One more shot of whiskey. One more pill to swallow. I can quit anytime. Until the pain rushes in. “No more self-help books, just do it.” He gives me another chance. I can quit anytime. Until I remember what I long to forget. “This isn’t what I signed up for.” He shouts as…
After visiting with a long-time friend, I hadn’t seen in years, I wandered through the malls in Tsim Tsa Tsui waiting for my daughter to get off work. I’m not much of a shopper, so instead, I looked around for interesting doors. I didn’t find what I was looking for, exactly, but found what I…
It’s been six years since I traveled from Hong Kong to Outer Mongolia. Arriving at Chinggis Khaan Airport, long-time friends waited in the concourse to welcome me back to Mongolia. The wonderful reunions made me wonder why I stayed away so long. The people are incredible and the land is amazing. Besides seeing friends, one…
Tuya saunters through the grass watching the herds grazing. Her daughter, Sarnai, gleefully dances along beside her. “Mommy, I’m hungry,” yanks Tuya from her dream. The cruel winter had taken their herds and her husband. She and her daughter were forced to move to the city. With little money, Tuya must choose; buy food or…
When the Nadari walked through the Shimmer, they brought us knowledge of other worlds. They healed our sicknesses and cleaned our earth. They engendered our trust and we gave them the power to rule. But they are nothing as they first appeared. They were sent to destroy humankind. They built us up to consume us….
“Why did you do it?” the bystander asked. The soldier answered, “We did it for John. Serving our country with pride, we left a part of ourselves in Afghanistan.” The young man raised his prosthetic leg. “For some of us, it’s literal. We struggled to fit back into normal life. John understood because he’d been there…
Is it too late? Am I too old? Sasha thought while leaning against the doorframe. Her arms crossed, she stood staring into the long-neglected music studio. She was told she had talent, but that was a long time ago. For years, she put her music aside. She raised her children and had obligations that stole her…
Orphaned, Carlo slept in doorways. With hat in hand, he begged for food. “Ho fame (I’m starving).” He hauled boxes for merchants and fished at the pier. Scrimping, he saved enough to buy a gondola. He enjoyed carrying passengers along the canals of Venice. One day, a beautiful woman stepped into his boat. They glided to…
A bit of old Hong Kong includes a trip on the Star Ferry. This famous ferry has carried passengers back and forth across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon side since 1888. Per a recent news article in the South China Morning Post, before the Star Ferry was established, individuals crossed the…
“They aren’t very smart, why are we watching them?” “We’ve been over this many times.” “And they are so oddly shaped too.” “Why do you care?” As the curtains dropped, the couple walked away from the window. “I don’t know … Also, why do we have to look like this? It’s embarrassing.” “You know what the…
The other day, my husband and I enjoyed a walk around Statue Square. Stepping off the bus and onto the square, the joyful chatter and laughter swirled around us from visitors and domestic helpers relaxing on their day off. The square was created at the end of the nineteenth century on reclaimed land. It is…
Visitors wander through the museum. I weave amongst them barely noticed. Only my breath against their skin. The others emerge from the deep shadows. We watch as Eden enters through the main door with a girl hanging on his arm. As we used to be, she is naïve. Eden brings all his victims here before…
