It was Kara’s first morning at the mission house. When she woke up, she felt for her slippers. Then hugging her doll, Rei, she left the bedroom in her pajamas. She crossed the living room and went straight to the mini-library.

Kara was yawning as she stood before the tall book shelf. Together with Rei, she scanned the shelf from left to right, and up and down. Rei seemed a bit sleepy.

The books in the mini-library were curious about Kara. Some of them climbed down from the shelves when they saw her enter. Others poked their spines out the shelf-gaps to see her better. “Who could she be?” they murmured to each other.

Kara slumped down onto a chair and stroked Rei’s thick red hair. She then buried her face on the table. Rei felt sorry for her. Both of them hardly noticed the hurrying book steps. A red booklet climbing down from the fourth level of the shelf could not help asking, “Is she crying?”

Frowning, Rei shook her head. “No she’s not crying. But she wants to go back.”

“Where?”

“To the South,” Rei answered.

“Hmmm. And what is her name?”

“Kara.”

At this time, two other books, one slightly long and thin, the other fat and wide, clambered down the shelf and walked towards Kara.

“Hello, Kara. Good to meet you,” they said.

Kara stared at them for a while. Then she smiled. She remembered that she had seen the wide book before. “Ah,” she finally recalled that her mother owned one similar to it. Her mother sometimes copied some pictures there for Kara to color. Kara hugged the book – Visitor, it’s called. “Hey Vister!” she said. Vister simply smiled.

Kara then opened the other book and realized it contained poems.

“Hello!” the book said, “I’m Thinker.”

Just then, Ms. Dans entered the library. All the books scuttled back to the shelf. Vister and Thinker could not make it back to the shelf as fast as they came, so Ms. Dans picked them up from the floor as they were on their way. Ms. Dans is caretaker of the mission house.

Kara stood up looking a little startled. She hasn’t fully gotten over meeting this lady with black, curly hair. She thought Ms Dans had the blackest skin and the whitest teeth in the whole world.

Ms Dans said as she fixed the books in their places, “Oh, you’re up so early. Did you sleep well?”

Kara nodded, eager to please.

“Tell me,” said Ms Dans, “Would you like to have your breakfast?” Ms. Dans glanced at the wall clock. “It’s nearly eight o’clock. Or would you like to read first while I fix some sandwich?”

On hearing that Kara may read first, some books dusted themselves and smiled their widest. But a little orange book merely jumped off the shelf, on to the table, and rolled open before Kara. It caught both Ms Dans’ and Kara’s attention.

Kara picked up this orange book now smarting at her. She held it up to Ms Dans.

“Oh, the Answer Book,” Ms Dans said, “You may browse it, but if you want, I’ll give you a story book, instead.”

Kara shook her head.

“Oh well,” said Ms. Dans, “You may just want to read it. I’ll call you in an hour for breakfast. If you need help, I will be right there,” she pointed to a tall table right across Kara.

Kara nodded and Ms Dans left her.

Then Kara sat and cupped her chin in one hand. She flipped through the pages of the slim book and read quietly, “The Answer Book.” On the first page it read, “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” Under it is a boy and a girl shaking hands. The next page asked, “WHERE DO YOU LIVE?” Above it is a house with a garden.

Kara asked Rei, “Do you know where we are now?”

“I know. But I have been a little confused since we got down from the plane,” said Rei. “Yesterday, we flew from Sambara-saramba- oh well, from the South to the North. At least, that’s what your Dad said. ”

“That’s Sa-rang-ga-ni. I told you to say it rightly.”

“Yes, that’s what I said. Shramba-srangba- Oh, whatever. We’re in Baguio now,” Rei frowned.

Not long after that, Ms. Dans called, “Kara, Breakfast is ready….”

Kara answered, “Coming, Ms. Dans!” Then she said to the books, “See you later.”

Later that same morning, Kara went back to the Library, munching cookies. “Ms Dans!” she called, “Ms Dans! I am not finished with the Answer Book. May I read it while I eat my cookies?”

