Sea Sprite Ake lay on a rocking chair cushioned with beast hide, gently swaying her body.
The chair, custom-made to suit Liszt's size, seemed somewhat too large for Ake, who was only one meter and fifty-five centimeters tall. Instead of staying in her shell, she had dragged along a long ribbon of seawater and lay down on the rocking chair. Without legs, she couldn't leave the vicinity of her shell.
Fortunately, she could control seawater, stretching it out into a ribbon, or else she wouldn't have been able to leave the shell at all.
It was a strange visual experience: having no legs, with everything below the ankles gradually turning into seawater. Liszt had always been puzzled by what that sensation might feel like.
He sat next to Ake and eventually couldn't resist asking, "Ake, do you feel anything below your ankles?"