#or the grandma who got her husband with her and the supermarket girl who had no one but still cared for everyone else

[manawari]

Y'all what if the cranks are like the zombies/ppl who caught the Mad Human Disease from Happiness where some of them can turn to normal if they held onto something to ground them from turning into a bloodthirsty monster.

Imagine Newt!!!!!!

[masterkirby]

How do I even

How do I talk, how can I

How to think about my deceased Mother?

I'm terrified of not having enough memories so I don't try to dig in my head for them because they don't come to the surface naturally, instantly. I quite often dream about her, but she's just there, as part of a family situation, just talking, laughing, whatever. No indication on part of my brain that anything, anyone, is amiss.

How can I think about her?

Round features, prominent chin, piercing blue eyes, thin, wavy and frizzy hazelnut hair,

always wearing a long skirt and that type of top that grandmas and aunties here wear, bought in this or that bazarek, ryneczek.

I kept thinking recently about this leather coat she'd wear, but couldn't find it anywhere.

She's been keeping me warm all these years after her death because I'm just going through her coats.

She was a bit taller than me, I never got taller then her, even when I stopped growing.

When I'd hug her, I'd put my chin over her shoulder, so soft and warm.

Dad would buy her chanel 5 during trips abroad, when he'd fly. I have her last bottle on my shelf and sniff it from time to time.

I don't remember her voice and can't find any recordings. I want to find one so, so, so bad. Her laugh, she would be so cheerful, a sun ray (despite her sun allergy)

Although I've mostly been pondering her melancholy over the years, having moved very suddenly to a country beyond the iron curtain, to marry and live with, basically, a stranger. They'd written letters to each other, my mom and dad, before meeting each other in real life. Dad was a uni professor who fled to the United States, she was a country girl, first in her family to go to university and she studied pharmacy. Dad's father was a professor at med school and somehow got them acquainted. Mom had a way of reaching people's private lives, or hearts. I still don't know and have no way of asking now how Dad got to her heart. Recently he told me, prefacing with a "if you've ever wondered how Mom and I ended up together", that they were both deeply heartbroken at the time. But that she was good to him and he wishes he'd been better to her.

So yeah, alone in a foreign country, no knowledge of the language, and her husband turns out to be... well, now we acknowledge he's on the autism spectrum but back then it just looked like anger issues, depressive episodes and spacing out (not caring about everyday stuff).

I remember surprisingly little about her from my childhood. What did we do together?

I remember asking her why she wears diapers (when I found her sanitary pads)

and her giving out food like kabanosy (where did she get those from??) during long car trips

And going to the supermarket with her

And the Polish food store (where we'd get Kinder niespodzianka and torciki wedlowskie)

And I think the video rental was nearby

I remember going to the Badzian family with her, where they had a TV (we didn't have cable) and Tereska and she were crying when the Pope died.

Tereska tried to teach me English before I went to kindergarten but didn't manage to (I acquired it at school but still have no clue how I survived the time before I knew any English).

We would go to the pool sometimes and that's how I learned how to swim, I guess. It was an outdoor pool and she'd love to swim using the frog stroke, always a dark one suit and a beige, wide-brimmed hat. She'd complain about having to shave specifically for the pool.

She never wore make-up so that was something I learned and unlearned on my own.

She had this silly szlafrok type gown, hot pink, over her regular sleeping gown.

I probably spent a lot of time with her in the kitchen. I remember making rice krispie "cake" together and brownies. She would often make ciasto drożdżowe and I'd eat out the kruszonka, both in baked and unbaked form. We also made flubbers and I'm sure she helped me with any school science experiment I had.

There was something with creating a rainbow on the windowpane.

She would love to make us kanapki for dinner which we would make by ourselves, as in she'd prepare various ingredients and we'd make ships out of them or whatnot.

I want to make an omelette like she did someday.

Another speciality of hers were oponki and she'd make them for everyone's birthdays. And the gołąbki and eggplants with cheese and zapiekanki. Her schabowe were the best I ate.

Turns out she never really cooked before getting married so she had cooking classes, but I only know this from stories and pictures.

Zalewajka, rosół, pomidorowa z ryżem, which is interesting because her mom always makes it with noodles.

She had a small garden in the backyard but only really mint grew there from the times that I remember. But she kept a row of beautiful roses out front, just like grandma does. She loved roses best.

She was overall a very romantic and poetic soul, idealistic and dreaming. Open to people and experiences, well, mostly... She was a devout Catholic which is the reason we'd fall out when I was a teenager and young adult. It was hard hearing that pregnancies from r@pe should be carried to term... And that homosexuality is a disease and we should have compassion for those people but pray for their recovery... Yeah ...

This is always the part that makes me pause my reminiscing. As warm and hard-working and caring a person she was, I always arrive at this... confusion. That I can't help but remember her, in my heart, as somewhat cold and narrow-minded and hurtful.

I remember going to her with my problems (some school drama) and hearing that I should go to god for help. Or all our disagreements because I liked going out, partying, drinking alcohol, wearing skimpyish clothing, making out with people, and so on. When I once told her that I'm being bullied by this one girl, she responded that that girl has a tough family situation. I had hellishly low self-esteem for some reason as a kid and now sometimes as well. Always hearing to be modest and give way for others...

Or when they did a 180 on us when our trip to Poland was supposed to be a one-year sabbatical but turned into a "lifetime".

Her lack of trust in me hurt me deeply and I always couldn't help but compare it to the trust I felt from Dad (I have to ask him someday if it was illusory). And I guess I felt that lack of trust in her overprotectiveness. However horrible it sounds to complain, she'd sometimes show up at my middle school with, say, lunch, or something I forgot to take. Imagine my horror as a kid trying to fit in, in a school where people would regularly be bullied for lesser things. Or she'd try to recruit kids for her rosary circles... I cringe. It hurt to be the laughing stock of, well, at least a few classes. It was a big school.

Or she'd always volunteer to supervise trips and school balls and to go to every school year ending and beginning. I feel like crying even now for feeling... ungrateful. But it just wasn't what I needed as a growing person...

She'd once scolded me for not going to an extracurricular class and she'd never let me not go to school unless I was super sick. But she let me stay home a few days once in high school when my anxiety/depression was really kicking in.

I spent most of my middle school outside of home, if not school then roaming with friends, returning late at night. In highschool my views started forming, far from her own, and I was consumed by school life, building a social persona, dating, having (gasp) premarital sex (not that we ever talked about that). She was more and more into the church, spending all her time and worry on problems of the parish community. We grew distant.

I moved out for uni and she soon fell ill. There wasn't enough time to grow back together.

I don't know. I started therapy recently and I repeat to myself, like a mantra, a thing the therapist said:

Sadness isn't something we're born with. It always comes from somewhere.

I don't think my mom was ever a driving force for my sadness but I have been sad ever since I was a kid. What gives?

The therapist says I didn't have my emotional needs met. Maybe? But still, nothing that traumatic happened in my life until my Mom passed away so suddenly.

I wish I could talk to her about what she remembers about me as a kid. Maybe she could help provide the clues to my potential autism diagnosis. I'd want to hear more of her stories and thoughts. I'd love to hear her worries and troubles and be able to help her, as an adult in my own right. I'd love to get tips on running a household from her, cook and bake together.

I feel like I never really got to know her.

[prismatales]

Through our lifetimes

Word Count: 2.7K

Bingo slot: Reincarnation

Pairings: Kirishima Eijiro x Reader

Tag/Warnings: Fluff, Slight Angst, Soulmates AU.

Synopsis: According to legends, when both soulmates turn eighteen, they start remembering their past lives together. You’ve known about that story ever since you were a small child. The question is....are you ready to meet your soulmate?

Another entry for the bingo event, hosted by the @bnhabookclub ! This time with the Reincarnation prompt! This is also a birthday present for my dear friend @pixxiesdust , who’s one of the most precious friends that I’ve ever had the chance to meet! Happy birthday Zeze! We love you! 

Beta readers: @todoscript & @etegomanere

Credits for the Kirishima cap goes to @eraserhead-transparents!

There’s an old myth about soulmates. One, that only a handful of people could tell you about. 

An old story your grandparents have always talked about ever since you were but a small child that was just starting to learn how to speak, let alone memorizing things.

According to the stories, when both soulmates become close to turning eighteen, they start to remember their past lives together. They’ll keep seeing glimpses of these moments in the past the closer they get to this age, and when the day finally arrives they will start to remember each and every single moment of their past lives.

How was it possible that an old couple that always showed their family nothing but unconditional love and support, was able to tell you about this old myth like it had been something that they had experienced themselves?

It was pretty simple...It was because they had experienced it themselves.

Every single summer, you’d spend it visiting that small, cozy home in the fields. It almost felt like you were living inside one of those fairytale books that your parents would always read to your younger self before going to bed. 

The days would go by listening to the stories about their past lives. You’d enjoy the nice breeze of summer, accompanied by an ice-cold pitch of sweet, tangy lemonade your grandfather would happily prepare for his two favorite ladies in the world.

It was a routine deeply engraved into your memories. Two tiny hands holding a glass way too big for them, filled to the brim with the sweet drink while you sat over your grandmother’s lap. Her wrinkly fingers would always caress the top of your head softly as she kept talking, and talking, and talking about the memories of her past lives with enthusiasm.

Despite being ridden to a wheelchair, your grandmother always made an effort to help her husband in their beloved fields. She would always help out by holding this huge basket over her lap, a way to help out the man standing in front of her, who was too busy choosing the best of their crops for their daily meals.

If there was something they took pride in, it was teaching you not to be a picky eater. There was something about their crops that made them so delicious, so different from the ones that your mother would always bring home from the supermarket.

