zaneta is gone.

"So, if you have no mer on your planet, who lives in the sea?"

"Fish?"

"But who eats the fish?"

"Other fish! Sharks! Dolphins! Evil weird-looking worms! Humans!"

"But humans cook fish! Completely ruins the taste." Michael looks strangely agitated. 

"Not always, there's sushi."

"Can't humans just eat rabbits or something?"

"Humans do in fact also eat rabbits. We have very varied tastes."

"Well, mer eat seals, too. And dolphins!"

"But dolphins are cute!"

"Dolphins are evil! They hurt porpoises that were minding their own buisness, and don't even eat them!"

"And are all mer very nice and cozy and friendly all the time?"