When I Was Young in My Hometown

When I was young in my hometown, Grandmother used to live with us for a period of time every now and then.  She spoke only Taiwanese, so I tried to teach her Mandarin. I was not a good teacher, because I spent most of the time making fun of her.

Grandmother were always looking for something that she forgot where she placed it. I tried to fool her in my terrible Taiwanese,” The stuff is here!” Of course, she didn’t find it here. Then, I tried to fool her again, “ Your stuff is over there!” When Grandmother went over there, I ran away.

When I was young in my hometown, we had a garden in front of our house. Father planted a lot of flowers and a guava tree. One evening, our neighbor saw a poisonous snake in our garden, but Father didn’t find it. I was afraid for several nights that the snake would crawl onto my bed. After that, I had nightmares about snakes for a very long time.

When I was young in my hometown, I often got out of bed late. Mother braided my hair while I was having breakfast. In the meantime, Father waited for me outside in the car. Every morning was busy.

When I was young in my hometown, my family had tea after dinner on Saturdays. Father allowed young sister and I to pick snacks for teatime. That was our happy hour after weekdays.

When I was young in my hometown, Mother went to the market every Sunday morning. Younger sister and I liked going there with her. However, we were not good helpers to carry foods for her. We just wanted to visit every stationery store in the market to buy special stickers and erasers.

When I was young in my hometown, I loved taking a walk with my family on Sunday evening in summer. We walked along the path next to our place in the breeze. Father bought popsicles for us when we stopped by the grocery store on our way.  Then we walked home under the starry sky.

When I was young in my hometown, I thought I would live there with my family forever. I didn’t know I would leave there for college and jobs. I also had no idea I would move to another country one day.

Viola, 2016/10/12 evening at Austin

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“ We read the book《When I was Young in the Mountains》in Book Club today.

The book describes memories from childhood. Every memory begins the same way:
1. When I was young in the mountains,
2. _________________________ (something happened).
3. A couple of sentences that add details.

Try writing a story of your own using this writing style! “

                                                                    --by Kathy Smith Morales

*《When I was Young in the Mountains》