Kai’s breath puffed out in little clouds as she stood beside her father on the front deck of the Kaze Maru, an old wooden fishing boat showing its age from all the winters had it seen, gripping her fishing rod tightly. The sea stretched endlessly before her, its surface glinting like shards of glass in the pale morning light. Her father knelt beside her, his hands weathered and strong as he tied a hook to her line.
“Remember, Kai,” he said, his voice calm and steady, “the sea teaches us if we’re willing to listen. It’s not just about what we catch—it’s about what we learn.”
Kai furrowed her brow, her young mind trying to grasp the weight of his words. “What do you mean, Dad?” she asked.
He smiled and handed her the rod. “You’ll see.”
She cast her line into the water, watching the bobber float gently on the surface. The boat rocked with the rhythm of the waves, and for a while, there was only silence between them. Kai felt a strange mix of excitement and nervousness bubbling inside her chest.
“What if I don’t catch anything?” she asked softly.
Her father chuckled. “That’s part of fishing, too. Sometimes you catch something; sometimes you don’t. Either way, you learn.”
Just as he spoke, the bobber dipped sharply. “Dad! I think I got one!” Kai exclaimed, her voice high with excitement.
“Easy now,” he said, moving beside her. “Feel how it pulls? That’s the fish fighting against you. Don’t yank—breathe into it. Let its energy move through you like the current.”
Kai nodded, gripping the rod tightly but keeping her movements steady as she reeled in her first catch—a small but lively Hokkai Shimaebi shrimp. She held it in her hands, marveling at its translucent shell that shimmered like sunlight on snow.
“It’s so pretty,” she whispered.
Her father crouched beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Some things we catch are worth holding onto and cherishing,” he said gently. “But there are other things—like this shrimp—that we need to let go.”
Kai looked up at him, confused. “Why? I worked so hard to catch it.”
“Because holding onto some things can hurt us or keep us stuck,” he explained. “This little shrimp is part of something bigger—the ocean’s balance. If we take more than we need or hold on too tightly, we upset that balance.”
Kai hesitated but then carefully lowered the shrimp back into the water, watching as it darted away into the depths.
As they sailed back toward shore, Kai sat quietly beside her father, watching the waves rise and fall around them. She thought about how she had felt when she caught the shrimp—the rush of excitement followed by a pang of sadness when she let it go.
“Dad,” she said after a long pause, “I think I understand now.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What do you understand?”
“The sea is like our feelings,” she said slowly, searching for the right words. “Sometimes they bubble up really strong—like when I was excited—and other times they’re calm and quiet—like now.” She looked up at him. “But they always move, like the waves.”
Her father smiled proudly and nodded. “Exactly right, Kai. The ebb and flow of the current is just like our emotions—they come and go if we let them move through us.”
Kai thought about this as they docked at shore and unloaded their gear. That evening, as they sat by the fire warming their hands, she turned to him again.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think there are some feelings we have to let go of too? Like how we let go of the shrimp?”
Her father gazed at her thoughtfully before answering. “Yes, Kai. Some feelings are worth holding onto—like love or joy—but others can weigh us down if we cling to them too tightly. Anger or fear… those are like heavy nets that can keep us stuck if we don’t release them.”
Kai nodded slowly, staring into the flickering flames of the fire. She thought about how freeing it had felt to let the shrimp swim away and wondered if letting go of hard feelings might feel the same.
“I think I’ll try to remember that,” she said softly.
Her father smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You’re already learning what took me years to understand,” he said warmly. “The sea has a lot to teach us if we’re willing to listen.”
As Kai leaned against him, she felt a quiet peace settle over her—a sense that she was part of something vast and ever-changing, like the ocean itself.
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