Resource Sheet 3A.4: Extract
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'Look.' She took the looped bag off her wrist and pulled the little stone mudskipper out of its pouch and held it up to show him.
'It's a secret, because it's not really mine. But I'm looking after it for a while because I'm showing it what the sea is like.'
The old man's response was entirely satisfactory. He stared, then reached out and took it gently. 'He got it then. And you brought it back with you. After all these years.'
Lizhi didn't know what he was talking about.
'I have to get it back to the house before Aunt Mona misses it,' she told the old man. 'So that I can put it back in Aunt Mona's room. It's the room that you saw me climbing out of, that you said nobody ever goes into. I just borrowed it to play with for a while so I didn't ask her, but it's not really stealing.'
'Are you sure?' the old man asked, turning the tiny statue over in his hands. 'Are you sure that's where you found it?'
'Of course!' Lizhi said. 'If you promise not to tell anyone I'll show you. It was in a cupboard in the room with all of Aunt Mona's papers. But—are you allowed inside the house?' Lizhi was not sure exactly where a gardener was supposed to spend his time.
For a moment the old man looked as though he was going to say something angrily, but instead he just said, 'I'll figure something out.' That suited Lizhi.
Almost without realising it, Lizhi fell asleep. She dreamed she was sitting on her father's lap with his arms around her, keeping her safe and warm. She could almost hear her father talking about the sea. How clear the warm waters were long ago when they first moved into the house by the sea—so clear that you could see not only the fish swimming but even the coral on the seabed. 'All things change,' the calm steady voice said. You have to change with them in order to remain steady. In her dream, Lizhi could not tell the difference between her father and Ah Guan.
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