Adjusting her glasses, Ms Dans said, “You may read it but take care that crumbs don’t fall on the pages of the book. We don’t like ants to find crumbs in them.” She winked.

“Yes Ms. Dans,” Kara smiled.

Kara put her cookies aside. She retrieved the Answer Book from the shelf and opened it to page five.

“All right Rei, where are we now? Here, look; It asks, “WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER DO FOR A LIVING?” There’s a doctor; that’s an… astronaut! Yes, and a soldier, and a board… Sunday school… a teacher…. Rei, do you know what Mom does for a living?”

“Doesn’t she make pots?” Rei asked.

Kara was bored. “ Wait here.” She closed her eyes and inserted her hands in the next page. Before flipping the page, she murmured, “I’m sure the next question is…” she opened her eyes. “ I’m right, it asks about my Father. I thought it would. Dad is a missionary, can’t you tell? Everybody knows that.”

Kara then lazily flipped to the next four pages. They asked about pets, and brothers, and sisters. “I don’t have a brother or a sister!” Kara blurted.

“That’s right!” said Rei. “You have only me. But that book does not even ask my name.” Rei raised her eyebrows.

The next page made Kara stop and think. “HAVE YOU BEEN TO A PARK? WHAT DO YOU SEE IN A PARK?” The question was written on top of the next page where there’s a girl in a swing surrounded by plenty of trees and benches and flowers.

“Mom says we’ll go down Burnham on Sunday,” Kara mumbled.

Rei said, “Wow! There’s a new place to go right after church on Sundays.”

“But I prefer the beach.” Kara pouted. “We always went to the beach, remember? Mom would carry a picnic basket, and we ate rice and fried chicken and pancit. And Nanay Delia wrapped our food in banana leaves, and It smelled good, and we ate with our hands. And Dad and Tatay Ben would catch fish and Mom would put them over the fire. It’s really cool. And we always brought rubber balls. And we play with Boy and Hannah. And then by sunset, we would ride a boat and row along the shore following the mangroves until the bend where Dad says its dangerous to row because it’s going to the ocean where we might be carried by big waves.”

Kara got excited. “On the beach, I can run all day and play catch me if you can with Hannah. Then Boy and I would perch on the rocks, and watch other people swim. It’s always warm there and the beach is so white. When the sun was too hot we ran under the mangroves. Yes! My mangroves! My lovely cool mangroves.”

Kara was silent for a long while. Then she sighed and said, “Maybe we should go back to Sarangani. I miss the mangroves.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Rei tried to console her friend. “There are lots of pine trees here. I think they’re pretty.”

“But I miss Hannah and Boy and the mangroves,” said Kara. Suddenly, she had an idea. “ I know! I know. We can still build a play house by the mangroves!”

“But you’re only eight, and I’m a doll!” Rei was confused. “How are we going to do that when we are among pines, not mangroves.”

“It doesn’t matter. Here’s what we’ll do.” Kara picked Vister. She also got the Thin book of poems from the lower shelf.

Vister Book and Thinker Book were curious and fearful at the same time. “Did you say that you heard that she’s going to build a play house by the mangroves?” They whispered to each other as Kara picked them and brought them to the floor.

“How will she do that? She’s not Filipina, is she?” Thinker asked.

“What’s that got to do with building a play house by the mangroves?” Vister frowned.

“It can only be a play house on stilts.” Thinker answered.

“It’s a play house. Every child knows how to build one, with or without stilts,” Vister smirked

Thinker said, “But she has to blend with her surroundings.”

Vister stared at Thinker for a while and then shrugged, “She’s Canadian.”

“How did you know?”

“Her mother came to see me last night. She said she knew me. Then she said that she used to own a copy of Visitor in Canada.”

“That makes them Canadian?” Thinker was suspicious.

“Does it matter? They now live here anyway,” Vister shrugged his shoulders.

