I waved to the three men offshore. True to his word, Uncle's boat didn't go too far out; they were close enough for them to me and me them. They all waved to me before turning their attention back to their nets and spears. Then I sat down on the dock with my bare feet hanging over the edge. There was some splashes about but I assumed it was fish or more turtles swimming nearby.

The water right below me was clear for a little while but soon enough these tiny colourful fish began to swim around. I grinned down at them then glanced up. My arms rested upward behind me, propping me up. The salty cool air still felt really, really good. I shut my eyes, taking in a deep cleansing breath before gazing out onto the horizon.

"Mmmmmmm, let's see. The Ponte Vecchio would be right over there, and the Pitti Palace could be there." My finger pointed forward. My eyes scrolled downward to see the confused little fish staring back up at me. They probably didn't understand a word I'd just said but I didn't have many friends in the village and was eager to talk to anyone.

"I'm just imagining where things would be if I was sitting by the Arno River. You may not know this but I'm not from around here, heh if you couldn't already tell," I motioned down to my fancy bright yellow dress with my head. The fish said nothing, making me giggle a little. They were good listeners at least. "I'm from a city called Florence- a far, far way from here. I've never been down this south before." A pause here. "What's it like? Well, it's big- very big. There's this cathedral with this huge dome roof. And there's a river that runs through the city with this giant bridge over it. On one side is a palace, and on the other side- the side my father and I lived on- is the museum where Papa works. I grew up among Italy's most famous paintings, portraits, sculptures…" Yet another pause. "Do I miss it? Yes, very much so. I miss my father; I worry about him. I also miss the city. Life was so much easier there…. Not that it's hard out here! It's just I fit in better in Florence, I mean. The people here… I don't think they like me very much."

The fish bobbed up and down slightly and I giggled a second time. "Ah well, at least I have my uncle, and the sea is lovely. Here," I took some of the fruit I had brought for Uncle and his friends. I proceeded to break it up into tiny bits with my fingers and drop it into the water. The fish liked that, hurriedly gobbling it up. I laughed at this. "You little darlings. Don't worry; there's lots more where that came from. It's nice to know I have some friends here…. Even if you can't talk. That's ok; I'm fine with you just listening." Then my eyes slowly drifted up onto the horizon again; this time being soulful and sincere. "I wonder if I'll ever see Florence again…..? Mmmmm, likely not. I'll just have to learn to be happy here…. like I was back there."

A close splash broke my train of thought. It scared the little fishies away, but I didn't notice at the time. My head popped up to see Uncle's little boat rowing toward the shore. I instantly grinned at them and stood up, fixing my dress. Uncle set down something onto the boat's floor and looked in my direction. His face suddenly lit up with horror, as did mine when he suddenly grabbed his spear. "Ilaria!" He hollered; fear in his voice. Then, to my utter shoch and terror, he threw the spear at the dock. It was at me directly but it was close enough off to the side. There was another splash and what sounded to be the spear hitting a rock. I checked over the side of the dock to see it floating in the water without anything attached to it's tip.

By then Uncle's boat reached the shore. Uncle hopped out and ran over to the edge, inspecting the water. I blinked at him bewildered. His thumb lifted up the front of his flat brown cap as he turned to face me. "It got away." "What?! What got away?" "A sea monster," he replied, reaching down to collect his spear. I gawked at him in horror and disbelief. "A sea monster? What? No! It must have been something else! What if it was a sea turtle or a seal?" "It was no seal. It was a creature of the deep and it was getting close to you," his eyes locked onto mine.

I shook my head, having enough of this nonsense. I wanted to say "for the last time, there's no such thing as sea monsters", but respected him too much to actually do so. Instead I drew in a long breath and straighten my stance. "Zio, you can't just do that. It's unseemly for fishing spears to be tossed in a lady's direction. Unless I'm in real danger, those sorts of weapons should not be around my person."

Uncle stared at me for what felt like some time, then he too sighed gravely. "You're right, niece. But I'm a fisherman; hunting and killing fish is what I do for a living. What do you think your husband will do here on the boat with me?" "I understand that, Zio. But I was raised to be a lady. It would be an afront to my father who spent so much on my education to be anything else. Please, no killing anything in front of me. Again, unless I'm in mortal danger, it's not appropriate for my sensibilities to see such things. Please….."

Uncle and his friends said nothing. They all glanced to one another with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Then they all turned back to me, appearing to be tongue-tied. One of Uncle's friends finally opened his mouth. "You really…. respect your father, don't you?" "Just what do they teach you in those fancy city academies?" The other friend asked. But it was Uncle who sighed next. He stepped over to me, placing his big hand on my shoulder.

"I should have excepted as much. Your father warned me about this before you came." "Zio!" "It's not a bad thing. I'm just not used… to women like you. You're more like your mother than mine." "Zio…." He gave my shoulder a squeeze before removing his hand. "Alright, if it will make you feel better, I'll keep the killing to a minimum when you're around." "Thank you, Zio Massimo. I don't want to see anything die." Uncle didn't look happy to hear this but he didn't say anything more. He instructed his friends to help him bring up the boat. "I'll start dinner when we're finished," he told me. I gave a grateful nod and waited on the end of the dock as the men took off once more.

In reality, I didn't think ladies were too fragile and frail to see death. Lots of women enjoyed hunting; there was nothing wrong with that. But I honestly didn't want to see any animals die in front of me. I felt like such an argument wouldn't work on a grizzled old fisherman like my uncle, so I went the feminine education route. It always worked when I indirectly wanted something. I knew Uncle would be more hesitant to slay fish around me if I reminded him that it went against the education Papa worked so hard to pay for. Turns out my gamble was right.

I never once for a moment believed there was a sea monster lurking near me just now either. Best bet it was a turtle who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Poor turtle. Thank goodness it got away safely. I peeked over the edge into the water again just to be sure. No sign of any turtles- good. Content with that, I let a small sigh of relief. "Ilaria!" And what good timing; Uncle was calling for me to come toward the house. I was about to go when something caught my eye.

There was this brief shimmer of something long and purple grazing the surface not far from the dock. It looked to be the same purple fish from back on the beach. Huh, I wonder if they're frequent around here? They seemed bigger than the usual fish I'd see on the coast. Though I hadn't seen that many fish before, so I don't know how big they'd typically be. It swam away as soon as it was visible. Thinking nothing of it I shrugged and headed back toward the house.