Occupying herself with another dried berry after posing her question, Nel listens as he frames the matter in a new way for her. It lessens her worry when he helps her understand the goal can be smaller than the giant shark.

The girl fails to grasp the concept of what happens in movies chasing after a shark, but the idea of the ray altering the size of the sharks is readily understood thanks to cartoons. A small smile is revived watching his gesture, and she replies, “If we shrunk it to the size of a sea monkey, maybe Mum would let Thom keep it.” He had asked for one before.

“It’s too bad we can’t make it sleep like the giant dormouse,” she comments. They will have time to brainstorm together for a real solution, and between the adults, a safe plan should be found.