“Don’t yours?”
“They tell jokes.” She pointed to the stall’s top shelf. “Those tell the best ones. I once laughed so hard I almost fell through the cloud.”
Keishin chuckled. “I would give anything to see that.”
Hana smirked and arched her brow. “You want to see me fall?”
“I want to see you so happy, you laugh your heart out.”
“I…wish the same for you.”
He stroked her cheek. “Then your wish has already come true.”
“Good evening.” A man in a silver-gray kimono greeted them from a nearby stall. “We have a fine collection tonight. Would you like to take a look?” He gestured to an elegant display of necklaces and bracelets made from strands of what looked like shimmering blue pearls.
“What are those?” Keishin whispered to Hana.
“That stall sells memories. Those are kioku pearls.”
Keishin leaned over the side of the boat to get a closer look. The pearls turned out to be little crystal orbs filled with miniature oceans, complete with a horizon of sunrises, sunsets, and clouds. The vendor held a necklace to Keishin’s ear. Waves crashed against the crystal as loud as though he were walking along a shore.
“Thank you.” Hana bowed to the vendor as their boat drifted past his stall. She turned to Keishin. “People keep memories inside them to pass on to their children like heirlooms. But some people sell their memories. That vendor turns them into jewelry.”
“Why?”
“In a world where your path is set, other people’s memories are sometimes your only way to see lives that could never be yours.” Hana pointed to a stall that no boats stopped at. “That stall sells healing salves and potions.”
“Like a pharmacy?” Keishin said.
“Something like that.”
“It doesn’t seem to be very popular.”
“Most people cannot afford what they sell.”
“How does it manage to stay open?”
“All it needs is a single person desperate enough to pay its price. If it managed to sell to one customer in a year, that would be enough.”
“Are you interested in visiting any place in particular?” the boat’s pilot said.
“We need to go to the porters,” Hana said.
The pilot tilted her head. “The porters?”
“There is a rumor that we want to learn more about. We were told that it began here at the market.”
“All rumors begin here,” the pilot said. “And you would be right in seeking out the porters. They know everything that is whispered.”
“Good,” Hana said.
“But I must warn you about the porters,” the pilot said. “They are greedier than any of the vendors here and they like to play games.”
—
Porters packed their baskets with their customers’ items and strapped them onto their backs. They checked one another’s loads, making sure that each was tied securely. Those who were ready lined up at a well, climbed into a large bucket, and lowered themselves through a hole in the clouds.
“They have been contracted to deliver those items directly to their customers’ homes so that their customers do not need to worry about carrying their purchases down the ladder,” Hana said.
