Base Stock_Compromise_A Christmas Present._Red String
Catalog Guide:
Base Stock
In the steamy air ofwww.onedoor.cc Mizuna’s kitchen, beads of sweat trickle down the 30-something Japanese job candidate’s face.“Which restaurants have you worked in in New York?” I am holding the afternoon interview to replace the fifth prep cook who’s left this year for higher pay elsewhere.“None.” He shakes his head. “In Japan. Soba.” He gestures kneading dough with his hands. In the kitchen the hiss of the gas burners is constant. With his limited English and my very basic Japanese, this conversation isn’t really going anywhere. I point toward the fry counter and raise my eyebrows.“Chahan. Gyoza,” he sa...
Compromise
Mara was sulking in her bedroom. This was becoming a rather common occurrence for her. Downstairs was the Christmas tree, fully decorated and lit up in the living room of the house she’d been living in for just three months. Normally, Mara loved decorating the Christmas tree, but this morning, while her father, step-mother Valerie, and step sister Janice, were decorating the tree, she was sulking in her bedroom. It was Thanksgiving Day, and Mara felt it should be illegal to put the tree up so early. She and her family always put the tree up on the first Saturday of December. However, it was ...
A Christmas Present.
"Bella, honey, can you please come here and help me?", said a polite voice from inside the bathroom of this plush mansion located in the uptown of Maryland, a huge estate bordering the Atlantic ocean. Following this sweet melodious voice, appeared a fairly medium height-ed, wheatish skinned girl walking at a pace higher than normal. "I was wondering if you could fetch the hair dryer for me...and.....I need some of the hair set gel for dad too...." "Coming right up, mom!" said the girl in her usual obedient fashion, as she headed towards her dad's wardrobe. "I completely forgot, I also need the...
Red String
My favourite Chinese myth is the one about how we all have red strings of fate connecting us to our loved ones, and that no matter what, no matter where we are, we are always tied together. The threads can tangle but will never break, and will keep us connected even through death. I’ve always loved that idea, of fate. It’s comforting. It makes me think that maybe I still have ties somewhere to my birth family. It makes me feel like maybe I have been connected to my adopted family from the beginning, like I was always meant to be theirs and they were always meant to be mine. Fate. Destiny. Wri...