Tisha

Tisha got off the school bus and looked up at the sky. A grayish kind of cloud hung in the sky; it was hard to tell whether it was fog or cloud. Sometimes, when a light drizzle began, you could tell it wasn't fog but a cloud. Tisha suddenly remembered her country. The sky would suddenly darken with pitch-black clouds, and everything would be plunged into darkness. The flash of lightning would seem to sear everything, followed by a deep, rumbling thunderclap. Then, rain after rain, as if it would flood the entire world. How fun it was to get soaked in that rain—everyone would rush outside! And here, everything is different. A fog-like rain, cold, sticky, and depressing.

Tisha crossed the street in front of the school bus. Everything here was so neat and orderly, bound by wonderful rules. As she crossed the street, all the cars on both sides stopped. The school bus couldn't move until its lights went out so the children could cross the street safely. Tisha's maternal uncle had died in a car accident back home. Her uncle wasn't even crossing the road; he was standing on the side when a car ran him over while overtaking another vehicle and fled the scene. That car was never caught.

Tisha walked along the side of the road and entered their neighborhood. What a beautiful, neat, and peaceful environment. A green lawn in front, each house like a picture, with pine trees peeking out from behind. On a bright, sunny day, everything seems colorful. When you're in a good mood, everything seems more colorful. Today, there are gloomy clouds in the sky, so there's a sad atmosphere all around.

Tisha walks toward her house; there's no one anywhere. The first time she came to this country, she wondered where all the people had gone. It took her a long time to realize that there are just fewer people in this country! The wealthier the area, the fewer the people. Tisha's friends have said that New York City is supposedly very crowded. Her dad has said that on the next vacation, they will go visit New York. New York City is supposedly a lot of fun. Tisha, however, can't understand how a city can be fun. A person can be fun, but an entire city?

Tisha let out a small sigh as she reached the front of the house. There was no car in front, which meant neither her dad nor her mom had arrived. Her dad, of course, never arrives early. Her mom sometimes does.

Then she doesn't have to enter the empty house. There's something about entering an empty house that makes her feel very sad. Two years ago, when they first came to this country, she used to long for many things back home. She got used to everything slowly, but this one thing she never did. Even now, she feels sad when she has to enter an empty house.

Back in their country, her uncles and aunts all lived in one building. All their kids together made them a huge family. You could hear the children's shouts and screams from a long way off before you even got to the house—what a fun time that was! Tisha let out a small sigh, took the house key from her bag, and opened the door to step inside. It was a neat, beautiful duplex, and her room was on the second floor.

Tisha dropped her school bag on the carpet and sat down on the sofa. She had walked on the house carpet in her street shoes; Mom would surely get angry if she saw, but how could she get angry when she wasn't home?

Tisha sits quietly with her feet up on the coffee table. She's thirteen, now officially a teenager. Tisha sits quietly with her feet up on the coffee table. She's thirteen, and now she's officially a teenager.

When she was back home, most of the stories she heard about America were about teenagers. She's now an American teenager; she should be having so much fun. But is she actually having any fun? It's true that she has a lot of fun as long as she's at school. When her parents are home at night, the time passes quickly, but then there's a huge stretch of time when she's alone. She sits in front of the computer and sometimes spends time with friends, but it feels kind of artificial. Can you really talk with someone when you can't see them face-to-face? A lot of people can. Tisha can't.

Tisha is hungry. If she opens the fridge, she'll see that her mom has prepared food for her. She can just heat it up in the microwave and eat. If she turns on the TV, she'll find a sitcom somewhere. Listening to the audience's fake laughter, she'll eventually become a fake audience member herself, laughing at the characters on the screen.

But Tisha doesn't feel like getting up from the sofa. She puts her feet up on the coffee table and stares out the window at the sky. A gray, depressing sky. It looks like it's about to start drizzling, which would probably make her feel even more down.

Tisha fell asleep while sitting on the sofa. In the evening, Mom came home from work, opened the door, and saw Tisha sleeping on the sofa, without even taking her shoes off. Mom got a little scared, shook Tisha gently, and said, “Tisha, honey, are you sleeping here?”

Tisha sat up with a start, looking a little embarrassed. “Oh my God! I fell asleep!”

“You didn't even take off your shoes? Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, Mom, I'm fine. I'm just so hungry—”

“You haven't eaten anything since you got home from school?”

Dad said while eating, “So what's your problem with that? You get all the love and attention to yourself.”

Tisha said, “Even if someone shared in my love and attention, there wouldn't be any less, Dad. That's not a valid argument.”

“Then what is a valid argument?”

