Modern Version of Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill are not wealthy kids, by any means; in fact, they are far from it. But they come from a loving family, and when you’re in a loving family, you do whatever you have to do to provide for each other and make ends meet. That’s exactly what Jack and Jill have learned the easy way and the hard way: they have to provide for their family.

One thing they need to do for now: provide the household with some water. Some days, they cannot afford water for food, so Jack and Jill are in charge of going out to fetch a pail of water. Sounds like an easy task, doesn’t it? Well, unfortunately, not in this case.

As Jack and Jill are going up the hill to fetch a pail of water, Jack suddenly loses his balance. Apparently, these 10-year-old twins have a real fear of heights, so getting up to the hill has always been a challenge for them without adult supervision. Jack’s loss of balance causes him to fall down and break his crown. His crown is a valuable item, so for it to be broken shows that his self-esteem has been shattered. He’ll always be known as the poor kid from that side of the village, coming from a poor family.

To make matters worse, Jill has also lost her balance, and she has fallen, too. They’re in this together, tumbling down the hill until they land near the river. The pail is now in the water, floating around.

Groaning in pain, Jill asks her brother, “Jack, are you okay?”

“I can ask you the same thing,” he replies as he also groans in pain. “My crown is broken, and I don’t think I can ever get it back.”

Jill puts her arms around her brother to reassure him. “Don’t worry about your crown for now, okay? We’ll get a new one when we get the chance. For now, let’s just go into the water and get the bucket so that we can make our way back home.”

“Smart idea.” Jack smiles at her as they take their shoes off so that they can go into the water to retrieve the pail.

When they go into the water, they suddenly find themselves going downward, deeper into the water until they are fully submerged. There’s no way for them to make it back to the top. They are stuck underwater now. And they have blacked out into unconsciousness.

Hours or so later, when Jack and Jill open their eyes, they realize they are strangers in a strange land… Or at least they think it’s land, but they are not too sure. Where exactly are they?

“Where in the world are we?” Jack whispers to Jill as he sits up on the bed in an unfamiliar room.

Jill shrugs in response. “How am I supposed to know? I’m wondering the same thing myself.”

A strange-looking woman with long golden hair and bright blue eyes and the tail of a mermaid arrives in their room. She gives them a friendly smile. “Hello, are you two okay? You were out for quite some time now, so it’s a miracle that you’re awake.”

Jack and Jill glance at each other with confusion, trying to determine who this strange woman may be, then Jack replies, “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we don’t know who you are or what we’re doing here.”

“I’ll introduce myself,” the woman says. “My name is Clarissa, and I’m a mermaid. This is my home that I share with my husband Zachary and our young daughter Priscilla. It appears as though you’ve both ended up down here, somehow. We’re not sure yet, but I take it that you two are humans?”

Jack and Jill nod in response.

“Don’t worry, neither of us will harm you. Mermaids are harmless to humans. I want to know your names while you’re down here with us.”

“How did we get down here, anyway?” Jill asks. “My name is Jill, by the way.”

“And I’m Jack.” Jack introduces himself as Clarissa shakes hands with both of them.

“You both look injured. Did something happen on your way down here?” Clarissa asks them.

“Yeah.” Jack nods. “We were out in the village, trying to fetch some water for our family but then Jill and I came tumbling down the hills and we hurt ourselves, and I lost my crown.” A tear runs down his face as he recounts the painful ordeal of losing his crown as he fell down the hills. “My crown is very important to me, and I can’t believe I lost it. Well, actually, it’s broken but to me, it feels like it’s lost forever.” He tearfully gives Clarissa his broken crown.

She gives him a sympathetic hug. “I’m sorry to hear this, Jack. Maybe while we’re down here, my family and I can help you fix it so that you have it again. This doesn’t have to be the end.”

Jack smiles hopefully. “Do you really think you can fix it?”

“Well, I can’t guarantee any promises, but like I said, my family and I will try our best.” Clarissa gives him a gentle pat, which is more than enough to reassure Jack that things will be fine.

During the day, Jack and Jill meet the rest of the merfolk, Zachary and Priscilla. Priscilla is five, so she’s five years younger than Jack and Jill. At first, she felt a little scared to meet two human children, but once she realized they’re harmless, her fears have subsided.

“We won’t hurt you, Priscilla,” Jill reassures the young mermaid.

“I know.” Priscilla smiles. “It’s nice to have two new friends in my house. I can’t wait to tell all the others at school tomorrow.”

Then Zachary shakes his head. “Cilla sweetheart, your mother and I don’t think it’s such a pleasant idea for you to tell your classmates that we have two humans in the house. They will deem us strange, and we will be known as outcasts. Please don’t tell a single soul about the presence of two human children from up above. Is that clear, my love?”

“Yes, Father.” Priscilla nods in response. “I promise not to tell a single soul.”

“Perfect.” Clarissa smiles as she caresses her young daughter’s hair.

That night, as they are about to go to sleep and Clarissa does the honors of tucking Jack and Jill into their bed, Jack asks Clarissa, “Why can’t Priscilla tell her friends about us? Are we dangerous or something?”

