Going Down the Bunny Trail

Chapter One: The Torres'

Mammoth Lakes, CA

Laurie rushed to her buzzing phone on top of the marble dining table and quickly turned it off to finish loading the dryer. She had forgotten to delete her 11 am lunch time alarm for work even though she had left her job almost a week ago. It did remind her to wake her daughter, Liah, up who just got back from a weeklong New York City trip with her friends. She let her sleep in for a bit knowing the sleepless flights and three hour time difference she had to recover from. After, pushing several buttons in a heartbeat, a clicking noise indicated that the dryer was ready to go. She went to gather more laundry from their upstairs bathroom and stopped by the door close to the staircase. She slowly cracked the door open while she struggled to balance the basket of dirty clothes between her hand and hips. The pastel gold comforter with floral patterns had covered Liah completely; she knew she was still in a deep sleep. Giving her an extra ten minutes of sleep and waking her up will result with her going back and spending one more hour in bed. She had to be awakened.

With the calmest voice, she called out, "Liah?"

Her daughter grasped out of her heavy blanket and sat up barely able to open her eyes.

"Wake up na. I'm doing the last batch of laundry. If you want to bring some clothes you brought with you to New York, you better take it downstairs."

It took Liah a couple of seconds for the thought to sink in. Pretty much every apparel she brought with her were included in the OOTDs she planned ahead of time to wear. Scratch that, whatever, she can wear old T-shirts and some faded pants she has been wearing for years now. She plopped back on her bed without hesitation. Some sunlight peeked through her bedroom blinds and shone directly on her face. Squinting her eyes was not making any difference, so she rolled over and turned her back against her window sill. 

Too late, thanks for ruining my extra minutes of sleep Mr. Sun! 

She stayed in the same position and she had slowly opened her sleepy eyes. Then she was wholly awoken by the random thought that struck her after realizing that she, in fact, did need those laundries to be washed and dried because she still intended to look, at least, decent when she goes to visit home. 

I can't believe in less than 24 hours, I am leaving the U.S. and flying to the Philippines, a country not so familiar to me anymore. 

Even though she had lived there for 14 years since birth, going home for the first time in seven years is something Liah should be looking forward to, but she was feeling more anxious as the minutes' tick by. Seven years is a long time and enough for a child to be influenced by the new country's culture. She knew it was not going to just be filled with laughter, I miss you's, and X's & O's. It was more of a judgment process of how she has gained weight, produced more pesky acne which resulted in scarring, unruly hair, dull appearance, and fashion, not even close to a New York street style. She had always known she was never near the Asian beauty standards, except maybe her height? At least her way of dressing up was easy to alter, unlike the body she was blessed in. 

Liah scurried out of her bed and took her dirty laundry out of her vintage, bright blue trolley bag. It was enough to fit the last batch in a relief. 

Due to over excitement and poor planning, Liah had set their New York departure date just one day away from their family's monthlong vacation departure day. After almost missing her flight back to California, her anxiety had taken over her. A mixture of airplane turbulence and incoming criticism which will be served in gold and silver platters with her name on it when she steps on the tropical islands of the Philippines. 

Laurie was dashing back and forth trying to keep their house clean before leaving it unattended for four weeks. Liah who was sitting close to their fireplace just gawked at her mother running around organizing every small thing.