It created some precious memories for everyone in the family when they saw the pictures of a small toddler, barely learning to walk, yet she already had her tiny, chubby face buried in a tomato.

As you grew up, it became a habit to come back during summer with the happiest smile on your face while helping out, carrying that huge basket filled to the brim with the delicious crops.

And many years later, once you finally started visiting them on your own, the habit of visiting the old couple every summer never died down. Some people your age would rather go to parties during the summer, or vacation to relax somewhere else.

But not you. 

Each summer break would be spent visiting that same house, enjoying the nice breeze with a glass of tangy lemonade, smiling at the old couple as they kept telling you about the stories of their past lives.

Sighing deeply, you stared at the sliced tomato in your fork. Its color is pale in comparison to the ones from your grandpa’s fields, but even if their taste doesn’t even come close, food must never go to waste, so quickly, you start eating the delicious meal.

It’s just a typical lunch; a plate of pasta laid before you, carefully served in the shape of a small spiral, covered with a fine portion of tomato sauce, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and basil adorning the plate as the finishing touch. 

The dish came accompanied by two slices of bread, toasted to perfection with a nice touch of melted, garlic butter. 

Lastly, a nice portion of salad drizzled in balsamic vinegar as a side dish that, even though it was delicious, it couldn’t come even remotely close to those hand-picked crops back at those precious, grassy fields.

The taste of the salad may be bland in comparison, but it’s the company all around you that made the meal taste way better than what it was. 

After all, it’s your very first get together after graduating from UA a few months ago. And the best part? It’s all happening during your birthday.

Being surrounded by your former classmates was always a nice way to pass the day. After mentioning how this would be the first summer you’d be unable to visit your grandparents, all of your friends came up with a plan to cheer up the dejected, young woman patrolling the city with a melancholic smile.

It was expected that you would feel this way after spending years visiting the old couple in that lovely house, but you knew it was bound to happen the moment you chose to become a hero.

So the morning your birthday came up, everyone had quickly dragged you out for the day, barely giving you the chance to get ready before being taken to one of the longest outings you’ve ever experienced.  

From shopping sprees to a nice restaurant for lunch, and many other kinds of activities, the day literally flew by surrounded by those that could be considered a second family. 

But as much as you adored the effort they put to raise your spirits, nothing could distract you from the dreams that you kept having for the past days.

Like the one where a young woman kept sneaking out of her house at night. A beautiful dress, that judging by the intricate design and the puffiness of the skirt was from the victorian era, was carefully dragged around as she walked cautiously through the dark, empty streets. She just kept walking, occasionally turning into a different direction, until a hand shot out through an alleyway, dragging her yelping self with little effort. 

As terrifying as the gesture seemed, nothing but warm laughter came out of her lips when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, holding her body against a firm chest.

“You’re late!” A voice exclaimed from above, resting their jaw against her head lovingly, their bodies swayed together as they enjoyed the other’s presence in their little hiding spot. “Did you have a good day?”

Pulling her head back, she looked at her lover’s face with a tender smile, wrapping her own arms around the stranger’s waist. “Much better now that I am with you.” From the way she stared at this man, the love they shared was more than obvious before they shared a soft, tender kiss. 

But through your eyes, it was impossible to see what this stranger looked like because every time you had one of these dreams...there was a black blur over his face.

And of course...not all of these dreams had a happy ending.

Like that one couple, that despite trying their hardest to be together, their love became impossible the day she was betrothed to someone else in order to pay off her family’s debt. Her beloved, in a fit of heartbreak, went traveling overseas...and he was never seen again.

And then there were others, where the lovers never got a chance to meet, spending their whole lives waiting for the moment they could finally meet their special someone, just to realize, that in the end, faith had taken their loved one away before they could finally find each other.

“What do these dreams mean exactly, grandma…?” You asked this to your grandmother during a sunny day, pushing her wheelchair around the fields while she carried the same, worn-out basket in her wrinkly hands that were still full of strength. In the meantime, your grandfather was too busy picking some crops.

The moment you mentioned these strange dreams to the older woman, her face lit up with the same brilliance as that of a lighthouse in the middle of the darkest night. The basket fell out of her hands from the surprise, much to her husband’s surprise.

“Oh, my goddess! Honey! She has a soulmate! Our little girl has a soulmate!” She almost hopped out of her wheelchair from the joy. Seeing her being so excited that she almost stood up despite her legs being so frail, made the news even more exhilarating for the family.

You snapped out of the little trails of thoughts by a hand waved in front of your face. Blinking in surprise, you came face to face with a pair of red eyes and a slightly concerned face.

“Everything okay?” Kirishima asked, standing by your side while everyone else was engaged in their own conversation. “You’ve been spacing out for a while now.” 

Warmth began creeping up your whole face, embarrassed about spacing out on your friends. You smiled awkwardly at the red-headed guy at your right side before giggling softly as you looked up at the vast and clear orange sky, filled with some of the fluffiest clouds you’ve ever seen as they took different shapes, some of them being cuter than others. It was amazing how fast time would pass by when you were surrounded by good company; it was already starting to get dark.

“Sorry, I was thinking about my grandma. We usually sit in the garden at this time of the day while she tells me this story.”

In the middle of your little speech, you failed to notice the way Kirishima kept staring at you fondly, knowing from past conversations at high school just how much you adored the old couple.

“You really look up to them, don’t you?” 

“Yeah, I do.” Looking back as everyone kept walking in their own groups after today’s outing, your attention then shifted back to the guy walking alongside you.

Who just happened to be your high school crush, but after all the hardships that occurred three years ago; such as the constant fighting against groups like The League of Villains, The Shie Hassaikai, and others. Dating became the least of your worries. 

Especially now that you were on your way to become official pro-heroes, starting out first as sidekicks, of course. Your love life could probably wait...and hopefully, your future soulmate would understand…

“It’s getting pretty late, let me walk the birthday girl home!” He offered with that characteristic smile of his that could light up an entire room by itself.

“You really don’t have to!” 

“I insist! What kind of guy would let a girl walk alone at night?” 

Sighing in amusement, you gave in to his offer. Aftersaying goodbye to everyone else, both you and Kirishima began walking together in the direction of your small apartment.

The sky had already turned dark by the time you reached a small lake near the building.

“Hey, Kiri…Do you believe in past lives?” It was his turn to look back at the sky, stretching his hands behind his neck with eyes closing deep in thought and eyebrows half furrowed as well.

“Well...It’s not something I’d lose sleep over, but it could be interesting!” He opened a single eye and looked in your direction, the small grin together with those cheerful, red eyes could easily rival the beauty of the sunset itself. “You believe in them?”

“Well, yeah! I’ve heard so many stories about people who are able to remember their past lives, I think it would be amazing to know about ours!” He hummed quietly, nodding to himself in thought.

“What kind of stories have you heard?” He was genuinely curious. That, and seeing the joyful look on your face the moment he asked about it made it all worth it because seeing his crush happy was enough to make Kirishima equally joyful.

“Oh! This is my favorite one! According to the stories, when both soulmates turn eighteen, they see their past lives together!”

You kept explaining every detail to him, unaware of just how quiet he had become the moment you mentioned that once both soulmates turned this age, the hidden faces from their dreams, belonging to their lovers from a past life could finally be seen.

“What if they had an age difference? Say, five years?” He was starting to become more interested in the idea of these soulmates.

“Then they’ll start having the dreams once the youngest of the two also turns eighteen!”

“But what if one of them...dies before meeting each other?”

“Well...they’ll never know their soulmate...not all lives have a happy ending…”

“Oh, that’s...pretty sad.”

“Yeah, it is.” You looked back at the street, muttering softly to yourself. “Hope I can find mine, though…”

“Did you say something?”

“Ah! N-nothing important!”

After some slightly awkward silence, you finally came close to the building where you lived. 

“Well...Here we are!” You stood in front of the gates. A bright smile was directed to Kirishima, who stood a few feet away, but still close enough that if he lifted his hand, it could easily brush against yours. “Would you like to come in? I have some matcha cake waiting inside!” 

“You sure it’s okay?” 

“Of course, silly! I’m a firm believer that birthdays must always be celebrated with cake!” He couldn’t help laughing at your enthusiasm. 

But you didn’t get the chance to say another word before something flashed before your eyes. A burst of images began flashing at an overwhelming pace, different memories began coming all at once at an alarming rate that made you hunch, leaning on the gate and holding your aching head, throbbing painfully from the sudden wave of memories coming at all once.

Everything came so suddenly; all those dreams from your past lives came rushing like an avalanche.

That couple embracing each other in the darkness of the alleyway. The one that got separated because of a family dispute and the one that ran away together, everything just kept coming back. 

And when they finally stopped, the very first one that you remembered stayed still before your eyes. The couple from the victorian era were embracing each other tenderly before he grabbed his lover’s face by their chin to give them one of the sweetest kisses you could ever witness.

His face was no longer hidden by shadows, and it was like a burst of colors painted this seemingly dark room filled with nothing but black and white with the brightest of shades. Like the sun itself had stepped inside that room.

Because that smile, that bright smile that could easily rival the sun...it was Kirishima’s smile.

Turning your head back slowly with eyes wide open, the first thing you noticed was that your so-called friend was hunched over, holding his head painfully before slowly opening his eyes to look at you, with the same look of absolute shock in those bright red orbs that were always full of life, despite everything he had gone through.

Neither of you moved for a solid minute and just stayed in place looking at one another before a tearful smile began appearing on your face.

“It’s you…!” 

Carefully, your hands pushed against the wall for impulse, at the same time that he took a single step, before breaking into a short sprint until he reached you, taking you into a heartfelt embrace that was eagerly reciprocated.

