Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin Read Free Book Online

plot or plan how he could leave the village. Instead, he was busy trying to think of a story to tell at dinner. He tried to remember old fairy tales told to him or to make one up, but his mind remained empty. “Why did I agree to tell a story?” he groaned to himself. “Why does she want me to tell a story, anyway?”
    So while his head was empty, the rest of him was full of anxiety. Even as he filled the oversize buckets with the gourd, his thoughts were turning and twisting like dough deep-frying in oil.
    Perhaps that was why, when Rendi had finished the tiring process of filling the buckets, he paid less attention to his feet than he should have. He had just balanced the carrying stick on his shoulders, still thinking furiously, and was stepping over the well, when his back foot caught on the partition wall. In that instant, Rendi tripped—his buckets swung madly like crazed pendulums, splashing water in large waves, until everything, including Rendi, crashed to the ground.
    “
Owww!
” Rendi cried.
    He lay facedown on the hard, dusty earth. Pain flashed through him, and a bump was already forming on the back of his head where one of the buckets had struck him. But it was anger that was burning through Rendi like a hot fire. Already, the spilled water—the water that took him so long to collect—was drying in the sun.
    “
Stupid, stupid wall!
” Rendi roared, jumping up and kicking the partition with his foot, resulting in new stabsof pain. With a yelp of anger, he began attacking the wall with all his strength.
    Boiling rage seemed to have bubbled and burst inside him. His every muscle throbbed with red fury. The air seemed to shriek in his ears, and the fierceness of his anger felt like explosions inside his head. His pole cracked and the buckets bounced from the wall, but Rendi still felt as if he were ablaze with a thousand bee stings. He fell to his knees and grabbed a rock with each hand and raised them to strike.
    But suddenly, his hands froze in the air and the rocks dropped to the ground.
    For, unexpectedly, he saw his reflection in the well. The water on both sides of the well mirrored him, showing him in a way he had never seen before—roaring with anger and filled with rage.
    “I look like… I look like…” Rendi gasped, “my father!” He felt as if a searing knife had been stabbed into him, the reflections in the water revealing a likeness he almost could not bear. For a moment, he was blinded by a mix of memories, pain, and regret.
    When his vision cleared, Rendi was staring again attwo images of himself. The faces that looked back at him were troubled and uneasy. He felt tired, as if he had been running for days. Tears stung his eyes. But the water and the stones of the wall were as still and unmoved as if they were the empty sky above.



CHAPTER
13
    During dinner, Rendi could sense everyone waiting for him. He had been late, for not only had he had to refill his buckets, they had also sprung leaks from his abuse, and he had to carry them by hand, as he had broken his pole. So when he finally entered the inn, the expectant eyes weighed upon him even more than the thick, sticky summer air.
    Mr. Shan and the toad both croaked eagerly, and Master Chao was unusually attentive while Rendi picked at therice in his bowl. The thick dark bowl, the color of burned wood, weighed heavily in Rendi’s hands as he tried to avoid looking at Madame Chang.
    She said nothing, letting him push the grains of rice with his chopsticks and chew air long after everyone else had finished their meal. The sky darkened and grew heavier and heavier. Rendi cringed inside. The night would soon begin its crying, which would not help him with his storytelling. Perhaps he could make an excuse or pretend… Peiyi gave an impatient sigh.
    “Come on, Rendi!” Peiyi said. “Stop trying to think of a trick to get out of telling a story.”
    “I’m sure Rendi is still just thinking of what he wants to tell,” Madame Chang