#mybrothershoutedfire

[iremember826chi]

A Very Hot Day

by Ivy, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

It was a Sunday morning and everyone in the house was sound asleep. My mom had already gone to work. It was a peaceful morning in my household. Then out of nowhere, “Ding! Ding! Ding!” the doorbell started to go off violently. It took me a while to get out of bed, but I eventually got up to go get the door. When I opened it, there was no one there. I closed the door and started going back to my room.

Then I saw my brother walking out of his room. He probably heard the doorbell as well. I remembered asking, “Did you hear that?” “Yes,” he replied tiredly. It was still early in the morning and our heads were hanging as we walked. My brother then turned around. He saw bright orange outside his entire window. My brother immediately shouted “FIRE!” I ran to my sister’s room to wake her up. “Sandra! Wake up, wake up, there’s a fire!” I was pulling her, trying to hurry. There was no smoke, it didn’t seem like anything was being burnt, and the temperature did not rise due to the fire. It didn’t seem like there was a fire at all. It was probably since the fire had only started not too long ago. “Wait, are you serious?” she asked. “Yeah, come on let's go!” I yelled. I was practically dragging her at this point.  “Let me put on some pants first. Ivy, help me find a pair!” she said, “Forget about it, let's go!” I left her and opened the door and I was the first one outside. My brother was walking slowly and was the last one out. He really didn’t care much. I heard a bunch of noise, the sound of sirens continued to get louder and louder, then the firetrucks and police came. I heard a young man shout from outside the gate, “I tried to climb over the gate but I couldn’t.” Till this day I wasn’t sure who actually rang the doorbell since I didn’t see anyone when I opened the door the first time. But at least everyone was safely out of the house.

We were waiting outside not really sure what was going to happen.There were people running around and neighbors across the street standing by their front door trying to figure out what was going on. I can tell by some of their faces that they had questions building up inside of them that they wanted to ask. It was weird since when I opened the door earlier, it seemed very silent and peaceful outside as if nothing was happening. One of the firefighters asked us, “Is everyone out of the house?” We all said, “Yes,” but then I remembered that my dad was still in the basement sleeping. I shouted “Dad!” My siblings and I all ran back into the house. My sister went through the front door as my brother went through the back door. My sister snapchatted the fire next door, then went to go get my dad. I remember my sister saying, “You guys are slow. I even snapchatted the fire and you guys weren’t even in the house yet.” My dad was walking so slow, it took him forever. But everyone was now officially out of the house. I stood outside and called my mom. I was just a girl in her pajamas standing outside not sure what to do. I was looking around, then I saw the police sitting in his car. He looked directly at me then told me to go to him. I was scared since a police officer never told me to come talk to them. The police asked me some questions relating to who owned the house as he was filing a report. I had to call my dad to help answer some questions since I didn’t really know much.

I went to my other neighbor’s house. They’re my cousins. Their house was not on fire. We sat there, watched TV, chatted, and ate some food. I kept thinking about what was going to happen to the house, our things, and our money. I thought to myself, “How much would it cost to fix up the damage? Will it cause more stress for Mom?” I tried to forget about the thought. My cousins were very chill about the entire situation and we felt comfortable in their home. I went to Janice’s and Stella’s room and I asked them if they went outside to see what was going on. They said they didn’t go outside yet. It was still very early in the morning. My cousin Stella said, “I woke up when one of you yelled “Dad!” Oops, I wonder who that was.

When my mom came home, we talked about what happened. I remember saying, “Mom, I saved dad’s life since Sandra and Timothy both forgot that dad was downstairs sleeping.” I kept exposing my sister by telling my mom how she needed to put on some pants before leaving. My mom laughed. My sister called my brother and I slow since we weren’t even in the house after she recorded the fire on her phone using Snapchat. Only my brothers room and the basement was affected. My brother’s windows were broken, there was glass everywhere, everything was wet from the ceiling all the way to the floor. There was water in the basement that seeped through the first floor when the firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire upstairs. While we were cleaning, we overheard the firefighters next door through the broken window say that it could have been the heater by the bed. When things settled down, we cleaned up the broken glass everywhere that the firefighters had left. My brother got a big piece of wood to cover his window so he wasn’t exposed to the outside. My brother was really mad. My brothers and dad’s bed was soaked. He kept complaining about how sunlight wouldn’t reach his room. He was most upset with his computer being wet since he loves to play lots of games online. But in the end, the computer started to work again after a while. My brother had to throw out a lot of sentimental belongings. It was a sad day. But everyone stuck together to help each other out.

I went outside and I saw a bunch of my brothers belongings, like novels, yearbooks, and textbooks all outside left there to dry off. I turned around and I saw the owner of the house next door, he was standing by the wall with his arms crossed. He looked like he was petrified. He used that house to rent out places for people to live. I felt bad for him since he probably didn’t start the fire but he has to fix up the damage. This was also how he made a living. I saw the look in his eyes, he was terrified and he was frozen, absolutely still. My mom then decided to bring him into our house to show him the damage. I felt bad for him once again because he continuously apologized although it wasn’t his fault. I asked the firefighters that stayed back to investigate some more if our house was okay. He said, “Yes, but the other house isn’t.” It was a bad day, but in the end, at least no one got hurt. If I went to the door earlier, I might have gotten the news faster. Next time, I know if someone is trying to contact me or wake me up, I shouldn’t be so slow to respond, because what if it was a very serious emergency? I need to make sure my family is safe.

[iremember826chi]

Explore our latest memoir, I Remember…My Brother Shouted ‘Fire’! It’s full of, intelligent, heartwarming, and thrilling writing from students at Haines Elementary School in Chicago. Happy reading!

[iremember826chi]

Sounds of Falling Water

by William, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

“Why am I here?”, “Why do we have to be here?”, “Can we go home now?” I groaned. These were all questions I asked to my parents when we arrived at Starved Rock State Park. It was in the autumn of my sixth grade year. I was ten at this time and school was reopening in a week. My face wasn’t as bright and shining and they knew for what reason. My family, my sister, mom and dad, and I took a day trip to Starved Rock together for us to have fun. This place didn’t seem too fun to my sister and me. The place had too many trees, blocking the view of places and the paths were long and had dirt all over them. The paths looked dirty and the benches that I saw so far had dirt on them. “Why are we here?” I asked once again. “We are here to look around,” my mom said. There was nothing to look at except for the trees. All I could hear was a slight sound of the river nearby and the trees whistling around with the distant chirping of birds. With my head down and arms by my side I wanted to leave. Starved Rock had nothing exciting to look at, or so I thought.

We continued to head down one of the paths that headed to see the river. We hiked up the path and the sounds of the water flowing grew louder. We soon came to a place at the top where the river was fully visible and a telescope was placed. “Finally, something worth using,” I thought to myself. My sister and I went to the telescope and surveyed the river. The river wasn’t too special or anything, but the telescope was fun. While surveying the river, we noticed a boat or something in the water that was moving. “Look over there,” I told my sister. We both saw the boat in the water and we used the telescope to look. The boat was a small and black row boat with someone in it. We noticed the person in the boat had a rod on the side. “Looks like they are fishing or something,” I said. “Where else are we going now?” I questioned. “There is a waterfall nearby here that we are heading to at the end of the trip,” my dad replied. My head raised, my face brightened up, and I started to feel rejuvenated as if some miracle occurred and took away my fatigue. “Really?” my sister and I exclaimed. Her face was just like mine, bright and ready to start moving. As my parents hiked and my sister and I raced back down, the sounds of the river slowly faded away and the smell of the plants and trees came back. The smell was like a combination of rotten eggs and rotten meat. I started to pinch my nose and my sister did the same. “Can we not stay here?” I whined. While my sister was nodding her head, my family agreed and decided to leave the place.

“We’ll start to head to the waterfall now,” my dad sighed, “It is starting to get cold now.” My family and I started looking for the waterfall. We went down the path that was labeled “Waterfall Viewing” and started hiking up the path. “Is there actually a waterfall?” my sister asked. “Of course there is why would we go here otherwise,” my dad said. As we started to head onto the path, we heard the slight sound of water falling. “I hear the waterfall!” I yelled. The sound was coming from the right and when I eagerly looked to the right I saw a family climbing up the enormous mountain where the sound of the waterfall was coming from. The way up looked really steep and dangerous. “How about we try that?” my mom asked. My dad didn’t enjoy climbing so he stayed at the bottom and watched our stuff as we ascended up the mountain. While going up, he recorded us on his phone shouting, “Look this way!” I remember climbing up the mountain clearly, it was like skating on thin ice. The dirt was wet due to the water and difficult to get a grip on and the way up had few trees to hold onto to climb up. As we slowly moved up one step at a time, one foot at a time, I heard the gushy sound of the dirt below us. The three of us stuck together like peas in a pod and we eventually made it to the part where we could see the waterfall over the mountain.

