Woman 1: Utsuro-Bune, 1803
The morning feels like the inside of a mouth, hot and humid already. At first, the boy thinks he is still dreaming when he sees a mermaid sitting on a rock in the shade. On closer inspection, he sees that the mermaid has legs. There is a large, pale-silver structure bobbing in the water a few feet away from her, a sphere-like vessel that reminds the boy of a giant turtle egg. He wipes his brow and then smells his hand. He’s been waiting to become a man all summer, but his smell is still dusty-sweet, like hay.
