“Thea, we’re here! Here’s our new home!”

It was when I was seven years old, about a year ago, the first time I moved to California.

           “I don’t want to live here,” I said, looking at the house, freshly painted white. “It looks like a dog house. Let’s go back to the apartment in Korea.”

           “Well, honey, we can change how the house looks later if you don’t like it. By the way, this house has a big backyard, ” my mom said, “You’ll like it.”

       When we walked in, the sofa, the kitchen table, and the TV were already moved in, but my room was empty, except for the small white bed sitting in one corner next to the large window with blue curtains hanging at the sides. I could see a large pine tree right outside the window, the sun sinking below its branches. I put down my backpack.

“How do you like your new room?” Mom asked.

“It’s.. empty,” I said. “I feel empty.”

“Well, honey, your things haven’t arrived yet. It will take a few days. It’s late now, so I’ll give you time to explore this house tomorrow. Get ready to go to bed.”

       I took out my toothbrush and my pajamas from my backpack and changed into them. It felt strange to be in the same pajamas but in a different room. After brushing my teeth, my mom tucked me in and kissed me goodnight, and I closed my eyes to the deep darkness of the unfamiliar room.

       That was when I heard it tapping on my window. Thea, Thea, Thea, it went on my window, calling my name, but I didn’t answer because I should never open the door to strangers. But the thing called my name louder and louder. I tried counting sheep, but every time I went up to about 50, the thing would call my name. Thea, Thea, Thea, it called.

       I tried to ignore it, but suddenly it started crying. Ooh, ooh, it went. Whish Whish.

I couldn’t sleep, so I sat up in my bed. Angry at the thing keeping me awake, I yanked the curtains open.

       I could see the enormous, black body shooting up towards the sky, outlined with the bright, silver-blue moonlight shining from behind. It had a million arms, twisting and twirling in every direction, some thicker than my whole body and some thinner than my own arm, with thin spiky needles shaking and rustling every time it moved. I felt that at any moment the bulky arm tapping on my window might lunge towards me and take me away. He loomed upon me, and I could do nothing but to stare at the huge, pitch-dark, scary monster.

       Just as I was about to jerk the curtains shut, the monster started to cry. It was crying so sadly.

Ooh, Ooohh…..

       I couldn’t help but to pull the curtains to the side and slightly open the window. A whiff of fresh green smell, a little sweeter than the smell of mowed grass, flowed through the small opening into my room, the strong scent filling my nose.

“Why are you crying?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” the monster replied. “I’m so lonely. I am the only one in this yard.”

       I looked beyond the monster, into the big backyard. Inside the low wooden fence, there was nothing on the shot green grass except for a few rocks lying around. I felt like the monster didn’t fit in such a place.

       I drew my curtains back a little more.

“Hmm… I’m new here, and I don’t have any friends too. I guess you can be my first..? What’s your name?” I asked.

The monster slumped down a little bit. “Well… Actually, I don’t have a name. No one really talks to me.”

I squinted my eyes and looked at him. It would be so sad not to have a name... “Then can I call you… John?”

       So we talked and talked, all night long. About my old friends back in Korea, how I miss them, and how nervous I am here to start a new life. We became best friends. And that was the first time I met John, my first and best friend in California.

       Every night before I went to sleep into my dreams, I would wait for John to tap on my window and call my name. Thea, Thea, Thea, and I would open the curtains to face the huge monster, my friend. I told him about how different Korea is from here. I told him how my dad is planning to plant more flowers and trees in the back yard. Every night, the strong, clean, sweet scent from John would fill my small room, and we would talk for hours about everything, even the small things I saw and heard.

       About 3 days later, I was waiting for John to tap on my window and call my name, as he would usually. I was eager to sit up in my bed and show John the new desk and closet that arrived that day. It was just a normal night until I heard dad talking to mom about the backyard.

“I don’t want that pine tree in my backyard. It’s the only thing in the back yard, it blocks the windows, and it just doesn’t match what we plan to put there,” dad said. “The previous owners should have taken it with them. Now it’s ours to get rid of.”

“Fine, you can cut it down tomorrow. ”

       I didn’t really understand what they were talking about, so when John tapped on my window, I opened the curtains as usual, and I showed John how my room changed. I showed him the big new desk put right beside my bed so that I can look outside the window when I draw pictures. I showed him the new closet by the wall, full with the colorful clothes that were in my suitcases for a while. My room looked so different with all the new furniture. It got so full.

I told John about what my dad told me during supper, about how we will decorate this house. “My dad said he’s going to put some new benches and flowers in the backyard. He’s going to decorate it with lights too! Ooh, and we might also have a barbeque grill!”

“Wow, that’s exciting!”John smiled. “Now I won’t be that lonely.”

I suddenly remembered what I heard that night. “I think he also said he’s going to cut down the tree in the backyard. He thinks it doesn’t match with how he wants his back yard.”

“...What?”

I didn’t notice then, but I think his arms flinched with the needles on them. But I was too careless to notice.

“The tree in the back yard. I don’t know, actually, but I don’t care. Anyways, tomorrow’s the first day of school! I’m so excited!” I said.

       And so we talked for a long, long time that night, longer than other nights. We talked until I was too tired to keep talking. Right before I went to sleep, John tapped on my window one last time.

“Thea, Thea, Thea.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sure you’ll make a lot of friends in your new school.”

“Hmm? Oh. Thanks, John.”

“Yeah. That’s what I wanted to say. Goodbye, Thea, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, John. See you.”

***

       The next day, I lay there on my bed, snuggling in my soft blanket, waiting for John to tap on my window as usual.

       15 minutes passed. ‘Why isn’t John coming?’ My chest started to tingle. 30 minutes passed. For every minute that passed, the tingling feeling grew and grew, turning into a stinging ache. 45 minutes passed. Deciding that something must be wrong, I pulled the curtains back and yanked the window open.

       What greeted me was not the million arms of John, twisting and twirling, moving with the wind. What I saw was pure darkness. I felt the pain in my chest turn into a tight knot being pulled from both sides. ‘Maybe John was too tired,’ I told myself. ‘I’m sure he’ll come tomorrow.’

       The same darkness greeted me the next day. One day passed. Two days passed. Only the silver-blue moon shone in the pitch-black sky. As each day passed, I felt something empty out of me.

       Five days passed. A week.  A month. More and more things occupied my mind, and I grew busy with school, making new friends. But I never forgot my first best friend in California. How he suddenly disappeared. Without even telling me...

***

       Yesterday, I was walking home with my friends. We decided to take a new route to visit a new candy shop and taste its famous signature chocolate fudge.

“I’m so excited to taste the chocolate fudge! Judy said it’s awesome.” my friend said.

       Just as I opened my mouth to answer, the summer breeze blew a familiar scent into my nose.

I felt a chill going down my back. My mouth dried up. My stomach started to flutter.

“S-Sorry. You guys can go to the candy shop yourselves. Maybe I can go some other time…”I said, desperately turning my head in every direction, sniffing, to find where the scent is coming from.

I followed the strong fresh smell down the road, around the corner, and into a small park I have never noticed before.

“John? John!”

I was out of breath, but I called out his name over and over again. I looked around, trying to find him.

       But all I saw in the middle of the green grass was a tall, skinny pine tree.