From One Boy, No Water

Book 1 of The Niuhi Shark Saga

“Jay,” said Nili-boy softly, “What’s the haps?”

“I saw…I think I saw a shark,” said Jay.

“Who’s a pretty girl, hah?” Nili-boy gave ‘Ilima a final ear ruffle and stood with a shrug.

“Probably. Get plenny sharks out there. Probably more than one.”

Jay bit his lip and nodded. “I think might have been two. One was big.” He looked at the Nili-boy, taking his eyes off the water for the first time. “Really, really big.”

“You seen sharks out there before?” asked Uncle Kahana.

Jay shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes.”

“Big ones?”

“Yeah, but this one was…different.”

“Different how?” ask Nili-boy. “Different color, different fins?”

Jay looked at the ground, pushing sand with his toes. “I dunno how. I saw ‘em and I got chicken skin and I knew.”

Excerpted from One Boy, No Water by Lehua Parker. Copyright © 2012 by Lehua Parker. Excerpted by permission of Jolly Fish Press, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.