Cough, cough, gasp, gasp, cough – My name is... – gasp, cough, cough – is...

The red-haired woman was getting also red-faced, as if she had something blocked in her throat;
she looked very embarrassed and ill at ease.

Eva, or the woman who had introduced herself as Eva,
looked at her with a gently ironical little smile:
“I know you have recognized me, but you don’t need to be worried...Oh my, I’m not dangerous, you should know that by now, Fifi - and she nodded toward the stranger- well, you don’t mind if I call you Fifi, do you? We have known each other for so many centuries...
Fifi, I was saying, has explained to you the true circumstances of this story of the swans.”

Fifi, the stranger or Mr. Mac Feasa, whatever you prefer to call him,acted swiftly and thoughtfully by
slapping the red-haired – and red-faced – woman on her back:

“Don’t’ choke, my child. I have always known who you are and why you have preferred not to reveal your name to the readers of this story.
I had told you I knew so many things...
We all have other identities, even though we are ourselves at the same time;
this happens frequently to people and, even more especially, to characters such as us in fanciful stories...
I know you wanted to find your place in this appealing world of Irish legends and,
relying on your red hair and green eyes – very nice, by the way- you had left everyone to imagine you could really be a pure-blooded character in an Irish legend,
but you need not be ashamed of the person you are.
I know you have studied very carefully all ancient legends, but knowing ancient legends by heart is not enough, one should have lived them personally...

So don’t be shy to admit that you are Annabel Mary Arlidge from New Zealand and, before arriving to the house where I met you, you worked as a waitress in a Pizza Hut restaurant in Auckland”

Annabel Mary sobbed, but seemed to be relieved.

In the meanwhile, Eva, the very beautiful and somewhat mysterious woman with green eyes, who seemed very calm and composed, started walking into the pond, with the grace of a ballet dancer, as she shook her curly, shining dark hair.

When the water reached her knees she stopped and she laughed with the sound of a crystal bell.

The swans appeared increasingly agitated and they didn’t dare to squeak anymore....

“You recognized me too, my unbearable step-children...
I took temporarily the name of Eve, because it means “life” and I have come back to life...
Once I was called Bríghid, before you, Siobhán Ciara, (by the way you and your brothers will remain swans, my dear) started messing up my life.
Look at the shore of the pond, where the sad statue of the frozen woman used stand;
it’s not there anymore.
It’s me, I’m well and happy and I don’t bear a grudge against anyone.

After remaining frozen for centuries with hordes of pigeons doing...uhm, you know what, on my head; well I have learnt to appreciate life and to understand that all kinds of revenge are useless and negative.

Now all is settled for the best....

I’m starving; do you think it might be possible to have breakfast at long last?”