Sunday, November 30th, 2008
I am almost eighteen years old and I had yet to experience any greater loss besides a cat that I’d had my whole life. So its the truth when I say that death was still a very foreign concept to me, personally. But that all changed one Saturday morning.
My drama class was taking place in a competition and we were all meeting at another high school for the competition. I got there a few minutes late but that wasn’t a problem. Despite the excitement that I felt about the upcoming competition, I instantly could tell that something was wrong with a friend of mine. She was quiet, which knowing her is strange enough and she wouldn’t talk to anyone. I went all morning wondering what was wrong with her.
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Saturday, October 18th, 2008
So I had just gone to the doctor to get a frenectomy, which removes a tissue in the gum. It hurt like crazy, and I had stitches in my mouth, so it was pretty hard to talk or laugh. I felt pretty awful after the surgery, but I still decided to go to Tysons Corner with my best friend, Radhika, and her sister and mom.
While her mom was buying some silverware, Radhika’s sister, Pallavi, stole her flip flops and pretended to throw them down a few floors. Then she handed me one and we ran off with them. Considering I’ve never stolen my friend’s shoes before, I was a little clueless as to what I should do with it, so I just tossed it lightly into a nearby kids’ store called Kidz Zone.
However, I seriously misjudged the height of the toss, and the flip flop got stuck on the Kidz Zone sign and knocked down the z in Kidz. Radhika and Pallavi laughed and I was stuck trying to explain to the store clerk what happened, with my best explanation being “It fell……up.” I had a difficult time telling the story not only because I was laughing, but also because it hurt to laugh with my mouth full of stitches.
My friend’s mom had no idea what was going on and wanted to shop in other areas, so Radhika made me give her my shoes so she wouldn’t get in trouble while I tried to get hers back. The manager was yelling at me for being a careless teenager, threatening to charge me for the damage. He wasn’t aware that the z was missing; I hid it in a corner to avoid further trouble. He called the building service’s men and someone came, laughing the entire time while climbing up a ladder to get the shoe. I quickly thanked him and ran out of the area before I received any fines. I went back down to find Radhika, Pallavi, and her mom crying with laughter at the sight of me wearing flip flops too small that had been on a serious journey.
From that day, I learned that destroying a sign in a mall is the best way to recover from painful stiches in the mouth area.
Cvcarnie116
Posted in Shopping Experiences | No Comments »
Saturday, October 4th, 2008
We are camped beside the Colorado trouble here again stalks us, why can they not just leave us be we are fed,housed,and clean?
No children were ever more loved even if we lived in tents, we are here for special reasons it is life lessons grandmother teaches. We are here for a gather kin are coming who were scattered,grandmother walks away to a small hill this time I can not follow.
I hear her voice raised in prayer singing softly very old words,even the heart and spirit of a child of four understands this is sacred.
Suddenly all is chaos everyone is running lights are shining in our eyes,a white man in uniform demanding to see everything in our camp.
Someone he said reported wild parties, drugs, and drinking, instead he found us a simple extended family here to learn from the Water. Grandmother stood proudly before this man who sneered at her,head held high she told him we are here for connections to our spirits. You will find no evil things here only love and caring, we sing and drum sending our prayers upon the wind with sage and sweet grass only. They gave us only three days then we must move on, they did not like our kind he said hanging around making messes,we made the good folks nervous.
You people need to live like humans give those children real homes, but not here in our town there are enough here on welfare already.
He could not see or understand our life was the better one, not cramped into a small house but free to share the wind and see Father Sky above us.
To this day I am thankful for the childhood grandmother gave us,we worked hard and asked no one for handouts we lived the way of our ancestors.
No,our path was not an easy one we faced many troubles,yet we lived in freedom proud of who and what we were and learning from all
spirits!
granny!
we “cry” freedom, when in truth we beg for chains
Posted in Inpirational Experiences, Parenting Experiences | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
I inhaled the salty air of the ocean, a feeling of tranquility passing over me as I watched the red ball of flame set beneath the horizon. This was Ha Long Bay, the place of my conception. My family was vacationing in this fishing village for two weeks. People lived on floating houses, their simple lives sustained by fishing. I felt like I had never left, because the emerald waters seemed so familiar. I was not aware of a pair of brown eyes watching me from afar.