“How did I ever get so lucky?” He whispered, voice nearly breaking from everything he felt in that moment. Neither of you had the willpower to let go, not caring about anything, or anyone else. 

“All this time...all this time, you were always right in front of me.” You whimpered. “We’ve been having the same dreams for a whole year and didn’t know it!”

“You’re not going to leave this time, are you?” You nuzzled closer to him, hugging him as tightly as possible and completely afraid of losing your soulmate all over again like in those past lives.

“Never, I could never do that to you!” He kissed your temple lovingly. “Nothing will tear us apart. I promise!”

@bnha-ra @bnhabookclub @gallickingun @godtieruwu @hanniejji @mysticalite @savagetrickster @shoobirino @songsforbnha @sugacookiies @unbreakableeiji @wesparklebitch @pixxiesdust @hawks-senseis @yikerb​ 

[angeldolanx]

Chapter 6. /- stargazing/

28.05.'19

The next evening, I could say that I was a bit too excited for the boys to arrive. I just got home a hour ago, I spent my afternoon with Sophie and then I talked with Veronica. I always felt a bit nervous to talk to her, open up to her and talk with her as a friend, because she was my boss basically but she always tried and she was always so nice too, so I tried to let my negative thoughts go and we ended up having a really great conservation. She told me how she moved to here and how she met with his husband. I found it really interesting that she was a really loud and kinda bad girl who calmed down, when she met with her true love. I am in a stage in my life where I don't even know if I wanna be a baddie or if I wanna calm down with someone. Agh, probably I would choose the baddie option, that's the sad truth mom, sorry.

Their love was cute, how he just came to her life and after a few weeks she knew, that she found the one. I really think that this is never gonna happen to me and I am gonna end up in a relationship with someone who I don't love, I just tolerate. I hope not though.

When I got the massage from Grayson, that they are here I checked myself one last time in the mirror. I needed to smile on myself, I really didn't looked like a typical girly girl. I wore a green - black check shirt, what I probably bought on the man section a few days ago and it was long enough to wear it as a dress. I didn't wanted to change, but I didn't wanted to look too floppy nether, so I unbuttoned a few button on the shirt and I let it to slid down on my right shoulder. Now I felt more sexy how my black lacy bralette showed a bit, but I was still really comfortable.

After I opened the door I texted Grayson to go up to the last floor with the elevator and we can meet there, so with my phone and my keys in my hand, I also went to the elevator. As the elevator door opened I saw that they were already there. Bryant and Ethan said hi to me with a friendly smile while I noticed that Grayson checked my whole body out before he looked deeply into my eye. Gosh, I have no idea why he has such a strong effect on me. I immediately felt how my body warmed up, but I really tried to distract my attention to Bryant, who introduced himself to me.

There was a stair that led to the roof, so I went first with the three boys behind me. I think I watch too many detective and criminal shows, because the first thing that crossed my mind was that those stories always starts with a stupid girl who go somewhere with strangers and I do the same thing. Okay, they weren't completely strangers, but still. The whole story was a bit odd.

"Wow, if I would live here I would spend every night in here" said Bryant, when he glanced around. Yeah, I have to say the view was pretty good from here.

"Except if you would have acrophobia and you would have anxiety only from the thoughts about going near to the edge" I replied. Basically as soon as I get to the roof, the strange, anxious feeling came to my stomach. My apartment block wasn't the highest building in the street, and the fence on the edge was pretty high too, but I still had bad feelings that I needed to tolerate.

"You are afraid of heights?" glanced down at me Ethan. It's still quite strange and somewhat infuriating how short and tiny I was between them. The twins were large man, and even though I wasn't a extremely thin and tiny girl next to them, I almost felt like it.

"Uhum, that's the second time when I am up here. The first time was when they showed me that I have access to come here."

While they started to work and Brayant started to took pictures of the boys I watched the bustle of the city of Los Angeles. There was always a huge traffic on every street, and there was always so many people everywhere. You could go the supermarket even at four am in the morning and still find people there. This city never sleeps.

From the beautiful city lights of course Grayson was the one, who managed to get my attention. He just casually sat in front of Bryant's camera. He really didn't needed to try hard to look good in every single pose and picture. I really tried to not stare at him too remarkably, especially when I bumped into Ethan's gaze. I just knew from his cheeky grin that he caught me staring at his brother. Agh, I got busted.

"Can I take a picture of you too?" asked Bryant a few pictures later.

" Uhm, I look like I just woke up like ten minutes ago" I said. Actually, this wasn't true, I wish I could look like this when I wake up in the morning. I spent a few minutes in front of my mirror with my makeup bag and with a hairbrush to look like this.

"It can be also a concept, come on" he continued to try to convince so I took a big sigh and went to stand in front of his camera." Can you pull it down a little more?" he asked, so I relaxed my shoulder, and my shirt slid lover by itself on me, and showed a bit more from my black lace bralette. I crossed one hand in front of my stomach and I lifted my right one to my face as Bryant showed. After he took a few photo he asked me to bit on my pointer finger, which made me smile, especially when I saw Gray's smirk behind him. "Wow, you really know how to use your face" said Bryant, while he looked back to the pictures on his camera.

"No, I don't. At all" I laughed. I was embarrassed, I really didn't liked when someone took pictures of me especially in a situation like this, where we had audience too, which made it even more embarrassing for me. I always took pictures for the gram with self timer. It's so much easier to me when I can pose how I want and I am the only one who see if its looks trash.

While Bryant began taking photos of Ethan I stood by myself for a few minutes but when I looked at Grayson, who sat on the metal something, I went towards him, and sat down next to him. Wow, what a bold move, Mira. Yes. Sometimes my own thoughts makes me angry, especially because I am 22 and still afraid of a guy who is even younger than me. I really need to get my shit together.

"Are you secretly a model?" glanced at me Grayson. He was so close to me, my favorite perfume’s scent mixed with his masculine one and I could feel the warmth of his body. His face looked so much more younger without the beard and I immediately started to think about that I like him more with it.

"Nah" I shook my head. My body was everything, just not a model body. I was pretty short and I had a typical hourglass figure. I actually really liked my body type from the front, but as soon as I turn to the side yes, you can see my booty poppin', but my little tammy too. I think I could look even better if I would be strong enough to go the gym, but I was so lazy and I kinda felt like I fought so much for that body that I should be satisfied a bit more with it.

After that there was a long silence between us. He watched Brayant and Ethan, while I glanced up to the sky. The weather was clear, so I could see that there were so many stars next to the bright Moon. I was totally somewhere else in my thoughts for a few minutes, but I immediately snapped back whan Grayson started to talk to me.

"What are you thinking about ? " he asked. At this point, he probably watched me for a few minutes, if he noticed that I was zoned out. I bit my inner lip while I thought for a few seconds. Should I tell him my real thoughts or should I just tell him some random shit, that come to my mind and an easier topic? In the end I decided to tell him the truth.

"My family" I replied softly. He frowned his eyebrows for a sec and than turned to me with his whole body to listen to me. " First just a random memory popped to my mind about old camping nights with my family. We always set in front of our tent in the night and talked before we went to sleep " I said with a small smile, while the memories came back to me and I saw myself there again with my family in my head. " And then I just wondered if my grandma is somewhere there behind one star " I sighed "and is she still looking after me from there."

While I talked I just looked to the sky, and when I looked back at him I just realized that he did the same thing, but when he felt that I glanced at him he looked at my face and smiled slightly.

"Can we go?" interrupted Ethan. Grayson opened his mouth to say something and hesitated for a moment before he answered to his brother.

"You can go, I'm gonna call a Uber later" he responded. I saw that Ethan was a bit confused, and so was I. My stomach immediately collapsed because of the thoughts that I am gonna spend the rest of the night alone with Grayson. After Ethan and Bryant left there was a short silence again between us.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a slight laugh, when he put his pulover to the ground and layed down on it.

" Stargazing " he said easily, like it was the most natural thing. I stared at him for a few seconds, while he just layed there, watched the sky and the Moon's light shined back from his eyes. It's just melted my heart that the masculine good looking guy actually more than that. He looked so precious and he really made me feel like I wanna get to know him more. This whole situation was just absurd and still kinda special. Maybe that's why I didn't hesitated more, and with a slight smile I went next to him and I layed there too. After a few minutes now I was the one broke the silent between us.

" What are you thinking about ?" I asked him. I was really curious about what's on his mind.

" First I was thinking that isn't it just crazy how small we are compared to everything above us? From here everything look's distant and infinite " he said. I was glad he doesn't started to talk about constellations and stuff. I was not too good in astronomy, especially not in english. "And then I just wandered back to what you said about your grandma. Do you really think that our loved ones are there somewhere, behind the stars?"

" I don't know, but I like to believe that. To me it's comforting to think that she is still there and she still watches me from somewhere " I responded. I truly love to believe that.

"You keep surprising me " triggered a sudden topic Grayson. I turned my head towards him and when he did the same thing I just realized that how close we were to each other. Our nose was only a few inches away and now the whole situation felt more intimate, than before.

"What do you mean? You don't even know me yet" I said with a light smile.

"Yeah, that's why I just keep trying to create a picture of you in my head, but you just keep refute it. After we talked on FaceTime I remember, yes I remember " he added emphatically, when he saw that I wanna cut in, and it made me laugh how he knew what I wanna say. " So I remember I thought you are cute."

As soon as he said that I made a grimace. I think I was the only person on Earth who hated when someone told her, that she is cute. It's just so boring to me, and to me yeah a five year old girl is cute, but not me.

