That morning Anu woke up with Mum’s voice. She was on the phone with someone. “I can’t stop him from seeing her. Last time he met her when she was five years old. Then he disappeared to Australia. After that meeting, Anu waited almost every day for his phone call, letter or a message from him. But nothing until now. He is back again after 6 years and wants to meet her.” Anu’s heart skipped a…
Anu suddenly woke up scared and she almost cried. “Mummy, is the plane falling from the sky?” “No silly, we reached Boston. Plane is landing.” Anu put her nose to the glass window & looked outside. Slowly she could see the city. The long walk to the baggage claim section didn’t bother Anu because she had a good sleep in the plane. When they collected their luggage and came out, they looked a…
One rainy Friday Anu & her mum moved into their new house. The movers brought all their stuff inside the new house and helped mum put whiteware such as the fridge and the washing machine in the allocated place. Then they left. Mum sat on the couch. She looked exhausted. Anu hugged her mum. She was tired too. She helped mum to pack their previous home. Now they will soon be unpacking. When the…
It was one of the beautiful autumn afternoons with clear skies. It was bit warm but there was a happy note to the day. Anu was trying to put together an essay on ‘Multicultural Aotearoa’. This is the Māori name for New Zealand. She was on internet going through research and information. Mum always points out that Anu will soon lose the habit of reading books. After reading for some time, Anu u…
That day when Mum came to school to pick up Anu, she found her with a red, sad face. Anu controlled herself until they were in the bus.Then she started to cry. Mum got worried. She hugged her tightly to calm her down. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Anu gave her a note from the teacher. Teacher wanted to see Mum. She looked at Anu questioningly. “Did you fight with anyone?” “No” “D…
They came home from the supermarket. Anu helped Mum put the groceries away. She always gets hungry after the supermarket shopping. She has seen so many kids eating and drinking in the supermarket. But Mum doesn’t allow her to do that. Mum gave her something to eat, and she sat to do her accounts. Anu likes to watch how Mum writes numbers in her diary and then calculate it on her fingers. They have…
Anu was sitting on the small tree in front of her house. Her mum let her sit there because it was inside their fence. She was allowed to walk alone to check their mailbox. Condition was she wouldn’t talk to strangers. She never could understand her mum. Mum would send her to a dairy or a $2 shop to get a couple of little things by herself. Anu would end up talking to the shopkeeper, who in Anu’s …
Lately, Anu’s Mum hasn’t been feeling well. She went to the doctor few times, but nothing seemed to be working. She looked tired. Their walk to the bus stop wasn’t that fast anymore. They had to walk slowly because Mum would be short of breath a few times. Anu was worried about Mum and kept thinking about her in the class. She told her friends about it too. She even drew a picture of Mum being…
Anu was busy in getting ready. She was dressing up as Mulan, the Chinese female warrior. Her friend Kelley was dressing up with her as Cinderella. Her Mum was putting the make-up on her face. “Anu you should have dressed up as Jasmine…” “But Kelley you know I like Mulan. She is my favourite.” “I don’t know why?” “Because she is brave and smart. She fights with bad people and wins. Why …
