Page 29 of In Darkness and Dank

“That’s why those, uh, graves are out in the river?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.” Kittisak wished there was something else for him to say.

He already knew that the rainforest was shrinking every year and thousands of species were being displaced and dying. He could remember hearing about big campaigns to save the rainforest ever since he was a little kid, and Professor Browning had lectured passionately about conservation. Kittisak had never thought that one of the affected species might be a race of giant amphibian fish monsters though, and somehow that made it worse.

Shu wasn’t some mindless animal. His people had a defined culture, he had feelings and thoughts of his own, a big family out there somewhere, and the kindest eyes…

Fuck.

“Is okay,” Shu soothed. He gestured toward the forest. “We go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Big water.”

“Oh! The ocean. The Amazon empties out into the Atlantic Ocean.”

“Ocean. Huh. Big, big water.” Shu shrugged. “Family go. Some stay.”

“I guess that explains why we’ve never seen your people before,” Kittisak mused. “If everybody is moving out into the damn ocean, I mean. And it’s just you here? And your sister?”

“Sisters.” Shu held up nine webbed fingers.

“Holy crap.” Kittisak laughed. “Nine sisters?”

“Huh.”

“What about your parents?”

“Gone. Long time.” Shu smiled. “Very old. Good life. More family go to ocean, but we stay. Sisters live deep with mates.” He pointed at the pool. “Waiting. Hide.”

“More caves?”

“Huh.”

“And you?” Kittisak couldn’t help but grin. “Mr. I Don’t Have A Mate, you’re up here in this lagoon living your bachelor dream?”

“Bachelor?” Shu cocked his head.

“It’s someone who isn’t married. No mate.”

“Prrrprp.”

“It’s not a bad thing.” Kittisak bumped their shoulders together. “I’m also a bachelor, you know.”

“You?”

“Yup. Living the dream. Waiting for my family to start yelling at me about having a pozzo of my own someday.” Kittisak sighed. “My parents moved to America a long time ago to make sure I’d have a good life. They wanted me to go to school, have a great future, and well… I guess I’ve been fucking it up here lately.”

“Fucking it up?” Shu chirped. “Fucking?”

“Fuck is a magical word, Shu. It can mean anything.” Kittisak chuckled. “What I am saying is that I was being a bad student. That’s why I’m here. To help my professor so I can pass my class.”

“Class?”

“School? Where you learn? People teach you and charge you way too much money?”

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