Land Of Opportunity: A Short Story

Yen sits down with me on the living room sofa as she recalls a memory that happened long ago. We sit on the tan, leather couch for what seems like hours as she tells me her story into the late night. She tells me about her trek to America. It was 1982 and Yen peered across her backyard to see a white boat floating on the murky water. She listened as her father told her directions to her destination. “Don’t get lost,” he said. His voice trembled as he tried not to cry. A tear fell down her mother’s cheek as she told her daughter, “Take care of yourself. I love you.” Yen hugged her parents as if she were a child again, hugging them tight like her life depended on it. The three of them said their final goodbyes as Yen boarded the small boat and set sailed for her journey. Yen was traveling to America to flee the communist government in Vietnam. They were very controlling and it was hard to find work and live a good life in Yen’s home country. So, after seven years of dealing with dealing with the communists, Yen had taken the plunge to journey to the “Land of Opportunity.” But she was afraid. It was hard to put on a brave face when fear …show more content…
She was allowed to leave camp and travel to the U.S. She waited so long to see her family and would be reunited with them soon. She was very excited to embark on next portion of her journey. Yen boarded a plane in Manila and flew to Tokyo where she took a second flight to San Francisco. It was hard for Yen to contain her excitement as she looked out the plane window to see the gigantic skyscrapers and towering buildings of San Francisco. She blinked back tears and sighed in relief as the she thought to herself, the past is behind me now. I am finally free. It was in that moment where she had realized one chapter of her life ended as another one was about to begin and finally, after two years, Yen had accomplished the American