 And it starts off with Lacas having a dream. One night, Lacas dreamed he was playing in the park. He swung high on a swing. He ran fast in the grass. The sun shined down on him. Lacas heard a voice call out to him. Oi, oi, Filipino boy! Lacas looked around to see who it was. Again, the voice said, oi, oi, Filipino boy! Across the grass was a manong sitting on a bench. The manong was a really old man. He wore a hat. He was feeding crumbs to the birds. Lacas walked over to the manong and asked, did you call me? The manong smiled. And he said, yes, you are a Filipino boy, aren't you? Lacas looked at the manong's old brown face. He asked, how did you know I'm a Filipino boy? The manong said, because you jump around just like a fish. Do you like fish? Yes, said Lacas. Did you ever meet a fish that can talk? The manong asked. No, said Lacas. The manong laughed. He said, I know a fish that can speak Tagalog and English. And he jumps and plays just like you. This was amazed. I want to see this fish, can I? The manong smiled at Lacas and said, the fish lives in Manilatown. If you want to find him, you have to look very carefully. Lacas asked the manong, where is Manilatown? The sun came down on Lacas' face. He blinked. And when he looked again, the manong was nowhere to be seen. When Lacas woke up from his dream, his daddy was cooking hot dogs and rice for breakfast. Lacas ate his breakfast. He thought about his dream. Daddy, can fish talk? Daddy smiled. No, fish can only swim. Lacas thought about what the manong had said about the talking fish. Daddy, can you buy me a fish? Daddy looked at Lacas and says, yes, Lacas, we'll get a fish. But first, you need a haircut. And off they went to the barber shop. In the barber shop were four manongs. They were all old, as old as the manong in Lacas' dream. One of them had bright red hair. The barber sat Lacas in the barber's chair. Boy, boy, Filipino boy, he said. My daddy is going to get me a fish, Lacas told the barber. The barber said, I like fish with rice and tomatoes and chili peppers. Lacas shivered. He didn't want to eat the fish. Lacas asked the barber, can fish talk and walk and play? Yes, there is one fish that can do it. The barber said, his scissors went snip, snip. Go to Manila town and you'll find that crazy fish, said the barber. The red-haired manong said, no, do not listen to him. You do not want to find a fish like that. Just then the manong sneezed and his red wig fell off. Be quiet your mouth, the barber said. Lacas, if you just keep looking, you will find the fish. Lacas and his daddy left the barber shop. They walked and they walked. They were looking for a fish. The sun shined down on both of them. Lacas wondered, could this be Manila town? They walked some more and soon they came to the happy fish market. Daddy and Lacas walked inside. Fish were everywhere on top of tables and swimming in tanks. All the fish looked very sad, all except one. Lacas heard a voice from the fish tank. Oi, oi, Filipino boy! Lacas looked at the fish in the tank. Oi, oi, said the fish again. Hm, Lacas said, this fish can talk. The manong in my dreams said, I was just like a fish. Lacas said, I'll ask my daddy to buy you and take you home so we can play. Daddy was busy talking to the happy fishman. Give me that fish in the tank. I will take him home and cook sinigang. Lacas shivered. He did not want to eat the fish. The happy fishman dipped his net in the tank. Suddenly the fish jumped out and gave him a big wet kiss. The happy fishman fell dizzy in love. The fish ran off the door and towards Kearney street. Come back, dear fish, said the happy fishman. Come back, fish, Lacas said. Come back, dinner, daddy said. The happy fishman chased after the fish. Lacas chased after the fish. Daddy chased after the fish. They all chased after the fish who was heading towards a city bus. The bus had a sign that said Manila town. The fish jumped on the bus. He gave the driver a big wet, stinky, dripping wet kiss. The bus driver fell dizzy in love. She fell out of her seat in surprise. The fish jumped in her seat. He drove off with her bus. Follow that bus, daddy said. Follow my fish, Lacas said. Lacas, daddy, and the happy fishman all ran after the bus, which was zooming down Kearney street. Zoom. Lacas looked at the fish in the tank. Oi, oi, said the fish again. Lacas said, this fish can talk. The Manong in my dreams said, I was just like a fish. Lacas said, I'll ask my daddy to buy you. I'll ask him to buy you and take you home so we can play. Daddy was busy talking to the happy fishman. Give me that fish in the tank. I will take him home and cook sinigang. Lacas shivered. He did not want to eat the fish. Lacas looked at the fish in the tank. Oi, oi, said the fish again. Lacas said, this fish can talk. The Manong in my dreams said, I was just like a fish. Lacas said, I'll ask my daddy to buy you and take you home so we can play. Daddy was busy talking to the happy fishman. Give me that fish in the tank. I will take him home and cook sinigang. Lacas shivered. He did not want to eat the fish. Lacas looked at the fish in the tank. Oi, oi, said the fish again. Lacas said, this fish can talk. The Manong in my dreams said, I was just like a fish. Lacas said, I'll ask my daddy to buy you and take you home so we can play. Daddy was busy talking to the happy fishman. Give me that fish in the tank. I will take him home and cook sinigang. Lacas shivered. He did not want to eat the fish. Lacas looked at the fish in the tank. Oi, oi, said the fish again. Lacas said, this fish can talk. The Manong in my dreams said, I was just like a fish. Lacas said, I'll ask my daddy to buy you and take you home so we can play. Daddy was busy talking to the happy fishman. Give me that fish in the tank. I will take him home and cook sinigang. Lacas shivered. He did not want to eat the fish. Lacas looked at the fish in the tank. Oi, oi, said the fish again. Hmm, Lacas said, this fish can talk. The Manong in my dreams said, I was just like a fish. Lacas said, I'll ask my daddy to buy you and take you home so we can play. Daddy was busy talking to the happy fishman. Give me that fish in the tank. I will take him home and cook sinigang. Lacas shivered. He did not want to eat the fish. I will take him home and cook sinigang. That is the story of our story. Again, Lacas and the Manilatown fish. I want to have a shout out, give a shout out to the artist. His name is Carl Angel. He did the wonderful artwork to this book. The story is based on my real life son who is about 22, 23 years old. His name is Lacas. When he was a little boy, he used to have these little hairs of his head, these little, they call them cow licks. But to me, it looked like, it looked more like a fin of a fish. So that's how I got the idea of the boy and the fish being the same. And that Manila town was a very special neighborhood for Filipinos in San Francisco, you know, our community grew from Manila town and many artists and many writers and many poets developed their stories and developed their love for community in Manila town. And this book was my way of giving back to not only my community, but to the overall community and to inspire kids to write their own stories and to write their own poetry and to use their creativity for their community. So anyway, just wanna thank you for the opportunity of reading this book. If you're interested in getting the book, you can go online. There's a Filipino bookstore in San Francisco called Archipelago Books. They have it. And there's also another store, a bookstore in Berkeley called East Wind, East Wind Books of Berkeley that also carries this book. I also had a follow-up book to this called Lacaz and the Machibaca Hotel with Lacaz being an older boy, fighting an eviction battle in San Francisco as well. So again, thank you so much. You're the limit, Paul.