“Mini, no one sayssis. Like, ever.”
“We could bring it back! Make it retro-cool.”
“There’s nothing retro-cool aboutsis.”
“Fine. What aboutsister from another mister?” asked Mini.
“No.”
“What about…?”
This continued for far too long.
I’ll Be a Cow in My Next Life
Lightning bolts are much heavier than they look.
After Vajra had revealed its true form, it seemed reluctant to revert to the size of the ball. Aru had finally solved the problem by imagining Vajra as flip-flops to be worn on her feetafterthey’d walked on that goopy whale tongue. The weapon had shuddered at the idea and obediently shrunk.
Mini, on the other hand, preferred to use the Death Danda (or “Dee Dee,” as she had nicknamed it) as a walking stick, and was currently acting as though she were twelve hundred years old instead of twelve.
“I think I’m predisposed to having joint problems,” she said. “And you only get two knees. I mean, I guess Icouldreplace them, but it won’t be the same, and getting surgery isn’t something you should do lightly. Tons of things could go wrong. You could even die.”
Once they were safely out of the creature’s mouth, they followed the stone path that wound around the cave that wasn’t a cave at all but a gigantic whale thing.
When Aru looked up, the top of the creature was concealed by clouds. Strange protrusions that Aru had thought were just rocks now looked a lot more like fins covered in sharp barnacles. Streams of water ran down the sides, like someone was continually pouring liquid over the monster.
“It’s atimingala, by the way,” said Mini, following her gaze. “At least, I think it is.”
“Never heard of those.”
“They’re basically giant whale sharks out of the stories.”
“I thought whale sharks were supposed to be friendly. And not have teeth!” said Aru. “That was the rudest one ever. It basically tried to kill us with halitosis.”
“It was just doing its job! Besides, it was acelestial guardwhale shark,” Mini pointed out. “And it had all those weapons stuck in its mouth, poor thing. Imagine if you had to spend the rest of your life with sharp popcorn stuck in your teeth. Just thinking about it makes me want to floss more than twice a day.”
“You floss twice a day?”
“Of course,” said Mini. “Don’t you?”
“Um.”
“Aru…Do you even floss?”
Aru considered herself extremely lucky if she remembered tobrushher teeth at night, much less floss. Sometimes, when she was running late for school, she’d just eat toothpaste. In fact, she wasn’t even sure theyhadfloss in the house.
“Of course I do.”When I’ve got something stuck in my teeth.
Mini was skeptical. “If you don’t floss, that can lead to tooth decay. And if that happens, the tooth decay can spread into your sinuses, and then get behind your eyes, and then enter your brain, and then—”
“Mini, if you sayYou die, I willactuallydie just because you keep saying it.”
“You’re my sister. It’s my familial duty to make sure that you survive.”
Aru tried not to smile.You’re my sister. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get tired of hearing that.
“I’m doing fine so far. And I’ve got all my teeth. Death: zero. Aru: um, at least four.”
