The Story of My Father

Dylan Hoang

Wizard/ Pickett

English/ World Studies

23 February 2016

The Story of My Father

Shuwan: Sister, 16

Bao: Younger sister, 9

Trinh: Mother, 43

Angou: Older brother, 16

Cheung: Younger brother, 13

Telling the story from Angou’s point of view

My eyes flash open to my brother sobbing next to my bed. He is crying tears of pain like someone has stabbed him, although I cannot see any marks on his body, which is trembling in fear. Right when he looks at me I know something is missing. Cheung didn’t go to mother to cry because mother was not here.

I dash to mother’s room as if I am a cheetah hunting it’s prey . I am as pale as a ghost. I search mother’s bed yet only find mud tracks on the ground that lead from her window to her bed. What can I do? Where is mother? Why did she leave? Why were there footprints?. Questions spin in my head as I decide to make the most risk-taking decision of my life.

I have two sisters, Shuwan and Bao. Shuwan is 16 and Bao is nine. I also have a brother Cheung who is 13 and, I myself am 17. Shuwan is a schoolgirl along with me and the rest of my siblings. Our mother works the fields and takes care of our home and all of us. Mother had a husband when we moved to Beijing from Hong Kong, but soon after he left to war and never came back. Our mother, Trinh Zhang had always been secretive about most topics about our father. We miss very dearly, he is loved just as much as mother is. Mother is as sweet as honey and father is as tough as a bear, both of them young and bold.

Shuwan and Bao awaken in a sudden movement, breathing heavily while sniffling loudly. I hear cries from Bao yelling “MA! MA!” I run from room to room gathering my brother and sisters in my room like a mother gathering her children for story time.

I am going to take the risk. I will travel with my brother and sisters to search China for our mother who has gone missing like an escaped criminal.

Father has been gone for exactly 7 years to this day, mother is now gone just as if the wind has blown both of them away.

I have settled every one of my siblings down; now they are sleeping like gentle hummingbirds flying from tree to tree. Moments later I hear thunder crack through the night sky waking the children. Quietly, after I put them back to sleep, I find a brochure with tickets for the next boat headed Hong Kong in the morning. We have to leave tomorrow morning for Hong Kong. I pack quickly and fall into a deep sleep soon after.

The next morning, I find clues about where mother has gone-some already in my suitcase and more all around the house. She is headed for Hong Kong, the place where her and father met. She leaves things we need all around my room and the kitchen. I feel butterflies in my empty stomach. We quickly get on the ship and arrive at Hong Kong. There, I throw everything out of my bag looking for the map on the brochure there I find an arrow pointing to an “X” on The Great Wall of China. Something in my gut tells me to go there. We travel longer all the way to the Great Wall of China. When we all get there, I get a jittery feeling. I want to go home and go to sleep, telling myself this was all a dream.

I keep walking, ignoring the adrenalized feeling going on in my stomach. I find something that catches my eye. A yellow flag with rice balls, crackers, dumplings, fish, grapes and mandarin oranges next to it. The meal is still hot which means someone must have left it not long before. I see writing on paper that looks wet with a little blood. The blood looks filled with mud which brings me back to footprints in mother’s room. I find a note reading,

Dear Angou, Shuwan, Cheung, and Bao,

I have come very far here to Beijing. I am happy you have decided to follow. I have a surprise here but you will have to find me to know. I am nervous with many butterflies. Come find me, for I have been taken by someone here. I am joyful and jittery waiting for you to come find me. Eat the food I have made you with your heart, mind and soul. I miss you all very much. Please meet me at the halfway point for I have missed you all very dearly.

X. Trinh Zhang

Shuwan, Cheung and Bao and I all eat the scrumptious food that has been left for us. It smells like a familiar scent, like mother. I keep eating and taste seaweed that has been bought a day ago fresh from the sea. I also taste meat that has been flavored with sea salt- strong yet tasty.

We keep walking and get closer and closer to the halfway point. Step after step, it gets harder and harder to move my legs. It is painful walking far distances for I feel as if there are nails being stuck into my feet. A little while later, I am leaning against the thick wall of concrete that is bumpy and cold to the touch. I feel a shadow over my face and look up to my mother shining as bright as the sun. Mother has never looked happier. Then I see a man next to her wearing a kimono. He smiles just as bright as mother and pulls me close. He tells us, “Everything is going to be alright, I am here for you now, as a father.”

I have questions whirling around in my brain but he says something before I have a chance to choose one to ask him, “ I will explain later, but for now, just enjoy this beautiful day with the ones you love most.” This is not the end, for it is the beginning to a new start.