"Then in the salon you seemed more confident and I actually liked how sexy and independent you were, but you refuted it again in the dinner where I really didn't liked how you acted. I almost started to think that you are just a arrogant girl who only plays hard to get."

"Oh my God “ I cut in, while I shook my head. " Why would I when the.."

"Wait, let me finish " he put his hands on mine. His touch was like a lightning strike, that fired up my whole body even more. I was already a bit tense because I didn't liked the things, that he said about me." But you refute this picture again right now because you act like a completely different person. Again " he said while he looked back to my eye and he left my hand with a slight smile.

"So right now, you have no clue who I am " I grinned. I liked that I was a mystery to him, that he tries to solve in his head, but he can't. And I really liked the fact, that he thought about me in the last days.

" Yeah, you are a mystery to me."

" I just thought about that " I said with a huge smile on my face. I already knew that yeah I am quite open with people and I like to get to know new people but I need time, to actually trust in them enough to give myself fully so they can know who I really am.

" I wanna solve this mystery though."

" Good luck" I responded sharply, and when he glanced at me he ony got a smile. " And how do you wanna do it?"

" I have my own ways" he smirked and looked deeply into my eyes. This is probably makes his way more to my panties then to my head, mut okay. " What's your biggest dream?" he asked and looked back to the sky.

" Hmm..I don't know" I said. " I feel like I live in a dream right now. Since I come here my whole life just changed, in a positive way and right now I don't wanna think about the future, just enjoy every second."

"Why did you come here?"

" I was so unhappy. I had no friends, I've never been in a relationship and I had no plans eather. I just lived in my imaginary world which was comfortable but I felt like my life just pas next me, and I didn't enjoy a moment from it."

" You’ve never been in a relationship?" he asked with a surprised face.

" No " I shook my head.

"This means that you are a.. " for a moment he paused and I saw that he got embarrassed, and it made me smile even more. He was just cute.

"Yes. Wow seriously you don’t know shit about me yet, but you already know that I am a virgin. Amazing " I said while I tried to cover my laughing face, which made him giggle softly.

"But how? Like are boys in Hungary blind or something?"

"I don't know, I just didn't found the right guy jet " I said with a small sigh. Then I basically told him the same, that I told Corinna a few weeks ago, that I just wanna find someone who I can trust enough to do it. Or just find someone who can make me lose my mind for him.

" What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you? " switched suddenly topic Grayson. I started to feel like I am with a psychiatrist who just randomly asks me questions about myself, but at the same time I really thought that he was really nice how he tried to get to know me and ask about me.

" Once I fell into the pool in a public place " I said with a serious face, that made him immediately laugh. " I thought on the side it isn't gonna be that deep, but it was. I tried to do my hair into a bun for like half and hour, so it isn't gonna get wet but as soon as I wanted to step into the pool I just disappeard completely in the water. Even the 70 years old lady next to me tried to cover her laugh " I laughed. " After that my parents were able to laugh anywhere when they thought back to this " I finished my crazy story and in the end he just laughed even more. The whole rooftop was loud from our laugh. " It's your turn. Emberassing story? Virginity?"

"I need to go" he joked around, but when he saw my strong gaze he layed back next to me and he started to tell his stories. Of course his most embarrassing moment was with Ethan and he lost his virginity when he was 16 with his girlfriend back then. It was just so easy to talk with him, and open up to him. I slowly started to understand what he meant when he said he has his own ways. I just felt like I could talk with him about anything, he is gonna understand it or he is gonna laugh about it with me. " We hated high school, after a year or so we become private students with E " he started another story about their high school life. “And? What's up with your high school years?"

"Uh, in the first year it was chill but then I had a best friend. I was 16 when I went to a club for the first time and from that moment we basically spent almost every saturday night there, but I loved those years so much " I smiled, while I thought back. " We just doesn't give a shit about anything. We felt like we were free and young and was in love all the damn time, what was not even real love of course and we just really tried to enjoy every second from our teen years " I laughed. " After I turned 20 I didn't really went to parties anymore because I felt like they can't show me new things."

" Wow, you were such a baddie" he grinned. " What did your parents said?"

"Nothing, they trusted in me. If I got drunk I told them, and they knew that I am gonna learn from it. They knew everything about me, even if I just danced with a boy or something I always told my mom the next day. So yeah, I was a baddie but with a brain. And I still am " I added and I bet my lip to cover my confident smile.

We spent hours on the rooftop while we just told each other the most random stories of ourself. Somehow I still just wanted to know more and more. Yes I know, that they basically started to vlog when they were five with Ethan on the family camera and how embarrassing he was with the girls when they were teenagers, but I still just wanted to listen to his stories more and more. Not even fit into my head how could I just spoke with him so easily, when a few days ago I just swallowed dumplings because I was that nervous next to him. Maybe I was just really drunk and that's why I thought that he is so attractive? Probably not, simply he just behaved more mature and manly there, but now he was just so cute and open. I hated him for knowing how to be both.

"It's one am?" I asked when I saw the clock when he looked at his phone for the first time the night.

" Next time we continue, okay?" he asked while he stood up and offered his hand to me.

" I am in " I smiled and accepted his hand to help me stand up from the ground.

When we got to my apartment's floor Grayson got out with me from the elevator and we stopped to face each other. I just wanted to open my mouth to say something, when Grayson lifted his hand and pulled back my bra's strap, that slipped down on my shoulder. For a second my whole body tightened. His touch was so soft on my skin and the fact that I saw how his eyes followed his hand's moves and then his gaze moved down to my boob from my shoulder is just made me even more tense.

"Can I get a hug now, or I still don't deserve it? " I asked with a little sarcasm in my voice.

" I know you cried yourself to sleep yesterday because of it" he grinned while he put his hands on my shoulder to draw me closer to a hug.

" Of course I did " I mumbled to his chest. I thought it's gonna be a quick hug, but when his hands tightened around me when I wanted to move away, I smiled slightly and caressed his back for a few seconds. " Good night " I said when I went to my door and I really needed to bit my lip to hide that cheesy smile, that wanted to spread on my face. I didn't even looked back, when I heard him saying good night to me. I just opened my door, took a big sigh and leaned against it when I closed it behind me. It's just kills me, how in one second I laugh with him, but than in the other second I forgot to breath because of him.

- stagazing √

[eclecticpatrolsweets]

Fog strange talk Season 3 ——Jinjiang City 2020 Top5

(Language: English;Shooting: American group;Released in: USA, worldwide)

 preface

The city was swept by high temperature, and there were two pairs of mandarin ducks, who migrated for a long time to build their nests and settle down in a warm place. One was unable to bear the high temperature and fell, dying on the concrete floor. One opened its wings to block the hot sun for his partner. The male struggled and died soon. It was a long way and a spare dream. The mandarin ducks did not eat or drink, and rested beside their husband.

Mandarin ducks are amorous, not to mention people in the city.

Sheng put on a mask, after taking a bath, it was already 23 o 'clock at night. He got up too late, so he lost the habit of his biological clock.

He calls a taxi and heads to the center of Jinjiang city, where there is a special place that is very private.

Taxi across the river, the city is no longer busy, people are already asleep.

Two people were standing in the street, a man and a woman, older, bowing slightly and smiling. They got out of the car not far from them and went upstairs.

"Welcome to the White Bar." The young receptionist at the bar greeted Sheng cordially.

"Is the old woman there?"

The young man looked at Sheng and smiled. "Please!" The young man led the way to another room, which was wide.

Sheng took off his shoes and came into the room. On the sofa sat an old woman. She was listening to music. Rose sat down on a stool at the table and asked, "How do I address you?"

"Call me old woman -- first time?"

Or nod to say right, old woman peaceably looked at rise, rise took off the mask, said: "two days ago to the supermarket procurement, there are some women always looking at yourself, I saw the disgust from their eyes, let me very chagrin."

"Thirsty?" The old woman straightened her back.

"I have been back in Jinjiang city for almost a year, and I am very thirsty!"

Old woman greeted the side of the service personnel: "Pu Chun, give this guest on a big cup of 'drink'." Finished account, old woman said to rise: "haven't come to new guests for a long time, jinjiang city has been forgotten." Old woman continued to listen to the music, she did not look at the eyes of the boy.

Back in Jingangseong, there are not many familiar people. What happened here? Sheng thought for a long time and asked.

"Well, it's family. You shouldn't keep it a secret. A few years ago, there were two new buildings built on the other side of the Qiaojiang River. The Windows were closed, the trees were covered, and there was no way to enter. I heard that many people were imprisoned there.

"I also saw those two buildings. They were ordinary buildings, but surrounded by mountains and blocked by rivers. The area inside was not small."

"If you don't have special skills, don't be so curious." The old woman looked at him calmly.

Puchun came, put the "drink" on the table, as big as the beer barrel in the glass full of red liquid, or can't wait to hold the cup, purr.

He drank quickly, like a lost man who had just come out of the desert, gulping down the red liquid, bright red drops of water sticking to the sides of the empty glass.

"It's getting cold fast! Rose some regret.

"Quenched your thirst?"

"Enough already!

"You take a break at the bar, and if you walk down the street, that intoxicating feeling comes over you."

Sheng got up and took a few steps back to sit at the bar. Pu Chun smiled and took out a copper plate. He took three thin slices of watermelon from the refrigerator and placed them on the copper plate in front of Sheng.

"Very thoughtful! Is there another guest here like me? '

"Guests like you are almost regular customers, few, but very considerate. The young man who just brought you in is one of your staff. Do you need to know him?"

"What's his name?"

"We all call him Xiao Yang. He worked at a factory during the day and came to work at night. The prosperity of Jingang city has become a memory since large factories went bankrupt.

"There aren't many people at night."

