I changed out of my school uniform quickly, slipping on a pair of old jeans and a hello kitty tee-shirt that I had pulled carelessly from my wardrobe. I dropped onto my desk chair and took out massive amounts of papers and school books from my book bag. I grabbed a nearby pencil and quickly got to work.
Later that evening, around five, I heard the downstairs front door opening and someone entering while doing an English assignment. I looked up from my homework to the window in front of my desk. It was still bright outside. The sky was a clear blue as the sun still shone as clearly as ever.
"Ayumi! Are you home yet?" I heard my mom call to me from downstairs.
"Yeah Mom!" I called back, dropping my pencil onto my desk.
I heard my mom slam the front door shut. I got off my chair, put down my pencil and headed down the stairs to assist her.
My mom had two bags of groceries in each of her hands. She was taking off her shoes as she looked up to me with a tired but smiling face.
"Hun, help me take these bags to the kitchen please." she said to me, lifting her arms to me with two full and chubby plastic bags in them.
I grabbed both of them. "Why hasn't Oniisan (big brother) come home yet?" I asked as I turned around to head to the kitchen.
"He's working an hour late tonight," mom said with a deep sigh, "the last thing you should be doing is worrying about him. He probably left you a note or something."
"Oh." I said, nodding, and walked to the kitchen.
There was a picture of our whole family on the fridge, all of us together; my mom, dad, brother and me when I was just born. It always caught eye when I walked past it. Dad looked so wise and powerful; like a great king. He had a short dark brown beard and an angled face, making him look even more powerful. His eyes were dark blue like mine and his nose was like my brother's. I've never thought about meeting him. I placed the two huge bags of groceries on the kitchen counter with a thump. I scanned the counter and noticed a note placed near where I put the bags.
Working late. Don't worry about me *Yumiko-chan! ~Ichiro (^o^)
I rolled my eyes. So I did miss a note. I grabbed the note and folded it up. I stuffed it into my jean pocket so I wouldn't find it again the next day.
"Ayumi, I need you to help me make dinner please." My mom called to me from the living room.
I groaned silently so she wouldn't hear but decided my mother had done enough for the day.
*Ichiro's nickname for Ayumi
