Mr. Senpao, a round and pleasant little man around the age of fifty, enters the room with an apprehensive look on his face. “Penni, are you alright?” he asks with genuine concern. “It smells like something’s burning in here.”

Penni takes a second to catch her breath. “Yeah, sir. I’m fine,” she sighs. “I tried to finish the assignment, but the shading on this dove is a real pain!” She shoves the dove drawing towards him, hoping that he won’t try to look at her nightstand.

“Oh, my what happened over here? Is this what was burning?” Of course, he heads straight over to the nightstand.

Penni jumps out of her chair and runs over to the nightstand. She almost puts her hand flat on the papers to stop him from grabbing them but realizes that doing this will result in her falling through the hole. Her left hand hovers awkwardly over the papers while her right hand rests on her hip. “I knocked a candle over, Mr. Senpao. It’s under control. Please don’t tell my mom.” She flashes a nervous grin. “Can we please go over the homework you gave me? The shading has been giving me lots of trouble.” She steers him away from the nightstand.

Mr. Senpao sighs. “Alright. Just don’t burn your house down, okay?” He gives her a warm smile. “Show me what’s bothering you.”

They both sit down at her broad desk. “I told you, it’s the shading. It’s like I can’t get it right, no matter what I do.” Penni looks away dejectedly. “I hate shading. I wish I never had to do it.”

Mr. Senpao’s thick lips purse with concern. “Well, your mother wants you to learn realism, so you won’t be able to get out of shading completely… but I could introduce you to abstract art!”

“Abstract?” Penni inquires.

“Abstract art doesn’t try to imitate life exactly as we see it with our eyes.” He picks up a pencil and grabs a blank sheet of paper. “Take your drawing of a fruit dove, for example. That is realism- it’s trying to get as close as we can to the real thing.” He puts the pencil to the paper. “Abstract art uses many different shapes and colors to create something new, something that we’ll never see anywhere but the paper it’s drawn on.” A drawing comes to life on the paper- an eccentric fruit dove created entirely out of squares, triangles, and straight lines.

Penni can’t tear her eyes away from the drawing. She’s never seen anything like it before. “Mr. Senpao…” she says in awe, “this the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. And I touched an orangutan spirit today.”

“What?”

Penni realizes what she just let slip. “Nothing. Can you show me how to do that?” she asks excitedly.

Mr. Senpao gives a hearty chuckle. “Of course, Penni! Isn’t that what I’m here for?” He hands her the pencil. “You try adding something to this drawing using only shapes and straight lines.”

With a tentative grip on the pencil, Penni thinks about what to add. After a few minutes of deliberation, she draws a small piece of fruit made of circles and triangles hanging from the dove’s mouth.

“Yes!” Mr. Senpao exclaims. “Just like that! You can create as much abstract art as you want in your free time, but for our lessons you must continue to work on realism.”

Penni groans. “I hate realism!” She leans her head back and puts her hands over her face. “There’s too much shading.”

“I know, but that’s what your parents pay me to teach you.” Mr. Senpao tries to console her. “They say it’s a marketable skill that will make you attractive to potential suitors, and it can be quite fun once you get the hang of it.” His attempt isn’t working. “Guess what?” He smirks.

“What?”

He leans in close and whispers, “In your sketchbook, you can create whatever kind of art you want. I won’t tell your mother. She only ever asks how you’re doing on your assignments- not what you’re drawing in your personal book.” He leans back and raises his voice slightly above a whisper. “Abstract art doesn’t have to be done exactly the way I showed you, either. The options are limitless!”

Penni beams at her art teacher. “You’re a real friend, Mr. Senpao. You know that?” The smile leaves her face as she slumps into her chair and sighs. “I guess now that we’ve made our secret deal, we have to work on shading, huh?”

      Mr. Senpao’s smile is underlined with sympathy. “Yes, yes we do.”

      They work for another hour. After her teacher leaves, Penni explores drawing shells from her collection in an abstract way until it’s time for dinner.

      “Penni!” Rea’s voice floats up the stairs, “Come down and eat!” Penni slams her sketchbook shut and shoves it under her pillow. As she dashes down the stairs, she runs her fingertips along the rough bark of the tree that grows through the middle of their house. When she makes it to the dining room, her mother eyes her suspiciously.