Just then, Kara jumped up and clapped her hands to get everybody’s attention. “Look, I have an idea,” she said. “This Answer book asks me where I live. So I am going to make myself a permanent place to live in. Then I’m going to write an address that will never, ever, ever change. But first I must build my home, by the beach, right by the mangroves.”

Rei, Thinker, and Vister looked at her in amazement. “Indeed, she would build a play house by the mangroves.” They chorused.

“And how may we help make this happen?” Vister asked.

“First we have to go back to the beach – think very, very hard about the beach.” Kara was now pacing back and forth, as she pops and chews the cookies.

“To the beach,” Vister and Thinker pondered.

“You two, will open and close,” said Kara.

“Open and close? This way you mean?” Vister suddenly opened and closed in a huge thud. Thinker helped it up because it fell in the process.

A bit embarrassed, Thinker said, “I can’t do that. I can’t open as flat as that on my back. It’s my slender build.”

“I’ll hold you open,” said Rei. “I’ll always make sure that when Kara reads you, you don’t close too fast.”

“Ok, are you ready?” Kara asked.

“Wait,” said Thinker, “We are just to open and close? You’re not going to read us at all?”

“Of course I would. How could you open a book and not read it? It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard! Besides, It’s fun to read under the mangroves,” said Kara.

“But I wasn’t born with words!” Vister complained.

“That’s right. I’m looking at your pictures instead. I’d close my eyes very tightly like this, and then I’d open it and we’d all be in your pages. I would fold the pictures where we’d need to spend more time in.”

“Fold me!” Vister was aghast. “I am not for folding, nor for tearing. I am for viewing!” he almost choked in his appeal.

“And so am I,” said Thinker, swallowing hard and patting Vister’s back. “I am a thinker and I can bear being alone but I can’t bear not being read. Only read us and we’ll help you. That should be our deal!”

“All right, all right!” said Kara. “Here, I’ll show you. Fall flat Vister friend. Open up on the beach page.”

Vister did fall so flat and Kara exclaimed, “There!” she pointed to a photo of a long white beach with children running on the sand. Lush green line up the shore. Kara sang:

“Sand scrapes my feet. The heat

causes me to run so fast

I think I wouldn’t last.

Hurry, Doll is just behind me

I will be tagged.”

On that beach, Rei was indeed running so fast after Kara, but she could not catch Kara who seemed to have winged feet.

For quite a while, Vister and Thinker just watched, their arms crossed over their covers. They were sitting side by side, leaning spine to spine on a dry rock. Thinker got bored and flipped Vister for some fun. “Here,” he said, holding fast to a page where mangroves lined the beach. “Maybe that’s where she wants to go.”

Just then, Kara called. “Come you two! We found mangroves kneeling side by side. It has huge square roots and it faces the sun! Come over, we can sit here, as when we sit on a bamboo bed.”

“A bamboo bed?” asked Thinker. “Did you hear that? She knew what kind of house she’s talking about.” Thinker said.

“Of course, she does. She’s got it all in her mind,” Vister quipped.

Thinker wiped some sand off his body and strode to where Kara and Rei were. “Maybe she’s Filipina.”

Vister closed, and stood up, and hurried after Thinker. “I say, we should be on our way back to the shelf,” he shouted. But a wind slapped him shut, and he fell flat, and the wind flipped his pages back and forth too fast, until it stopped on the picture of a line of mangroves spread right across his middle.

“Whoops!” Thinker saw what happened and he laughed out loud. HE was still laughing when he told Rei and Kara, “The wind skimmed Vister”

“Aha! That’s why all these mangroves are here!” Kara was excited, “Come here Thinker. Open up. Look! What can you see?”

Thinker struggled as Rei held him. Kara read,

“…Thick and lush leaves around us

Fishes and sea weeds below

Cool wind and water around us

Sun peering so bright and low.”

“That’s so smart Thin,” said Kara. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

When he finally got up, Vister asked, “Look. I have sand.” He was almost crying. “You’ll have to help me brush the dirt away. Ms Dans doesn’t like dirt and if she finds sand on my pages, she might stack me in some box to sell later.”

