THE LETTER FROM DAD

    "Hey, Hanna. What are you doing here?" asked Joon.
    "What? Nothing..." Hanna murmured.
    "You are waiting for Mr. Kim, aren't you?" Joon giggled.
    "...." Hanna looked down at her shoes silently.

    Joon was right. Hanna was eager for Mr. Kim, the mailman, but all that she could see was the zigzag path through the village from the mountain ridge. Flame-red and yellow flowers were full bloom all over the shallow mountain. It was spring.

    Hanna's village was called "Crane Village." A lot of cranes lived there with their babies. Running after cranes was a favorite game for children. To get away , the poor cranes flew in a big circle and sat down on the pine trees. That game seemed very fun but Hanna didn't feel like playing.

 

 

    Finally Mr. Kim appeared on Pine Hill. Hanna recognized him right away with his round hat and big bag. He was riding his bicycle down to Crane Village through the zigzag path. She hoped he had Dad's letter. Mr. Kim always brought it in his big mailbag.

    "Mr. Kim! Mr. Kim!" She rushed to him, her hair flapping.

    Mr. Kim looked embarrassed just as he saw her.

    "Hi, Hanna. No letter for you even today. Sorry," said Mr. Kim.

    "Oh, yes...." Hanna answered in whispers.

    "It's too long time since you got his last letter, huh?" He said.

    "Yes, three months. Surely something happened to him," Hanna said. She felt her eyes fill with tears.

    "Don't worry, Hanna. He must be busy. Wait more. Surely you will get his letter pretty soon," said Mr. Kim.

 

 

 

 

    Hanna hung her head in sadness and turned away.

    "What's wrong, Hanna? Something happened to your dad?" Yejee, her friend, asked.

    "He might be injured," Joon agreed quickly.

    "No," Hanna shouted. "His letter must be coming soon. Mr. Kim said."

    But what could she do if Joon was right? No. Her father was fine. Hanna was sure. Still she was worried.

    After that day, Hanna was always alone. She didn't wait for Mr. Kim any more. She recalled the days with Dad once whenever she had time. The memories of Dad's big hands and big smile always made her happy. Hanna still remembered the promise Dad had made as he gave her a big hug.

    "Hanna, I will come back in two years with a lot of money. I can let you go to university with that money. I know you are a wonderful girl. Please take care of your two young brothers and Mom. I'm very proud of you."

    Thast day Dad left for Los Angeles in America. A year had passed since then.

    Dad never forgot to send a letter every two weeks.When she held his letter, sometimes she tried to smell Dad. Whenever Mr. Kim took out Dad's letter from his big mailbag, Hanna's heart pounded with delight. Many interesting stories were in his letters. The wonderful views of sunset in Santa Monica Beach, very tall palm trees, lots of races, friendly Korea Town, and so on. She felt as if America were her second hometown even though she had never been there. Hanna named Mr. Kim's mailbag "Dream Bag."

 

 

 



    One day, Hanna heard Mr. Kim's voice and went to the gate.
    "See? I have your dad's letter." Mr. Kim handed her a letter with a smile.
    Hanna took it carefully.
    "Bye! Enjoy the letter." Mr. Kim went away in a hurry.
    Hanna looked into the envelope. The letters on it looked different than usual.

    "What are you doing, Hanna?" Mom called out to her.
    "I'm coming, Mom!" Hanna answered and hid the letter quickly in her pocket.
    When she got into the room, all family were there.
    "I'm happy to be all of you. I feel better. I'm sure I willrecover soon." Dad looked around the family with a bright smile on his pale face. Dad's same smile as before made Hanna's heart warm.
    "Sure, honey. Take your ease and rest up, please." We were worried a lot because we didn't get your letter for a long time. We didn't know you were very sick." Mom said gently.
    "Sorry, I didn't want to hurt your feeling. Anyway I am here with you and I am fine," said Dad.

    While Hanna was hearing them, she was thinking about the letter that Mr. Kim gave her. It was not hard to imagine that Mr. Kim tried hard to write that letter instead of her dad to make her happy.


Assignment 8:  Writing a Creative Story