Journal Entry #8
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Victor
I’m so happy right now, I don’t even know where to start!
First off, I’m still on Kainani Island. Yuri said it was okay for me to keep my original flight and stay as long as I’d planned to. At first I didn’t want to stay because I missed him so badly and because I was still shaken up from what happened with the boat, but then I started thinking about all the cool stuff I hadn’t seen and done yet. Yuri said I might regret it if I came home too soon, and as much as I wanted to deny that, in hindsight I can see that he was right.
I’m going home today. My flight is just before noon, and I’ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight. I can hardly wait to see Yuri, but I’m glad I decided to stay here for the full fourteen days after all. It’s been awesome, and I’m never going to forget this experience or the new friends I’ve made here. I hope we’ll be able to see each other again in the future.
But, I’ll tell you more about the rest of my trip later, because I have news.
The main reason why I’m so happy is because Yuri told me that my mom is coming to visit us! Apparently she invited herself, which is a totally Mom thing to do, and it sounds like Yuri’s fine with it, so I’m excited. I haven’t seen my mom in person since I moved to Japan and I miss her like crazy. We video chat a lot, and we call and text, but it’s not the same as being together. We can’t hug on a video call, and I'm long overdue for Mom hugs. The first thing I’m going to do when I see her is give her the most epic hug of all time.
It’s going to be so much fun, showing her all around Matsumori Town and introducing her to our friends, and it goes without saying that we’ll spend lots of time on the mountain. Mom loves snowboarding almost as much as I do. I’ve been dying to try the climbing course the Mountain Recreation Association offers too, but I’m scared to ask Yuri to do that with me in case he gets hurt. I’ll bet Mom will go for it, though. She’s adventurous like me and she’s got the strength and the stamina to climb, if anyone I know does. I think we’ll probably go to the hot spring, and maybe she’ll stay long enough for the Festival of Snow.
Oh! Also, this might not be as interesting to you, but I’m looking forward to cooking for my mom and showing her how much I’ve improved. I know how to do my own laundry now as well. When I moved in, Yuri said he wasn’t going to do it for me because it’s an important adult skill that everyone needs to have, and he taught me to do it. Back in Maple Grove, I usually just took my laundry to Mom’s house, even though I was living in my own flat. But, it’s like I’ve been growing up a lot during this past year and a half and taking on more responsibilities, and I think Mom’s going to be really proud of me.
I guess I should say some introductory stuff about my mom for context, shouldn’t I? Her name’s Victoria Grace Nelson, but she’s always gone by Grace. She said I would’ve been named Victoria after her if I’d been born a girl, but obviously I’m a boy and so I ended up being Victor instead. Anyway, my mom is just Mom to me. She’s smart and pretty and amazing at sports, and I love her so much.
Mom is a veterinarian. She owns a veterinary clinic called Best Friends Animal Care, along with her best friend Julian Britt, who is a veterinary surgeon. Mom and Julian met in vet school, and she says they hit it off right away. Honestly, I think it’d be hard not to like Julian. He’s kind of shy and socially awkward, but the thing with him is that he really wants to get to know people and be friends. He just has trouble getting started. He was always around when I was growing up, and both him and Uncle Stephen were the positive male influences I needed as a boy being raised by a single mom.
Okay, I know you want to hear more about my trip. There’ll be lots of time when my mom is visiting for me to tell you more about her, so let me get back to Kainani Island.
Just like he promised, Mitchell introduced me to his roommate Kai and Kai’s brother Kalani. They're Alana’s cousins, coincidentally. Kai is twenty-six, only a year older than me, but he acts a lot older than that. He’s serious and doesn’t seem like he’d be very fun to hang out with. Kalani, on the other hand, definitely knows how to enjoy himself, and we decided we were going to be friends immediately. Kalani is twenty-two, and he’s still in that stage of life where its hard to know whether you’d rather be an adult or stay a kid forever. He’s hilarious and he loves to laugh and joke, and he knows everything about the island.
