Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
her backpack. They walked straight into the jungle, and if they were
forced to deviate because of obstacles, they slashed at vegetation to
mark where they had been. They had wrapped the bottoms of their
trousers with bands of cloth to keep out bugs, but they still had to
use a bamboo comb to detach burrs and sticky leaf buds that clung
to their clothing. The trees were tall and the connecting canopies
served as sun umbrellas. This part of the jungle received scant light,
and thus gave a feeling of perpetual dusk. But even in this dim world,
they could not miss some peculiar-looking plants.
It was the color Heidi noticed first, a bright rubbery red. The
plants resembled crimson bananas growing out of the spongy soil set
deep in a pocket of the roots of a rotting tree. “Look. Such an intense
red,” she said, “almost fluorescent.” Moff turned and saw what she
had found. As they drew closer, Heidi gasped and was immediately
embarrassed that she had. The projectiles were the perfect likeness of
erect penises with bulbous hoods, and the red color made them ap­
pear turgid and full to bursting. She turned away as if scanning about
for other edibles. But Moff was still inspecting the plant.
“Seven inches long,” he reckoned. “What a coincidence.” He
winked at her and she laughed weakly. He thought about teasing her
further, but stopped, realizing at that moment not only that he was
attracted, but that he had grown fond of her, even her quirks, and es­
pecially her newfound daring in spite of her fears. He wondered
whether she felt a similar attraction to him. And she did, yes indeed.
She liked that quality in him that was both rough and gentle. He
was overconfident at times, yet these days, after his son’s illness, he
seemed softer, protective, yet vulnerable. He could admit to his mis­
takes. All in all, she found him attractive. She liked the beard.
Moff bent down to inspect the plant more closely. “Might be a
fungus,” he guessed. “The question is, can we eat it? Some fungi are
delicious, some will turn your liver into pâté.” He noticed that a few
of the plants sported small white waxy flowers. They looked like tiny
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