As we reached the top, the sun was set right above the waterfall like it was waiting for us to get here at this time. “Wow!” my sister and I gasped. It was like nothing compared to the cartoons I watched with waterfalls in them. This waterfall was enormous and my feet started to shake. There were many families down there playing in the water. I noticed some climbing up trees that fell and some skipping rocks in the water. “Can we go down there?” I asked my mom. “Only if your dad allows it,” she replied. There was something I hadn’t noticed, however, when climbing. As I looked down, my feet started to tremble. I went to my mom and saw my sister shaking as well. “That looks pretty far down,” I said. “We will have to hold on to each other in case,” my mom said. I remember, one foot at a time, we went down the mountain like someone who wanted to sneak past someone sleeping. Going down was difficult for us as the ground was wet. I always had a feeling that I would slip. If we weren’t careful one of us could fall and hurt ourselves. Like the way up, the three of us stuck together like peas in a pod. However, one of our peas fell. I remember my sister tripping over a tree root and starting to fall. Luckily there was another tree in front of her that she grabbed and stopped herself from falling. When we reached the bottom of the mountain the sun was almost down and my parents were talking to my sister. I couldn’t hear them but I could tell what they are talking about. “Can we go home now?” “You saw the waterfall already?” my parents asked. “No!” my sister and I yelled. “We need to head to that place,” I exclaimed.

While skipping, my sister and I in the front, we headed down the other path that read “Waterfall Bottom” and went to the bottom where the families were at. As we headed down the path where the waterfall fell, the sound of water was thunderous. Once I turned the final corner of the path I saw the place where all the families were. “Wow,” I gasped. From below, the waterfall was even greater. The waterfall looked like the Eiffel Tower but out of water. It felt way bigger than the time we looked at it from above and I heard way more people splashing and playing around in the water. The gushing of water and the sight of families playing in the water all made me jump up and down. My face was now all bright and smiling and I forgot what I said when we first arrived at Starved Rock. It felt like the best day ever. I saw my very first waterfall and I never expected it to be this magnificent. I looked over to see my sister having the same face, smiling and bright.  “I am glad we came here,” I said joyfully. We took a picture of all of us at the end of the waterfall. Of course, my sister and I smiled the biggest and greatest smiles. Like the phrase, don’t judge a book by its cover, this trip told me that just because a place doesn’t seem interesting at first, I shouldn’t try to leave and whine about it until I’ve explored every part of it.

[iremember826chi]

The Day I Remembered So Vividly

by Vita, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

When I was five years old, I was no longer the only child. On December 28th, just three days after Christmas, my dad came home early from work. There was snow still stuck on his boots, dripping onto the cardboard that covered the yellow tile floor. 10:38 p.m. “Why are you home so early?” my mom tiredly questioned my dad. “It’s cold outside, so little customers,” replied my dad. I was sitting in front of the TV watching cartoons on a Monday night, cuddled up in a big heavy wool blanket like a cat cuddled up near the fireplace. “What are you doing?” asked my dad. I gave him the cold shoulder, disappointed that he didn’t bring any sushi back home. He’d always bring back sushi back home, why not today? “Did you finish your book log?” Oh, how I hated those book logs. “No,” I replied with confidence. I knew my dad would be disappointed, but it was winter break, a time to relax. My dad spoke under his breath, but I heard, “Lazy.”  His face became as red as a tomato after I said, “No.”

After my dad came out the shower, relaxed, he slouched beside me on the couch and watched my cartoons with me. He switched to a Chinese drama and it just started, my favorite show. I never understood what the people were saying because they were speaking Cantonese and I speak Taishanese. A few minutes later, my mom ran straight to the bathroom from the bedroom. Her eyes were shut so tightly and her hands were on her big stomach.

Almost twenty minutes later, my dad went into the bathroom to see what was happening with mom. Both of my parents changed their clothes and told me to change mine too. I waited at the door for them to put their shoes on. My dad had a heavy sack of who-knows-what strapped around his body. Soon we were at a big building that had labels in big, red, bolded letters that said, "Exit, Emergency Room, Mercy."

As we entered the big doors under the sign that said, "Emergency Room," a heavy weight rested on my chest as if someone had just laid a huge rock on my chest. I sat down on a black chair too big for my little body. A woman dressed in a blue uniform set my mom in a wheelchair, wheeling her into another part of the building. I ran to my mom, "Mommy, where are you going?"  "Nothing, nothing, go sit back down." Stubbornly, I followed my mom and stopped in front of a wooden door. The woman told us to wait here. Big balls of tears began to rush down my face. I didn’t know why my mom was here, I just knew that hospitals are where people die. "Daughter, you have to sleep at your cousin's tonight," said my mom. I cried even more. I remembered my dad giving me a stamp as a “toy” to calm me down. At the end of the long hall, a tall man with a mask on his face came towards us and brought my mom into the little room in front of us, along with about three nurses. The tall yellow door shut in front of me as I saw my mom enter the dimly lit room with sharp tools and a bed.  More heavy rocks were placed on my chest. I wondered what were the sharp tools were for. I knew that the sharp tools would hurt my mom so much. I sat next to my dad on the bench and saw a grin on his face. He told me that I was going to be a big sister. I didn't really understand it at first. Big sister? What's that?  

I lurked at the end of the hall, two people were running towards me. They looked familiar. It was my aunt and uncle. I knew they just got off work because I sensed the peanut oil that was on their clothing. “Hey what’s happening right now?” asked my aunt. “The doctors just took her in,” replied my dad, pointing to the yellow door. My aunt went inside the room. Curiously, I peeked through the little crack between the door and the wall as the door was closing. The lights in the room were very dim and the nurses were surrounding my mom.

My aunt came out of the room and said, “Everything is going normally.” She didn’t say anything much. My dad told me it was time for me to go. My face turned red and became wet again. My aunt held my hand and we waved goodbye to my dad. I hopped into a big golden van and the scent hit me again. The oil, now mixed with the smell of smoke, gave me a headache. The engine started and my aunt went home. It was just me and my uncle. “Hey, you tired?” asked my uncle through the rear mirror. I looked into the rear mirror, smiled, and shook my head. I laid back and enjoyed the car ride thinking about how one day can change your whole life. Like yesterday was a normal day and today- I’m a “big sister.” The street was the dark chestnut color I disliked so much. Staring out of the window, I closed eyes and dreamt about tomorrow.

[iremember826chi]

That Moment

by Isabell, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

I remember one day after school, Ivy, Tina, Vicky, Mandy and I were playing at our school park. It’s not the type of “playing” people would normally think of. We weren’t running, playing tag, playing a sport, playing catch or anything like that. We did something even better, well, at least to us. We sat by the slides, talking and laughing. We mostly talked about the girls at our school, I wouldn’t say they were all good things, but that’s not our fault. We all have our different opinions and for the most part, we didn’t say many bad things. Our park has slides, monkey bars, and things you can climb on, but talking is more fun to us than climbing and running.

That day had good weather. It was sunny and windy but it did start to get cold. The wind was getting stronger and our hair was getting messed up. We would put our hair to the side and after about three seconds, it was in our faces again. We started laughing at each other’s hair and made fun of each other.

As we were talking, Mandy decided to take selfies. She pulled out her phone and went on Snapchat. She then wanted a group photo so we started taking multiple photos. Vicky had her polaroid with her so we decided, why not take a photo with it? It took a couple of takes because there was always one person that had her hair messed up by the wind. In order to take a group photo with the polaroid, we needed someone to take it for us. My crush and his friends were at the park as well and since it was only my group and his group of friends at the park, we had to ask one of my crush’s friends to take the photo for us.

Of course, I was too afraid of rejection to ask my crush to help us, but I didn’t regret my decision of not asking him. When we were about to take our photo, we saw my crush and his friends behind us, trying to photobomb. We told them to go away for a couple of seconds so that we could at least take one group photo without them in it. One of his friends was acting like he was deaf or something. He used his soccer ball to cover up the shot and even went to the camera to put his hands there. I’m pretty sure that they didn’t know that each film was a dollar so every time they messed up a photo, that was a dollar wasted. All my friends were annoyed and yelling at them but I didn’t mind as much because I was just there, admiring my crush.