Along with Alana, Mitchell and Kalani have been showing me around and making sure I don’t get lost or hurt. The day after my misadventure with the outrigger, Mitchell suggested that we should do something on land and not too strenuous, so he and Kalani and I went to pick fruit. How cool is that? You’ve got to love a place where you can find free food just conveniently hanging from a tree or a plant. I enjoy fruit, but I had no idea how delicious it’d be when picked and eaten fresh from the source. Seriously, I’m going to be dreaming about those pineapples and young coconuts for months to come.
The day after our fruit-picking experience, Mitchell and I went snorkelling together. I was nervous at first, but it didn’t take me long to relax and get into it. I’ve never seen so many exotic fish in my entire life, and the plants and coral are like something from an alien world. It’s stunning, and I’m slightly envious that Mitchell gets to see this stuff every day. While we were in the water, Mitchell stayed close to me and made sure I was okay. Every time we surfaced, he asked me if I was all right, and I appreciated that. It’s too bad he’s an only child. He’d have made a great big brother for somebody.
Later that day, he took me on his boat, which is bigger than that ridiculous outrigger thing I tried to learn to sail on. I wore a life jacket, which I assumed was Mitchell’s because it was too big for me. Like, I’m a big guy and I hardly ever feel short next to anybody, but Mitchell is freakin’ huge. He’s got to be at least 195 centimetres, but possibly more, and the muscles on that guy... holy crap. If he played hockey, he’d be deadly on the blueline.
He tightened the straps on the life jacket as much as he could, but I was concerned that it was still not snug enough. Mitchell assured me it’d be fine as long as it was secure enough not to float off me if I were in the water. To test it, he tried to pull it off, and we were finally both satisfied when he couldn’t.
Mitchell’s a great sailor, and he handled his boat like he’s been doing it practically his whole life. Then again, for all I know, maybe he has. We sailed around the island to an area where no one lives, where there’s this actual, honest-to-God volcano. Mitchell said it’s inactive, but it was kind of smoking at the top, so I don’t know.
The water was all neon green and weird at the foot of the volcano. Mitchell explained that it was like that because of a certain kind of algae that thrives in the environmental conditions created by the volcano. We couldn’t sail too close to it, but I wasn’t all that disappointed. I was fine with viewing it from a distance.
Another day, when Mitchell was too busy to go with us, Kalani and I went hiking in this jungle-y area with cliffs that drop straight down to the sea. It’s beautiful there, but it’s also terrifying. In retrospect, I’m not sure why i found it scary, as heights don’t usually bother me. If there’d been snow on it, I’d drop straight over it on my snowboard.
Hidden at the base of one of the cliffs, there was a tiny waterfall. Kalani confided that it’s one of his favourite spots and that he likes to go there when he’s got something important to think about. I can see why. It’s secluded and peaceful, and certainly nobody would bother him here. He also told me that the waterfall is a spot for couples as well, and that people like to bring their significant others here for special moments together. I could totally appreciate that as well. I imagined kissing Yuri under the waterfall in the late afternoon sun, and then watching the sunset while cuddling on the beach, wrapped together in a blanket. Maybe some day we’ll get to do that.
I asked Kalani if there was anyone he wanted to bring to the waterfall.. He looked slightly embarrassed, but he said yes. The problem, he confessed, was that he didn’t think his family would approve of his choice. I could totally empathize.
As I already mentioned, Yuri’s parents aren’t my biggest fans. In fact, I’m pretty sure Yuri’s dad actually despises me. Mr. Okamoto seems to be fond of claiming that I’m a corrupting influence, which would be funny if it wasn’t so baffling and frustrating. Like, he doesn’t want Yuri to be anywhere near me, yet somehow he’s cool with Yuri hanging out with Seiji and Takahiro?
Don’t get me wrong; I like Takahiro and Seiji, and we have a lot of fun together, but Seiji is kind of an idiot. He’s a serial lover, reckless, and a little insensitive at times. I think if anyone’s the real corrupting influence, it’s him. I mean, you wouldn’t catch me drinking till I passed out, or participating in a contest to see who could have the most one night stands in a month, or crushing beer cans on my head. I have class. Well, sort of. As much class as a guy can have, growing up on the run-down side of Maple Grove and being raised by somebody who doesn’t get mad about sweaty gym clothes on the bathroom floor and lets you eat mac and cheese straight from the pot it was cooked in.
