Life as it is.....

I haven't written in soooo long...........

2007-11-30T18:24:03Z

Well, I finished my anatomy project and am gleefully awaiting my impeding presentation. I'm bored out of my mind and then I remembered HEY I have something to entertain myself with and it is on the internet. Recently I've been noticing that I am actually pretty darn good at these oral presentations and have been questioning whether I truly what to be a physical therapist or something a bit more interesting like a curator or something along those line. Honestly I wouldn't even mind being one of those chicks on the travel channel or the history channel who go to Myanmar or Thailand and taste foods that mostly consist of arthropods (seriously, in Thailand they eat them like chips)

Although the thought of eating right now terrifies me. My wisedom teeth are growing in and I'm in so much pain right now. (>.<)

Let's just say for a moment.....

2007-10-03T01:29:17Z

Let's just say for a moment
I knew what you were thinking
Let's just say for a moment
I knew what you felt

Let's just say for a moment
I wasn't afraid
Let's just say for a moment
I said what I wanted to say

Let's just say for a moment
You caught me by surprise
Let's just say for a moment
You said it instead

Let's just say for a moment
I hugged you real tight
Let's just say for a moment
You started to laugh

Let's just say for a moment
It wasn't a dream
Let's just say for a moment
It was all real

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-08-31T15:56:00

2007-08-31T20:23:03Z

It was just playing
It never really meant anything

So what if I got my hopes up
They're down now

Aren't they?

This business.....I don't like it

Ugh Such a headache
I get the feeling
That....is just not for me

The only thing I can say is
I hope you and her
Make it through the hard times

Chapter 3

2007-08-16T15:54:39Z

Chapter 3

Toshiro dipped the straw in and out of the ice filled glass of tea. He looked across from him and smiled a little when his target finally turned their back to him. He had been waiting in the restaurant for almost half an hour and by now the cubes in his drink had shrunk to one fourth their original size. He sucked in a couple of ice pellets through the straw and raised it up. He looked to his left and found that one of his companions had already fallen asleep with his arms crossed and on the other side, his other companion was carefully examining a pamphlet with a stadium on the cover.

He closed one of his eyes, aimed for the mane of red hair and shot.

“Uwah!” Ryu shot up from his seat and scratched his head feverishly. “Cold! Cold! Cold!”

Josuke raised his eyes from the brochure and furrowed his brows, “What’s with you?”

Hide grunted a bit as he stirred and opened his eyes, “Is she here yet?” he asked gruffly.

Ryu finally stopped wiggling all over the place and sat down, glaring at Toshiro with murderous intent. Toshiro smiled back at his redheaded friend, a mischievous glint in his eye. The little incident was only the beginning. Now it was gonna be a war.

A swift movement caught his eye and broke the silent glare he and his now ready enemy were giving each other. Their final companion, Eisaku, had returned and sat between Ryu and Hide.

“What took you so long?” Josuke asked with a small smirk as he leaned forward and set the pamphlet on the table.

Toshiro steered his gaze towards Eisaku and smiled when his cheeks flushed a bright red. “Nothing.” He muttered quietly.

“Did you do something to your hair, again?” Ryu questioned as he probed and pulled Eisaku’s bangs.

He shook his head and waved Ryu’s hand away. “Stop that.” He said firmly as he lowered his gaze.

Another low grunt from Hide took Toshiro’s attention, “You okay?”

“This is ridiculous.” Hide growled and leaned back so only the back legs of the chair held his weight.

“She said she would be coming soon.” Josuke said smoothly and reached into his jacket. “And besides, we have no other choice.” He added and pulled out a box of Mild Seven Lights. Ryu’s eyes lit up instantly but he shook his head and tried to focus on Josuke’s face instead.

“Have you spoken to Misako-san since that day?” Hide seemed clearly interested in leaving the restaurant as soon as possible.

Josuke shook his head, “Nope.”

Toshiro yawned a little bit and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. About one week ago, their make-up artist had decided it was best to quit after working with them for only three days. She had been the latest in a chain of make-up artists that weren’t suiting their taste or their style.

