Chapter 1

The person says to a boy:

"Can I pay you 9,265,359 coins to receive your body?"

The boy says to the person:

"Can I lend you 1 coin to write your soul?"

Chapter 2

Joao was born in Macau. His mum told him she was born in a place that looks the same. Joao wants to see if they are really the same.

Joao's mum continues to talk, slowly as a spring 100 meters down the snow peak: In her place, people sing songs—some loud, some quiet, some with words, some without. There are also times when people don't sing; they feel the sea. Hunger makes them feel the sea and the fish. They like fish because it is from the sea.

Prostitution is the second most important thing, next to fishing. Sometimes, drinking is more important. They use almonds to make the drinks. In that place, it never snows, same as Macau. So when the almond trees blossom, Joao's mum's family sings songs loudly about snow, even though they never saw any.

The first time Joao touched the snow, he was 5 years old and then quickly became sick, so sick that he slept for 4 days, waking up 2-3 times a day mentioning a giant shadow who chased after him. He ran and grew bigger along the escape. What scared him the most was that the shadow also grew quicker than him. Then he could not sleep any longer, waking up with sweat, a few drops of tears, and a dry mouth. On the evening of the 3rd day, Joao's mum thought Joao would never see the flower of the almond tree in the place she was born.

Chapter 3

On the fourth day, Joao started to see a white ball. More accurately, he also saw a black ball in addition to the white ball from an old, bald man. Joao's mum did not know the name of the man, so he did not tell her. He held the white ball in his left hand and the black ball in his right. Behind him, on his gray and dirty suede, he had a pink box. The pink was ridiculous, a bit dirty with no flash and reflections.

Joao woke up from his sleep again and saw the man holding the white ball with two fingers, the thumb, and the wedding using his right hand. Then the man put the ball into the pink box. He followed the same for the black ball.

After Joao picked the white ball from the pink box, he did not sleep on the 4th day until the 5th. He was no longer sick. The man waited until Joao picked the white ball and reached into his own pocket, close to his heart. He pulled out another white ball from the pocket and put it into the ridiculous pink box.

Chapter 4

They changed the name of the boat from Nivi to Trafaria. Nivi in their language means "snow."

The boy never knew who "they" were, and now he is on the boat. They said the boat is blessed by the rain from Rio, with the song left by and fading in the river, traveling through the sea to India and further to Japan—finally docking back in the harbor of Macau.

The boy misses his mum, almost very much.