Ugh... I’m getting off-topic again. Too hyper to focus, I guess.
Yesterday was my last full day here, and I finally got to have a proper look at the shipwreck at Sailor’s Folly. Mitchell said he’d come and get me around ten o'clock, so I hung around my campsite in the morning, reading and playing on my phone a bit and relaxing in the sun.
Around 9:15, I figured that I probably had time for a swim before Mitchell showed up. I’d just stepped into the water when I heard a big splash off to my right. I looked that way in time to see Mitchell’s blond hair breaking the surface. He shook the wet hair off his face the moment his entire head was above water, and then started swimming toward my campsite. As soon as he spotted me, he raised a hand and gave me a quick wave.
“Hey, Victor!” he called out. “I’m a bit early. Hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s cool,” I said, as I waded out to meet him. “Did you come here on your boat?”
“Yeah,” he said, and gestured vaguely in the direction he’d come from. “It’s over there, anchored just around that point. The water’s too shallow to bring it all the way in here.”
“I’ll take your word for that,” I said.
“Are you ready to go exploring?”
“Yeah! But, where’s Kalani? I thought he was coming with us.”
“He is,” Mitchell said. “He had something to do this morning, but he said he’s going to meet us there.”
Kalani never seemed to be around when Mitchell and I did anything that involved water, and I wanted to ask Mitchell about it. Yuri would probably tell me to err on the side of discretion though, which is his polite way of saying I should mind my own business, so I kept my curiosity to myself. I guessed maybe Kalani can’t swim or that he’s nervous on boats. After this week, I can absolutely appreciate boat-related anxiety.
“Are we going to sail there?” I asked.
Mitchell smiled. “So, you feel the pull of the sea after all.”
“Actually,” I said. “I’d be fine if I never, ever felt the pull of the sea again. I was just wondering, since you came on your boat.”
“I prefer my boat, but we can go overland to Sailor’s Folly. It’s a prety long hike, but the sights are worth it.” He held up a small bag which, up to that point, I hadn’t even noticed he was carrying. “Dry clothes,” he said, and then because I must’ve looked confused, “Waterproof bag. I’ll just change quickly. You should put on something dry too, and then we can get going.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
He was right. It was quite a hike, but the scenery was worth it. I took so many pictures to show Yuri and Mom. We might have to use Yuri’s projector to organize a slideshow once I get home.
Kalani was indeed waiting there for us when we arrived. When he saw Mitchell, he ran and flung himself at him, and hugged him with what looked like enough strength to squeeze the air out of most people. I know with one hundred percent certainty that I’d injure Yuri if I tried to do something like that to him, but it seemed Mitchell was able to hold up to Kalani’s dangerous affection.
“Easy, Kalani,” Mitchell said. “Remember what I keep telling you.”
“Sorry!” Kalani exclaimed. “But, I missed you.”
“You saw me two hours ago.”
“That’s practically forever.”
Mitchell looked amused. “You have absolutely no sense of time, do you, my wild creature? Come on, now. Either relax or let go.”
Kalani must not have been quite ready to let go, and he relaxed so thoroughly that I could see all the tension going out of his arms and back. He looked as if he wanted to melt against Mitchell’s chest and shoulder. For his part, Mitchell was laughing and trying to hold Kalani up.
“This would be better if we were in the water,” Kalani said.
“Later,” Mitchell told him.
“Promise?”
“I promise. Now, I need you to behave like a grown up for a while, okay? Think you can do that?”
The whole exchange was awkward to watch, but at the same time I was pleased for them because they were so cute together and clearly had something unique and special going on.
I guess now I know who Kalani wants to go to the waterfall with.
Kalani fake-pouted a little, but he let go of Mitchell and stood back. He evidently hadn’t noticed me standing there before, but when he did, he give me a little grin and greeted me with, “Hello, Victor. Guess what? It’s haunted shipwreck time!”
“Can’t wait!” I said, and meant it.