There was a group photo that included everyone that was at the park, except the photographer. I kept that one because my crush was standing next to me. I told myself, “I will never lose this photo.” There was also another photo that was somehow handed to me, however, it was ravaged because somebody’s hands were literally right in front, covering the photo. At first, I was thinking, “Why would I want this photo? Somebody else keep it. I don’t want it,” but then I saw my crush and something told me that I should give it to him. I normally would be too afraid to even talk to him but at that moment, something made me walk over to him and hand the photo to him. I said, “Here, for you.” I didn’t want to get rejected, especially since all his friends were there. My hands were probably shaking. I saw his face. Many things were going through my mind at that moment, even though it probably only lasted five seconds. Things like “He’s going to say no,” “He likes somebody else,” and, “Of course he likes somebody else.” He looked at me, smiled, and took the photo.

When they were leaving the park, I became super crazy and started jumping. Vicky was cold but I wasn’t cold at all. Her nose was red but I felt like I was sweating although I knew the weather was cold. That day when I went home, I put the photo on my wall of memories and cherished that moment over and over again. For the next few days, I smiled a lot more, especially since we both confessed and said we liked each other. I remember telling Vicky, “I am so happy today.” She told me that I am always happy and I highly disagreed with that. I texted my crush a few weeks later to ask if he still had the photo. He said, “Of course.” My heart was beating so fast after only a second and my smile was probably brighter than my future.

My life before, to me, didn’t have many good things happening. I love my family and friends but, the good moments never or just don’t last for long. Something always goes wrong. When that moment happened to me, I became more optimistic about life and learned that things just take time. Even texting him made me more happy and faithful because he was more of a happy person when I wasn’t. He helped me see the good in life. I will never forget who he is and what he did to change my life for the better.

[iremember826chi]

The Unexpected Turn Around

by Miaozi, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

It was the summer of 2017 when my cousins came to visit my family and me. I wasn’t thrilled about it because every time they came, they would always talk relentlessly which was really annoying. It’s impossible for them to be quiet. It was the third day of their visit and they thought that it was a good idea to go out. I was still in my room sleeping when they decided to go out. I heard footsteps coming from the living room towards my room. You can hear those footsteps from a mile away and I thought there was an earthquake because I could feel the floor shaking. Luckily, I locked the door before I went to sleep so they were not able to come in without me unlocking the door. They knocked on my door and I pretended I didn’t hear them because I was not in the mood to talk to anybody nor was I in the mood to go anywhere.

A few seconds later, they knocked again and screamed “Mandy, Mandy, Mandy!” in their strident voices. “Stop being lazy and get up already,” screamed the older one. “Is she ever going to get up?” the younger one whispered to his brother. His brother shook his head hesitantly. I ignored them again so they eventually gave up but that didn’t last for long because then my grandma came knocking and screaming my name so I had no choice but to open the door. Once I opened the door, my cousins came rushing in, both still in their pajamas. They were screaming at me to get up because I was still lying in bed gazing up at the ceiling. The oldest told me that we were going to Navy Pier but I still didn’t get up. Because I was not getting up, both of them dragged me out to the living room. I was as lifeless as a lion who hasn’t eaten meat in a year. In the living room, I saw my parents eating breakfast. Like usual, I was the last one to wake up. I asked my mom if I could stay home but before she even answered, I knew she was going to respond with “N-O, NO.” She gave me a lecture about how disrespectful I was. She told me that she didn’t want to go either but it was impolite not to go and she didn’t want to look bad.

I had no choice but to go so I dragged myself into the bathroom to get ready. I told myself, looking at the mirror, They’re going to leave in three days so I just have to hang in there for 72 more hours and after these three days I get to do whatever I want. While I was in the bathroom, I heard my cousins complaining about how slow I was so that just irritated me even more. After hearing that, I immediately slowed down and was moving as slow as a sloth. I came out twenty minutes later and they were all already putting their shoes on and ready to go. My uncle took my cousins out to wait because they kept whining and said “Why do we have to wait for her?” in their squeaky voices and other rude remarks. They were really impatient. I was the last one to get out of the door but I didn’t care because I didn’t want to go out anyways. I told my mom that they could wait. They could have gone without us but it was their choice to ask us to come along so I was going to take my sweet time to get ready. I knew I was being stubborn but at the time I was just not into it.

I was the last one to come out and join them and they were all waiting for me outside. When I came out, the two boys gave me the death stare and made faces at me. I turned around and rolled my eyes as many times as I could in four seconds and turned back around and realized two of my other relatives were there. One of them was my other cousin who was in high school which meant he was older than me and that I finally had someone to talk to. Then we started walking towards the bus station to take the bus to Navy Pier. It was a sunny but windy day so I guess that’s why they decided to go that day today. We got onto the bus and I sat next to my aunt who also decided to come with us. It was a long but chaotic bus ride. My older cousin and I didn’t really talk much because we were the quiet ones in our family but my other family members did. They were talking so loudly that even the cars behind us could hear them. I kept rolling my eyes because it was rude to talk on the bus that loudly because it disturbed the other passengers on the bus. I really wanted to apologize for their behavior but I couldn’t get it out of my mouth.

We finally arrived thirty minutes later. There were not a lot of people because we went on a weekday instead of the weekend. My younger cousins were the first ones to get off the bus and they started running around wildly like they were just let out of their room after three months. People were just staring at them in awe. My older cousin and I were the last ones to get off the bus. The minute we got off the bus, my sister began causing trouble. My mom let her down and she started to run around like any toddler would. It was just complete chaos. Finally, my mom got her and we began walking toward the entrance of Navy Pier. When I first walked in, I could smell the freshly brewed coffee. This scent was really familiar and as I walked farther in, I could see a bright green sign with white letters hanging above from where I was standing. It was a Starbucks. I had to get some to brighten and lighten my mood. After I got my Starbucks, I felt complete and less annoyed. After that, we walked towards the entrance that led us outdoors to where all the rides were.

When I first walked in, the first thing I noticed was the giant Ferris wheel. Next to the Ferris wheel, I noticed the Wave Swinger and the carousel. We decided to sit down first before we went on to explore the pier and ride on the rides. We were all just sitting down and cooling off. All of a sudden my uncle got out his camera and right away I knew what was going on. Then the dreadful moments came. My aunt suggested that we take a family picture. We took one at Navy Pier the last time they came, which was like four years ago but my mom and my sister were not in the picture. I stayed seated and pretended I didn’t hear my aunt say, “Let's take a picture.” That didn’t work out because my mom came and pulled me over. Everyone could see that I didn’t want to be in the picture but they didn’t say anything. The inside of me wanted to scream at everybody there but I knew I shouldn’t do that. I went all the way to the back hoping that someone would be able to block me but then my aunt came over and moved me to the front and so I put my fake smile on, stood still and stiffly, and got through twenty minutes of photo taking. My sister was not willing either. She would look away every time.

After the photo taking session, we all decided to go on the rides. My younger cousin and I went on the Wave Swinger where we got lifted into the air and were spun around. While I was being spun around, I closed my eyes and stretched my arms out like I was Rose from Titanic. After riding the Wave Swinger, my family decided to go on the Ferris wheel. I was complaining about how slow it was even though Ferris wheels were meant to be slow since you want to see the view of the city. I got to see Chicago from a bird's eye view.

We spent the whole day at Navy Pier. By the time we got back home, it was already 8 p.m. I’m not going to lie, I kind of enjoyed it even though at first I didn’t want to go. In the beginning, I thought all we were going to do was spend the whole day walking around Navy Pier and downtown taking pictures like what we had been doing for the past two days. Instead, we did more than that. We went on a lot of rides which was a lot of fun and instead of being outdoors, we were indoors exploring all the shops. From this experience, I learned that I should always give things a try before making a judgment and jumping to conclusions. Going to Navy Pier has become one of my family’s traditions because whenever my cousins come to visit we always go. The next time they come, it’s expected that we will go to Navy Pier.

[iremember826chi]

Sunny Days Are Exhausting

by Jia, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

It was a typical day on my vacation in China. I woke up probably around 9 a.m. and was exhausted as I crept to the computer. I flipped the screen up and powered on the computer and played games before having breakfast. My brother woke up and went to the bathroom to do his stuff while I exited the room. I thought that our aunt was out and I grabbed some pho and some sesame chicken or some kind of sweet red fried meat. It was definitely delicious. It was plain pho with some light green flavoring vegetable. It tasted pretty plain but it went well with the sweet meat. I was just about to be finished when my brother came out of the room and asked, “Where’s our aunt?” I replied with “I don’t know,” and shrugged my shoulders. He gave me a plain face like “Alright,” and then he went to eat his bowl on the table. I finished up my pho and I grabbed my bowl and placed it in the kitchen sink.

I went to get a small ice cream cup and went back to our room. The room was pretty big but simple, with a large bed and a small foldable bed - designed in a very Chinese way as it had some wooden looks. And then there were two big closets and a table in front of the large bed with a TV. There were two rooms on the right, one for the bathroom and the other was the shower room. I hopped on my laptop and played a few games and I started eating the ice cream. It was rich, creamy ice cream with small fragrances of bean and mint. I ate it many times because it was good, pretty cheap, and that ice cream store was literally two thirds of a block away from us. I heard our apartment door open and my aunt’s voice saying to come out and eat after a while playing on my laptop. I came out of the room and saw some noodles and I ate some and the rest of them went to my brother and aunt.

