The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh Read Free Book Online

quietly into the house. He was so little himself, not yet three summers old. He insisted on holding you. Your grandmother placed you gently in his arms, and when you opened your eyes and looked into his for the first time, the smile that lit your face was the most wondrous thing I’d ever seen. Like sunlight after a storm.”
    â€œGrandfather,” I said, tilting my head to look up at him, “are you saying I’m a duck?”
    Grandfather brought his rough hands to my eyes, wiping the tears from my face. “I’m saying, Mina, that Joon has loved you your entire life. Since the day you were born. He will always love you. It is his forever gift to you.”
    I shook my head. “ Th en why did he leave me behind?”
    â€œBecause he knows that you love him enough to let him go.”
    In the damp, cold alley of the Sea God’s city, I squeeze my eyes shut. Grandfather. He always knew the right words to say to make everything better.
    He’s been gone for so long. Grandfather, I miss you. More than anything, I wish you were here now.
    â€œLookit!” a young boy’s anxious voice shouts from close by. “ Th ere’s a girl crying behind the fish shop. What should we do, Mask?”
    A girl’s voice answers—much calmer than the boy’s and slightly muffled. “Wait for her to use up all her tears, of course. Once she’s finished crying for herself, she won’t start again. Th is one has a strong spirit.”
    I lift my face from my knees, gasping, when I’m met with the most peculiar of sights.
    A girl around my height stands before me, her head tilted to the side, the whole of her face covered by a wooden mask. Grooves in the wood show wrinkles, while the cheeks and forehead are painted with red circles. It’s the face of a grandmother, the mouth etched in a downward grimace.
    â€œHow can you tell, Mask? She doesn’t look like she’s going to stop anytime soon.”
    I turn and almost touch noses with a small boy crouched beside me. Perhaps eight or nine, he wears loose hemp trousers and a thin jacket with wooden buttons. He has unruly hair, one long cowlick popping up at the side of his head like a flower. On his back, he carries what appears to be a cloth knapsack.
    â€œNot even Miki cries nearly as much as she does,” he says, his brow puckering.
    Th is statement is followed by a noise like bubbles rising out of the ocean.
    Th e boy’s fingers fly to his shoulder, loosening the strings of his knapsack. He shuffles the bag around to reveal an infant tucked inside.
    â€œAy, Miki,” the boy laughs, lifting the tiny girl out of the knapsack. “Smile for the baby.”
    He holds the infant out before me. She can’t be more than a year old. She has rosy cheeks and a short haircut very much like the boy’s, except hers is neatly combed to the side. From the way she’s dressed in a soft cotton dress, sewn with small pink flowers, I know she’s very much loved. Miki and I blink at each other. Whether it’s magic, or whether it’s Miki’s infectious smile, my tears stop flowing altogether. Miki giggles, reaching her small hands out toward me.
    â€œNo, no, Miki,” the boy scolds, pushing the knapsack wide and tucking the baby gently back inside. “You stay with me, now.” He pats Miki on her head before moving the knapsack to his back once more.
    I look to the masked girl. Th e expression carved onto thewood of her mask has changed, from a frowning grandmother to a smiling grandmother. “ Th at’s better,” she says. “Tears are fine every now and then, but it’s never a good thing to waste water.”
    â€œWho—who are you?” I say. Or try to say. Like before, I make no sound.
    She surprises me by answering. “We are spirits.” Her voice has a soft muffled quality to it, coming as it does from behind her covered face. “I’m Mask,”