      “Darling, what’s on your neck?”

      Penni’s heart falls into her stomach. “My necklace, mom…” she swallows nervously, “you said I could keep it, remember?”

      “Yes, I know. That’s not what I’m talking about.” Adala gets up from her chair and brushes Penni’s long hair away from her neck. “What are these?” Her cool fingers stroke the right side of Penni’s neck.

      “I don’t know, mom. Let me look.” Penni escapes to a mirror in the hallway. Two thin, red lines on each side of her neck startle her. Those weren’t there this morning… she thinks. Quick, quick, what do I tell mom? Penni covers the marks with her hands. “I scratched myself at school today,” she reluctantly offers. “Yeah,” she says with growing confidence, “yeah! I was really nervous about a test over some sun charms that I forgot to study for! I just dug my fingernails into my neck, that’s all.”

      Adala raises her eyebrows. “Well,” she says with a cynical smirk, “if that’s what really happened, I suppose I’ll have to tell your father that you’re having trouble in school.” She narrows her eyes, daring Penni to argue with her.

      “O- okay…” Penni mutters. All of her attention is now focused on the marks on her neck. Do these have something to do with the orangutan? She’s never heard of anyone getting red lines on their body from touching an ape spirit, but today’s events have shown her that anything is possible.

      Penni’s train of thought is interrupted when her father, Tapomo Pergola, bursts into the hallway. His intimidating frame towers well over six feet. His shoulder-length black hair has started to fall out of the low ponytail he always puts in it, giving him a disheveled look. “So, she’s having trouble in school, eh?” He huffs toward Penni. “You know, after your mother and I realized we could never have children, we thought it was a real blessing when I found a baby crying on the beach.” He crosses his muscular arms and furrows his brow. “If only I’d known you’d give me almost a full head of gray hair at 42!” His voice gets louder. “Other girls study hard so they can marry well and have a nice life, but you! I give you everything you could ever ask for and you still spend all your time climbing trees and digging around in the sand! And now it’s affecting your studies?” He puts a fist up to his chin and thinks about what to say next. “You are only allowed to be in your bedroom or at school until your grades get better. No more drawing in that sketchbook or fooling around outside. All your free time will be spent studying until we see improvement!”

      “But you never even asked me what my grades are!” Penni protests. “My grades are fine! I’ll bring home a report from the teacher tomorrow, you’ll see.”

      Adala chuckles condescendingly. “Well, you can’t be doing that well if you’re scratching yourself up over tests.”

      “But I- “

      Adala puts her palm up. “No. Your father,” she gives Tapomo a knowing look, “is going to come home from the boat early tomorrow and we’re going to talk to your teacher about your grades.” She smirks. “We’ll see what went wrong with that test.”

      Now it’s Tapomo’s turn to protest. “We haven’t been catching that much fish lately. I’m going to need to be on the water as much as possible until market day!”

      Adala glares at him. “Penni’s future is important. It won’t kill you to take one half day.”

      Tapomo takes Adala’s glare and directs it at Penni. “Here, I’ll help you study a little right now. Less fish equals less money! Go up to your room and don’t come out until you leave for school tomorrow morning. Rea will bring your dinner up.”

      Penni runs up to her bedroom as quickly as can and slams the door behind her. She leans against the door and slides down to the floor, unable to stop the tears from spilling down her face. I don’t know what I did wrong… She tears the abstract drawings out of her sketchbook, knowing that her mother would make a big deal if she saw them. Penni’s stomach knots up when she remembers the nightstand. She has no idea how to fix it, and she can’t go anywhere to get anything to fix it with for who knows how long. As she flops onto her bed in dismay, Rea knocks on the door.

      “Sweetheart, may I come in?” Rea asks through the door. “I have your dinner.”

      “I’m not hungry.” The pillow Penni has buried her face in has muffled her voice.

      Rea comes in regardless. “I’m gonna leave the food anyway, sweetie.” She sets the tray on Penni’s desk and gently sits on the bed. “I know it’s hard. If you need a sympathetic ear or just a hug, I’ll always be here.”

      Penni sits up and leans her head on Rea’s shoulder. “Sometimes I feel like they hate me. Because I’m… you know…” she struggles to finish her sentence. “not theirs.”

