1 Boots and Bubble Milk Tea Memories

High school was ending soon. The senior trip to the mountains was tomorrow weekend. But before that, Wan Dúshé had to finish shopping. She tried on many types of shoes at the stores. Soft cloth sandals, high stiff leather boots, rubbery and flexible sport shoes, all kinds. Wan Dúshé could not resist shoe shopping. She had a closet full at home. Her most favorite pairs were on her walls, displayed for everyone's enjoyment.

"I need the perfect pair for the trip. I can't believe I can only bring one!" she complained to the store clerk.

This store was her favorite. The clerks were always so happy to see her. They must love shoes as much as me, she thought.

After trying on at least ten pairs that were too fancy for a hike in the country, Wan Dúshé settled on some trendy looking boots. She paid the clerk, and headed to the cafe for a drink.

The clouds started to roll in with a warm breeze that ruffled her long hair.

"Nooo...I just bought this style. Mr. Clouds please don't rain yet!"

As Wan Dúshé was pleading softly to the weather, she was not looking carefully at her feet. She stumbled over a pebble and tripped. OW! Her knee hit the sidewalk and scrapped. Tiny drops of blood sparkled on her pale knee. She bit her lip to stop from crying and dug out a tissue from her purse.

"At least I was wearing a short skirt today. I still miss the nice trousers I ripped a few days ago." Wan Dúshé slumped as she remembered all the clothes she tore from her famously clumsy life. She never scuffed her shoes, but she patched many tears, rips, and blood stained holes on her clothes. She was a really good seamstress now, her aunties told her. Maybe even as good as her mother. Must be all the practice. Sometimes, for fun, Wan Dúshé would sew colourful flowers and animals on the repairs. The fashionably short skirt she was wearing used to be longer. The bottom edge was covered in a garden of green grass, tall flowers, and butterflies to hide the repair from when she tripped and caught it on a fence.

Blinking back the tears, Wan Dúshé dusted herself off and continued on her way, smiling at her luck that was good and bad at once.

Cute Cafe had been her favorite place for years. Her father had brought Wan Dúshé here for a special treat of bubble milk tea. She felt very grown up sitting at the tall bistro table under the big umbrella on the sidewalk. Father had laughed that the boba going up the green drinking straw looked like a snake eating eggs.

Wan Dúshé did not have many memories of her father left. She still had the sound of his laughter, and the green straws. They were carefully folded into a star shaped charm that hung from any purse or bag she was using that day. The aunties said her parents were away for work. The work was very important. They told stories about them after the evening meal on clear night. How they met. The long courtship. And how Wan Dúshé was left in the small city to go to school while the important work continued.

The ice clinked against the glass as the warm breeze gusted, calling Wan Dúshé back from her thoughts. The weather was turning fast for this time of year, she thought she had better take her new boots home before they got wet. Nibbling the newest green straw, she turned the corner to look down Broadstreet.

The widest road, leading to the middle of the small city, pointed toward the Goddess Mountain. It was widely believed that the local spirits and deities lived on the Goddess Mountain. It was dotted with strange ruins, and rock formations with trails leading to most, but not all. This was the less than trendy, but oh so traditional, destination for the school trip tomorrow. 'Knowing our past paves toward our future' the teachers said. The students' widely held belief was that the principle was a cheapskate.

The clouds were darkest at the mountain peak. Almost like the storm was swirling around the Goddess Mountain herself.

"...Clouds are really pretty. Maybe I will sew them onto the trousers tonight. Aahh!"

The sky split. A slash of lightning, ground to cloud, lit the Goddess Mountain. A dim reddish light covered Wan Dúshé's eyes. Blinded, she tripped and landed flat on her front, the sound of thunder drowning out her pained whine.

The shower slowly worked the stiffness from her shoulders as she moved through some stretches. The aunties were worried about the storm, and the sirens headed toward the Goddess Mountain, but seeing the red puffy eyes and tell tale marks of another embarrassing fall, Wan Dúshé was gently put under cool water to head off any large bruises.

Aunty One tsk'd and fussed over the new pair of boots and the twice repaired blouse that lost another button. Aunty Two put some food to reheat and tea to boil for an herbal pack. Aunty Three looked at the steam coming from the bathroom with mild distaste.

"...We should prepare her. At least tell her. I don't know ... Something! I feel so useless when she comes home hurt like this."

The three looked at each other, then out the large window toward the mountain. Small wild fires and emergency service truck lights wink in the night. Aunty One sighed.

"It will happen, or it will not. No need to get her hopes up then let her down."

Even with the water running, Wan Dúshé could tell when the Aunties bickered about her. She felt embarrased. She must be a burden on them. They were young enough to have families of their own, but the family business kept them too busy. Work was very important to the Wan family. Dúshé tried to learn, to contribute in some way, but was sent back to her studies with stern looks. 'When you are older, maybe. Finish your education first,' the Aunties said.

The three of them took turns working from home instead of at the tall glass office building in the center of the city. Someone was always there to pick the fragile and clumsy Wan Dúshé up when she tripped, or put herbal tea packs on her pale bruised skin, or teach her martial arts for balance and strength.

She had been empty of temperature in the cool water, at first. She shivered slightly once the throbbing in her scrapes subsided. She didn't want to waste the Aunties' money, but she had to turn up the temperature a little, right? She wasn't a snow woman.

"... Aaaaaahhh..."

She felt like a snow macaque in the hot water. Stretching and moving through forms pulled the healing warmth from the water through her skin and to her bruised chest and chin. Aunty One's martial arts teachings were moving her arms and legs now, whispering stern commands in her head, wider stance, flowing limbs, steady breath, increase the blood flow to promote healing... Wan Dúshé could barely feel the water now. Barely feel the pain. It was like everything was the same temperature, inside and out.