“First,” said Thinker, “close up and don’t walk around like a coverless book. Is there a dry weed we can use to mark this belly up?” he asked Rei, concerned.

Rei walked up and down the beach and finally brought a piece of dry and flattened leaf. Thinker stuck it in between Vister’s mangrove page. “That’ll do it,” he smiled.

After a while, Kara said, “Vister, Thinker, come sit beside me. This is our home now, under these mangroves. Let’s play here so the leaves can protect us from the sun. Later, we’ll go on a boat ride with my friends. Look over there, they’re waving at us.”

Rei held Thinker once more.

Kara reads,

“I’m Kara, girl of the mangroves

I built my house under this tree

My heart’s right here, would you like to see

I’m one of you and you are in me.

Let me into your boat and we’ll row together

We’ll play tug of war with the whale

You’ll be rowing, I’ll be singing

Until the big fish swims far away.”

Everybody looked at Vister. Vister guessed rightly that they want to take him to the boat.

“Oh, no!” Vister stepped back. “I’m staying here. I won’t get into that, that thing riding the waves. Oh no…no….no!”

But Kara had picked him up and Thinker as well.

“Hello!” Kara shouted over to the children. “May I have a ride?”

The boys and girls on the boat laughed. They waved back and rowed their boat near the beach where Kara was. Soon Kara was in the boat. The children spoke another language. But Kara understood some of what they’re saying. She knew they were talking about her hair. She liked the color of theirs though, shiny black as the sun touched them.

Vister asked, “What are they saying?” He covered his face as they boarded the boat. “No I wouldn’t look,” he kept repeating.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh; ohhhhhhhhhh; ohhhhhh Vister cried as the boat rode the small waves of the sea. One girl and two boys rowed the boat. Vister was open flat on Kara’s chest, feeling seasick. He peeked at the deep, blue waters on his belly. Multicolored fishes playfully flipped their fins.

Kara said to her new friends in the boat, “This is Vister, Thin, and Rei. They’re my friends from the library.”

The children looked at her and laughed. “Ulandis” one of them pointed to her hair. “parang mais” and then they laughed again.

Kara found this funny too. That’s a good one for the color of her hair-corn color. Twirling some strands of her hair she said, “meyis.”

Everybody laughed.

Thinker joined in the laughter. Then feeling the air clear up, he sang from the bottom of his heart page.

“Your skin is red, and theirs are brown

Your nose’s too high, and theirs are flat

Their arms are skinny, and yours too plump

But then you can’t ever row so fast.”

The children joined in the singing. Ready, one, two three, Rei conducts:

“We’re too different yes we are

And yet we’re children in one boat

Kara’s mangroves are ours

And Vister and Thinker we browse.

And Vister and Thinker we browse.

They sang this over and over again as they rowed. Vister got so dizzy and fell asleep, secure in Kara’s embrace. Meanwhile, Thinker didn’t move lest he fall down from Kara’s lap, except when he got carried away and waved his arms as Rei did when they sang.

“Rei,” Thinker pondered, “what makes this boat ride fun?”

“I’m a doll. What do I know?”

“Maybe, it’s those little flying fishes.”

“Maybe, the clear, blue clouds?”

“Maybe, the warm, friendly breeze.”

“Maybe, the mangroves!”

“It has to be,” said Thinker “I’ve never seen such lush green leaves in my shelf life.”

Finally, they returned to shore. Kara carefully got out of the boat. Her friends waved at her as they rowed away.

“Lunch time now,” said Kara, “under the mangroves.”

“And what is for lunch?” asked Vister who perked up.

“Fish,” said Rei.

Once again, Vister fell flat on the beach and there, Kara was in his page having lunch.

Thinker was picking stones from the fish.

Rei was watching them munch.

Vister had to wait for his turn for everybody was inside his pages.

But before he could have his share of the grill, Ms Dans came and told Kara, “Your mother calls you Kara. Time for lunch.”