We didn’t see any ghosts, but the shipwreck was impressive. Kalani’s opinion was that we’d have to come back at night if we wanted to go ghost hunting, and he sounded so serious that I wasn’t sure if I should believe him or not. Then, he told me a story about a ghost mermaid, which I was certain he had to be making up.
"Mermaids aren’t real,” I said. “They’re just legends, right?”
“Of course they’re real,” said Kalani. “Mermen too.”
Mitchell made a noise, sucking air between his teeth like you’d do if you got a sudden minor injury like burning your tongue or lip on hot food. I stared at Kalani, attempting to judge whether or not he was joking. Concluding that it was a joke, I played along. “You mean, there are guy mermaids?”
“Mermen,” Kalani repeated. “There have to be mermen and mermaids. How else would you get baby merfolk?”
I laughed so hard, I actually snorted. “You are the literal best, Kalani.”
He flashed a big, goofy grin. “I know. Mitchell says that about me all the time.”
I glanced at Mitchell, whose face was as red as the pomegranates we’d picked earlier in the week. He mumbled, “Do I say that?”
Kalani hopped over to him and caught him by the hand. “Come on, Mitchell! We have to show Victor the shipwreck garden next.”
The ‘shipwreck garden’ turned out to be a lush, green spot not too far from the remains of the old ship. It was colourful and vibrant, and smelled exactly how I imagined a tropical garden should smell. There were a dozen different kinds of flowers and plants, all shaded by tall, thin palm trees. It was breathtaking.
After that, we trekked all around the area of the shipwreck. Mitchell was quiet, but Kalani kept us entertained with a running commentary on everything, as well as telling me about some of his favourite island legends. The one I liked best was a story about how merfolk had learned to read. According to Kalani, that one is an important tale in island folklore.
All too soon, it was time to leave. I invited Mitchell and Kalani to come back to my campsite for something to eat and they both accepted, although Kalani said he had to go home first and would join us later. I asked him how he was getting home, since I hadn’t seen a boat anywhere nearby, and there didn’t seem to be any other way to go except by the path Mitchell and I had used to get here.
“I’m going to swim,” Kalani said.
So much for my theory about him being afraid of water.
I didn’t miss the pointed look Mitchell shot his way. Mitchell looked almost annoyed for a second, but then his face softened and he reached out to stroke Kalani’s arm.
“Please be careful,” he said.
From his expression, I suspected Mitchell had wanted to say something completely different, but thought better of it in front of me. I couldn’t help being curious as to what it was that’d changed the mood so abruptly, and I wondered if I’d ever find out.
Kalani actually didn’t swim home in the end. He hiked back with Mitchell and me, mostly hanging onto Mitchell’s arm and complaining about how hungry he was the entire way. He reminded me of myself, this one time Yuri somehow talked me, Taka and Seiji into going with him to an art festival. It was boring. I spent an inordinate amount of time letting Yuri drag me around by my hand and thinking about how we weren’t allowed to have snacks while viewing the exhibits. That outing had ended much better than it started, I’m happy to say. Yuri had taken me to an all-you-can-eat sushi bar after he was done inflicting me with a couple of hours of art appreciation.
Yesterday evening, there was food at the end of the outing too. The sun was just starting to set by the time we made it back to my campsite. I grilled enough meat and fruit to feed twice as many people as we were, but luckily, Kalani and I both eat twice as much as normal people, so it worked out.
After dinner, we needed dessert. Kalani looked nervous when Mitchell and I started roasting the last of my bag of marshmallows. He kept staring at them, like maybe he’d never even seen a marshmallow before. I guess they didn’t look appetizing enough for him to try, because he politely declined when I offered him some.
That’s not to say he didn’t want to roast anything around our campfire, though. It seemed he had his own ideas about what was good. After observing us for a little while, he hopped up and declared, “Don’t go anywhere, okay? I’ll be right back!”
With that, he ran off.
I raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Mitchell. “What’s that about?”
“He’s getting dessert,” Mitchell replied.
Kalani was gone for about ten minutes. When he returned, he was soaking wet and he had a small fish in his hand, of all things.