It was a pretty boring day. The sun went higher in the sky and I turned the A/C to a lower room temperature. I played some music on my iPad mini and I went to do homework. My brother came into the room and played some games on the laptop. Summer homework was easy for a fourth grader, pretty much all math and I just had to read some books when I got back to the U.S., multiplication and stuff. The music wasn’t all that good since it was very old and not music that I liked at that time. The instruments sounded like melting candles being used over and over again but it was better than nothing for me to concentrate.

One of my cousins came into the room to take a shower. My other cousin started talking to my aunt about something outside but I wasn’t focused on them enough to remember what they said. My cousin finished her shower and also talked to my aunt and I heard her go back to her room while my aunt and other cousin told us that my younger aunt was taking us someplace to have fun. I got excited as I put away my homework and asked where and when we were going. My aunt replied with, “Around one hour,” when my younger aunt’s husband would come to drive us.

My brother and I dressed as loosely as possible, wearing clothes that were very light and thin. It felt so hot outside, like near a volcano. My aunt said something was on the news like someone dropped some food on the ground and it started cooking. We also had to wear insect repellent just in case we got bitten. The repellent spray smelled weird since it was a Chinese product. It looked and smelled like water mixed with a very light smell of vinegar. I also felt like gagging when my aunt sprayed it near my face and behind my head. She said, “It’s better than getting bitten by mosquitoes.” I personally didn’t like either choice but I had to choose one. When my younger aunt and her husband and my cousin came, my brother and my aunt went in the same car and my other two cousins went into a separate car. I got to sit in the front seat on my younger aunt’s lap since I was small and there wasn’t much space. I liked it anyways since the A/C was just a bit to the right because it was very hot, even inside the car.

We got to my younger aunt’s house and visited our grandma, had some food, and basically played games and such to consume time before going to have fun. When the time came, we drove for nearly half an hour to someplace that I didn’t know. I took my iPad with me in case I got bored. During the trip, I saw lots of mountains and very thick forests for a while. The view was great. I kind of liked the place since the area where I was is suburban. It wasn’t crowded but there were still lots of people and motorcycles and stuff. It was a pretty horrible half an hour trip as it was so hot, just heat. We felt the rays of light from the sun that penetrated the windows of the car.

My younger aunt told my older aunt that they were going to go do something somewhere else and all my three cousins and her husband went with her. We had fun, like taking some pictures and then going on roller coasters and bumper cars and games young kids would want to play. I really liked riding on the roller coaster because there was water at some part like at the beginning and the end. When the water splashed as roller coaster passed, it sure was refreshing in the heat. The place was like an amusement park but it wasn’t really one, more like a little kid’s place to play that cost money. We had food later which was some noodles and fish balls and it was pretty good.

We met up with my younger aunt and we went home that day. I was exhausted when I got home. I went first to take a shower. The shower was unique since there wasn’t a tub and it was just a plain shower room with hangers for towels, a small sink, and a handle for shampoo and body wash stuff. There was a drainer right in the middle of the floor; the room was literally designed for the shower. I finished my shower and then I grabbed a soy milk bottle from the fridge and watched some Tom and Jerry on the TV and grabbed a popsicle when I finished my soy milk. The rest of the family took a shower and a while later, my brother, my aunt, and I went to sleep around 10 p.m. for the next day. Waking up the next day felt like I was carrying loads of bricks on my shoulder and walking for days.

[iremember826chi]

Hot and Cold

by Edward, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

I remember the time I was in China to visit my relatives about six years ago. My family and I had just landed on the brink of night and found the place that we were staying in. It was a tall, peach and red hotel. Prior to the landing in China, we were at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport when we boarded the “Queen of the Skies” (Boeing 747-4) which was massive. There were nine columns: three on the left, three in the middle, and three on the right. I sat on the very right column which is a window seat. As the pilots prepared to take this beauty to the sky, I was full of energy and couldn’t wait to see what China looked like. As I heard the plane engines roar, it felt as if a lightning bolt had struck me and I couldn’t stop jumping in my seat. On the outside of the hotel you could see the wallpaper had been ripped off and graffiti could be seen on the back. Despite all these displeasures, the inside was furbished and looked like it was brand new. I was tired from being in a plane for fourteen hours and China was hot, so I was first into the shower and bed...

It was the next day and I took the first step outside into the morning of China. Instantly, a ray of blazing heat surrounded me and I felt all my pores opening up. Sweat oozed from every inch of my body and I felt eager to be back inside. I continued to walk along a narrow path that cut past a forest, down towards the ocean, leading into a small village where we would meet our relatives. I was sweaty, itchy, and ready to leave. I never hated it being hot, but I was used to the 40-80 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago during summer time. In China it was a staggering 100+ degrees around the time which was overkill, even for me. On top of that, there were a lot of mosquitos; it was just rubbing salt into the wound!

After the family reunion, we all went together to a famous place with the locals and had a feast. The area where we ate consisted of an outdoor seating arrangement. The chairs were plastic and the tables were in poor condition, but food is food. Everyone was chatting and having a great time, I could see all the bits of food coming out each person's mouth which gave me the chills. This took place in the countryside of China so there were a lot of chickens and dogs roaming around the place where we ate. The chickens would walk around aimlessly and peck the ground occasionally. Where I was sitting, I could see the snowy chilling ice tops of the mountains that stretched on as far as the eye could see. Below sat rice patties that would long for a person to harvest them. Rice patties are basically fields of rice that are most commonly found in the countryside of China. This was all harmonizing as I saw all of this while chowing down delicious cooking from a man who was a well-known individual around these parts of China. As I was eating I felt a little cold tap on my head. With a puzzled face I asked, “What was that?” I felt another tap, and another. This tapping got faster and faster and it felt like little ice cubes were falling on my head that disappeared moments afterward. Luckily there was a little roof above the area we ate, but there were cracks and these little tappers were seeping through into our food and onto our heads. After a couple of minutes, nearly everyone’s clothes were drenched and we all had to go back and dry out our clothes.

On our last day in China, we packed our bags and said bye to my relatives. When we arrived at the airport, I was really tired and ready to go home. We went aboard the plane to Chicago and by the time it was at cruising altitude, I was already fast asleep. Fourteen hours passed by relatively smoothly and when I landed I was jumping out of my seat and couldn’t wait. Nothing is better than seeing my usual red brick condo. It was 9:00 a.m. I walked outside O’Hare International Airport and instantly the cold breeze sent shivers down my spine and I could already see goose-bumps forming on my arm. There was no sun, and it was a gloomy and foggy day. It was humid with my sweat sticking to my skin like glue. I felt sticky and icky. Taking a break from the harsh China heat truly gave me a sigh of relief. I made a quick dash for my parent’s silver four-seater Toyota 2008 Highlander that was sitting in the parking lot. It took about one or two hours until we were home. The front door of my home opened and my stomach was empty. I decided to grab a few snacks and go to my room and relax for a while.

I could already feel the heater warming me up and the blanket wrapping me with it’s warmth. I felt cozy and just wanted to stay inside my own little world forever. Before I knew it, hours passed by, which to me felt like days. I heard my mom calling to me that dinner was ready. I unravelled from my blanket and I headed downstairs to enjoy her cooking. I decided to tell my parents that I didn’t want to go to China again. They asked, “Why?” I said with anger, “BECAUSE IT'S SO HOT!” They laughed at me but I didn’t find it so funny. My brother finished eating and he went upstairs into his room and started playing video games. I wasn’t bothered so I went back to my room. In my room, to the left there was a little table that had my alarm clock and little gadgets and gizmos I used to mess around with. On the right, there was a desk which held my laptop and to the right of that, a closet. On the left side of my desk, there used to be a little stand which held a small and cute little TV which I used to watch things on while I was in bed. I watched some TV in bed and before I knew it, I could feel the warmth of my blanket dragging me away into sleep. The best place to stay is at home.

[iremember826chi]

A Walk in The Night

by Edwin, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

It was 1 a.m. I was walking alone outside in the middle of a Friday night. As I walked slowly, I was thinking of what I was even doing. Isn’t this dangerous? Wouldn’t my mom and dad both end up being worried to death? I had just said I was going to sit outside next to the front door of my house. I was still very young, but that didn’t deter me. Perhaps it was a bit arrogant of me. Even though nothing really happened that night, just being in Chicago was gambling with my luck.

This shouldn’t be a problem as long as I stay close to home, I thought. And so, I cautiously continued.

