Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 7:45 A.M. THAT MORNING SHOGAHAMA, JAPAN The score was tied with ten seconds to go. Ben grabbed the ball and dribbled down the court. He zigzagged around guys who seemed ten feet tall. The crowd cheered. As usual, Dad's voice rose up above the rest. "You can do it, Ben!" The clock was counting down — 4, 3, 2 … Ben shot the ball. It sailed for the basket and hung in the air….

Ben's eyes flew open. He sat straight up in bed, drenched with sweat, breathing hard. It took him a few seconds to remember that he wasn't at home in California. He was at his uncle's house, in the tiny village of Shogahama, Japan. His five-year-old brother, Harry, had been asleep next to Ben. Now Harry was up, too. "Scary dream?" Harry asked, putting a little hand on Ben's clammy back. Ben shrugged off Harry's hand. "Not too bad," Ben said, careful to keep his voice from shaking. He never wanted Harry to know that he felt sad or scared. And besides, a dream about Dad was never a bad dream. It was waking up that was torture — remembering all over again that Dad was gone. He had died four months ago, in a car accident near the California air force base where they lived. Dad

had been an F-16 pilot for the U.S. Air Force. He'd flown dangerous missions all over the world. And he'd died on a California highway, on his way home from picking up a box of doughnuts for Ben and Harry. A few months before the accident, Dad had announced a big surprise: a family trip to Shogahama, the fishing village in Japan where Dad had lived until he was ten. They would go in March, during Ben's school vacation. They would stay with Dad's Uncle Tomeo; they all called him Ojisan, the Japanese word for uncle. Ben had always dreamed of visiting Shogahama. Ojisan was more like a grandfather to him than a far-away uncle. He'd come to visit them in California several times over the years. Ben had heard so many stories about Dad's life growing up in the village. He couldn't wait to see it for himself. But not without Dad.

Ben couldn't believe it when his mom announced they were still taking the trip. He'd begged her to cancel, but Mom never changed her mind. "Don't be tricked by that sweet smile," Dad used to say. Mom had been in the air force, too, before she had Ben. "She's tougher than all of us," Dad always said with a proud smile. Mom wanted to go to Shogahama. And so here they were. Harry got out of bed, his Darth Vader pajamas drooping on his bony shoulders. Ojisan's cat, Nya, was asleep at the foot of the mattress. Harry scooped her up. The cat had to be a hundred years old, her black fur rubbed away in places. She was small and scrawny with a crooked tail that looked like the letter z. Instead of saying, "meow," she had a shriek that hurt Ben's ears. "Eee! Eee!" Ben wished Harry would ignore the cat so she would leave them alone. But Harry had decided

that Nya was a Jedi cat, Darth Vader's special assistant. And somehow the old cat didn't mind being dragged around the house as Harry played his Star Wars games, chasing invisible enemies with his lightsaber. Now Harry rubbed his cheek against Nya's head and looked at Ben with his bright eyes. "Will you help me climb the tree after breakfast?" he asked. "I need to make my wish." Not that again. One of the stories Dad told about Shogahama was that the cherry trees were magic. If you climbed to the top of a tree, Dad said, you could make a wish. Ben knew Dad was just telling fairy tales. But Harry believed in everything. For the whole week, Harry had been eyeing the cherry tree in Ojisan's small front yard, waiting for the rain to stop so he could climb to the top. Now the sky was bright blue, and Harry was ready.

"You know what I'm going to wish for?" Harry said, leaning in close. His coppery eyes sparkled. "I'm going to wish for Daddy to come back to us." The words hit Ben right in the throat. "Harry," he said sharply. "You know Dad is gone, and you can't bring him back." Tears sprang into Harry's eyes. "You'll see!" he cried, turning and running out of the room with Nya tight in his arms. Suddenly Ben was crying, too. He stood up quickly, angrily wiping away his tears as he pulled himself together. Ben had to be tough, like Dad. During Dad's last tour in Afghanistan, when Ben was a baby, the engine of Dad's F-16 exploded. He had to eject from the plane over enemy territory. He broke his ankle when he parachuted down. But he still managed to escape into the mountains before enemy fighters found him. For six days, he'd hidden in a cave, until he