Clarissa sighs, trying to come up with a good answer for them. “In short, yes. Humans are known to be a danger to the merfolk for thousands of years. We initially considered you two to be dangerous when you landed in our environment, but we saw that you’re both only children, and our Priscilla is just a child, too. So, we figured that there’s no way you young children could be a danger to our young daughter. Zachary and I took a chance by trusting you immediately.”

“We’re glad to know that you trust us not to hurt you,” Jill says, “because we very much want to get out of here. We want to return back to our land up above. We were supposed to be back a long time ago, and now our family must be worried about us. We know we don’t belong down here.”

“Tomorrow, Zachary and I will help you two get back to your own home. But for tonight, you must rest. I trust that you both will have a peaceful night’s sleep and sweet, pleasant dreams.” She smiles at them as she leaves their room.

Jack and Jill have a peaceful night’s sleep, and the next day, they wake up to a bright, beautiful morning where Priscilla is getting ready for school. They join Zachary and Clarissa for breakfast, which consists of pancakes and bacon. Priscilla eventually joins them after she finishes getting dressed for school.

Clarissa tells Priscilla, “By the time you get home from school, Jack and Jill will probably be gone back up to their own land, where they belong. So, you may never see them again after this morning. We recommend that you give them a goodbye hug before you leave for school.”

“Will do,” Priscilla says. When she finishes her breakfast, she gives the twins a nice, long friendly hug where neither of them wants to let go. “I will miss you both very much, but I know that your home is where you belong, just like this water is my home. We should continue to keep in touch with each other.”

“We will, Priscilla,” Jack says. “Thank you for being so kind to us.”

“We hope you have a great day at school today,” Jill tells her.

“I hope you make it back to your own home safely,” Priscilla tells them, giving them a goodbye wave. Then she hugs her mother and father goodbye, and soon after that, she makes her way to school, leaving Jack and Jill with Zachary and Clarissa.

“Boy, are we going to miss her,” Jack says.

“Me, too.” Jill smiles.

“I know you both will,” Clarissa says softly, “but you’ll be better off in your own land. We’ll give you something to remember us by, so this doesn’t become a distant memory to you.”

While Priscilla is at school, Jack and Jill spend the day with Clarissa and Zachary in the house. For obvious reasons, they cannot step outside the house, the risk of merfolks seeing Jack and Jill—two strange humans—wandering around the sea. Jack and Jill are better off staying hidden in the house, where they are positive no other merfolk will see them.

Zachary uses his magic powers to restore Jack’s crown, which Jack has been eagerly looking forward to wearing again. He is happy to have it back, so he gives the merman a hug. “You are a real lifesaver.”

“I appreciate the compliment, Jack. I know how important it is to have your crown. It’s a symbol of power and dignity, but in your case, it shows that you have a lot of dignity. That’s one thing that can never be taken away from you.”

Clarissa smiles as she asks, “Jack, do you know what dignity means?”

Jack knows what it means but can’t put the definition into exact words. “I know it means the same thing as respect. Am I right?” He is quite an intelligent child.

“You’re close.” Clarissa replies. “Dignity is the quality of being worthy of honor and respect. So, when you wear a crown, it shows people that you’re someone who is worthy of honor and respect, and you are willing to show those same values to people as well. In other words, they will respect you as much as you respect them.”

“Got it.” Jack nods, smiling. He loves to learn new things, but most importantly, he loves to wear his crown again.

Soon, Jack and Jill are ready to leave the merfolk’s world once and for all, so Clarissa and Zachary give them both souvenirs: a pink charm bracelet for Jill and a black watch for Jack. Jack and Jill may not be wealthy, but they love having fine jewelry to wear, even at a young age so that they can show it off to their peers when they return to their village.

Grateful for their gifts, Jack and Jill give Zachary and Clarissa farewell hugs while sending their regards to Priscilla, who’s still at school for another hour. By the time she gets home, Jack and Jill will have been long gone, so it’s a good thing they had a chance to say their goodbyes to her this morning before she left for school.

Zachary and Clarissa use their magic powers to transport Jack and Jill back up to land, exactly where they belong. It’s in that moment when Jill wakes up and realizes that she and Jack have been dreaming all along. After she and Jack lost consciousness after they tumbled down the hill, they both had the same dream where they went underwater and encountered the merfolk.

Waking up, Jack realizes that his crown is, indeed, still broken, so Zachary never really fixed it. He also realizes that he and Jill never actually went underwater to meet Clarissa, Zachary, and Priscilla, which means that Clarissa and Zachary never gave them their souvenirs of a charm bracelet and a nice watch. They’re still Jack and Jill, two poor kids from the village who don’t have much money. Jack doesn’t have a new crown. It’s all a sad reality, but that’s their reality, anyway.

They haven’t been seriously injured from their fall down the hill, thankfully. They are able to return home with the pail of water for their family, and their family is relieved to have them back, even if they thought the twin siblings were a little “ill in the head” for thinking they’d been “missing for hours”, due to their strange dream they had of meeting the merfolk underwater.