Since it was in the middle of summer, it was refreshing to have a feel of cool breeze outdoors. Combined with the darkness outside, it gave the atmosphere a sense of serenity with a feeling of uneasiness too, and that wasn’t something I have ever felt before. I decided to walk to a more open area, which was half a block away, at the intersection of the street my house was on and another street perpendicular to it.

Looking down the street, I saw the road brightly lit yellow by the streetlights. As I looked at the textured concrete, I heard the quiet sound of an engine and tires moving on the road.

A car, I thought. It wasn’t surprising that some people would be out on the roads at around midnight after a Friday of doing whatever shenanigans one does at these times. Heck, some of the houses were still lit up, and a few had the dark silhouettes of people projected onto the curtains of the windows. I wondered what they might be doing inside. Are they having fun? I wondered, Or are they just getting ready to sleep?

The smell of exhaust then passed my face quickly as the car drove down the street, and was then (thankfully) replaced by the once again pure air of the night.

Over time, the calmness of the air and the darkness led my imagination and thoughts into a chaotic mess, more so than normally. I remember thinking about the personifications of the stars, the constellations, and how those characters may play out when put together in some situation, being the astronomy fanatic that I was and still am. Knowing the meaning of the names of the stars and constellations, I created their characters. For example, I imagined the star Altair to be an eagle, and I pictured the constellation Aries as a soldier or warrior of some sort. Then, I decided to find some way to connect the types of the stars I remembered to their characters. Altair was a bright blue-white star, so I was thinking, A bald eagle? I found that to be a funny visualization, and decided to go with that (although the idea of some eagle that is made of translucent bright blue plasma was equally interesting).

After repeating that process of determining characters and their personalities for a few other stars and another constellation, I then went on to imagining the interactions between the characters. The other constellation I had chosen was Phoenix (because I was lazy), and I tried to think of a connection between that and the eagle. I ended up thinking that there might as well be a superiority issue. The mythical phoenix put with the familiar eagle––it is kind of clear which would be the top bird. It made sense to me though, even though it was a bit depressing, because that was exactly how it works with people in the real world.

I decided to stop that train of thought.

Once again, I tried to be aware of my surroundings since I had been staring into nothing the whole time I was mentally creating that image. The sky was dark gray, with nothing visible due to the light pollution of such a big city. Many clouds came here and there, and they looked bright compared to their surroundings as the light from below shone through their bottoms. The clouds moved lazily with the very slight breeze present, and before long, I was thinking of random things again.

What am I doing? It was like I was a part of the background, hiding away from the day-to-day interactions a normal person would have, being a recluse outside only in the middle of the night. It felt right to me, though. Thinking of the effort I put to act cheerful in a world where kids just had fun, and the effort I put in trying to be the ideal version of me (whatever that is), it makes me think of some things my mom had said in the past.

My mom had said to “Relax, and stop being so serious.”

I remember that I had mentally scoffed at that statement, although there was no reason I could think of for why I was even like that. Clearly, if I would be putting effort to fit in, I wouldn’t be doing this to set myself apart from others, right? Thinking back on it as I sat on the ground, I was a bit regretful and upset at myself.

I wondered: Am I supposed to be like ‘a kid’?

I wondered: Why the hell am I like this?

The thoughts in my head had become like the darkness around me.

Why am I thinking these things?

Am I not supposed to?

And so, before long, I was on the verge of tearing up, like the sensitive and shameful kid I am.

I tried to stop myself from crying, and I quickly walked home so I could be back before I started having tears run down my face. When I got home, I saw that my parents were already sleeping in their room. I slowly made my way to my bedroom, and when I got there, I took one look out the window.

The clouds had passed and the sky was a pitch black color. I sighed, and laid down on my bed, ready to sleep. I remember hoping the sky stayed clear and that tomorrow would be a sunny day before I finally fell asleep.

[iremember826chi]

Edgy Waters

by Allen, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

Just as the year 2011 was about to end, my family and I went to stay at a very delightful hotel somewhere in Illinois. This part of Illinois seemed to have less people than the city of Chicago, but this place had way more land, very beautiful land. There were many small hills with vibrant green grass, and on the other side of the road was the hotel we were staying in. This had been the second year we would stay at a hotel for New Year’s; my grandpa’s birthday is on New Year’s Eve which is why we went the previous time. My grandpa, John, was getting old in age and insisted on not going this time. We went to this hotel because we would eventually celebrate New Year’s with my cousins. My godmother, Emma, my younger cousin, Olivia, and Olivia’s dad, Bob, were all going to be there. We would hang out here and there, but we would usually meet for big events such as this one. We were only there for two days in total because New Year’s was on the current Sunday and we came to stay on the 30th of December (Friday). Before even arriving to the hotel, I needed to know if they had a swimming pool. I asked my mom and dad repeatedly, wanting to know, “Is there a swimming pool by any chance?” I wanted so badly to know because I loved swimming, but of course they ignored me because I was aggravating them. About a minute or two later, they finally gave in, telling me with a wide smirk, “Of course there is a swimming pool, why wouldn’t there be one?” I could see their faces in the reflection of the side-view mirror, their eyes seemed lazy as if they were tired of me talking to them about some stupid swimming pool.

At last, we reached the hotel. I don't really remember the name of the hotel, but I know that the text was in big, bold, modern style letters. It had exceedingly clean windows, a golden brown interior, a large quota of soft leather chairs, and probably the most clean table I have ever seen. Living as a eight year old, I had felt like I had hit the jackpot in this fresh scenery. The one thing that I never liked was waiting on my parents to “handle business” at the front desk of the hotel. I was sitting there with a blank face just wanting to be in my room so that I could eventually change into my extremely uncomfortable swimwear. My sister, Jessica, and I sat waiting impatiently because it felt like I had turned forty before my parents were done over a long haul. They came to my sister and me to tell us that we could follow them to the room. On the elevator, the music made me want to dance. I don’t know why but I was always the energizer bunny while everyone else in my family were like sloths. My sister felt like she had vertigo. She was never really accustomed to elevators; she still isn’t to this day. The floor number we were staying on is a blur to me, but I believe that we were on the highest floor possible in the hotel. My dad always said, “You should never pass up the opportunity to be on the top floor, it always has the best view for all of the pictures you want to take.” I then mentioned in a hysterical tone,“Yeah, but when you go out on the balcony, all you’ll feel is strong wind punching you in the face.” We finally went into the room and I immediately jumped onto the bed and stretched out like Mr. Fantastic. My parents looked at me with disappointment, but I could tell that they shared the same feelings as I did, so I don’t know what for.

Finally two hours had passed and we were about to walk through the pool doors. I spotted how huge the pool was and that there was a five foot end of the pool. I could hear the sounds of water splashing, people laughing, and we had not even gotten prepared to dive in the water. Jessica and Olivia and I were in the pool in less than a millisecond. Swimming around, the chlorine was getting to my sister and I was not bothered at all. Only then I did not know what was about to happen. As we played multiple games of catch with Olivia’s water toy, Olivia accidently threw her water toy to the bottom of the deepest end of the pool. I was feeling heroic. She was only six, so it did not make sense for her to go retrieve it. Hesitantly, I swam to the bottom of the five foot end of the pool. I then realized that it was not as hard as I thought to get my cousin’s toy until I tried to swim back, which was challenging. I realized that I could not stabilize above the surface. I was going up and down gasping for air because I was drowning! I could hear my mom screaming at me to swim across so that I could get to the shallow end, that just made me even more frustrated. Eventually my dad dove into the pool and grabbed my arm. My dad saved me! It was only five minutes later when I dived back into the pool again. No one dared to stop me. What I learned is to stop and think about the situation before you run into it without knowing the possible outcomes.

[iremember826chi]

Water Here, Water There, Water Everywhere

by Henry, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

Two summers ago, my dad was on his break. Every summer he gets to take a week off from work and he usually spends his break at home. This year he wanted the family to go on a trip to Wisconsin Dells along with his friend and her daughters, Lucy and Annie. It was a suggestion from his friend.  My brother and I weren’t excited at all. My brother is the type of person to spend his day at home playing on his computer and phone and I’m just like him. Although we still agreed to go to spend some “quality time” with our dad.

The car ride there was unpleasant. I sat there like a statue not doing anything. There was the scent of gasoline coming from the trucks around us.There were six of us in a single car, so I felt cramped, and everyone except my brother was talking so loudly it was if they were having an argument. We only took about two breaks that were short but delightful because my butt was in pain for sitting so long. I didn’t want to look out the window since my dad said that it would give me a headache, and that would’ve been very unpleasant for a 3-4 hour car ride. After an hour of driving, I managed to fall asleep since Annie and Lucy were asleep, and my dad and his friend weren’t talking as much. By the time I woke up, we had arrived at the Wisconsin Dells. I thought, “Finally, I can get out of this car!” However, my dad had trouble finding the building where our room was located in, so I had to stay in the car for another half hour until we finally found it.