I gawked at him. “Kalani, did you just—“
"Here,” he said, presenting the fish to Mitchell. “You have to roast this for me. I always accidentally burn them.”
I’m not sure what kind of reaction I’d expected from Mitchell, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the one he actually gave. He took the fish from Kalani and smiled at him indulgently. “How do you always manage to get me to do this?”
“Because you can’t resist me. Anyway, it always tastes better when you cook it,” Kalani said. He dropped onto the sand next to Mitchell’s chair. “Everything you cook tastes good.”
I watched, both fascinated and horrified, as Mitchell expertly skewered the fish with the same stick he’d just been using to roast marshmallows. He held it over the fire, as if nothing was out of place, as if roasting a whole fish on a stick over an open flame was a completely ordinary and mundane thing to do.
“Are you going to cook it just like that?” I asked. “Like, with the fins and eyeballs and stuff? Don’t you have to do something to it first? Take the scales off, or something?”
“I would clean it if I were cooking it for myself or you,” Mitchell said. “But this is how Kalani likes it.”
“Mmm…” was Kalani’s only response. He’d flopped slightly sideways so that his head was resting against Mitchell’s leg, and his eyes were half-closed.
Mitchell shifted the fish-on-a-stick to his right hand, and let his left one come to rest on Kalani’s hair. “I think you’ve been out of the sea too much today, my wild creature. You’re tired, aren’t you?”
Kalani made a soft sound in reply that wasn’t even a word, and nuzzled the side of his head against Mitchell’s knee like a friendly animal. Mitchell laughed.
I watched the two of them for a minute, as Mitchell gazed into the fire while idly stroking Kalani’s hair. They’re so beautiful, I thought, and then immediately felt super weird for thinking that. But I mean, they really were. They were a study in contrasts; Mitchell, this pale, blond, gentle giant, and Kalani, dark and delicate, with a kind of elusive, otherworldly quality about him.
That’s it. That’s the thing I’ve been trying to put my finger on all week.
Ever since I’d met Kalani, I felt like there was something unusual about him. At first, I’d chalked it up to cultural differences, accepting that he wasn’t like me because we’re not from the same place in the world. I moved to a different country myself, so cultural variation is something I understand. When I first went to Japan, people in Matsumori probably thought I was strange and foreign too, and I certainly had to adjust to a way of life I hadn’t been used to.
However, the more time I spent with Kalani, the more I began to feel like it wasn’t just our countries of origin that made him different from me. There was something else, something fundamental that made him seem not quite… normal. And Mitchell knew what it was, I realized. It was a secret he seemed committed to protecting even more than Kalani himself did.
But even the best-kept secrets aren’t always perfectly hidden from everyone. It was something about the way Mitchell referred to Kalani as his ‘wild creature’ that really provoked my curiosity. There was so much gentleness and affection in it, but there was also a kind of reverence, like how I might refer to the mountain as a wild place, showing my awe and respect for something I loved but could never fully comprehend.
Maybe… Just maybe, merfolk actually are real, I thought, and maybe Kalani is one.
It seemed like a crazy theory, but it could be true. Mitchell had said something about certain things on Kainani Island defying scientific explanation. Maybe that’s what he’d meant.
Eventually, Kalani’s fish was cooked, and after he ate it he seemed to catch a second wind. For the next little while, he and I tried to scare each other with the best ghost stories and urban legends we knew. I’m not sure either of us was really scared, but during the appropriate parts of every story, we at least pretended to be. It was a lot of fun.
Mitchell didn’t have any stories to contribute. He seemed content enough to sit there and watch the show. Maybe he was tired. I know I was. It’d been a long and full day, and I predicted I’d be out the moment I crawled into my sleeping bag.
All good stories have endings, and I knew ours was about to conclude when Mitchell finally got up from the camp chair, and thanked me for dinner.
“I should be thanking you,” I told him. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed this trip half as much without you guys. I might not even be here to enjoy it if it hadn’t been for you, so…”
“I’m sure you’d do the same for someone who needed your help,” Mitchell said.
“Yeah, I totally would, but still. You have no idea how grateful I am. I appreciate everything you’ve done. I sincerely mean that.”