“You know what? FUCKYOU ALL!” Hitomi had shouted as final words to them. She threw the powder boxes and pencil kits to the floor with indignation and stomped out of the room.

This all occurred right before a photo shoot in Nagano and to their image consultant this had been the last straw.

Toshiro recalled the day on which Misako Komada finally sat them down and demanded they tell her what the hell was up their asses and what the hell were they planning on doing to get it out.

“This is becoming a very fucked up routine!” she shouted and directed most of her fury at Josuke, who sat across from her with the same deadpan expression he used each time his girlfriend would bitch.

Misako fell into her seat and scanned the room, searching for an ounce of shame on their faces, only to find Toshiro and Ryu nudging each other playfully.

The intense fury in her eyes evaporated when she saw them. Misako set her elbows on her desk. She closed her hands and put them close to her forehead. “I don’t get it.” She said to herself and then raised her shin, “Why are you like this?”

Toshiro stopped moving around and shoved his fists into his pockets, “If there is one thing the people you hire on our behalf should understand it is, that except for our faces, they have no right to change us.”

Her face shriveled like a raisin, “What are you talking about?”

“Every single one of those people who have come to us, are nothing more than moralistic hypocrites who intend to impose rules on us.” Hide added with a fierce gaze. “Who the fuck are they to begin with?”

Misako began to shake as fury infused her veins, “Y-You can’t just expect people to accommodate to your lifestyle either! If it were up to all of you, there would be no such thing as rules to maintain some sort of order.” She let out a deep sigh and let her hands fall onto the desk. Her gaze went to Josuke’s, “What do you intend to do now?”

He frowned, “Obviously we need someone by Tuesday next week. We’ll just hire someone else and that’s that.”

“WE CAN’T! EVERYONE I’VE TRIED TO HIRE WON’T DO IT!” she pounded the desk with her fists and brought her hand to her brow again.

The way in which Misako yelled at them was frightening. She was known for having a temper much quicker than Hide’s and to make matters worse, she was a woman with a tendency to acquire vicious mood swings. “The next concert is in a week from next Tuesday.” She began and stayed silent for a while.

The tension that smothered the room was unbearable and the only thing he did in order to ease the discomfort he felt was shift his weight.

“Look it’s going to get fixed.” Josuke assured her when they reached minute number six.

Misako raised her eyes, “Josuke-san, as responsible as you are in other matters, this recklessness has gone too far.” She took in a deep breath, “Your new costume designer is arriving a day before the concert. Her daughter is a make-up artist for one of the most prestigious drama theaters in her country and she is going to accompany her mother the entire time she is here. At least until her mother and her return to their native country, I don’t see why she would refuse working for you. She really wants a job.”

Ryu chuckled a little, “Misako-san, seriously after working for something as elegant as a theater, do you honestly think she would work for a rock band?”

“Actually I do.” She widened her eyes, “There is nothing more important to her than to help her family out.”

“How sweet.” Sneered Hide.

Misako ignored the comment and continued. “On Monday next week, I expect to see all of you in the Imperial Hotel by 2:00. I’m going to meet up with them at the airport and help out with the room arrangements. Think of the meeting as an interview.”

Josuke’s brow furrowed, “Interview for what? Doesn’t she know she’s hired?”

“Its called, common courtesy. Part of working ethics. You should know that.”

“Such a caring attitude,” Hide began, “It sounds as though you’ve known this woman long. A childhood friend?”

“Actually no. She’s perhaps two years younger than you.” She corrected.

Toshiro’s ears perked up. “Really?”

“Isn’t that a bit young for a professional, like you describe?” Josuke wondered.

Misako crossed her arms, “More like a prodigy. In her case it’s a blessing that she is so young. Her agility is amazing, She is able to apply stage make-up to six people in a span of two hours. For one person to do the work that she does, it usually takes three hours.”

“Is the work any good?” Hide asked.

“Of the highest quality.”