We were all given key cards to access our room. I thought the card was cool because all I had to do was put the card on the scanner and the door would unlock. Our room was small. We had two queen size beds with a drawer between them and a bible inside, a bunk bed at the corner of the room next to the AC and window, and a small bathroom next to the entrance. After unpacking and eating lunch, I had to take off my shirt before heading to the waterpark. That was the most nerve wracking part of the trip because I was and still am very insecure about my body. However, I couldn’t waste my summer vacation, and my dad had already paid for it, so I had to make the best of it.

When we arrived at the waterpark, I immediately noticed the scent of chlorine, the terrifying slides, and the screaming. It was a very hot day, and the ground was burning, so I had to hop around to avoid getting stung by the ground. The waterslides looked very unsafe because they were enormous, and it seemed as if someone could easily fall off. The others wandered off while my brother and I searched for a pool. We found a small pool that wasn’t shallow, which was good because I can’t swim and I’m afraid of water. I have this fear of becoming permanently deaf when water gets into my ears, and there is a burning sensation when it gets into my nose. The pool was surrounded by beach chairs, but sadly all of them were taken. I walked into the pool slowly trying to avoid slipping. The cold water felt so nice considering how hot it was. My brother was swimming around and I felt really tempted to learn how to swim, but I couldn’t overcome my fear. I just stayed in the pool for half an hour just moving around and splashing water. Lucy came up to me and pointed to a slide and asked, “Henry! Can you please come to the slide with me?” Being a wimp that I am I said, “Nope!” She crossed her arms and looked at me with her puppy eyes along with a frown. I still didn’t change my mind. She kept repeating, “Henry! Henry! Henry!” My face was full of annoyance, but she didn’t stop. Eventually I gave up and just agreed to go with her.

The line was long, but it was moving quickly. I was very nervous while Lucy seemed as cool as a cucumber. I thought,  “Why isn’t she scared? The only reason I’m up here is because she was scared! Did I just get baited?” I kept my poker face, so no one would be able to notice that I was scared. I looked at Lucy and thought, “You’re not going to one up me kid.” It was her turn, she crossed her arm like a mummy and was pushed down. It turns out that she was nervous she was screaming the whole time. It was my turn. I crossed my arms and was pushed down. Water was seeping into my ears and nose, and I instantly regret going with her. It wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but I didn’t plan to ever get on another slide. As I was walking back to the pool, I saw my dad walk into a store. I followed him to see what he was doing. The store was filled with clothes, caps, and keychains. He was looking at the clothes and I joined him. I asked, “Are you going to buy anything?” He replied, “No, just looking at them.” My dad always does this, and I don’t understand why my dad would always go into a store without planning to buy anything. We left the store and he suggested that we go on the lazy river. I refused to go because I was afraid that something bad might happen like accidently flipping over the floatie and falling into the water. My dad said, “That’s stupid.” He teased me for being scared so I was tempted to go, and I did.

The lazy river was actually pretty relaxing. My dad and I were next to each other, and we had a conversation about my future. He asked questions like “What high school do you want to go to?” “What job do you want?” “Will you take care of your parents when you have a job?” This had to be the best conversation I’ve had with my dad. I had never talked to my dad about these things before, so it was nice to talk about it.

It was time to leave the park. We headed back to our rooms and took turns showering. After showering, my dad and I went to Popeyes to get mashed potatoes, biscuits, and fried chicken.  It was delicious, but I felt really unhealthy. Before going to bed, I played Piano Tiles with Lucy and Annie. I played it on an iPad and it was so much easier than playing it on the phone. My brother and I shared a queen bed, Lucy and Annie had the other queen bed, and my dad and his friend had the bunk bed, which is the worst because it was next to the AC and the window so it’s just like sleeping outside. I had no trouble falling asleep considering how comfortable the bed was.

I woke up at 7 a.m., I brushed my teeth, and ate yesterday’s leftovers for breakfast. After breakfast, we got ready to head back to the waterpark. When we arrived, I headed straight to the pool because it was the least scary thing in the park. I stayed in the pool for half an hour.  Then I got bored, so I decided to explore with my dad. My dad and I noticed a go kart race, and I really wanted to drive a go kart. I didn’t get to though because there were so many people watching and I got scared, so my dad was the one driving while I was in the passenger seat. He kept hitting the walls, and I was like “What are you doing?” We were so slow that we ended up in last place. He said, “The only reason we lost is because of you.” I replied, “Is that so?” He replied, “Of course! There is two of us and your weight is slowing us down.” I was pretty sure that he was just making excuses. I couldn’t handle the burning sun, so we went to the closest pool to us and I didn’t know that we were in Poseidon's Rage. The pool was twice as big as the other one. Everyone was facing the wall, and I didn’t know why. I was just walking around in the water then a huge wave spawned from the wall and headed towards me. I freaked out, and I started to run from the wave. I felt so stupid because there was no way I could’ve outran that monster wave. The wave smacked me and I fell like an idiot and walked out of there. My dad teased me, “Are you leaving already? Come back!” I was so done, I got out of there and ate pizza with Lucy and Annie. I returned to the smaller pool knowing that I wouldn’t get smacked by a wave. It was time to go back to our room. We all took showers before heading out to find a restaurant. We couldn’t find one, so we went to McDonald’s. We ordered nuggets, fries, and burgers. We returned to our room and we all brushed our teeth. I laid down on the bed. I thought, “Tomorrow we have to pack up,” and I realized that I wasn’t satisfied with the trip yet. Am I not satisfied because I want to spend more time with my dad? Did I genuinely enjoy hanging out with my dad?” It felt really nice to be away from my computer and phone. I realized that I want to spend more time with my parents. I really hope that my dad plans another trip and I’m sure that it will be fun.

[iremember826chi]

梨花带雨

by JiaYu, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

November 25th, 2012. The sky was a cloudy gray and the air was cottony with fog. It had been just a few days after my ninth birthday. Early in the morning, my uncle picked up my parents and me at my grandma’s house. His blue and green taxi, which he drove for work, was parked across the street in front of the old abandoned mansion with the black metal gates. My grandma’s house was on the third floor of a small apartment building. My parents carried the luggage down the somewhat uneven concrete stairs, past the old, dark green metal door with paint peeling off that creaks every time it opened or closed, and into the trunk of the taxi as I followed behind them. My uncle drove us to the airport, the sight of the apartment building getting smaller and smaller until we turned a corner and it could no longer be seen. The morning traffic was crazy, cars driving furiously fast and beeping everywhere. We eventually arrived after thirty minutes or so and my uncle parked in front of the doors of the airport. He helped us get the luggage out of the trunk and carried them inside with us. The airport was crowded with tons of people. My parents and I went to the check-in for luggages and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my two uncles who were there to see us off. After giving them one last hug, we joined the long lines of people to get through security. I had wished so much to have the flight delayed due to whatever reason so I could stay with my grandparents for just a little longer.

I lived in China for most of my life. My parents were too busy to take care of me after I was born so when I was only five months old, my parents entrusted me with their friends that were going back to China to take me to Dalian, a city on the northeastern part of China where my grandparents lived. Ever since I began to remember things, it was my grandparents who took care of me, my aunt and uncle, and my cousin Kevin who played with me. I had no memories of my parents because I never met them, but there I was, going halfway across the globe to the United States and away from those I was familiar with.

After getting past security, we had to take a train inside the airport that led to the runways for the airplane. The train station looked just like how a CTA station would look but much cleaner. I remember looking at the schedules and locations on the tiny TV screen, “Mom, are we going to Chicago?” “Yes,” she’d always reply with a smile. I asked her that many times but she was still patient with me and kept smiling. I knew that she was happy to see me. After we got off the train, we had to take a bus that ran on the runways to get to where the airplane was parked. The bus was crowded with people, so many that there was barely any space left to stand, everyone was just squishing each other and the luggage. I was in the middle and had nothing to hold on to. I could only keep my balance by leaning against other people when the bus took a turn or stop. I peeked out the windows through what I could see through the tiny spaces between bodies and it was slightly drizzling outside. The bus stopped in front of a metal, white open staircase that led up to the entrance of the plane. Raindrops landed on my face as we walked up. It was kind of dark inside, there was a basket of headphones and stacks of newspaper when we first stepped in. A flight attendant stood at the door to greet us and point to us where our seats should be. Once we put our bags into the the space provided above the seats, I sat in the seat next to the window and looked out. There, the familiar apartment buildings that I saw every time I went to Dalian Airport were still there. The city that I spent most of my life in, I was about to leave. Just thinking about that made tears pool at the bottom of my eyes. I loved my grandparents and I really did not want to leave them. The best memories, the best times of my life, I had shared with them.