"If you want to go to a place with many people, it is not impossible, but once the hunter is caught into the building..." Pu Chun shook his head and said no more.

Sheng asked anxiously, "What will happen?"

"The last time I worked with some of my regulars I heard them talking about going to the mother city -- the night and the prosperity there, the streets of the night where countless young men and girls stop."

"And haven't seen them yet?"

"Yes! The hunters are coming! They say the two new buildings on the riverbank are hunters' cages. Many guests have been captured there. Even the loudest werewolves have not been heard from. Puchun low voice line, full of two buildings of mystery and danger signals.

"How can this place still exist?"

"In addition to good confidentiality, Grandma is not ordinary. Her ancestors were emperors of the Byzantine Empire and have not lost their ties of blood and solidarity over the years. Need a new product?"

"What is it?"

"The name is Mary. It is a newly developed alternative to the drink. After tasting the drink, you will feel heaven with a glass of Mary."

"Try it. Mary is a beautiful name."

Puchun washed the wine glass, slowly poured into the cup prepared to package in the bottle of red fermentation liquid, light red filled with a grape aroma, rose eyes blurred, he very like this breath, this breath is like the girl who gets up on time, pick full juicy grapes.

Puchun opens a box of potions, with ancient Egyptian writing on it, and puts a red pill in the cup, bubbling up and dissolving quickly. "Mary finished, please taste!"

An hour later, when the vertigo wore off and He opened his eyes, he licked his lips with an aftertaste.

"Give me more Mary pills."

"For a rainy day!

Sheng greeted xiao Yang: "Your name is Xiao Yang?"

"Yes!"

"Someone who loved the sea."

Sheng and Xiao Yang exchange contact information. After the intoxicant vertigo is over, Sheng realizes that some parts of his body are numb and he needs a good rest in bed.

Outside the white bar, there was only the rustle of leaves in the wind. The deserted street was a little cold. It was late.

At the corner, out of the corner of his eye, he perceived a man following him, following him silently.

Off the night shift people hurried home to rest, rose continued to walk a few corners, the other party has been followed. Rise aware of the danger, perhaps the person behind is the white bar old woman said the hunter, rise stopped, turned around, looked more than 100 meters away from the man. The man was dressed in black, and his whole body did not look noticeable at night. He was huge, like a lion ready to go.

He does not stand for long, and any movement in the eyes of the lion is the beginning of a desperate hunt.

A taxi came up and Sheng hailed it. The moment he started for the first time, Sheng immediately felt safe.

In the car, his eyes blurred, eyes always closed, not too much strength.

When he got home, he sat on the edge of the bed. He closed his eyes. After a long time, he said, "Hunter!"

[msbrightside85]

You are unique

Yes, well you know I am! But in China you really are. Some Chinese people have never seen a westerner in the flesh their whole life and so when they see you walking down the street they have no qualms about staring at you. Really staring at you. Like right in the eye. They’re not shy or embarrassed about it. I’ve actually had some people put their own safety at risk while staring at me. Like continuing to walk while staring and the result being walking into the road or onto bumpy ground or almost into another person! I was warned about this before I came out here so it wasn’t such a shock when it started happening, so I would like to issue you guys with the same courtesy.

Of course that being said, it doesn’t mean that some days I don’t feel like shouting ‘WHAT?!!’ but I don’t, or at least I haven’t as yet. Candy was telling me the other day about bad china days and they’re totally a thing when you’re not living in your home country. They happen every now and again when China is just not on your side. So maybe they’ll be a time when I will be pushed to say something but really what is it gonna do anyway? The people staring tend to be the people who don’t speak English so I’d probably be able to get away with it.

Only just today when I started writing this, (I’m in a café - see pic below) a girl around the age of thirteen came up to my table and stood and stared at me. Then her little sister (around four years old) joined her and they both just stood and looked at me. I smiled and said hello and then they disappeared. For all of ten seconds before returning. So I asked their names and the older sister spoke a little English so we had a short conversation and then their mum came over and shooed them away.

A similar thing happened to me and Lizzie a couple of weeks ago. We had gone to a shopping mall straight after work and we were in one of the shops (a Chinese version of Superdrug although the deodorant prices were much more Boots-esque!) and Lizzie told me there was a girl following us. So I turned around and there she was, a Chinese girl around the age of eleven just stood staring at us. So we chatted - Me: Hello Girl: Helo Me: What’s your name? Girl: My name’s Kitty Me: Hello Kitty my name is Rachael and this is Lizzie Kitty: Hello Me: How are you? Kitty: I’m fine thank you and you? Me: I’m great thank you awkward silence and staring … Kitty: Ok bye! Me: Bye

And off she went to inform her Mum and Grandma of the conversation she just had with the two English girls. Lizzie had seen them trying to get her to come and talk to us so that she could practice her English, apparently this is something that happens a lot too. As we left the shop we bumped into her again so we smiled, and just as we were passing her she shouted WELCOME TO CHINA!! and beamed this huge smile. These little things make my day to be honest and it has to be said it is much easier and feels a little more acceptable when children do it as opposed to adults … I’m not sure you’ll ever really get used to that.

However, there was this one time when I arrived in China (it was my first day) and I had decided to go out for a walk to explore the area and as I left the flat, a guy was waiting to go down in the lift (we’re on the 11th floor). He stared at me the whole way. As we got to the bottom he said hello and started asking me questions about where I was from and how long I’d been in China (he found it highly amusing that I’d not even been here for a day!) and he offered to show me the local park and shopping mall. I reluctantly agreed and was careful to stay close to where other people were and keep the conversation light and not too personal (England safety mentality kicking in). But as it turned out I didn’t need to be concerned at all, the guy (whose name I don’t know - it just never came up!) genuinely wanted to practise his English and show the new girl around. I cannot thank him enough, he will never know how helpful it was to be shown around the supermarket and to have the process for buying fruit and veg explained to me at such an early stage in my Chinese experience (of course they were my first purchases … not beer and crisps …). I have only seen him once since and at the time I was rushing to find a bus stop as I was meeting someone so couldn’t stop to talk. I haven’t seen him again but if I do I’ll let you know.

Anyway where was I? Oh yes. As if staring isn’t enough of a shock there’s the photos. People take pictures of you with or without you knowing. It’s only ever happened to me once (that I know of) when me and Candy went to the Lotus Wetlands Park. We were walking along a boardwalk and a few people were walking towards us. One guy stopped right ahead of us, took out his phone, pointed it at us, took a picture and then walked off. So a little piece of me and Candy is somewhere around only god knows where.

Talking of taking pictures without permission …

I know it’s a bit naughty and very hypocritical of me but I couldn’t resist! This girl is sat on the path … in the middle of a small, busy, direct walkway that everyone uses to get down the street. Now come on, is it really sensible?! I think sometimes it’s good job I speak a different language because I do find myself muttering ‘are you joking’, 'cheers buddy’ and other sayings that express my exasperation at some people’s lack of awareness about personal space or general common sense. This has not even been the worst, I have seen cars completely obscuring the walkway too. 

Anyway, going back to personal space even Patrick Swayze found himself explaining the basics of space while teaching Jennifer Grey to dirty dance (it was a concept they didn’t stick to for very long however!). But what I’m trying to say is if you do decide to visit be prepared for a little bustling, people coming closer to you than you expect in the street (including people on e bikes, bicycles and in cars!) because it really is a thing here and that’s just the strangers.

It’s a whole other ball game with people you know. With my local teacher colleagues I’ve noticed that once you’re in you’re in. They may take a little while to get to know you but once they’re comfortable with you, it’s both feet in. I’ve never met a group of people, by nature or culture perhaps that are so helpful to the point that they would put themselves out to assist. Now of course I know some super helpful people (big shout out to you all) but it’s almost like here they’re helpful by culture, like en mass. Once you’re friends, they’re offering you food with the expectation you will accept heartily and eat it directly from the chop sticks they’re eating from, they’ll bring food in for you and take no money for it and help you with language issues and general living hurdles that you need to jump through just to survive daily living here in China (believe me it’s a big old list and I’m still ploughing through). For me, it’s wonderful. I’m away from home and I already feel like a successful adoptee and it makes the experience so much easier and more pleasurable to have people around you that you know would help you at the drop of a hat. Of course, they seem continuously surprised when I return the favour because the generosity is apparently only supposed to go one way. But you all know that’s not something I can comfortably live with and so instead of denying their generosity and turning them down, which would be rude and insulting, I simply find another way of repaying their kindness. This is a great feeling because it’s always met with much surprise and appreciation :)

So, returning to personal space for a moment, I have also found this to be affectionately ignored between friends. Now I would consider myself a pretty tactile person but this has definitely caught me by surprise once or twice, like the time when a girl I knew ran at me and threw herself at me fully trusting that I would catch her and put her into a full on 'husband carrying wife over the threshold’ kind of lift! The last time I just about managed to get out of it … next time I may end up in hospital when I put my back out … when I told her this she laughed, settled for a hug and went on her merry way. Oh yes, didn’t mention this all took place at SCHOOL!

