a little bit of black with a little bit of pink

Your Soldier

Jennie Kim is pen-pals with Lisa Manoban, a kid on an army base.

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The address was to some classified location on the Mediterranean, nestled between Turkey and Bulgaria.

Jennie didn't even know the person's name. She was just given a slip of paper with an address and was told to write a letter. It wasn't something she was necessarily excited about — she had been advised that it would look good on her resume. College was a year away, and application deadlines were just on the horizon. So, when the school announced that they were setting up a pen-pal system with kids on military bases, Jennie signed up.

And there she was, with a random address and a piece of blank paper sitting before her.

Her chair creaked as she sat back and sighed. Jennie had been sitting at the desk for an hour without anything to say. She had never left the country before, her family was average; there was nothing interesting for her to write about.

A knock at the door brought her out of her contemplation.

"Come in!" she called. Jisoo entered, a small smile on her face.

"Hey, Jennie. What are you up to?" Jisoo asked. She sat gently on the edge of Jennie's desk and looked at the blank page.

Jisoo had been her best friend for two years by then, and she was finally comfortable talking to Jennie. Only three years before, they had adopted Jisoo. It was a difficult transition for both girls, and Jennie's less-than-welcoming nature didn't help anything. Jennie still felt guilty about it.

"I have to write a letter to my pen-pal, but I don't know what to say," Jennie explained. "I'm pretty boring." Jisoo scoffed at that.

"You aren't! When I first moved in, all I wanted was to be like you. I wouldn't be saying that if you were boring."

"I still don't know what to say," Jennie muttered.

"Just... tell them who you are. Where you're from, what you want to do in college. Try it," Jisoo insisted softly. Jennie sighed and picked up her pen.

"Okay..."

August 8, 2016
Midvale, California

Dear pen-pal,

Hi. My name is Jennie Kim, and I guess that I'm your pen-pal. I've never done anything like this before, so I'm kind of making this up as I go. Uh, I'm a girl, by the way. Well, I live in Midvale, California, in the United States of America. I was born and raised here, and I haven't really left. I go to Midvale High, which is a nice school. I have a few friends, but I spent a lot of my time focusing on my studies, so not much of a social life. Oh, and I have a sister. An adoptive sister, actually. Her name is Jisoo. She and her parents were in an accident three years ago, and Jisoo was the only one to make it out alive. We're close now. I also have two parents, a dad and a mom. They're both scientists. I want to be a scientist, too. I'm applying to schools in a few months. I want to go to Stanford, and I think I'll get in.

I guess I should ask you some questions, too. What's your name? Where are you from? Where are you now? You probably can't tell me that, actually. Um, do you like where you live? How long have you lived there? Do you see any military action there? That's probably rude, I'm sorry... Anyway, that's all I can think of now. I hope to hear back from you soon.

Stay safe,

Jennie Kim.

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It was another early morning on the base. Lisa was well-disciplined at this point; her father had been preparing her to join the military since she was little. So, she dragged herself out of bed, pulled out her clothes, and readied herself for school. By 6:30, she was downstairs and sitting at the table for breakfast. Her father was already gone, and her mother was sifting through the mail.