Toshiro stopped listening after a while. It mostly became a series of examples, provided by Misako, on how good the girl was. After Josuke nodded in agreement with the ‘interview’ taking place the day she had assigned, they all left Misako’s office and headed for an arcade.

Now, here they were, waiting almost an hour after the original time she had set and bored out of their minds. Toshiro stared at the loaf of bread a waiter had set on the table earlier. When he looked up he found that Ryu was staring at him too. They watched each other for a few minutes until, “What?”

Ryu reached over and pulled the basket close to him. He grinned, “Nothing.”

Toshiro crossed his arms, “This sucks.” A mixture of annoyance at not being able to carry out his little prank and at being jaded. “I still don’t get the point. She’s going to get the job anyway, why do we have to be here.”

“Misako-san told me that she thought it would be best if we did this the way most jobs are taken up. I don’t know maybe it’s a cultural thing too.” Josuke frowned.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, she’s a foreigner.” Ryu realized.

“I wonder where she is from….” Eisaku thought out loud for the first time since he came back from the bathroom.

“Probably American.” Hide concluded.

“Probably…” they all agreed.

Toshiro looked around from table to table. Only blonde haired and blue eyed tourists occupied the place. He spotted a couple of Koreans drinking coffee and eating the fancy desserts French diplomats would feast on. The type that occupied the center of the plate and were limited to a one inch diameter.

There was a bit of commotion behind the Koreans that caught his attention. A patch of deep red was moving deftly between seats, making its way toward them. “There she is.” He sighed.

They all stood up when Misako reached them. She was tightly holding the wrist of a woman much smaller and younger than her.

“What happened to, ‘I expect to see all of you in the Imperial Hotel by 2:00?’ ” Josuke began and brought out his wrist. “It’s 4:17 Misako. What the hell took so long?”

Toshiro watched the way in which her jaw twitched and the way her nostrils flared, “Don’t you dare start with me.” She warned gravely.

Toshiro smothered the smile that attempted to crawl onto his face and scratched the back of his neck as his eyes landed on the woman beside Misako.

He found himself to be a bit surprised as the portrait of the foreigner he had just begun to create, ripped and was replaced with that of a dark haired, amber eyed beauty. As opposed to the conventionally dressed tourists that often arrived to the country, she revealed more skin, sporting a tight tank top and short shorts. When she looked up at him, her expression was a mixture of shy awkwardness and strained politeness. He noticed the way she brought her hands together over her creamy, olive legs, as though attempting to hide them.

“Could we be introduced?” he inquired with a raise of the brow at Misako.

Chapter 2

2007-08-16T15:51:35Z

Chapter 2

“Whoa!” Juan yanked Alina’s arm. “Are we gonna live here?”

She wriggled out of his grip, “I don’t know. Calm down!”

The driver stopped in front of the brightly lit entrance to a lavish hotel. Columns in grey marble rose from the smooth, tan floor and held up a russet marble wall on which “Imperial Hotel,” was stamped in gold font. Before she got a chance to pull back the handle, the car door swung open and a clean faced attendant stood waiting for her to come out. A small whistle slipped out of her lips when she set foot outside the limo. The glass doors that lead into the hotel revealed a spectacular yellow lobby. She could even make out the red carpet that covered some stairs all the way at the other end.

She turned her gaze to the attendant who greeted her with a smile and bent a bit at the waist. “Welcome to the Imperial Hotel Tokyo.”

She bowed a bit herself and moved forward a couple of steps. She heard Juan mutter incoherent Japanese to the man who was holding the door before what sounded like Misako ushering him away. When Alina turned around she found herself looking a group of five people. The two body guards seemed to be accompanying Misako wherever she went. It must be a real pain to have them around, Alina thought.

They followed Misako into the lobby and were themselves followed by the guards, who in turn were followed by the bellhop, who was struggling to move the massive set of bags in the cart he pulled.

The inside was even more stunning then it appeared from outside. Everything was made of lovely white marble. To their right was an elegant desk with violet and blue orchid bouquets and to their left was a large waiting room with heavily padded sofas. The rich smell of the flowers caused her chest to squeeze her heart. Back at home, whenever Alina’s grandmother stopped by their house, she always brought orchids with her as a gift to them.