“You’re welcome,” Mitchell said.
“Yuri and I will send you a postcard from Matsumori when I get home,” I promised. “I want you to at least see a picture of Arashiyama.”
“That’s the mountain?” he asked. “Arashiyama?” He struggled a bit with the unfamiliar Japanese word.
“Yup,” I confirmed. “It means ‘storm mountain’ and it has snow all year, even in July and August.”
“Victor, can you send me a postcard too?” Kalani asked. “No one’s ever sent me a postcard before.”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll see if I can find one with a picture of Koi for you. That’s a kind of fish we have where I live.”
“Do they taste good?”
“We don’t eat them,” I said. “Some people keep them as pets, but mostly they live in the wild.”
“I’d probably eat them,” Kalani declared.
“If you ever come to see me and Yuri in Matsumori Town, I’ll warn the Koi to stay away from you,” I teased.
“Some day, I’d like to see your mountain, Victor,” he said. “Your... Arashiyama.”
“Maybe some day you will.”
“Mitchell? Could we go there?”
“I think you’d find the mountain too cold,” Mitchell said. “Snow all year, remember? And I don’t think it’s near the sea.”
“Oh,” Kalani said. “Well, I’m sure there’s water near the mountain somewhere.”
“We have lakes,” I told him. “They’re small, but I think you’d like them.”
This was clearly not a line of conversation Mitchell was comfortable with. He put a hand on Kalani’s arm. “We should get going, so Victor can get some sleep. He’s leaving tomorrow.”
“You’ll come and say goodbye to us before you go, won’t you?” Kalani asked me.
“Sure,” I said.
“You know where Mitchell lives? Come to the boardwalk near his house in the morning, and I’ll meet you.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Kalani—” Mitchell began.
“I know,” Kalani said. “We have to go. Good night, Victor. I hope the mountain will be happy to see you again when you go home.”
“I can’t speak for the mountain, but I’ll be glad to see it,” I said.
We said farewell, and I watched them walk off together. Once they’d disappeared beyond my view, I turned and made my way back to my tent, to fall asleep for one last time to the sound of the sea rolling softly over the sand.
This morning, after I’d packed all my stuff, I went around the boardwalk to Mitchell and Kai’s little beach house. No one answered when I knocked on the door, and I frowned. Kalani had asked me to meet him, but it was apparent that neither Mitchell nor Kai was at home, and Kalani was nowhere in sight either.
Then, I remembered. Kalani had said specifically to meet him on the boardwalk, not at the house. I backtracked to a point about a hundred metres from the beach house, where the boardwalk was completely suspended over the water like a bridge. Kalani hadn’t said what time I should be here, and I hoped I hadn’t missed him.
I was prepared to wait fifteen or twenty minutes, but no longer. I had to meet the pilot who was going to fly me back to the mainland airport so I could catch my flight home. She might be flexible with her flight schedule and wouldn’t mind if I was late, but the commercial airline certainly wouldn’t be sympathetic if I failed to show up on time. If Kalani and I couldn’t connect, then I’d text Mitchell and ask him to tell Kalani that I was sorry not to have seen him after all.
As things transpired, I didn’t need to text Mitchell. It wasn’t necessary, because Kalani had been there the whole time.
In the water.
I spun around quickly to look when I heard him shout my name. About twenty metres from the boardwalk, Kalani’s head was poking out of the sea, and he was laughing.
“I told you I’d meet you,” he said.
I waved. “Yes, you did. Thank you.”
“Now, I’m going to tell you a secret,” he called. “Watch!”
“What—” I started, but that’s as far as I got.
Kalani leaped out of the water, and when I say he leaped, that’s exactly what I mean. His entire body shot upward in a powerful arc, and for a second he was completely airborne. He came down again, hands and head first, slicing into the water more cleanly than any competitive diver.
The sun was in my eyes and I was forced to squint, so I can’t be one hundred percent positive, but I could’ve sworn that from the waist down, Kalani was a man-sized tropical fish. The last I saw of him was the tip of his tail fin disappearing beneath Kainani’s turquoise waves.
No one is going to believe this, I told myself. No one. Not in a million years.
