Julia Song, Period 8, 3/24/22

 Julia Song, Period 8, 3/24/22

A child sits on the lap of her aunt, her dangling feet adorned with sparkly light up

sneakers. They are riding the crowded bus to her aunt’s house for a sleepover after buying

groceries at the Chinese supermarket. The child seems happy, clutching a pack of gummy

hamburgers in her gloved hands. The aunt on the other hand, is wondering what she should put

into the sushi that she is making for dinner. Sushi: her niece’s favorite food and what the aunt has

promised her niece she would make. The sound of the rain pattering on the bus is drowned out

by the sound of the aunt’s voice singing to her niece, “Good little princess.”

A child sits at her aunt’s dinner table, her dangling feet adorned with house slippers. She

is watching her aunt carefully place shrimp, cucumbers, avocado, and yellow radish onto rice

doused in rice vinegar and seaweed. She secretly dislikes yellow radish but does not have the

heart to tell her aunt, who is meticulously wrapping up sushi rolls and cutting them into perfect

pieces. The aunt lets her niece have the heartiest pieces while she herself eats the end pieces with

the least amount of fillings. The sound of the plastic gloves crinkling as the aunt rolls up sushi is

drowned out by the sound of the aunt’s voice singing to her niece, “Good little princess.”

A child sits snuggled up next to her aunt on the couch, her dangling feet adorned with

fuzzy socks. They are watching her aunt’s favorite Chinese drama before they head to bed. The

light from the television being the only source of light in the living room. This darkness scares

the child and a soy sauce commercial with a dark background causes her to cry. The aunt, feeling

bad, turns the television off and guides her niece to bed. They lay under the covers together and

make shadow puppets with their hands. Shadows of bunnies, dogs, and rabbits glide across the

white walls. Finally, with the child on the verge of sleep the aunt sings the same familiar melody,

“Good night little princess.”