[to be fair, gran has no idea whether or not the item at the bottom of the river is a small gem or just a coin that's rusted and caught the reflection of life beaming down at the surface, but it's all the same. it's interesting, and he wouldn't be much of an explorer if he wasn't curious to know what exactly it could be.]

Or maybe, it's a plug to the drain. If you tug on it, the entire river will empty and we use it to travel and see where it goes.

[less likely.

but the world is filled with possibilities, isn't it? like washing up in a well in a world without color. gran places his chin between his forefinger and thumb, and nods.]

But if it does preserve the serenity, then maybe it's an item that can cause any sort of rushing liquid to become perfectly still. Think of how useful that'd be if we wanted to explore more of this place!

[ah, but first-

he holds out his arms to make clotheslines.]

As promised, completely dry!