Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
“You’re absolutely right, Wawa.” Marlena nodded, happy that
Esmé was happy. More drops fell on the umbrella. They reminded
Marlena of Harry’s attempt to put out the fire. She thought of the
water-soaked dress he had used to flog at the flames, the gray driblets
falling on the bed and floor. She pictured Harry standing naked and
bewildered, trying to discern the significance of the charred mos­
quito netting as if it were a Calder mobile in a museum. He seemed
so lost and little-boyish. Then she pictured his face, the way he had
looked at her before the fire, the raw lust in his eyes and open mouth.
She shivered and giggled. “Mommy!” she heard Esmé call. “Do we
have anything to eat? I’m starved.” In an instant, a frisson of moth­
erly propriety washed over her. She dug into her bag for her supply of
candy bars and dried fruit.
Esmé picked through the selection, then said, “Can Pup-pup and I
have the parasol back? We have drips, too.”
Wyatt had sprawled out lengthwise on a log. Wendy was picking
out bits of twigs and leaves from her lover’s thick, wavy hair. She
traced his nose, blew flirtatiously on his eyelids, which made him
laugh and wave her away. “Stop,” he said. She blew again. “Stop,” he
repeated. “Please.” She needed his constant attention, the evidence
that he adored her as much as she adored him, and she persisted be­
cause he had not yet said the actual word “love.” She blew again. To
see it from Wyatt’s side, this childish play was suffocating. He wished
Wendy would just enjoy the moment rather than work at it. He had
found her so much more fun to be with when he first met her and she
was so easygoing and did not demand attention but drew it naturally.
Rupert with his flexible young knees sat in a hunch-and-crouch
pose in imitation of the natives. He spotted a mammoth tree and
wished he could sneak off and climb it. But his father had sternly
warned him that he was to stay with the group. He fished his paper­
back out of his pack and began to read.
Vera used the edge of her scarf to dab at her face. She had been
254