My work friends like to braid hair, share food, take Snapchat filter selfies, sing and laugh … yes I know what you’re thinking … it sounds like Rachael would fit in pretty well there and you’d be right. I am definitely guilty of encouraging the chatter, the singing and the laughter in the office. In the midst of some serious lesson planning of course :)

[pumpscompany-blog]

Super Simple cast Iron Pizza

I took 3 years to visit about the planet to end up being able for you to discover the most delicious food. In The Particular Program Of that journey, I discovered many gorgeous meals along with fascinating culture as well. With Regards To a couple of years ago, I went to the tiny village (I dont recall the name) which had been positioned within the southeast regarding Texas, it absolutely was isolated along with individuals who lived within there possess been stereotyped, these people havent seen an outsider before. Therefore my coming surprised them. Truly I observed a new video upon YouTube about this tiny village and I made a determination to go there to be able to get the delicious food. However when I got there, I located there was consequently many meals to end up being able to taste as well as I didnt realize that is the best, its just like each and every villagers here is really a skill cook, they almost all can easily cook very well, whats more, they're hospitable. That They fought using the various other person to get this possiblity to let me live inside their house, its just similar to Im the actual president. However, one of the most impressive food is a pizza named super easy surefire pizza with the certain pizza recipes. I found that pizza in the small house, theres a classic lady lived within the house. the villagers called that outdated lady grandma Lisa. The Lady always cooked regarding various other villagers, every 1 regarding the villagers said your ex meals was the most delicious than anybody else. I Then discovered the woman's in her kitchen, your woman has been creating a unique pizza, the girl made it inside a quite simple way, even someone who by absolutely no means cooked may allow it to be extremely well, so the girl referred to end up being able to as it your super straightforward certain pizza, just since its simple to make. I got your recipe through grandma Lisa, along with I improved it through myself. Ingredients First lets see what we want regarding this straightforward pizza. 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast 3/4 tsp. salt 3/4 cup water, cold 1 tbs. olive oil, with regard to greasing pan 1/3 cup associated with your favorite pizza sauce 4 oz. mozzarella & provolone mix cheese Any toppings easy supplies to have within the supermarket nearby, and if I had been you, I will increase the risk for measure under-control, its the true secret to create it perfect. Instructions I improved the recipe so that it may well not seem easy, but I guarantee it may just simply be much more delicious when compared with before. 1.Put flour, yeast and salt collectively inside a bowl. 2.Pour a few cold drinking water as well as stir it to make it combine well. 3.Use any plastic place to cover the particular bowl tightly. 4.Put the actual dough in the dry and also ventilated location for of a night, use a range of flour for you to sprinkle the dough and then stir until it gets to be a ball. 5.Use several oil especially the olive to grease your cast iron skillet, and set the actual dough in it, spread it towards the edge of the skillet, then include your pan and also allow it to rest. 6.After regarding an hour later, preheat the actual oven to regarding 550 F. 7.When your dough is risen, add sauce, cheese and the few toppings for you to it. Then commence cooking about regarding 13 degrees for 3 minutes. 8.Place within the preheated oven and bake it until the actual dough turn golden. Ending Today you realize my expertise about the delicious pizza, you can easily look at to produce one out of your own personal kitchen. In case it does not taste well, dont worry, keep in thoughts that everything is challenging in the beginning, check it out once again and also again, you may make it 1 day. Grandma Lisa told me that will the trick concerning the pizza, the particular recipe can be actually his husbands, and anyone also can feel the particular adore about the old couple coming from this recipe. Subsequent essay I will introduce some thing with regards to surefire roasted chicken along with orange thyme. I enjoy roasting chickens. Once I support the certain skillet during my hand, I really feel some thing powerful. This feels therefore particular to me, chicken is the greatest meet on this planet I think. in my family, we'll consume chicken about three occasions a new week, especially at the weekend. It is a new celebration pertaining to absolutely no specifically unique reason, a Sunday night or a cookeware friend pertaining to dinner? Date night in? Roasted chicken fits me bill. Quit waiting, place your own clothes on, go towards the industry and get what you require for the pizza, lets give it the try!

[plantbasedlife-blog2]

Super easy Surefire Pizza

I took three years traveling about the world so as to find the many delicious food. during which journey, I found many gorgeous food as well as intriguing culture as well. about 2 yrs ago, I visited a new tiny village (I dont remember fondly the name) which usually ended up being positioned inside the southeast of Texas, it absolutely was isolated along with individuals who lived throughout there were stereotyped, they havent seen an outsider before. Therefore my coming surprised them. actually I observed a new video upon YouTube relating to this small village and also I decided to go there for you to get the delicious food. Yet when I got there, I located there have got been therefore many meals to taste and also I did not know which can be the particular best, its just such as every villagers here can become a talent cook, they will all may cook really well, whats more, they may possibly be hospitable. they fought together with the some other person to obtain this chance to allow me to are living within their house, its just like Im the president. However, the most impressive meals is actually a pizza named super simple cast iron pizza with the certain pizza recipes. I found that pizza in a little house, theres a classic lady lived within the house. The Actual villagers known as that will outdated lady grandma Lisa. Your Woman always cooked for various other villagers, all of the villagers stated your ex food was probably the particular most delicious than anybody else. then I found the woman's in her kitchen, the girl has been generating a special pizza, the girl caused it to become able to be in the quite simple way, even a individual who by absolutely no means cooked can easily ensure it is very well, therefore your woman known as it the particular super simple certain pizza, just since its simple to make. I got the particular recipe through grandma Lisa, as well as I improved it by myself. Ingredients Very first lets see what we need pertaining to this straightforward pizza. 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast 3/4 tsp. salt 3/4 cup water, cold 1 tbs. olive oil, for greasing pan 1/3 cup involving your favorite pizza sauce 4 oz. mozzarella & provolone mix cheese Any toppings Straightforward materials to have within the supermarket nearby, and when I had been you, I will result within the measure under-control, its the correct secret to make it perfect. Instructions I improved the particular recipe therefore it may not appear easy, nevertheless I guarantee it could just just be a lot more delicious when compared with before. 1.Put flour, yeast and also salt with each and every other inside a bowl. 2.Pour a amount of cold h2o as well as stir it to make it combine well. 3.Use a plastic encapsulate to spend for the particular bowl tightly. 4.Put the dough in the dry and ventilated location for in regards to a night, use several flour in order to sprinkle the particular dough after which stir until it becomes a ball. 5.Use some oil specially the olive for you to grease the certain skillet, and set the dough throughout it, spread it for the side of your skillet, then include the particular pan along with allow it to rest. 6.After concerning an hour later, preheat your oven for you to concerning 550 F. 7.When the particular dough is risen, add sauce, cheese and some toppings to be able to it. Then start cooking on with regards to 13 degrees for 3 minutes. 8.Place within the preheated oven and also bake it until your dough turn golden. Ending Today you understand my experience concerning the delicious pizza, you may try to produce one inch your own personal kitchen. In case it does not taste well, dont worry, understand that everything is tough at the beginning, try it once more and again, you will make it 1 day. Grandma Lisa explained in which the key about the pizza, your recipe is actually actually his husbands, and an individual also can feel the particular adore about the existing couple coming from this recipe. next essay I will introduce something with regards to surefire roasted chicken along with orange thyme. I love roasting chickens. when I hold the cast iron skillet within my hand, I really feel one thing powerful. This feels therefore special to me, chicken may become the best meet within this planet I think. Within my family, we are generally going to consume chicken with regards to three times the week, specifically in the weekend. Its the celebration for absolutely no especially special reason, the Sunday night or even a pal for dinner? Date night in? Roasted chicken fits me bill. Quit waiting, put your own clothes on, go towards the market and acquire everything you need for your pizza, lets give it the try!

[lunaxxre-blog]

Super Simple cast Iron Pizza

I took three many years to visit about the planet so as in order to discover the nearly all delicious food. during in which journey, I discovered many gorgeous food and interesting culture as well. Concerning a couple regarding years ago, I visited any small village (I dont remember the name) that has been positioned within the southeast involving Texas, it was isolated along with those who lived inside there were stereotyped, they will havent seen an outsider before. Therefore my coming surprised them. Really I observed a video upon YouTube relating for you to this small village and I chose to go there to always be able to get the delicious food. but when I got there, I discovered there were thus many meals to taste and also I didnt know that is the best, its just similar to each as well as every villagers here can always be a skill cook, these people almost all may cook extremely well, whats more, they are hospitable. they fought together with each other to obtain this chance to let me stay inside their house, its just like Im the actual president. However, probably the most impressive food is a pizza named super straightforward surefire pizza using the cast iron pizza recipes. I found out that pizza in a little house, theres a classic lady lived within the house. the villagers called that will previous lady grandma Lisa. Your Woman usually cooked regarding some other villagers, all of the villagers mentioned the woman's food ended up being the most delicious as compared to anybody else. I Then located the girl in her kitchen, your woman was creating a unique pizza, your woman made it inside a super easy way, even someone who never cooked could ensure it is extremely well, thus the lady known as it the super straightforward cast iron pizza, just because its an easy job to make. I got the particular recipe via grandma Lisa, and I improved it through myself. Ingredients First lets discover what we want pertaining to this simple pizza. 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast 3/4 tsp. salt 3/4 cup water, cold 1 tbs. olive oil, with regard to greasing pan 1/3 cup regarding your chosen pizza sauce 4 oz. mozzarella & provolone mix cheese Any toppings easy supplies to have inside the supermarket nearby, and when I had been you, I will increase the actual danger for measure under-control, its the major element to make it perfect. Instructions I improved your recipe so that will it might not seem easy, yet I guarantee it could just just be much more delicious compared to before. 1.Put flour, yeast and also salt with each other in a bowl. 2.Pour a number of cold water along with stir it to produce it combine well. 3.Use the plastic place to cover your bowl tightly. 4.Put your dough in the dry and also ventilated spot for in regards for you to a night, use a number of flour to be able to sprinkle the actual dough after which stir until it becomes a ball. 5.Use some oil particularly the olive in order to grease your own surefire skillet, and put the actual dough within it, spread it for the side of the particular skillet, then deal with your pan and also allow it rest. 6.After concerning an hour later, preheat the particular oven in order to regarding 550 F. 7.When your dough is risen, add sauce, cheese plus some toppings to it. Then begin cooking on regarding 13 degrees pertaining to three minutes. 8.Place inside the preheated oven as well as bake it until the dough turn golden. Ending Currently you realize my experience about the delicious pizza, you can easily try to make one inch your personal kitchen. When it doesnt taste well, dont worry, understand that it is almost all totally difficult in the beginning, check it out again and again, you may make it one day. Grandma Lisa informed me which the key concerning the pizza, your recipe is really his husbands, and you also can appear in order to be your love regarding that old couple from this recipe. Subsequent essay I will introduce something with regards to certain roasted chicken with orange thyme. I adore roasting chickens. when I hold the certain skillet during my hand, I really feel something powerful. It feels therefore special to me, chicken will be the greatest meet on this planet I think. Within my family, we are heading to consume chicken concerning 3 times a new week, especially in the weekend. It is a celebration regarding absolutely no particularly particular reason, a Sunday night as well as a pal with regard to dinner? Date night in? Roasted chicken fits me bill. stop waiting, put the clothes on, go for the marketplace and acquire what you need for your pizza, lets give it any try!