When her mother and Misako finished with the arrangements necessary for the room, they were guided to the elevator and made way for the tenth floor. Juan decided it would be fun to poke her while in the platform and when she finally decided to strike him back she ended up hitting one of Misako’s body guards. The man lowered his gaze and watched her until they finally reached the floor they needed to be on.

Their room was all the way at the end of the hallway. Mariana gave Juan and Alina their card keys and asked Juan to open the door first. Alina watched as he slid the card in the crack at the door and turned the knob. His eyes went wide.

“Esta bacano!” he cried out and rushed in.

Her mother started to giggle and went in after Juan. Alina shook her head with a smile and stepped in after her. Bacano, didn’t do the room justice. At the entrance there was a mini living room area, complete with a plasma screen T.V. and a comfortable beige leather couch. Behind it, there was a redwood table with four chairs and another vase with dark red orchids. A wall beside the table, served as a divider for the bedroom and the living area. There were two large beds to one side of the room with white covers and dark blue pillows. There was a desk in front of the wide window that covered the wall perpendicular to the beds. On the other side was a large pastel green bathroom complete with a shower, two sinks, and a large bathtub. Next to the bathroom was a well proportioned walk-in closet. The walls in the room were a soft cream color and the floor was covered in a nice red carpet.

Alina noticed that the bellhop had already set their bags in the room and dreaded the moment when she would have to sit with hr mother in order to hang up and arrange all their clothes.

“Now, this place is only going to be temporary I assure you.” Misako began as she inspected the room with a careful eye. “As soon as the three months are up, I will have news of a moderate living apartment. For now this was the best I could think of for a living quarters.”

“This place is lovely.” Marina began, “I’m sorry for putting you through so much trouble.”

Misako waved a hand carelessly at the apology and grabbed Alina’s shoulder’s, “Don’t worry about it. Now, I’m just going to borrow your girl for a few moments.” She said and dragged her outside before Marina could protest.

“You and I need to have a little talk.” Misako said gravely as they entered the elevator again.

Alina frowned, “You sound a bit serious. Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all.” Misako made a face and drew closer to her “How badly do you want a job?”

Alina’s eyes widened, “As soon as possible. Why? Do you have something for me?”

“We’re about to find out.”

“What?” her eyes grew as she became alarmed. Her gut churned as she began to figure out where this was going.

“I know you are a professional in your line of work.” Misako began. “Ever since I can remember you have donned an amazing talent in doing make-up for show models and even thespians when you worked in the theater at Bogotá. That’s why I decided it would probably be a good idea if you worked parallel to your mother.”

“Uh-huh? You mean work with the same people that she will design the clothes for?”

Misako stepped out of the elevator and was promptly followed by Alina. “Exactly. Now, I’m having some serious problems. My boys don’t seem to assimilate to the make-up artists I have hired for them.” She frowned a bit as though she had remembered some sort of strange incident. “They usually end up quitting or get fired by them and it is something that is driving me crazy. So I arranged for you to meet them today as a sort of interview, I guess you could say.”

She exploded, “Why are you always making decisions without consulting us first?!” Alina cried out and lowered her voice when people stared at her with snobby eyes, “I’m not exactly presentable at this moment Misako. How can I get an interview while I look like I just came out of the Amazon.”

She was wearing a colt brown tank top and jean shorts. She desperately needed to find a store to buy some new converse. The ones she wore then were already tearing up. The only accessories she wore were the thousands of woven pride bracelets on her right and left wrists, a shell necklace, and the small ring on her pinky finger with her birthstone, an emerald. In an attempt to calm down the frizz in her wavy, chocolate brown hair, she pulled it up halfway in a clip. She was a mess.

Misako smacked Alina on the head and sprung out her index finger. “Stop being so dramatic.” She began as Alina whimpered, “ To them, the last thing that should be their worry is the way you look.”

Alina nodded and rubbed the top of her head. “Alright, alright.”

