Free Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen

but we only see them once a year.” He looked quietly off into the distance.
    “Been to the mainland before?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “But someday I’d like to go live on the mainland like a city man.”
    “What do you want to be?”
    He thought for a moment. “I’d like to build things.”
    “You should come and visit me then,” I said. He laughed. He was a brave dreamer and I admired his frankness. This little island was too small for him.
    Half an hour later, we arrived at a deserted island overgrown with lush vegetation. There was no sign of any human habitation. The boat slowed down.
    Ar Piao’s large hands coiled the fishing net into one big rope. Throwing it out into the clear water, he anchored the boat, fished out a pipe, and started smoking.
    “What are we catching today?” I asked.
    “Mackerel,” Ar Piao said, puffing out a thick ring of smoke.
    “Great, I love them.”
    He nodded, looking at the net.
    “Do you?” I asked.
    “What do you think?” he said without moving his gaze.
    “Maybe you hate them,” I replied.
    “Why?” A smile quirked the corner of his mouth.
    “I know a butcher who never eats the meat he chops.”
    With his pipe dangling from the corner of his mouth, he chuckled. “You’re a smart kid, like they said.”
    “Smart?”
    He nodded. “I want my son to grow up like you, to be a great student and maybe have a future so he could leave this little island and find a decent job. My life is over. All my hope rests with my sons now.”
    I was surprised he could say so much at one time. Here on the sea, he was at ease. “This is a good life here,” I said sincerely.
    “From where you sit, perhaps. The boy only knows the boat and the sea, nothing else.” He looked at Monkey thoughtfully, who smiled back at us shyly. “I want him to know more than that. He should know science, art, and maybe business.”
    “But he knows a lot more things than we do, just different things,” I said out of respect for his son, “and he has a dream.”
    “That he does. I just wish he had a better place to grow in, that’s all.” He gazed at his son, and smoked quietly.
    “Dad, it’s time.”
    Ar Piao shot out of his seat, knocked the unburned tobacco out of the pipe, and started cranking in the net. The net dipped deep in the middle, heavy with mackerel jumping at the bottom. It was a thrilling sight. Ar Piao and Monkey dumped the catch into a tank on board and cast the net again. There must have been more than fifty pounds of fish. Ar Piao let me help scoop up the jumping fish from the dripping net, but he wouldn’t let me cast the net. He said I would follow the net down into the sea if I wasn’t skillful enough.
    At noon, he docked his boat at the tiny island. We started to cook lunch on deck.
    “Want some fish?” Ar Piao asked.
    “Sure.”
    “Go get some.”
    I bent over the tank and grabbed three. They were fighting to get away. “Should we dress them first?”
    “We don’t use knives on the boat.” He took the fish and dipped them in a bucket of fresh water, then threw them, live, into a pot of boiling water and quickly covered it with a heavy lid. His hands secured the lid for a few seconds before he said, “Now they are quiet.”
    “You mean boiled dead.” Another slip of the tongue.
    “We don’t use that word here on the boat.”
    “Sorry.”
    “That’s okay. Here, son.” He gestured to Monkey, who came and sat closer to him. “Take a good look at this guy. I want you to learn from him and score full marks in school, then you won’t have to fish for the rest of your life. Do you hear me?” He lovingly pinched his son’s ear and grabbed him into his arms. Monkey giggled happily.
    I was a little embarrassed by the praise. Inside my heart, I would have traded anything just to have a friendly environment like this, not the daily battle I faced back home. But all my enemies in school—Han, Quei, Wang, the principal, and La Shan—seemed so remote and