Crybaby:

Our trip back home was delayed by a storm last night. The waves kept crashing against the sides. Sappoto-san grabbed onto me in bed.

�Miho-chan!� she cried. I tried to shove her off.

�Let go!� I said. �We�ll be fine, I promise! Just let it pass!� The lighting outside did little to assure her.

�Look!� I shouted. �I�ll be fine in the morning! Just get some sleep!� She looked up at me with those annoying, desperate eyes of hers. I sighed.

�Yes!� I groaned. �We�ll fine, I promise. Just go to sleep!� Sappoto-san closed her eyes and trembled. The hard rocking of the boat made me a bit uneasy myself. Like hell I was ever going to show her that. I closed my own eyes and hoped that the storm would pass soon so that we could go home.

Not so the next morning.

When we awoke, the rain hadn�t stopped. The storm had died down some, but it wasn�t over. In fact�

Sappoto-san narrowed her eyes at the beach. �Miho-can?� she asked.

�Yeah?� I asked her back.

�This doesn�t look like Japan,� she pointed out.

�No,� I said back.

�Then� where are we?� she asked. I took a look around the beach.

�No idea,� I mumbled.

�What?� Sappoto-san asked.

�I don�t know,� I repeated. I pulled out my cell phone and turned it on. Damn it, no signal! I looked up at the sky in frustration.

�Miho-chan!� I heard my friend call out.

�What?� I asked.

�Look!� she said. I looked over in the direction that she was pointing in. A group of people on ponchos raced towards us. The leader yelled at us in a foreign language, Chinese, I assume. Sappoto-san and I looked rather puzzled.

�What are they saying?� she asked over the howling winds.

�Beats me!� I shouted back. The leader got within feet of the boat. He still yelled at us in Chinese. We looked at him, confused.

�What?� I asked. �We don�t understand you!� The rain grew heavier around us. The man walked closer and reached for my wrist. I drew back as fast as I could.

�Don�t touch!� I said. The man continued to try and talk to me. I put up my hand at him.

�Wait, wait!� I cut it. �Slow down.� The man looked at me puzzled. Apparently, he didn�t understand Japanese. I went with the next best thing here.

�Do you speak English?� I asked in the language in question. The man leaned in closer to hear me.

�Do you speak English?� I asked louder over the picking up rain and wind.

�Oh! Yes!� the man replied back in English himself. Good, we�re getting somewhere.

�Okay, who are you guys?� I asked.

�We�re the volunteer storm aid workers,� he said. I nodded a bit at him.

�Oh,� I said. �And you�re here to take us to shelter?�

�Yes!� he said.

�But,� I said. �What about our boat?�

�We�ll tow it somewhere safe!� the man yelled. �Now come on before the storm gets worse!�

�Okay!� I said. I turned to Sappoto-san.

�Sappoto-san!� I yelled. �We�re going with them to a shelter to get out of the storm!� She looked up at me confused.

�What?� she asked. I walked over, grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her along with us. The group led us to a van just up the road from the dock. They ushered us inside. Two of the men stayed behind to draw in our boat. Sappoto-san grabbed my hand. She looked up at me with those big, desperate eyes.

�It�ll be okay,� I whispered. �I promise you that.� Sappoto-san nodded at me and kept her head down. The leader turned around to us.

�Is she okay?� he asked. I nodded at him.

�Yeah, she�s just a little spooked out from the storm last night,� I said.

�I see,� the leader said.

�Will our boat be fine?� I asked.

�You mean being out there or afterwards?� he asked.

�Both,� I said.

�Well, being out there, yeah as long as it�s tied down properly,� the leader said. �As for afterwards, you�ll have to go out and see for yourself.� I let his words all sink. My thoughts were interrupted with small sobs. I turned and saw Sappoto-san�s starting to well up. I did my best not to be annoyed by her now.

�What is it now?� I whispered.

�It�s my family,� she whimpered in a soft voice.

�What about them?� I asked. She tried to wipe away tears before they fell down her rosy, fat cheeks.

�Will they be okay in this storm?� she asked.

�That depends on where we are,� I replied. I turned back to the front.

�Excuse me!� I said. �Where exactly are we?�

�Taiwan!� both men answered in English. I sat there in shocked silence for the longest time.

�T-T-Taiwan?� I asked.

�That�s right,� the leader said. �Where were you two going?�

�We were heading home to Japan,� I said.

�That far?� he asked. �Wow!� My eyes shifted back to Sappoto-san who was now laying her head in my lap. I rolled my eyes as I resisted the urge to push her up.

�Come on,� I said to her. �Don�t be like this. Just sit up and stop crying. Your husband and kids will be fine.�

�But what if the storm hits Japan?� Sappoto-san whimpered.

�The storm will be a little whimper by the time it gets there,� I brushed off. She looked up at me with those big eyes of hers again. I frowned to myself. I feel a whining tantrum coming, here goes.

�How can you be so sure? Huh?� she asked.

�I don�t,� I said. �But have faith in me, will ya? I haven�t let down yet, have you?� Sappoto-san didn�t say anything for the rest of the trip, but she just wouldn�t stop crying. I felt like strangling her at one point. I had to take in heavy breaths.

Come on, just ride out this storm. Then, check out the boat and get back to Japan without any more problems. I can take, really I can!