Misako nodded, “Now I’ll admit that they are hard to handle. But I get the feeling that you would probably be good for them.”

Alina began to laugh. “How old are they? Six?”

Misako frowned and looked at her phone when it began to ring. “Well, they’re here. Let’s go.” She grabbed, Alina’s bracelet defiled wrist.

“W-Wait Misako. Hold on give me a second.”

“None of that. Come on.” Misako pulled harder.

Alina tripped a few times but the way in which Misako held her wrist so tightly didn’t allow her to fall. They found themselves staring at a lovely looking restaurant beside a French buffet. Alina decided it was pointless to keep arguing and now struggled to keep up with Misako.

At the restaurant entrance they were greeted by a young waitress. Alina looked around uncomfortably at the well dressed folks at every table. She turned back around when Misako pulled her again and dragged her between seats and tables without so much as an ‘Excuse me.’

“I’ll just give you a bit of info on each of them.” Misako began. “One of them is just insane and he’s a little grouchy. Another one of them is just a cruel prankster but if you hold up for two weeks I’m sure you’ll earn his respect. Their leader doesn’t do much except work, work, and work so don’t be surprised if he doesn’t pay you much mind. And I will tell you this now so there is no confusion later on…they are ALL men, so if you ask me whether the quiet one is a woman I’ll reconsider giving you the job.” She brought a finger to her lips, “Now, I believe the one you should be the most careful around is the flirty one. Personally I think it is because of him that most of the make-up artists have left.”

“What?” Her heart sank a bit as she listened to Misako’s blunt and quick description of the band members. It almost sounded like a nightmare.

“Oh I see them. Come on!”

Chapter 1

2007-08-16T15:43:11Z

Chapter 1

“Ooof!” Her eyes snapped open when a pair of fists fell on her stomach.

“Alina! Look, look we’re here!”

“Juan, get off!” she snapped . Her diaphragm and stomach settled back into their appropriate places when she removed his hands. Her neck felt sore when she turned look with her brother. “What is it?”

His smile grew more broad and with anxious hands he yanked her out of the comfort of her seat. “Look!” she was leaning over his lap. “Don’t you see it? We are right over the airport! Look!”

“I am!” she cried out.

“Then why aren’t you excited?” Juan pushed her back.

“I’m tired. I want a be-”

“Oh look! Do you see the skyscrapers?” Alina’s eyes darted toward the direction of the cheerful feminine voice. Her mother, Marina, was peering excitedly out the window. “They look so much bigger than the ones back home.” she continued with childish awe. Juan leaned over his mother when he caught sight of something amazing and pointed at it excitedly. Alina blew her bangs out of her eyes, “Mami, please. Not you too.”

Her mother chuckled.

“How can you be so relaxed?” Juan wondered out loud. “We’re halfway around the world and you sleep?”

Alina leaned back, but hit the bare seat with surprise. Her pillow had fallen out of place. “Yes I sleep. I’m human.” she found it at her feet and slid it behind her neck. “Wake me up when we are at the airport on the way out.” she said gruffly.

When she was starting to sleep again, a finger poked her apprehensively. “What now?” One of her eye lids slid open. Juan was peering at her timidly.

“I need to…..you know…..go.” he whispered, his wavy brown bangs settling over his eyes.

“What are you, ten?” she opened her other eye and moved her legs to the side, “Go.”

Juan scrambled to unhook his belt and shot up from his seat. He stepped over her and ran up the aisle to the lavatories. She watched him for a few moments, envying how care-free he was.

“Mi Niña, relax.” Marina leaned over Juan’s empty seat and stroked her arm.

Alina looked at her and smiled. “I knew it was going to be a pain to sit twelve hours in a plane with him.” she placed her hand over her mother’s and sighed. “I’m just really tired.” she added. It was her first time traveling and although she did enjoy it the first six hours, she was ready to jump off in a parachute by the time she had reached the seventh hour. The book she had taken with her wasn’t long enough for the trip.

“We’ll be getting off soon.” Marina added, her soft brown eyes glimmering cheerfully.

