Frantic Inside Grand Caves

5: Boys Don't Cry

Boys don't cry, that's what everyone says. But they're wrong. I'm a boy and I cry.

I cried when Mom only had a few weeks to live.

I cried the night I met Emily, because I'd finally met someone who understood me, who was like me.

I cried when I went to bed the night me and Emily sat chest-deep in the ocean and kissed.

I cried when we got the King, but that was in the kitchen peeling onions.

Now I cried. I swam along, with shoals of colorful fish spinning in front of me. Good job Shona was speeding up and inching farther away.

Why was Emily missing, why did everything have to go weird, why didn't she love me, why were we going on a wild goose chase?

I stopped, wiped my eyes, cried, wiped my eyes, cried, then finally stopped crying. Then I flicked my tail for good balance and zoomed off to catch up with the others.