While eating dinner with my “family,” I wondered why I looked so bright and cheery compared to the rest of the people in this village. What made me illuminate the dreary place like dazzling crystals decorating a dark cave? What did people see when they looked at me? What made them smile like I was the Fountain of Youth? What made them—?
“No story today, Minli?” I looked up from my rice bowl into the face of the older man who was responsible for interrupting my thoughts.
“Oh, no, I mean, yes, of course I want to hear a story today, er, Fath—I mean, Ba. I’m just, uh, tired from, you know—” I replied, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, hoping that my jittery nerves weren’t destroying my performance.
Ba’s eyes immediately lit up, growing wider than a full moon. “I understand. Today, I’ll tell you the story of the Fruitless Mountain again. I know you like this one very much.” I nodded, silently congratulating my memory. I knew that “Ba” and “Minli” were somehow connected. I suddenly smiled, realizing that Minli was my name. Ba smiled in a way that would make anyone smile before starting his story.
As he talked, I tried to remember as much as possible: Jade Dragon, no rain, rivers of children— Wait, rivers of DRAGON children? Isn’t that bizarre? How did they even do that? Are dragons even—?
“Minli, I have told you this story many times before. I—”
“It’s just a story. Of course it’s not real,” the weary woman cut in. “Our house is always filled with nothing but stories! What a poor fortune we have.”
Ba looked uneasy. “I’ll finish that story tomorrow, then. Get some rest.” Ma, the woman, sighed and started to clean up.
It seemed to me that “stories,” “Ba,” “Minli,” and “Ma” all had something to do with each other, as if they were connected by an invisible clothesline. No, I knew they were all connected. As I got up to help with the dishes, I suddenly made a startled choking sound and almost dropped the bowls.
“Minli, are you okay? Do you feel sick? Do you want to just rest tonight?” I forced a mechanical nod, calming Ma’s worries. “Go, get some rest.” As I forced myself to walk to “my” room, I heard Ma sigh again and mumble “It’s those stories again, isn’t it?”
Lying in bed, staring at the cracked ceiling, I finally knew what was happening. It was the book I had read. More specifically, it was the book I was reading, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Ba had just been telling me the first mini-story, the one about the place where I lived. I was Minli, the main character.
I closed my eyes and thought hard. In most books and movies whose plots resemble the situation in which I found myself, the main character has to go through the entire story, complete the task, and then she is whisked back home to her former life like nothing ever happened.
But my situation was slightly different. I knew what was going to happen, and I even knew how to complete the task. Well, sort of. If I thought really hard, maybe I could remember how to complete it. “Let’s see,” I whispered to myself. “I think there was a fish. Yes, there was. I’ll need to buy that tomorrow. I think the fish gave directions, so I’ll just follow them. And then there was a dragon. There was also this pearl that I needed to remove in order to help the dragon fly. I’ll just ask the Old Man or whatever his name is a question and be on my way home. Wait, I think there was a thankfulness theme involved. I’m pretty sure I need to fly home on the dragon that’s supposed to reunite with someone in my village. Wait, though! What if something goes wrong and I was supposed to go through the entire storyline, but I ‘cheated’ and the gods or whatever of this universe don’t let me go home? Then I’ll be stuck here forever and I won’t be able to go home and I’ll never see my cat ever—”
“Minli? Who are you talking to? Is everything OK?” Ma peeked into the room. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine! I wasn’t talking to anyone at all!”
“It’s those stories again. They get into your head too much. Get some rest.” Once she left, I realized that the only perk to this place was that no matter how annoying, no one could leave my room without closing the door, as there was none!
“Minli! Minli! Minli! Get up! We’re going to the fields now. Hurry up!”
I woke up violently shaking. “What’s going on? Did the gods or dragons or whatever of this place teleport me onto the Titanic? Oh, not the Titanic! Was it because I decided I’m going to “cheat”? If I’m on the Titanic, I’ll die either way!”
I opened my eyes to absolute darkness and a stressed-out Ma. “What titanic? Hurry up and get up! There’s still work to do!” I looked around, sighing with relief as I realized there was no iceberg looming up just before the huge ocean liner crashed into it. After assuring myself that I wasn’t about to die, I went out into the fields, remembering to take along a copper coin to pay the goldfish man.
* * *
Sitting in my chair at the table, all washed up after a day of backbreaking work, I waited for the goldfish man to arrive. Why, demanded my inner critic, WHY are you spending so much energy waiting for someone who isn’t even going to show UP until sunset? And ALSO, if you had actually REMEMBERED that detail, you might not be so frustrated right now!
I sighed wearily. That pestering little voice in my head was bawling me out again right when I needed silence the most. I sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before I heard the faint murmuring.
Filled with excitement, I threw open the door and ran to the goldfish man. “Goldfish. Bring fortune into your home.” He wasn’t yelling like the street vendors back home. Instead, he seemed to be sparing the eardrums of his fish. I nearly threw my copper coin into a fishbowl. Pointing at a random fish with black eyes and black fins that popped out of its fiery orange body, I cried, “That one! I want that one!” As soon as I got the fish I ran home. “Thank you!” I screamed, not listening to what the goldfish man was saying about goldfish and fortune and home.