A tiny woman of forty, with a petite frame and graceful way of moving, her mother was much sturdier than she let on. Her light brown eyes always shimmered, catching the rays of light no matter how dark a room could be. She often dressed quite juvenile, but she had such a young face and not a trace of gray in her waist-length, deep brown hair, that the jeans and pinks blouses made her look cuter rather that ridiculous. They suited her demeanor just fine. She was so chirpy and excitable that it was difficult to feel angry or depressed around her. Not even after her father’s death, did she show traces of depression. Alina knew how much her mother had cared for him and how deeply in love they were with each other. At the funeral, when relatives came in hordes to pay their respects with tear filled eyes, Marina still held her head high and smiled graciously to everyone.

Every challenge that had presented itself to them was never enough to dampen their spirit and it was all thanks to the fact that their mother had taught them the true value of life. It was something to appreciate no matter how dark and dreary it became.

“Are you excited?” Alina asked. She had been awake too long and would not be going back to sleep.

Marina looked at her daughter, her irises glittering, “Well…” she rolled her eyes, her cheeks rising a she smiled, “Oh I can’t lie to you! Yes I’m very excited.” She clasped her hands together. “I can’t believe it. They actually want my material.”

Alina laughed. Her mother owned a rather fashionable boutique in Colombia in one of the trendiest sectors of Bogotá. She was, by far, an excellent designer with an exquisite taste for colors and the art of integrating various styles from all over the world. But her work was much too extravagant, both for the people and for the weather in the country. Alina began to see the way in which her mother’s passion for her work began to ebb.

Then, just like any journey, there was that one fateful day when a person came into their lives, completely out of the blue and changed everything for them.

Alina was fifteen and Juan barely four. It was the same year that her father, Don Alvaro Ramirez, had passed away. She recalled the dampness of the air those days. She guessed napkins and tissues had become annoyed at her crying so they left it up to the wind to dry her tears.

It had just finished raining that day and the only bit of light that would have existed, ceased due to the thick clouds in the sky. Alina was organizing the showcase, undressing and redressing a manikin with an expensive blue dress. As she peered out the window, she realized she was being observed. A woman with ebony hair and milky skin, was standing, anxiously before the window. She wore bug-eyed sunglasses and a beige, wool overcoat.

Years of growing up around clothing, made her eyes widen when she looked at the way the woman dressed beneath her coat. Her light tan, cashmere turtleneck and black, bootleg pants appeared. She appeared to be the type of person who did very little exertion. Alina gave her a friendly smile and at that moment, the woman reached up to her glasses, with beautiful, manicured hands and slid them down her thin nose.

She had lovely skewed eyes that weren’t a common trait in South America or that particular part of the world for that matter. There was a small pause between the two, just staring at each other quietly. Then the woman moved back from the window and began to walk away. As Alina resumed her duties with the showcase, the bell at the entrance of her mother’s boutique tinkled delightfully. She finished zipping the dress up on the manikin and climbed out of the platform. The Asian woman who had been outside was now standing in the store.

“How can I help you?” Marina asked her.

Alina walked closer to them and folded her hands over her lap, ready to climb a ladder to reach a dress or rush to the back in case what the woman wanted wasn’t in the front.

“Misako Komada.” The woman said in an unusual accent.

Marina blinked, “Misako Komada?”

The woman nodded and gave her a bashful smile, “My….name is……Misako Komada.” She repeated.

Marina smiled, “Oh I see. ”

Alina found herself a bit humored. It wasn’t the fact that the woman had poor Spanish. It was the fact that she gave off such a graceful air despite her clumsy way with words.

It took them about a half hour to understand that Misako was actually lost and had stepped into the wrong car when she left the airport. When Marina asked what her business was and where she was from, Misako answered she was the image consultant for artists in her native Japan.

“Oh….I understand.” Marina thought, “If it is clothing you want then you are in the right area. You are in one of the busiest fashion districts. I’m sure you noticed that the streets are lined with high grade clothing stores. As long as you know what you are looking for you’ll be fine. You do know what store you are going to, right?”

