Blank Slate (Wang Mingge)
Inspiration Words: Bottle and Disappear Wang Mingge (wahng meeng guh) stared at the piece of chalk in her hand that was poised over the blackboard. She knew her students were watching her, and her heart pounded. How do you spell hierarchy? Is it purely phonetic or is...
Pressing on to a Better Life (Street Cleaner)
Inspiration Words: Hand and Consider Twice, he pushed the pink broom methodically away from him before pausing to sweep the leaves and other debris into the wide dustpan. He didn’t glance up at the cars passing him or the bikes that swerved around him. Brush. Brush....
Broken Mosaic (Tan Shuwen)
Inspiration Words: Butterfly and Card Tan Shuwen (tahn shoo wuhn) lay on her bed. It was late Tuesday morning, but she hadn’t left her bed since Sunday night. That horrible night. Against her will, her thoughts returned to those moments at the restaurant. She tried to...
Through Your Eyes (Anne and Johnson)
Inspiration Words: Pumpkin and Scream Anne sipped her pumpkin spice latte and glanced at Johnson, who sat at the table across from her. Then she noticed a couple with a small child walk up to the Starbucks counter. Anne watched them gaze into the pastry display before...
Journey of a Mooncake (Mooncake)
Inspiration Words: Fortnight and Contemplate I have been made for a high and noble purpose. I am one of the special foods in China, and I have the wonderful task of bringing joy to many people during the Mid-Autumn Festival as they enjoy eating me and admiring the...
A New Path (Tan Shuwen)
Inspiration Words: Notion and Reach The family stood again, and Tan Shuwen (tahn shoo wuhn) smiled at the other members of her family. This time it was her father giving the toast. Shuwen knew he was proud of her and her score on the gaokao (gow kow—the Chinese...
Boys Will Be Boys (Guoliang)
Inspiration Words: Green and Skip Guoliang (gwoh lee-ahng) opened his door as carefully as possible; then he crept down the hallway so he could hear his dad and grandpa talking in the living room. He didn’t think about what would happen if one of them walked toward...
No Pain No Gains (Another Diary of a Language Learner) (Becky)
Inspiration Words: Trying and PotentialSeptember 6thWell, here we are, about ready to start another semester! I love the beginning of the semester. Having a long summer holiday is always fun, but going back to school with all those new books and new classes is the...
Life Meets Work (Paul)
Inspiration Words: Balloon and Perplexed Paul sat in the large, open office area at the training center. He leaned back in the chair, resting his head against the back, with his legs stretched out in front of him. Most of the lights were off, and a balloon drifted by...
Fishing (Xiao Lu)
Inspiration Words: Egg Tart and Post Xiao Lu (ssee-ow loo) licked the crumbs out of the aluminum wrapper that, moments before, had contained a tasty egg tart. Saturdays were his favorite. He said it was because each Saturday, his mom would buy him the egg snacks that...