In this memory, I’m five. My two-year-old brother learns how to read, and now, he has a few favourite picture books he likes to read out loud. Whenever he is not playing with his toy buses, he goes to the backroom of our apartment and pulls out a book from the shelf. “Nontan, let me […]
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DisconnectThat’s what it isThere is before and afterBut nothing in between No, that’s not trueThere is something thereBut you can’t see itNo matter how close you look Where something once existedThere is now absenceWhere nothing used to existThere is now new presence And you’re left wonderingWhat really happenedHow it happenedAnd what is yet to happen
I’m three in this memory. In August, my new-born brother comes out of ICU after his heart surgery, and because my parents need to focus on his care, I’m sent to my maternal grandmother to spend three weeks with her family. At her house, everybody wants to know about my brother’s condition. They ask my
When I was little, there was a cheap diner that my family would occasionally go to for dinner. Though it couldn’t have been far away from our home, the drive in darkness made it feel very far away. As we sat down at a table by a window, I spotted towers in the distant hill
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In this memory, I’m about nine years old. Every Thursday is the garbage collection day for my neighbourhood. My mother collects all the garbage in the house and if I’m downstairs, I take the bags to the nearest collection spot. Every few blocks share a designated collection spot, and you’re not supposed to dispose your
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The data is missingCannot run the programFrustratingWant the result anyhowWaitDon’t imputeCollect more dataDon’t make up picturesBut listen carefully instead
The year when I entered primary school, the Pokémon anime series came on the national television network. Everybody around me, both boys and girls, became crazy about the series. Except me. At my home, I was only allowed to watch one anime per week – a rule my mother had made to prevent me from
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The summer when I was seven, my mother and I visited my great aunt’s house in Tokyo for a few days. The evening we arrived, my mother and great aunt chatted until late, and when I woke up the next morning, they were already up, preparing breakfast in the small kitchen downstairs. “We’re going to
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In this memory, I’m nine years old. Every morning, I walk to the school on my own, passing by groups of first graders, some kids from other grades, and some familiar faces from my own grade. There is a cow bell attached to my school bag. It was a souvenir from my kindergarten classmate when
I just happened to be thereWhen the wind blewAnd I fell from the sky I just happened to be thereWhen a foot stepped on meAnd carried me away I just happened to be thereWhen the rain poured on meAnd the sunshine warmed me up I just happened to be thereWhen one day, I sproutedAnd grew,