I was just about to stick my toes into the water when a boy’s voice called out to me, “Well, don’t just stand there. Try out the water!”
I turned, startled. It was a boy no older than eighteen years old. He wore a huge grin on his face underneath a mop of thick black hair. His eyes seemed to twinkle in the setting sun.
“I was about to,” I mumbled with a scowl. I snuck glances back, waiting for him to leave. He kept motioning me toward the water.
“You need to stop watching me!” I yelled at him. Suddenly, he ran laughing at me and before I knew it I was pushed backwards into the water. I screamed.
“I CAN’T SWIM! HELP! HELP!” It turns out I was just flailing like an idiot for five minutes in water that wasn’t even 2 feet deep. He couldn’t stop laughing as he pulled me out of the water. “My name is Loc, by the way,” he said.
My face was bright red the rest of the day.
Loc and I spent the next two weeks glued to each other’s sides. He was the son of one of the fishermen in the village. He taught me how to fish, how to swim, how to blow bubbles, and most importantly, he taught me how freeing love was. He gave me my first kiss in the rain.
After our parents were asleep on my last night, I met up with Loc at the secret hut we’d built. He presented me with a beautiful jade necklace. “I want you to always remember me. I’ve never loved a girl like I love you,” he said.
I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. I felt a warm liquid on my fingers. His back was bleeding. “What happened?” I asked in shock.
“My father beat me. I took some of our fishing money to buy you this necklace.”
I wanted to cry. I got a washcloth and cleaned the wounds. He caught my hand as I was getting up to leave.
“Ngoc, stay with me tonight… I don’t want to think about tomorrow.”
I lay down next to him on the blanketed floor. I rested my head on his chest; it felt so nice and comforting, breathing in his scent and listening to his heartbeat. “Loc,” I whispered, “I’m always here if you need me.” Somehow, it seemed so right, with the two of us lying beneath the stars and the moon and not a care in the world. I forgot that I was leaving the next morning, and that I would probably never see Loc again.
I lay there, listening to his rhythms breathing, feeling the touch of his fingers on my ribs, his salty scent drifting through my senses. I trailed my finger along the contours of his face, tracing every line, engraving it into my heart. I’d never felt this way before, like I belonged somewhere, right in the arms of this strange boy, who’d burst through my life like a giant tidal wave. Why couldn’t time have stopped? I was thinking what a magical night it was, and I thought I could even hear the stars howling above.
It was magical indeed. It was love beneath the howling stars.
The next morning I left Vietnam on a plane. I saw Loc again. It’s been five years, yet I can still smell the fish from his hands and feel his arms around me. Sometimes when the ocean wind blows by, I hear his words, “Anh yeu em,” (I love you), in my ears. And I clutch the necklace I still wear close to my heart.
Ngoc H. Le
Posted in Female Experiences, Relationship Experiences | No Comments »
Friday, June 6th, 2008
If only I knew then, what I know now life would be a lot different. Life might have been easier, decisions might not have been so hard. But thats the beauty of life. The unknown day that lies ahead of us. The simple fact is that, if we did know then what we know now, we would all be a bunch of smart ass’s. Life’s lessons, that only life can teach us, would never be learned. Thats why I am thankful that life didn’t give me the easy route. It chewed me up and spit me out. And for that, I will be forever grateful.
February 26 2003 9:00am
I was running late like a typical 17 year old. Life waited on me, I didn’t wait on life. It was that ignorant notion that got me into where I was going in the first place. “Not a care in the world” seemed to be my life motto at that typical time. I was nervous, I mean who wouldn’t be? Life would never throw me a bunch of cards I didn’t know how to play. Never. I was wrong. (more…)
Posted in Awkward Experiences, Life Experiences, Sad Experiences | 2 Comments »
