Page 4 - My FlipBook

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Having just finished final exams, my seven roommates and
I are crowded in the narrow space between the bunks of our
dorm room, singing to the blare of K-pop and dancing around
the mess of clothes, bags, and books strewn all over the place.
We’re supposed to be packing up, getting ready to head back
to our homes for the summer break, but the glee of being done
for the year is bubbling over us, and we can’t stop laughing
and tossing the hairbrush-microphone back and forth. I almost
don’t hear my phone ring over the noise. I bark out to Xiaowen
to turn down the music as I ransack my bunk, searching for my
phone under the pile of clothes.
I answer the call. It’s Nainai, my grandma, but I can hardly
hear her. I press my free hand over my other ear and move out
into the hall, but the connection is bad. The reception can be
spotty in the countryside at home, and I can just see her yell-
ing into her old flip phone as if shouting will smooth out the
choppy breaks and static.
I think I hear her say, “Your brother died!”
And now it’s me who’s shouting, “What?! What did
you say?”
But the connection is already broken.

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