[lesliepump]

Bloodlines (2017 Short Fiction Contest Winner)

Paola Paterlini’s short story, “Bloodlines,” is the winner of Lawyerist’s fourth annual short-fiction contest.

More than fourteen years passed since my mother heard from my aunt. Eommaga jug-eo gagoissda, was the first thing she said, her voice clear through the phone’s speakers. From then on it was all a blur. Mom ended the call and ordered everyone to start packing. Tae-hee stuffed the biggest suitcase she could find with her best clothes. Dad booked a last-minute flight from San Diego to San Francisco, then a 13 hour connecting flight to Seoul, before mom could even say “No, Tae-hyung, you’re not packing your Weird Al t-shirt.” I rushed upstairs to my bedroom and leaned over the balcony to knock on Brett’s window.

“I’m going to Seoul for a few days,” I told him as soon as he slid it open. “My grandmother’s dying.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Our balconies were so close together, I could basically lean on his. He moved closer to me until his arms laid on my railing. His blue eyes, only a few inches from mine, showed how much he really meant it. Brett never lied, not to me. “Are you going to be ok?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t seen her since I was three. Mom has beef with her family.”

He nodded. He didn’t seem too happy.

“Hey,” I said, bumping his arm with mine. “I’ll be back in no time, alright? You know how to reach me.”

Brett gave me a pat on the shoulder, the awkward teen equivalent of a hug, and told me to call him if things got rough. He knew mom’s family didn’t like us, and they especially hated dad, but he forgot we were going to Korea, the land of the emotionally constipated. We were going to be fine. Mom was a big girl.

We were in San Fran a couple of hours later, then on the long flight over the Pacific. This was the trip of a lifetime for my sister who, the whole way there, listened to EXO or BTS or some other shitty three-lettered boy band. In her mind, she could very well stumble upon the set of some equally terrible Korean TV series, or meet Youngjae at the supermarket around the corner, and she’ll become the most envied fourteen-year-old Korean-American (who can’t even speak Korean) in all of Seoul. She didn’t know that, if grandma did die, for the four days we were in Seoul three would be spent at the funeral. I heard my aunt say “heart” and “hospital” on the phone, but I couldn’t understand much else. My Spanish had always been better than my Korean, and I really only knew how to cuss in the former. I looked over to the seat in front of us, and saw mom leaning on dad. I laid back in my seat and slept under the gelid air conditioning, already missing the California sun.

When we arrived in Seoul, we all trembled in the horrid 32 degrees outside of the airport. My aunt and her husband were waiting for us at the gate. I could only recognize them by the few pictures dad had hidden in the thousands of photo albums back home. She and my mom looked like twins. Now, she stared at us with the contempt only a sister who was left behind could master. Even when she said their mother passed away, her words dripped with bitterness rather than sorrow.

We followed her as she and my mom engaged in small talk. Her husband helped us with the suitcases, but when I told him gomapseumnida, he smiled at me with the uncomfortable smile people have when they don’t understand what a foreigner said. After another half an hour or so, we reached what I assumed to be my grandparents’ place. Besides the dozens of Koreans and the smell of fried beef in hot pepper paste, it looked like any other western house. White exterior, hardwood floor, and a coffin pushed against the wall, hidden by white curtains. Grandma’s picture sat on it, the face of a stranger surrounded by flowers.

As soon as we went in, mom was ushered to the kitchen. There was nothing to do but sit down and drink, which is what most people there were doing anyway. Most men, I should say. When I walked to the kitchen to see how mom was doing, I realized all the women were cooking food in some way or another. Mom looked absolutely helpless. It reminded me of the time when she tried making breakfast for dad, and she ended up burning coffee and setting the eggs on fire. Dad woke up to the blaring of the smoke alarm and a figurative heart attack.

Her sister yelled at her to chop something or whatever. I was about to enter the kitchen to help her out, but dad stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. Tae-hee was behind him, looking just as worried as I was.

“Don’t. It’s disrespectful.”

“It’s not like they’ve been particularly welcoming either.” I replied with irritation.

“We’re not in the states anymore. They do things differently than we do.”

I sighed. It annoyed me, but I knew he was right. I saw the women cooking in the kitchen and the men drinking in the living room. It was a different culture, one that I couldn’t understand.

“I’ll take her place,” Tae-hee offered. She wasn’t a great cook either, but better than mom for sure. “Why didn’t they get me to help?”

“They probably felt uncomfortable talking to a foreigner,” dad said. “I don’t think they speak English very well.”

“Dad, we have to do something,” I whispered back. “Mom looks miserable.”

“Tae-hyung,” he looked just as pained as I was, but turned me around and urged both of us to go sit somewhere. “I know you want to help, but this will just make things harder for her.”

The day passed in a haze. Maybe it was because of the jet-lag. Maybe because, as expected from a day like this, it started raining sometime around midday. Maybe it was because it seemed like all men could do in this household was drink and laugh and sometimes wail in unison. I didn’t understand. I bore more resemblance to them than I did to my dad, and the thought was exasperating. Mom had told me many times that I looked more like “the asshole that got me pregnant” than I did to her, but I always found that hard to believe. Maybe because I knew that I might have turned out like him, if mom hadn’t left for the states when she did. My chest cramped painfully.

Dad booked a hotel room for us, but mom decided to stay for the night. They still had a lot of food to prepare, or some bullshit. I was too irritated to object, and the blaring headache I got that morning had only worsened throughout the day. When we reached our room, Tae-hee collapsed in her bed. I followed dad to the balcony.

“Are you worried?” I asked him.

“About what?”

“About mom.”

He smiled at me, looking over the bright streets of the city. The psychedelic lights of restaurants and karaoke bars blared through the night. At 2 am everything was still vibrant with life, which was pretty ironic for us.

“Your mom lived with her family for more than twenty years, before moving to San Diego with you. She worked hard. She found a job so she could save up for law school and follow her dreams while raising two fantastic children.” He scooted over closer to me, trying to warm up. His eyes were soft, his thoughts kind. “If you think that she’s her toughest when in court ….”

“She looked … tired.” I told him.

He took a long breath, jaw clenched. “The only thing we can do right now is to be there for her. She wouldn’t want us meddling.”

I bumped my arm into his. It was my only, awkward way to express affection. He smiled back, landing his warm hand on my shoulder for a quick, reassuring hug.

I walked back into the room and dropped just as unceremoniously as my sister. As soon as I flipped out my phone to set an alarm, I was bombarded with texts. They were all from Brett, obviously, each one of them more baffling and hysterical than the other. He had rambled on for more than seventy messages. His last one said, “Imagine if pigeons took planes to migrate.”

For a second I could almost hear the faint Minecraft soundtrack playing, and instinctively looked over to the window. There was no stupid blonde kid knocking on it. What did I expect? We were almost 7,000 miles away from home. If Brett was on our hotel balcony, I’d be shitting South Korean bricks. Still, that unbelievable thought left me feeling empty, and suddenly my head wasn’t the only thing who felt like it received a beating. Behind the clear glass, dad was still looking over the city’s pulsing lights. I wondered if he was thinking of his wife, how long it must’ve been since the last night they’ve spent apart.

How long had it been since the room next door had been locked? I don’t remember. I don’t even remember a time in which Brett wasn’t in my room, with his stupid textbooks and his ridiculous puzzle videogames. We’d only known each other for three months, and still it felt like a lifetime, like I already knew everything about him. The darkness from the balcony did nothing to still my thoughts.

I shook my head. Something in Seoul’s air was obviously affecting me. I grabbed my phone and read through his messages one more time. If I tuned out the car sounds and Tae-hee’s snoring, I could almost pretend I was in my bedroom, listening to Brett’s endless chatting.

That night I fell asleep on my phone, a smile plastered on my face. It was the first time I had smiled that day.

###

The next day was even more of a blur, but I’m pretty sure that’s because the old men at the ceremony kept pouring me soju. In Korea, the second day of mourning is spent entirely by the side of the deceased by eating and paying homage to them. Of course, that didn’t mean taking the dead out of their coffin and going to karaoke bars. People that used to know the departed would come over to bow to the coffin, leave some money for the family, then join the rest of the guests nearby for a giant, homemade meal.

On the way back to my grandparents’ place, dad and I stopped at this place near the hospital that you could define as a “funeral hotel”. Essentially, if one of your relatives dies in the hospital, they’d take care of the mummifying and the food prepping business for you, in an incredible two-for-one deal. Today, however, it turned out pretty useful because neither of us had black suits for the funeral. The only thing mom specified was that we absolutely needed black socks.

