The Porcelain Afterlife of Momoko Hara

Worth the Wait

I slept.

Into a slumber so deep I could have sworn I had died. When I woke, I had no memory of where I was, what I had done in the last few days or why. All I knew is there was something wrong. Something I needed to get up and remember to do.

The Auditions!

I jolted up from my cot in the living room. My nose and fingers were frozen and hard to the touch.

I peeled a blanket from my body. The cold air of the room rushed into the quilt and made sparks behind my tired eyes. With me asleep and no one to turn on the heater, the house felt like an icebox.

How long had I been asleep?

I stood in the living room of grandmothers home and looked around the space. Grandmother was sleeping in her corner chair and covered in handmade quilts. She had an empty bowl of food dangling on her lap and a cloud of air around her opened mouth as she snored.

Everything seemed to be in okay.

The old red couch was still spilling with yellow stuffing, the dark wood panels of the walls still whistled from the frigid draft outside, and the grimy carpet still crackled with pieces of dirt as I walked through.

I looked at the round clock above grandmothers chair. The hands were facing 10:23 and the light outside barely peeked through the thick gray curtains. It must be morning, I thought to myself, but I still couldn't be sure exactly what day it was.

The only thing I hadn't checked was the mail. I raced towards the front door and onto the porch. There on the first stone step was a sealed red envelope.

I picked up the envelope and starred out into the lonely dusty road to see who could have left it.

"Your training begins today," the bold words of the letter said, "Please be ready for pick up by 10:30 am."

I stepped off the porch and stretched my neck out to look further into the blind side of the road. My chest was pounding and my bare legs shivered in the biting winter winds.

What if I already missed the pickup? What if I did this all for nothing?

The sound of a motor bounced up the road.

"Jaehyun?" I said quietly into the sharp air.

A large black van with blacked out windows slowly rolled up the snow-covered road and stopped in front of my gate. I moved to the backside of the vehicle to read it's license plate.

SYM91

The doors of the van swooped open.

"Min!" Jisoo said and waved her hand from inside the vans all-black interior, "We made it!"

The air in my chest swelled as a smiled beamed from within me and out through my whole body.

"Come on!" Jisoo said and held her arms as she shivered, "Get in!"

I turned to look at the door of grandmothers home and wondered if I should check on her one more time. Grandmother seemed okay, and I would be back tonight for sure. At least I assumed I would be.

The van's piercing horn beeped and woke me from my thoughts in an instant.

I speed through the rusted steel gate beside the road and into the blanket of warmth inside the door. I had nothing else on my mind except for when would be my next chance to see him.

When would I get to tell Jaehyun.
I did it.

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