Flushing Chinatown
WRITE FROM IMAGES
It’s the end of another uneventful day. Everyday tourists flood into this part of Queens. She closed her store after she finished counting the bills. She put on her jacket and was ready to leave. But then she saw herself in the full-length mirror outside her store. She stopped and stared at her reflection for a few seconds and her entire life just flashed across her mind. She ignored her family’s objections and moved to New York around 20 years ago. Met her husband and had her three kids here – two boys and a girl. The boys are in grade 5 and grade 9 and the girl is in grade 1. To support the family, her and her husband opened a small store in Flushing’s Chinatown selling bags. Although the place is visited by an overwhelming number of people each day, these stores can be seen almost everywhere. So they really don’t earn much. She hates herself for thinking like this sometimes because she loves her children, but occasionally “only if I didn’t have these kids” will cross her mind making her feel guilty and upset. She came here as a young, gorgeous girl and now… she could not look away from the mirror… what has time done to me? She didn’t know why, she opened her store again, took out her finest bags and put on her favorite scarf and posed in front of the mirror, checking if anyone is looking in the meantime. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “Where’s your wife? You guys should come to our place and have a drink with us. You know, after a long day of work?” “That sounds nice. Well, I don’t know.” He said with his eyes closed, half-lying half-sitting in the bench, “She should be closing down the store now.” he struggled to separate his eyelids, lifted his wrist to look at the time, “oh, that’s weird, she should be done by now. ” he stretched and stood up, “I should probably go check on her in case she’s in trouble and needs my help.” “Alright! Give me a call when you guys are coming! I’ll let my wife know that you two will come over for a drink tonight.” “Sure! We’ll see you then!” he shouted as he disappeared into the crowd.
*** * * * * * * * * * Her husband just called her telling her that her friend and her friend’s husband will come over for a drink tonight. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we have something to eat while we’re drinking?” she recalled herself asking her husband over the phone. “Yeah right! I want grilled chicken. From that store, you know. That store has the best grilled chicken.” “Alright.” She smiled. He is just like a child. She thought. She went onto the street, squeezed through the crowd of a hundred same emotionless faces, worn out, after a day of nothing but work. She wondered if she has the same expression on her face as well. She was like a small boat, drifting through the crowd, letting the current push her to wherever it takes her. She reached out her hands for the neon lights above her head but they were like dying stars. She felt like a wrecked ship, slowly sinking into the bottom of the ocean and she knows she will eventually be sitting on the seabed with thousands of other shipwrecks. I have my own story. She thought. I am unique just like everybody else. She knew, no matter how loud she shouts, her voice will always be covered by the noise of the crowd and will never be heard. She hated how the crowd always makes her feel. There really is nothing I can do. She thought as she paid for the grilled chicken.