I heard my mom talking to someone on the phone, her mom, which was my grandma. She gently tapped me on my shoulder and handed me her phone with an ongoing call. “Here, it’s your grandma. Don’t you want to talk to her before we leave?” I took the phone and put it against my ear, “Hello? Grandma?” My grandma responded, “Jiajia.” That's what she called me. My Chinese name was Jiayu and the nickname they called me was Jiajia. I can’t remember most of the conversation but I do recall tears rolling down my face and my grandma telling me to “Do well at school, study hard, listen to your parents, and continue taking dance classes.”

I couldn’t stop crying after the call ended. My mom comforted me by telling me “It’s okay, you’ll see your grandma again. We’ll come back and visit.” I knew that she was telling the truth but I couldn’t stand being away for so long. After speaking with my grandma one last time, I decided to write about that day and how I felt because I didn’t feel close enough with my parents to talk about it. I really enjoyed writing then, and I couldn’t remember that I had written something until I found a piece of paper. It was a poem in Chinese about how I felt at that time. “梨花带雨” was the word I used to describe that day and how emotional I was, the literal meaning being “pear flowers with rain.” It is used to describe tears in Chinese figurative writing. Years later, I had forgotten that I even knew that word but after reading what I wrote, it was a word I will never forget.

[iremember826chi]

The Toy Talk

by Leo, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

I remember the time a little toy changed the way I perceived money. It was in the middle of winter, cold as can be. My mother and I went to a store to get groceries and other essentials like toilet paper and water. The grocery store was massive and contained everything from toilet paper to motor oil. We were only supposed to spend money on things that were listed down on the shopping list but I didn’t want that. I just wanted a toy to play with. 

We passed by the toy aisle and I spotted it. The brand new “Beyblade” that all my friends have. A Beyblade is a customizable spinning top that is used to “battle” with other Beyblades. A Beyblade consists of a metal ring and a plastic tip for it to spin on. When you spin it and it clashes with other Beyblades, it would make a ping sound and it was very exciting for me.  In my 6-year-old brain, it was way more important than food because I didn’t know that once I played with it for a couple days, I would stop it and beg for another toy. I wanted the “Beyblade”. I wanted to be cool like all the other kids because being with the crowd was cool and I didn’t want to be left out. I just remember wandering off and getting the toy and putting it in the cart, but my mother didn’t like that very much and refused to get it for me saying things like “I’ll get it if you get all A’s,” and “I’ll get it on Christmas for you.” I didn’t understand, if she could spend money on food and things for the house, why can’t she spend it on toys and games that I think are fun. All of my friends have it but I don’t. I understood the concept of needing something and wanting something, but as a 6-year-old, I considered a toy as important as shelter or food. I considered it a need. I felt like I wouldn’t survive in school without it. I felt like all the other kids would pick on me and tease me because I didn’t have the new toy. I also felt like I would be left out since I would be one of the only 2 kids in my class without it. We exited the store and drove back home to put away the groceries and do some chores.

The apartment is a little three room apartment. One room for my mom and dad, another for my brother, and a final one for myself. There is a long hallway that has the three rooms at the end and the kitchen is a few feet away from the front door. Once you enter, there is a place to put your shoes and the couch and TV is to your right. I remember just going to my room and just being sad that I didn’t get the toy. We ate lunch and I went back to playing with my action figures and other toys. My mom probably saw that I didn’t seem happy about anything and caught on to what made me that sad. Later that night, I cried. I didn’t cry very loud but I wouldn’t know since my face was in my pillow. I was way too sad about not getting the toy. I cried like a family member just died. I still don’t understand why I cried so much that night. All those tears lost was just for a little top.

The next day, my mother sat me down at the dinner table and talked about money and why it so incredibly difficult it is to get a job and how to get money. She began talking about my thoughts on money and what I should do with it. I answer as though it was free and I could do whatever I could because we have money.  It was very confusing for a 6-year-old boy to talk about but now I understand what they meant about why the getting of jobs is so hard because you have to go through so many steps and processes to get a job. She started explaining how to make money and how much work she went through to make money. I didn’t understand why getting a job was so hard back then because all the jobs I did were simple and very easy. They only took less than 10 minutes. “But why work if it’s hard and you don’t want to do it?” I said. She simply answered, “Because of money and the family.” 

“But why do you have to get money, why don’t you just ask the people to give it to you?” I exclaimed. My mother got tired of all this and gently but firmly grabbed my hand and I could see that she was serious and this wasn’t a time to be goofy and to just listen to her. She then went on to explain why I couldn’t get what we want and why I didn’t receive the toy at the store. She said very slowly, “We can’t have whatever we want because it costs money and we do not have infinite money. We work hard for the money and use it on things that are necessary like food and other things. I do not think that your toy is important because you can live without it.” That talk helped me so much in the future as I now know what she talked about. Now I consider the price of items when buying them and I will think before impulse buying things. For example, I now will consider buying the brand-new game or the bread and will come back to this talk when I want to buy something unnecessary or spend money on things that I would not need. Without it, I would’ve spent a lot of money and wouldn’t have saved so much so I can reward myself later on. My mother made choices that have changed my whole life, and I can’t thank her enough for it.

[iremember826chi]

A Boring Family Walk

by Zibin, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

I remember the time when my family went to the lakefront and we enjoyed ourselves. I was in fourth grade that time. It was good weather outside that day and it was perfect to go out and play. There weren’t many clouds and the wind was cool. In such nice weather, my parents would take me to the lakefront. Since I always play computer games, my parents would drag me out and for a walk. The apartment we lived in was located in Chinatown. When I woke up, I played some games and when my dad woke up, he told me to dress up. During that time, I wore shorts because it was near summer. My mom would just buy some food to eat if we were hungry. Once we were ready, we just exited the house, locked the door, and walked to our destination.

We were never tired when walking to the lakefront because we were energetic, walking without stopping until we reached our destination. I was different, I felt like something was missing. I was thinking about many things at once and continuing. When my parents were about to see me, I would hide my emotions and act like I was fine. We came across a grocery store called Mariano’s, it is a store with a green leaf logo. Sometimes, we would go to the grocery store when we were going back home. As we continued down the path, there would be a car tunnel that is gloomy and wide. We had to get up the hill in order to go to the lakefront. There are different kinds of people and sometimes it is crowded. As we walked up the hill, we would turn left and walk straight. When we saw many fake people with only legs and their torsos in a group, we knew that the lakefront was near. We take this path to the lakefront from Chinatown. If you have a phone with GPS, you can use GPS to get there. There are many artworks around there and my parents would take pictures. When they asked me to take a photo, I did a fake smile: a smile that is not genuine for a time when you don’t want to show your true emotions. There are grass and plants all over the place. There are animals including different kinds of birds, seagulls, geese, pigeons, and squirrels. You will hear sounds like chirp made by birds.

Once we got closer to the lake, we could hear whooshing waves one after one. If you go in summer, it is very cool there and you can relax and enjoy the breeze. There are two tunnel looking thing you have to get across and the spaces are so huge that four cars can travel through. There are shops there as well, they sell many different kinds of items but are expensive. If you look around, you will see a museum and the blue lake. The shore looks dirty; there is litter along the shore. There is a hot dog store near the lake and benches to sit on. You can see seagulls and geese if they’re there. My parents took pictures as we continued walking.  We walked to the left path, where there are trees and plants. If you continue walking down, you’ll see a staircase. This will lead you to the huge fountain called Eli Bates Fountain. My parents love taking pictures there, and then after around fifteen minutes, you will be satisfied. If you’re lucky, you can see the water flowing out straight and long right away. There are stores that sell food and a restaurant. If you need to go to the bathroom, it is located in the top-right corner building if you get there just like how we got there. If the wind is strong and it is summertime, what I usually do is to go to the spot where the water is falling outside the fences. It is just like a shower with cold water, it should get you to lower temperatures. After that, we would either walk back and take the other path or continue down. If you continue, you will get to Navy Pier.

We usually went and took the other path. If you continue down the other path, you will see a long staircase. We would go up the staircase and go left. You will notice a museum there. After we got there, we would go back and head down the path. There is the Man With Fish statue there. That path can guide us home. I can’t remember how to go back home with that path but my dad can. It will eventually lead you to the path that you saw when you came here. We followed the path we came from to go home. To walk home, it takes almost an hour as well. I don’t really like going there and feel like this is a waste time. It is like - I don’t want to go somewhere and I want to stay in a certain place doing something just for fun. During that time, I just wanted to play more computer games. I don’t really like taking pictures as well. If my parents want me to, I will just do with a fake smile. On rare occasions, I smile naturally and what causes me to do that is something that can satisfy me and make me happy. If we were to go in Mariano’s, we usually bought things to eat as we walked back home. I enjoy the food, it satisfies me as well. What I always do after I get home is sit down in front of my computer and relax. This is when I can’t hide my emotions. I quickly opened the computer and played for the rest of the day. I play games because I don’t have anything else to do and I don’t have a reason to do certain things. Another reason is that it satisfies me just like it satisfies everyone else. My dad will prepare the delicious dinner, can’t wait for more!

