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Nicholas Poulios's avatar

Uncle and Auntie please come in for a chat. Make yourself comfortable.

Do not worry, she will re-appear soon to finish off her collection of short

Science fiction stories. We have reached this conclusion among family members

at your recent farm gathering for the annual picnic horse racing event. It was your

great idea to bring all the family together and to have fun.

We know she has been gone for a long while.At first we did know what to make of her research but when talking to all our cousins we put all the odd the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle and are

convinced she has mastered the art of Hu Fei. She has powers to attract and to vanish only appearing at her own free will, as well create magical stories that are strange

and yet compelling reading.

Oh ! Excuse me Uncle and Auntie, I have digressed and I am talking too much and have not

offered you tea. Please forgive me for not being more hospitable host.

Would like red or green tea ? You must be pleased your great nephews and nieces are at

an age where they can safely ride and race your horses at your farm. Time does fly

and family members grow up quickly.Your great niece has mentioned her desire to enter for the Dressage Olympics. She love horse riding and we truly hope she fulfills her dream and represents our Country.

So Uncle and Auntie we expect her to re-appear soon. All of us decided to buy a

her gift when she appears any day now. As a welcoming gift we have purchased a

a rare fine bone-china red comb. Your niece told us, she had misplaced a red comb one day

but found it later. We felt, it is time she had a better quality comb, one that stands out

and can't be easily misplaced. She has long black hair that cascades down her shoulders like a stream flowing silently at midnight. There is always poetry around her . That is the way she is

You can see little pearl beams of light in her eyes when she combs her hair. We think it is her ritual,

or at least her secret, before she writes in her journal entries with verve and gusto

Of course Uncle and Auntie let you know the moment she arrives.

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Nicholas Poulios's avatar

她最后一次跟我说话是八个月前

我以为她可能已经回山东了

I asked him have you heard from her ? He moved his head from side to side.

But went on to say that the group had expanded to eighty now with plenty of new assignments.

Maybe it's time for a change, a new job. I needed a new environment, a new culture.

I thought of Shanghai, maybe I could serendipitously find her there. It was wishful thinking

as it a massive city to become invisible or to disappear in. So I told him I want a change.

He said where do you want to go ? I said how about I live on a yacht of the coast of Sardinia

or Porto-Vecchio, Corsica for a few months? As if reading my mind he said you will not find her there and laughed. It was an uncanny remark and I had to suppress a chuckle.

But I did recall something she said to me.

At that time I did not place too much importance to her reading. She had discovered an eight hundred year old archived slim volume. A journal of sorts with some profound secret she said . It sounded to me like fanciful speculation or at best a fairy tale. She said it was an instruction manual on how to disappear and only to re-appear when economic and political events are favorable.

I sipped my pineapple daiquiri then ate the maraschino cherry in deep reflection. I wondered if I ever would see her again. I looked around the cafe and saw seats started to fill with low murmur of talk. I saw Ginger the barista's cat too, it was rubbing its eye with the right paw. Ginger stopped, gave me a long stare before waking behind the shady trees.

Well, what will it be I said ?

Let me look at the project registry and I'll see what I can do.

I looked around and Ginger was nowhere to be seen.

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