After Leaving the Shore

In fairy tales, Mr. Fish and his wife, Mrs. Pufferfish, live happily together in a villa. The sick little cat keeps watch over the foul-smelling big fish that belongs only to her, deep in a mushroom forest where viruses thrive. But outside the fairy tale, after the mermaid princess comes ashore, she becomes disabled and loses her palace and her parents, all because the prince used his cheap love as bait to lure her into the searing, bustling world of humankind.