synanthrope | video;

[The camera shows a little girl with black hair and brown eyes - she looks eight or nine.]

Nanny....nanny! Onda fya ondjala!

[There's a pause here]

Tate?

[Another pause, as she considers. She looks like she's thought of something, though!]

Haai? Ek is verlore...ek het honger, ek soek na nanny...

[She pauses again, and speaks once more. Her accent is clipped and clearly a mix of South African and Namibian, pointed and almost Dutch and English mixed with a little bit of German thrown in: much stronger than Saya's adult accent]

Hello? I'm looking for my vade-my father, and I'm very hungry. I think my nanny lost me. Please, someone, understand English, my German is not very good. My name is Satya Daphne. My father works at the American Embassy. I'm not sure how I got here.

[And yet another pause, but she has to do this, she's looking slightly more unsure now]

Entschuldigung, Ich heisse Satya Daphne....

[But before she can finish, the video stops]

[ooc: She's speaking Oshiwambo, Afrikaans, and German, in that order. I don't speak any of these languages, so I apologize for any butchery! replies from

prewoven]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I haven't gone anywhere. I'm in a room with a telly.

With a...oh. Well, I'll see if I can't come find you then, shall I? I think I know where you might be.

All right, I'll wait.

[Mentally recounting all the nearby rooms that might have televisions, Rosella first heads down to the kitchen to pick up a snack of fruit, then starts working from the bottom floor up, starting with the den.]

[She's sitting in the room, swinging her legs and watching television in the den]

Hello!

[She pokes her head into the room first, figuring it'll be better to to announce herself a bit before just walking in.]

Miss Satya? I'm Rosella, the person you were just speaking with a little while ago. And how are you today?

Hello!

I'm all right. I ate and I was trying to find something to watch, but I don't know these programmes.

[...A personable Saya. Now this is a rare sight indeed.]

I'm very glad to hear it. I brought a snack with me if you'd like something else, and I'd be more than happy to help you find something to watch, if you want. Do you like movies?

[She smiles]

I like films by Disney. I especially like Sleeping Beauty. Have you seen it?

I don't think I have, but I know the story quite well! It's one of my favorites, actually.

[She pauses, thinking a minute. Disney sounds familiar.]

I think I might have a film like that, you know. Not Sleeping Beauty, but one about a mermaid. A friend of mine let me borrow it, so that I could watch it for myself.

Do you think mermaids are real?

I certainly do. My father even met one, once.

[As she rummages on the shelf for the video.]

My father tells me I shouldn't believe in those things, but I do anyway.

[She looks super excited]

Did he really? Was she pretty? Or nice?

I don't see anything wrong with believing in them, myself. But of course, we have them where I'm from, so I suppose it's a matter of worlds, really.

He told me she was very beautiful, yes. And shy...or, well, reserved would be a better word for it, I suppose. She was sunning herself on a rock when he met her, and he brought her a bouquet of flowers. And then in exchange for the gift, she sang a song that summoned a seahorse, which took my father for an audience with the lord of the sea.

You're not making this up, are you?

[Her eyes are really wide, and she's hoping it's not just a made up story]

Oh, no, not at all. It was part of his quest to rescue my mother.

[The movie is long forgotten; her attention is rapt on Rosella]

Was your mother a prisoner? Did your father save her?

[She does unearth the movie after a while, but seeing the look on Satya's face, she opts to simply sit down near her and continue storytelling instead.]

She was locked in a tower, yes, by a hideous witch. My father saw her face in a magic mirror and fell in love with her at once, and so he went on a quest to rescue her so that she could be his queen.

Are you a princess?

[GASP]

[She can't resist a bit of theatrics, and claps her hand over her mouth in feigned surprise.]

My, did I give myself away? Oh, but I'm sure you can keep a secret, can't you?

I promise I won't tell anyone!

Good, I'm sure I can count on you.

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