Fish In A Tree

by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

“Before the United States entered World War Two, there were a bunch of American pilots in China. They were called the Flying Tigers. They flew those planes with the shark teeth on the nose.” “Wait!” I say. “My dad and brother love those planes!” He nods once as I try hard to shake out the mind movie of me as an airplane. “They did not have many planes, so they would repaint them every few missions. Change a bit of the design and the numbers so that the Japanese would think there were far more of them than there really were.” I sort of know what he means. “I’ve watched you. Trying to figure out how to repaint yourself for other people all the time. Trying to make them think one thing about you when the opposite was true. Like with the teachers. Always getting sent to the office.”