The bird had now flown away from the nest. It was finding its own food, its own shelter, its own companion(s). She was that bird. Naiomi, after settling in her dorm room and in a process of understanding her dorm mate's personality, was now truly living a "collegian's" life. She was not only making new friends and expanding her circle but was also in touch with her oldies. But as they say, life cannot exist without its habitual problems. One day, she was sitting on her bed and suddenly startling both her and Elina, her dorm mate, the phone rang - tring tring. Naiomi ran to it and picked it up. "Hello?" There were moments of silence. "Hello?" Nothing. It was like no one was on the other side. "HELLO?" This time she yelled. "I need your help." A familiar voice spoke and then BOOM!, she was gone. "That sound... it seems familiar." she was thinking out loud but Elina interrupted her thoughts "What?" "Huh? Oh, um, nothing." Then it hit her - four years ago....
It had been a couple of years but she can still clearly describe that night with every single detail and the faintest of the sounds. She was sitting in the living room at her grandparents' house, playing with her 3 year old cousin, messing around and teasing her. The men of the house were watching T.V. while the women of the house were in the kitchen, preparing dinner. They had invited her grandpa's sister over. When this calm night had turned into a disaster, she could not even imagine. While everyone was respectively doing their work, all of a sudden BOOM! came a sound. Her heart skipped a beat. BOOM! another one. BOOM! - the third one. Her heartbeat had increased after every single one. "Dad, what was that?" her quivering voice asked. "I don't know. Sounded like fireworks, but they're illegal so what could it be?" her dad stood up to investigate. The kids followed. All of a sudden, a siren went off. Then second one, then third, then fourth. Soon enough, she could see the reflection of the red and blue lights of the siren from the glass on her door. Something definitely was wrong but what was it? "GET INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, NOW!" The police yelled at them when they went outside in the front yard. All the streets were covered with police cars, ambulance, and fire brigade trucks. There was also a helicopter over their house, flashing lights. The news report the next day showed that a criminal was shot by a police officer under her grandpa's car.
Tring tring - the phone brought her back. "Hello, Jisu? Jisu?" "Yeah" "What happened? What was that noise? Are you ok? And why did you call so late?" One could definitely tell the flashback had scared her. Her face had turned yellow, eyes red and watery, she was icy cold but still sweating. "Naiomi, can you please stop talking? I need your help. So my communications class want us to do a report on a high paid celebrity and their life. I can get the history and psychology part, you think you can do the journalism part, like actual writing for me and help a girl out?" Jisu was so relaxed, so calm and here, Naiomi was about to have a heart attack. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A COMMUNICATIONS REPORT?" "Why are you yelling, I'm in Davis not in India." "JISU, SHUT UP! You scared the hell out of me. What was that big noise at the end of your last call?" "Oh! That? That was us celebrating the end of midterm - fireworks. Can you believe most of them are actually legal here?" Naiomi heaved a sigh of relief. "God!" She started laughing so hard that her stomach started hurting. "Why are you laughing?" Jisu clearly was oblivious of Naiomi's thoughts. "Nothing. When and where are we leaving for?" "Day after tomorrow. Starting our trip in L.A. and making our way East of America. Cool?" "Yeah, see you then." "Thank you" "And Jisu, one more thing. Do me a favor and never, ever call me when you guys are celebrating, will you?" They hung up laughing. "Whew.. I thought it was..."
It had been a couple of years but she can still clearly describe that night with every single detail and the faintest of the sounds. She was sitting in the living room at her grandparents' house, playing with her 3 year old cousin, messing around and teasing her. The men of the house were watching T.V. while the women of the house were in the kitchen, preparing dinner. They had invited her grandpa's sister over. When this calm night had turned into a disaster, she could not even imagine. While everyone was respectively doing their work, all of a sudden BOOM! came a sound. Her heart skipped a beat. BOOM! another one. BOOM! - the third one. Her heartbeat had increased after every single one. "Dad, what was that?" her quivering voice asked. "I don't know. Sounded like fireworks, but they're illegal so what could it be?" her dad stood up to investigate. The kids followed. All of a sudden, a siren went off. Then second one, then third, then fourth. Soon enough, she could see the reflection of the red and blue lights of the siren from the glass on her door. Something definitely was wrong but what was it? "GET INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, NOW!" The police yelled at them when they went outside in the front yard. All the streets were covered with police cars, ambulance, and fire brigade trucks. There was also a helicopter over their house, flashing lights. The news report the next day showed that a criminal was shot by a police officer under her grandpa's car.
Tring tring - the phone brought her back. "Hello, Jisu? Jisu?" "Yeah" "What happened? What was that noise? Are you ok? And why did you call so late?" One could definitely tell the flashback had scared her. Her face had turned yellow, eyes red and watery, she was icy cold but still sweating. "Naiomi, can you please stop talking? I need your help. So my communications class want us to do a report on a high paid celebrity and their life. I can get the history and psychology part, you think you can do the journalism part, like actual writing for me and help a girl out?" Jisu was so relaxed, so calm and here, Naiomi was about to have a heart attack. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A COMMUNICATIONS REPORT?" "Why are you yelling, I'm in Davis not in India." "JISU, SHUT UP! You scared the hell out of me. What was that big noise at the end of your last call?" "Oh! That? That was us celebrating the end of midterm - fireworks. Can you believe most of them are actually legal here?" Naiomi heaved a sigh of relief. "God!" She started laughing so hard that her stomach started hurting. "Why are you laughing?" Jisu clearly was oblivious of Naiomi's thoughts. "Nothing. When and where are we leaving for?" "Day after tomorrow. Starting our trip in L.A. and making our way East of America. Cool?" "Yeah, see you then." "Thank you" "And Jisu, one more thing. Do me a favor and never, ever call me when you guys are celebrating, will you?" They hung up laughing. "Whew.. I thought it was..."
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