      “Oh, don’t ever think that.” Rea wraps Penni up in a motherly hug. “They’re hard on you because they want what’s best for you. You know they love you.” Rea has always had a soft spot in her heart for Penni. She’s clothed her, fed her, played with her, and lulled her to sleep since she was a baby; Tapomo was always on the water and Adala preferred to putter around the house.

      Penni hugs Rea back. “Thanks. It’s nice to hear that every once in a while, you know?”

      Rea stands up and gives Penni a kiss on the forehead. “I have to get back to the kitchen. You better eat something before you go to bed.” She leaves and gingerly closes the door behind her.

      Once alone, Penni examines the tray and discovers that Rea hid a few small seashells inside a napkin. A warm smile breaks through her tears. She found these on her walk this morning. Rea must have saved them while she was cleaning up, she thinks. Penni picks them up and holds them close to her chest for a few seconds before putting them down and assessing her dinner. Rea managed to sneak in some extra dessert for her, which was so sweet of her that Penni just has to eat it. After finishing the dessert, she decides that she really isn’t hungry. It’s too risky to draw right now because her mother could come in the room at any moment, so Penni tries to sleep. While she’s changing into her pajamas, she inspects the warts from earlier and is alarmed to find more scattered all over both her legs. I think it’s time to see a doctor, but I’m not allowed to leave my bedroom… she thinks as she cocoons herself in her blankets.

      Penni wakes up in the middle of the night with the driest throat she’s ever had. She sits up groggily and the glass of water on her desk catches her eye. Throwing the blankets off of herself, she tries to swing her right leg off the bed but gets slapped out of her dreamy haze when her left leg comes along with it. Tentatively, she runs a hand in between her legs to find them stuck together. What’s even more worrying is that the lower half of her body is almost completely covered in those warts from toe to pelvis, and she’s watching new ones grow out of her skin every second. They are flat and shiny and have taken on an orange-pink color.

        “There’s no way these are just warts.” Her eyes widen in fear. “These’re scales- I think I’m turning into a giant fish! I never should’ve trusted that orangutan!” In her scramble to get out of bed, she puts a hand on her nightstand to steady herself. Her hand goes through the hole and she falls right onto the ground, taking the nightstand down with her. She winces at the racket she just made, hoping that no one was woken by it. After a few seconds of waiting, no one yells or comes up to her bedroom. She considers filling up the bathtub but shudders at the thought of her father selling her on market day. The beach… gotta get to the beach. It’s difficult to get around when both your legs are glued together by orangutan magic, but she makes it out of her bedroom and down the stairs. The mirror in the hallway causes her to stop. Her face has changed ever so slightly. Her cerulean eyes are the tiniest bit bigger, her cheekbones are a little more defined, and her lips are the teensiest bit fuller than they used to be; her whole face seems more ethereal than it did this morning. Just before she tears her eyes away from the mirror, she notices the marks on her neck. One of them is open, but it isn’t red or bleeding. It’s just… open. The one right under it is slowly opening before her eyes.

    “What is going on?” Penni whispers anxiously. A stinging sensation occurs on both sides of her giant leg, like someone is poking her with hot needles. She looks down to find two fins sprouting out of her upper thighs. This pushes her to get out of the house even faster. Luckily her parents can afford stairs with a nice railing as opposed to a ladder, so getting to the ground isn’t too difficult. Her usual trek to the beach proves to be a lot harder this time, but she’s done it so many times that she knows where every rock, bump, and root lay in the path. She arrives at the beach extremely winded. Her feet have completely fused together, which has greatly restricted her movement and hindered her balance. She hops over to the water just in time- her feet are beginning to experience the same stinging feeling that her thighs did earlier. This time it’s a fluke burgeoning out of the tips of her toes. Feeling incredibly lightheaded, she flops into the shallow water and pulls herself further in. She lays in the water, everything submerged except her face. Eventually, the tide washes over her face and she’s fully submerged. Her silk nightgown feels uncomfortable and foreign now.

“What’s happening to me…?” She ponders with a depressing ache in her voice.

“Hello, child,” croaks a dusty voice behind her.

Penni flips over to find herself staring right into the eyes of a large sea turtle.