“No story today, Minli?” I looked up from my rice bowl into the face of the older man who was responsible for interrupting my thoughts.
“Oh, no, I mean, yes, of course I want to hear a story today, er, Fath—I mean, Ba. I’m just, uh, tired from, you know—” I replied, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, hoping that my jittery nerves weren’t destroying my performance.
Ba’s eyes immediately lit up, growing wider than a full moon. “I understand. Today, I’ll tell you the story of the Fruitless Mountain again. I know you like this one very much.” I nodded, silently congratulating my memory. I knew that “Ba” and “Minli” were somehow connected. I suddenly smiled, realizing that Minli was my name. Ba smiled in a way that would make anyone smile before starting his story.
As he talked, I tried to remember as much as possible: Jade Dragon, no rain, rivers of children— Wait, rivers of DRAGON children? Isn’t that bizarre? How did they even do that? Are dragons even—?
“Minli, I have told you this story many times before. I—”
“It’s just a story. Of course it’s not real,” the weary woman cut in. “Our house is always filled with nothing but stories! What a poor fortune we have.”
Ba looked uneasy. “I’ll finish that story tomorrow, then. Get some rest.” Ma, the woman, sighed and started to clean up.
It seemed to me that “stories,” “Ba,” “Minli,” and “Ma” all had something to do with each other, as if they were connected by an invisible clothesline. No, I knew they were all connected. As I got up to help with the dishes, I suddenly made a startled choking sound and almost dropped the bowls.
“Minli, are you okay? Do you feel sick? Do you want to just rest tonight?” I forced a mechanical nod, calming Ma’s worries. “Go, get some rest.” As I forced myself to walk to “my” room, I heard Ma sigh again and mumble “It’s those stories again, isn’t it?”
Lying in bed, staring at the cracked ceiling, I finally knew what was happening. It was the book I had read. More specifically, it was the book I was reading, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Ba had just been telling me the first mini-story, the one about the place where I lived. I was Minli, the main character.
I closed my eyes and thought hard. In most books and movies whose plots resemble the situation in which I found myself, the main character has to go through the entire story, complete the task, and then she is whisked back home to her former life like nothing ever happened.
But my situation was slightly different. I knew what was going to happen, and I even knew how to complete the task. Well, sort of. If I thought really hard, maybe I could remember how to complete it. “Let’s see,” I whispered to myself. “I think there was a fish. Yes, there was. I’ll need to buy that tomorrow. I think the fish gave directions, so I’ll just follow them. And then there was a dragon. There was also this pearl that I needed to remove in order to help the dragon fly. I’ll just ask the Old Man or whatever his name is a question and be on my way home. Wait, I think there was a thankfulness theme involved. I’m pretty sure I need to fly home on the dragon that’s supposed to reunite with someone in my village. Wait, though! What if something goes wrong and I was supposed to go through the entire storyline, but I ‘cheated’ and the gods or whatever of this universe don’t let me go home? Then I’ll be stuck here forever and I won’t be able to go home and I’ll never see my cat ever—”
“Minli? Who are you talking to? Is everything OK?” Ma peeked into the room. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine! I wasn’t talking to anyone at all!”
“It’s those stories again. They get into your head too much. Get some rest.” Once she left, I realized that the only perk to this place was that no matter how annoying, no one could leave my room without closing the door, as there was none!
“Minli! Minli! Minli! Get up! We’re going to the fields now. Hurry up!”
I woke up violently shaking. “What’s going on? Did the gods or dragons or whatever of this place teleport me onto the Titanic? Oh, not the Titanic! Was it because I decided I’m going to “cheat”? If I’m on the Titanic, I’ll die either way!”
I opened my eyes to absolute darkness and a stressed-out Ma. “What titanic? Hurry up and get up! There’s still work to do!” I looked around, sighing with relief as I realized there was no iceberg looming up just before the huge ocean liner crashed into it. After assuring myself that I wasn’t about to die, I went out into the fields, remembering to take along a copper coin to pay the goldfish man.
* * *
Sitting in my chair at the table, all washed up after a day of backbreaking work, I waited for the goldfish man to arrive. Why, demanded my inner critic, WHY are you spending so much energy waiting for someone who isn’t even going to show UP until sunset? And ALSO, if you had actually REMEMBERED that detail, you might not be so frustrated right now!
I sighed wearily. That pestering little voice in my head was bawling me out again right when I needed silence the most. I sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before I heard the faint murmuring.
Filled with excitement, I threw open the door and ran to the goldfish man. “Goldfish. Bring fortune into your home.” He wasn’t yelling like the street vendors back home. Instead, he seemed to be sparing the eardrums of his fish. I nearly threw my copper coin into a fishbowl. Pointing at a random fish with black eyes and black fins that popped out of its fiery orange body, I cried, “That one! I want that one!” As soon as I got the fish I ran home. “Thank you!” I screamed, not listening to what the goldfish man was saying about goldfish and fortune and home.