When we reached the wake, Tae-hee was shuffled to another room, where one of our cousins quickly dressed her up in my aunt’s old hanbok. When she came out, she looked like an overstuffed bird.

“I look like a fat, burnt pigeon,” she said as soon as she reached me. I grinned at her. She truly was my sister, even if we shared only mom’s DNA.

The entire family was to stand on the right side of the coffin. I stood there for more than an hour watching people bow to the coffin, then bow to my grandfather, then offer what I could only assume were condolences for our family. Mom’s sisters and their various husbands and kids all cried at some point or another, but she remained as stoic as ever. I wondered if they were looking down on her for that. I heard from some drunk dude the day before that it’s good when the family wails, that they’re supposed to. For some reason, it reminded me of Brett. I imagined him turning around and ever so subtly whispering to me, “Do Koreans believe in a Korean Jesus?” I would’ve laughed right there and then, but I pinched the skin on my wrist to stop myself. I didn’t want to be lynched by a hoard of ferocious Korean Jesus worshippers.

When everybody arrived, mom and her sisters finally brought out the food. It was the customary spicy beef soup, kimchi, sweet and sour boiled pork, rice, rice cakes, and of course dozens of bottles of soju and beer. But, something was off about it. The kimchi was too spicy, even for me; the beef was too savory, the rice too sticky. It was nothing like my dad’s. Everybody was being overwhelmingly loud. Some were laughing, others sobbing, but there was no in between. I kept being poured beer, and every time, I dumped it in dad’s glass. Despite my efforts, somehow it was refilled just as fast as it had disappeared. My sister was on her phone, oblivious to anything being said. She opted to sit next to me because, besides mom, I was her only hope at understanding what Korean men drunkenly babbled to her. Dad just looked sad, seeing that his wife was sitting several steps away. I had taken to drinking some of the beer in my cup due to sheer exasperation. It was the most boring day of my life.

I left for the bathroom but ended up sitting outside, on the steps that lead up to the house. I turned around to look at how mom was doing through the living room windows, and saw her with the most professional look that she had ever sported. Perhaps it was the beer, or what dad had told me the day before, but something about her just wasn’t right. She seemed oddly fragile.

I looked down at my phone to distract myself. Brett had sent another twenty-five messages since that morning. The last he’d sent was just a couple of minutes ago, something about a dream he had of a stark-naked man covered in tapioca pudding. I did the math in my head, and realized he was awake at two in the morning.

“Ffs, go to bed already.” I texted him. The reply was nearly instantaneous.

“IF YOU’RE READING THE TEXTS ANSWER TO THEM I THOUGHT YOU DIED.”

“You thought I died and still sent me a text about a naked man covered in tapioca?”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t. Come back soon.”

I sighed in relief. That text carried me through the rest of the evening.

###

The third day was burying time. Our grandfather was leading the train of people to the burial grounds with a picture of grandma in his hands. Only then somebody asked dad for help, because he was considerably larger than the other men of the family, courtesy of his freakishly tall American genes. Mom had moved behind her sisters to join me and Tae-hee, and put her arm around my shoulders. It was the first time she’d been that close to us since we stepped off the plane.

They began another ritual as dad and the others took the wrapped body out of the coffin and lowered it down into the grave, so she could join her ancestors. There was a certain beauty to it, I thought. I had read the night before that the reason why everybody was so loud, was so the dead wouldn’t feel alone. There was this belief that the spirit stayed inside the body until properly saluted. I wasn’t sure what mom’s stance on this was until her grip on both of us hardened. Her expression was still impassable, but her hand was tight and warm on my shoulder. I leaned my head into the crook of her neck, my arm around her waist. Dad returned to our side and put his arm around Tae-hee, mom leaning back against him.

As I looked up to the sunny sky, I saw blue eyes.

###

Our plane had been delayed several hours, which meant my sister got to visit nearly all the music stores in town with an almost as enthusiastic partner in crime, aka dad. I decided to stay with mom in case she needed me, but as her actions were directed by her sisters, I prepared myself for another day of sitting on the steps outside the house and staring aimlessly at nothing. Some people were still inside drinking and eating, the coffin a couple of feet away from them, while continuous clangs and clatter rang out from the kitchen. I figured it was nice to have noise in the house, for a while longer. Sometimes the living can feel just as lonely as the dead.

Mom joined me some time later. We had a few hours left until we had to be at the airport, but she always prepared years in advance.

“You got everything from the hotel this morning?”

“I didn’t bring anything to the hotel, mom.” I say, uncommitted. I wore my regular clothes only on the first day, and my suit was rolled inside dad’s overstuffed backpack with his. The one who brought the entire house with her was Tae-hee.

She sat down next to me, sighing, and took a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. “Don’t tell your dad about this.”

“I won’t tell if you give me one.”

“Nice try. This is exactly why my sisters don’t think I’m a good mother.”

“You’re a better one than they are, that’s for fucking sure.”

“Language.” She lit up the cigarette and took a long drag. I hadn’t seen her smoke in years, not since she was fired from that one firm that refused to pay her as much as their other lawyers.

“Do you miss her? Grandma, I mean,” I suddenly asked. It wasn’t like me to ask such questions, but Mom, unlike dad and Brett, was nearly impossible to read. Dad once told me that she had a harsh upbringing. Her parents were pretty strict, especially her mother. Mom had become an artist at concealing her true feelings so that she could be the perfect daughter- and the perfect lawyer.

“Sometimes,” she replied, exhaling with a puff of smoke. She smiled a tired smile at me. “Are you doing that thing your father does?”

“What thing?” I ask, faking obliviousness. Dad did that to me all the time, asking me questions so that he would get me to open up. Little did he know, I had the emotional depth of a toilet brush. It almost never worked on me, so I didn’t think it would have any effect on mom.

She just shook her head, still smiling. “I miss her sometimes. When you’ve lived away from home for such a long time, you don’t really remember the bad things. Not really.” She laughed, reminiscing something. “I remember when she thought I had stolen 1’000 wons from her purse, and made me kneel in the corner with a bucket on my head for days.”

“How’s that a good memory?”

“Because later, she discovered my sister used it to buy some stupid vinyl she wanted. Grandma made her hold two buckets on her head because she stayed silent while I was being punished.”

I laughed with her. “Serves her right.”

“Don’t talk like that about your aunt.” She bumps her arm with mine. “She’s a good person, in her own way. She’s family.”

“Mom, she hasn’t called you in, like, a decade.”

“Family is family.” She shrugged. “It’s not like I’ve called her either.”

I sighed, breathing in the smoke from her cigarette. It reminded me of San Diego.

“Mom, why do you say that? She yelled at you as soon as you got off the plane. She made you cook.”

“Sometimes, family’s complicated. Here, it’s everything. Parents, children, cousins, aunts … It’s painful when somebody leaves.” She sighed again. It was almost as if we were competing with one another. “When I left for San Diego, I felt as if I was doing something rash and stupid. My parents already shunned me for divorcing your real father- not dad, the semen donor. I decided to leave because I had nowhere left to go, so I got on a plane and flew away as far as I could with a three-year-old child in tow. Two months later, I met your father. The rest is history.”

I grinned at her. “Almost makes you believe in true love, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” She smiled back. “The point is, your father … I chose him. Blood doesn’t unite us, and doesn’t have to unite you and him. We’re still a family, we still love each other. I mean, look at you and Tae-hee. My sisters can’t even look at me in the eye. If it wasn’t for you guys … I don’t know if I would’ve been able to come back here.”

It was the first time I’d been able to see something transpire beneath the carefully constructed exterior mom had worked so hard to maintain in these last few days. There were many times when dad would lose himself talking about how they met, or how awkward he was during their first dates, or how once he bought a bouquet to woo her and she deadpanned white flowers are used for funerals in Korea. It was rare to see how deeply mom cared about him, but when she did, you’d be left wondering how you didn’t notice before.

My phone buzzed.

“How’s Brett doing?” she asked.

“How do you know it’s Brett?”

“Who else texts you?”

“Touché.” I unlocked my phone. Brett sent me another one of his brilliant epiphanies. “He says that Velcro wallets are a slippery slope that leads to a wallet chained to your jeans loop at forty years old.”

Mom laughed so hard tears came to her eyes. “You have got to invite that kid over when we get back home. I want to have another Pictionary night.”

I smiled at her, thinking about back home. Dad, who remembered how we all liked our bibimbap, mine with chili paste and raw egg, Tae-hee with disgusting ketchup on the beef, mom’s with as much gochujang as humanly digestible. He even remembered that Brett hated chili paste, but had grown fond of kimchi on his. Mom, who worked so hard to achieve her dreams without ignoring her children, who sometimes grabbed a can of mint chocolate ice-cream on her way back from work because that’s the one flavor we all liked, then sent me up to my room to invite Brett over for game night.

Brett. My breath hitched in my throat, my heart echoing in my ears, his snorting laugh resonating in the air. It took me only a bunch of crumpled burrito wrappers and a Mountain Dew to introduce myself to Brett when he moved into the house next to us three months ago. Family didn’t have to be complicated, unless I made it so.

My phone buzzed again. “I miss your stupid face.”

“Mom,” I turn to her. “I think I’m in love with Brett.”

“Tell me something that somebody between here and San Diego doesn’t know.” She grinned, and I mimicked her. Our grins were identical, and I recognized that with pride.

I looked back up at the blue sky, then down at my phone.

“I’ll be home soon.”

Bloodlines (2017 Short Fiction Contest Winner) was originally published on Lawyerist.com.

from Law and Politics https://lawyerist.com/bloodlines/ via http://www.rssmix.com/