“If a boy or a girl grows up alone, they become selfish. I'm definitely growing up selfish.”

Mom asked, "You are really?”

Tisha said, “I won't be able to tell that; you guys will.”

Dad said, “If you don't come to visit us in the old folks' home when we get old, we'll know you've become selfish.”

“Mom, you should have had more kids.”

“I can't handle one—let alone more kids!”

Tisha said, “What are you saying, Mom? Have I ever given you any trouble?”

“Not now. But when you were little—”

Dad said, “My goodness! There wasn't a sickness you didn't have. You had a fiery temper; you'd scream all night long, no one in the house could get any sleep or eat—”

“I don't believe it.”

“Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. The truth is the truth.”

Tisha looked at her mother and said, “Mom, I'm thirteen. I was born when you were twenty-five. That means you're thirty-eight now. Women in America have babies all the time at thirty-eight.”

Mom narrowed her eyes and said, “What are you trying to say?”

“I'm saying you're still young enough to have a baby. Have one. A girl would be great, but a boy is fine too.”

Mom grabbed a handful of Tisha's hair and gave it a yank. “You're getting too mouthy, giving your mother advice on how to have a baby?”

Tisha let out a much louder-than-necessary “Ow!” as she pulled her head away. “Can't I give advice about my own life? Do you know how bad it feels to come home alone? How much fun it would be to have a little brother or a little sister!”

Dad shook his head. “No. It's too late for a brother or sister. At most, I can get you a puppy.”

Mom raised her eyebrows. “A dog? A big dog running around the house? Disgusting!”

Tisha said, “Why, Mom? Everybody has a dog! All my friends at school have one!”

“But that doesn't mean a dog can be running around inside my house.”

“Why, Mom? Don't you remember we had a cat back home? If we can have a cat, what's wrong with having a dog?”

“A cat is so small, a dog is so big—”

Dad said, “There are also small-breed dogs. The size of a cat!”

Mom said, “Keeping a pet at home isn't a simple matter. You have to feed it, take it to the bathroom, take on all the responsibilities—”

Tisha sat up straight and said with a firm expression, “Mom, if you trusted me enough to give me a little brother or sister, I would have taken care of them. And I can't take care of a little puppy?”

So the very next weekend, Tisha and her dad went to a pet store and bought a small puppy and a book on how to raise a dog. There were many kinds of dogs in the store, and they were expensive. Tisha picked out a small brown dog with white and black coloring. They're called beagles here; their big eyes and floppy ears just made you want to pet them.

The dog had such an endearing face that when we brought it home, it even brought a smile to my mom's face. After we let it loose on the kitchen floor, it started whining and sniffing the floor as it wandered back and forth. In a new place, it was a little uncertain, worried about where to go and who would give it some affection. In a few moments, however, it realized that Tisha was its true owner, so it curled up and sat on her lap. Tisha hugged it affectionately and said, "My little darling."

Dad asked with a smile, “What are you going to name your dog?”

Tisha said, “I don't understand all that.” Then she looked at the puppy and said, “You hear that? From now on, your name is Tweetie. T-w-e-e-t-i-e.”

Who knows what the puppy understood, but it lifted its head and barked once. Tisha looked at her mom and dad and said, “See, Tweetie likes her name!”

A week later, Tisha got off her school bus, then crossed the street and walked into their neighborhood. Like other days, the sky was cloudy, and there was no one on the street. Passing one picture-perfect house after another, she arrived at her home, where there was no car in front. That meant her mom hadn't come home yet.

But today she wasn't sad; Tisha knew she wasn't alone. Tweetie was waiting for her at home. The moment she touched the key in the lock, she could feel Tweetie's excitement from inside; she had already started running around the house. As soon as she opened the door, Tweetie started circling Tisha, whining in its babyish voice. Tweetie jumped on her, then ran to the other side of the room and came rushing back again. She was clear that Tweetie didn't know what to do with herself from happiness.

Tisha put her school bag down and said, “Slow down, Tweetie, slow down! You're going to have a stroke because of the excitement!”

Before Tisha can get out, Tweetie jumps out. She's familiar with everything inside the house, but everything outside is a mystery to her. She looks around cautiously. Seeing an American robin in the tree, it lets out a low, rumbling growl. Spotting a squirrel, it chases after it, then suddenly stops and advances, sniffing the ground.

Tisha watches the innocent creature with a kind of affection and continues eating her pizza. Tisha had never imagined that a small, innocent animal could change a person's life like this.

Just at that moment, 2030 kilometers away from Tisha's house, Lydia was on her way to join the Epsilon Company in a six-story building.