[iremember826chi]

A Memorable Day

by Vivian, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

I remember arriving at my cousin’s college, completely dumbfounded. My heart was beating from excitement and my palms started to sweat. When we arrived to where the graduation ceremony was taking place, I stopped, fascinated by how enormous it was. There were chairs placed on the gym floor, with signs of each major taped onto the chairs, such as Accounting and Psychology. I remember my cousin taking a seat after waving at us in the Business section. She had studied at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My aunt ushered my uncle, second cousin, mom, and me into a row on the bleachers. The gym was starting to fill with people and it was a while before the graduation process started. I saw people taking out their phones and their snacks while waiting for the graduation process to start. As the principal started calling names of each and every student, I started to doze off. I remember thinking, why were there so many students? When was my cousin going to go? After a short nap, I woke up and realized that they were still on the people whose last names started with a C, whereas my cousin’s last name started with an F, making me groan. I would have to wait for a long time before the ceremony ended. 

I noticed that every time someone went up, there would be a moment for the audience to clap for them and congratulate them on their four years of hard work. Occasionally, there would be someone whose family would shout something loud and praising, like “We love you!” or just a really loud “Woohoo!” I remember wanting to do the same for my cousin and patiently waiting for her turn. Right when the principal called my cousin’s name, I decided not to make a really embarrassing sound for her. What if everyone stared at me weirdly? I decided not to in the last second, just clapping politely when they allowed the audience to make noise. After the long flowing names of the students ended, my family and I watched my cousin take pictures with her friends and hug them. I watched her smile for a few more pictures and then we walked back to my cousin’s dorm. She had wanted to go back to her room and drop off all her things before celebrating with us. We walked on the cement ground and grassy park under the sunny sky. My aunt decided, in her stage of happiness, that she was going to capture our every moment. 

She gathered everyone and told them to pose for a quick picture. My cousin was holding her bouquet of roses and my other cousin was squinting because of the blinding sun. My uncle just stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. “Hey, get out of the picture,” my aunt had said to my uncle, noticing his weird posture. She snapped a picture of my mom, me, and my two cousins. We were all squinting because of how bright the sun was, making my cousins complain to my aunt about taking a picture with the sun shining on our faces. Soon after, we all arrived at my cousin’s dorm. The dorm was spacious and shared with other people at the time. Each person had a room and everyone cleaned up after themselves. There was a neat and comfortable looking couch on the side of the living room and on a small table below, a Kleenex box and a remote control for the TV. 

My cousin came out of her room and told us all to go. She had changed out of her graduation clothes and left her bouquet behind in her dorm room. We had decided to go out to eat somewhere my cousin claimed was a good place. As we walked outside, I looked around and noticed how crowded the neighborhood was. There were a lot of stores and restaurants along the path. We finally stopped in front of a sushi restaurant that my cousin said was a pleasant place to eat. The indoor interior was nice and peaceful with a few tables and chairs. We took a seat and after looking at the menu, told the waitress our orders. As we waited, my aunt told us the time we would be driving back to Chinatown. I asked my mom for her phone and started playing games as the adults talked. She said that after we finished eating, we would say our goodbyes and leave. 

Before long, our orders of sushi came and I took my chopsticks and ripped the wrapper off. I had ordered a California roll, the classic sushi.  I started eating the sushi like a madman, which led to me finishing before the others. My mom told me to wait patiently for everyone to finish their food, but I sat in the chair, restless. After waiting a few more minutes, everyone was finished eating. My mom and aunt playfully fought for who would take care of the bill, but my aunt took it away, saying she was the older one. It was eventful and had been the first time I had seen inside a college and its dorms. I was glad to have experienced the new things in a different place. Later on, we said goodbye to my cousin and hugged it out before leaving. On the car ride home, I thought about Champaign being one of my college choices.

[iremember826chi]

My Dad Did Not Hit Me With A Scooter

by Erica, grade 8 (from I Remember...My Brother Shouted 'Fire', Spring 2018)

 I realize that when the three words “Dad, scooter, and pain” are in tandem, it might give off the mental image that my Dad hit me with a scooter. However, this is not the case. My dad was only a bystander to the pain wee five-year-old daredevil me had inflicted upon myself. 

It was a normal day, and by that I mean I had gone to preschool, got picked up at 12 p.m., went to my dad’s workplace, and at 5 o’clock would be fighting tooth and nail to try to get back home. The sun had shined and the clouds were still flocculent, yet my general feelings for the night was “mild salt”. To give some context, at five-years-old I was incredibly biased towards my mother, and since she was not there, I was a snowflake but made only of salt. A salt-flake, if you will.

The current scene is 7 o’clock, with the sun sneakily setting. Even though it is still quite bright out, it won’t be for long. Dad and I are visiting a park near our house; this was a part of our daily routine as my parents wanted me to get fresh air. I wiz down the sidewalk on my scooter, as I do Dad yells out a slightly shrill, “Go slower, be careful.” I’m sure that five-year-old me probably thought something on the lines of whatever the five-year-old version of “Lol, what a noob” is. However, as we’ll see later, that was the day I would learn that I was the noob. 

The minute I get to the park, I drop my scooter on a corner of a small basketball court, which is adjacent to the kids playground. The scooter lands to the floor with a clank and the streamers that came out of the handlebars seem to linger in the air for a second longer. It might have been beautiful, but I was already seven feet away across the mulch and towards the swing set. 

The air is crisp and when I slice through it on the swing it’s like the external equivalent of drinking cold water after eating a mint: gelid and refreshing. I turn my head towards Dad, who is currently walking around the baseball field that is neighbor to the playground, and the moment I’m sure he won’t catch me doing it, I jump off the swings in a streak of very little grace.

Later in the evening, I was moving around via scooter. Dad had once again told me to slow it down and once again I thought he was boring. As they say, actions speak louder than words, so I decided to go down a very steep sidewalk slope half as display and half as my evidence for why I wasn’t going to get hurt moving around so supposedly fast. What I thought was going to happen was that I would succeed the ride and stop my dad’s badgering once and for all. What actually happened was that while the scooter was going down the slope it began accelerating and I lost control of it. To quote Doctor Who, the ride down was “wibbly wobbly”, my mind was a rubber band ball of “Whoas”,”Oh my gods”, and “I’m going to die.” It climaxed at a point where blood dripped from my knees and thoughts of how mad my mom was going to be dripped from my mind. I just laid there on the ground, trying to catch on the phosphenes I was seeing and escape this dimension; “ Maybe I didn’t die from the fall, but now my knees hurt so much that I wish it had killed me.”

I managed to pick myself up from the place where my knees made a cartoon tomato splat on the concrete and back up the slope to where Dad was standing. Other than my legs, my eyes also picked up speed because I started to cry. He didn’t say anything but I could feel the aura of “told you so’s.” To be fair, I could detect notes of worry within the mixture. We went home shortly after, and at age five I likely didn’t know what anxiety was, but I felt it long before I found the word. The night had already been sneakily ensconced into the sky, and since Dad and I were both tired we decided to take a shortcut to our house—which was through the forest. This particular forest was made up of evergreen trees, so during the day it was a Castleton green, but during the night it was the shade of Snow White’s nightmare. We ran through the forest—very quickly.

My insides felt like they were twisting while I thought of what my mother’s reaction could be. I remember rolling up in a blanket burrito, like a sushi roll of fear, pain, and self-preservation. I kept repeating to myself, “You’ll be fine, she won’t be too harsh on you, you’re injured.” News flash: she was pretty harsh on me. The conversation essentially went, “Why did you do that?” she interrogated me. “ I ‘unno know,” I replied, muffling my voice. Then she replied with a series of “You don’t know?” that got increasingly louder and angrier, and it was at the point she used the famed Asian Mom technique that was beating their children with a clothes-hanger. Why she thought hitting an already injured child was a good idea I will never understand, but I’m not a parent so I can only speculate. Moral of the story: one - your parents know more than you. Two - it is never good to try to attempt high speed driving, especially if you’re a child; if you fall and hit the ground the friction will cause a good amount of pain and blood. Three - please don’t pick at your scabs. And four - if your dad hits you with a scooter, he is not a good father.