Fish Tails Read Free Page A

. . . surely not the world! The books . . . the books . . . the books have to be kept dry! What can I do with the books? ” He went on babbling, almost wordlessly, his face gray, even his lips so ashen that they might as well have opened his veins and drained all his blood away.
    While the tailor’s breathing gradually slowed, Xulai shrugged off her heavy robe. Though she shared the dislike of dirt that was customary to cats and Tingawans, it would have to wait! Unlike a cat, she could not lick herself clean, but with the filthy robe removed, she could half convince herself that she looked acceptably human instead of appearing to be some monster made of muck. She reached out to touch his shoulder. Let him feel her hand. Let him know she was as human as he!
    Softly, in her most unthreatening voice, she went on: “In order to survive in the changed world, our forms must change. There is enough time for this to happen; six or eight generations. When the earth is finally inundated, all of us who cannot exist underwater will have lived out our lives; so will our children and grandchildren; and in that same time new generations will have been born able to exist underwater, to swim, to dive, even perhaps to dance upon the waves.
    â€œAbasio and I are . . . facilitators of that change. We—­and some other ­couples like us—­travel from place to place carrying with us the . . . the . . .”
    â€œThe process,” Abasio interjected firmly. “The process by which ­people can be changed. Once changed, their children will be born like our children, able from birth to exist in the changed world .”
    They glanced at each other. They tried not to talk about the first-­generation change at all. Sea-­eggs were needed to make the transformation, and Abasio still remembered his own transformation with embarrassment. He had behaved badly. Or, as Blue said, “Like a pig keeper just got himself knocked into the wallow.” It was the first-­generation changers, however, who subsequently gave birth to sea-­babies like Gailai and Bailai, so no matter how embarrassing, the first transformation might be, it had to precede the second. They had learned to speak largely in generalities, to let ­people see the children, to explain that yes, they were their own children, and if others would like to bear children who would survive the world wide drowning, they could find out all about it in Wellsport on the west coast. The change center there was now called Sea Duck 2 by its inhabitants, for they had, each and every one of them, been “sea-­ducked” and were able to breathe underwater. Sea Duck 1 was in Tingawa.
    So far they had been unable to develop a satisfactory routine! Though they had been on this journey for almost a year now, their reception from place to place had been so varied they had been unable to settle on a routine. Words and phrases that were acceptable in one village turned out to be fighting words in the next place, even though they tried to avoid any fighting at all. If hostility seemed imminent, they had the means to leave, and they did leave: horses, wagon, and all. Essentially they had three duties: first to explain that the world was being drowned; second to let ­people know about the sea-­children. Third: to survive!
    Xulai, seriously worried about Bertram’s seizure, had not left his side. He now had some color coming back into his cheeks, but he still looked woefully unwell, and Abasio suggested he go lie down for a while. Abasio escorted him back into his living quarters, settled him on his bed, and asked if he, Abasio, and his wife might pay him for the use of his bathhouse, if that chimney out in back did, indeed, indicate a bathhouse? Also, would Bertram allow him the horses to be unhitched to graze? Might they take advantage of his hospitality, perhaps, to stay for a day or two, just to rest?
    Bertram