Alina turned to a baffled looking Misako and looked back at her mother, “I don’t think she does.”

Marina sighed nervously, “Dios mio….” she muttered.

For reasons she herself couldn’t understand, Marina and Alina decided to leave the store in the hands or the other woman who worked with them and grabbed a taxi so as to show the woman around the city. The only reason Alina was allowed to tag along was because she could speak English and Misako seemed to know how to speak it better than Spanish.

The ride was unbearably awkward….and enjoyable.

The more she spoke to Misako the more interested in her she became. From what she could muster through their brief conversations, she was somebody who had traveled around the world. She came to Colombia in search of a store that could provide her with fabrics and ready made outfits of high quality and relatively affordable prices. They rushed around the sector for a while, both Alina and Marina providing bits and pieces of information about each store, the streets, and monuments that would spring up every once in a while.

They came back to their store some time later and got out looking a bit blue. When Misako stepped out however she wore a bright smile on her face and even giggled a little. “That was fun.”

Marina gapped at Misako curiously, “Excuse me?” Alina blinked at the sudden improvement in her Spanish.

Misako smiled at her playfully and brought a hand to her lips, “Sorry, it slipped. Well I guess we’d better get down to business then.” She announced and headed back to the door of their boutique.

“Now hold on just a minute!” cried out Marina.

Misako turned around and gave them another smile, “Oh, I suppose you want me to explain myself.” She grinned, “Well I wanted to see if the people who worked for me would be friendly to foreigners.” Misako stated simply.

“Oh you are so paying for the taxi ride!” Alina blurted out, fuming.

“No need!” giggled Misako waving her hands, “That was my driver.” she looked behind them and winked at the man in the taxi. Alina hadn’t noticed that the man was also Asian. She reared all her attention to Misako. The woman had truly enjoyed the little trick and seemed to be laughing even harder inside.

After a moment Misako finally spoke up, “I’m sorry if I offended you.” She said, sounding sincere. “The real deal is I already knew what store I wanted to come to the moment I passed by it. But I wanted to know what the people were like. Truly, I have never met such trusting and helpful folks…”she paused a moment and rolled her eyes, “The point is I really would like to do business with you people and with the way you behaved with me it left me aching with curiosity to know more about you. I am well aware of you talents as a designer Mrs. Ramirez. As the image consultant for rock bands, I find that your style is casual and at the same time extremely elegant. A wonderful combination for the groups.”

Alina stared at Misako in disbelief. She carried on as though nothing had happened. What a bizarre woman, she thought.

For the next nine years, Misako came to and fro, locking herself up with Marina and discussing what sorts of styles the bands should use. Though her anger flared when she thought about the way they had fist met, Alina realized her curiosity about Misako, still hadn’t vanished. Before she entered the university to study make-up artistry, Alina took it upon herself to learn Japanese. She took courses during and after school until the basics were as familiar to her as the back of her hand. When she entered the university at nineteen, she was able to skip the first year of Japanese and move onto more difficult tasks such as writing full length compositions and reading abstract poetry.

Now at twenty-three she had mastered the language and was ready to show it to Misako.

“What about you?” Marina inquired, bringing her back to the present.

“Eh?” blinked Alina.

“What about you?” she repeated. “Are you excited?”

Alina lowered her eyes and smiled, “I guess so.”

Her mother pouted, “What do you mean?”

She raised her eyes and sighed, “I’m more anxious than anything else. It’s a completely different place with a totally different culture.”

Marina chuckled, “You’ll be fine. I’ll actually be depending on you to help me talk.” Her face went serious, “Are you sure you are okay with this?”

Alina frowned, “Helping you communicate?”

“No. I mean this….us moving here. I told you that you could stay with Juan in Colombia if you wanted to. I really just wanted to see what work here was like. If I didn’t like the job I would return and if I did, you and your brother could come and stay with me for some months and go back.”

She thought for a moment before answering, “Mami, do you really think we could stay apart for that long?” she raised a brow.

“Well, it’s just that…moving around isn’t easy. And you had a very comfortable lifestyle in Bogotá.”

Alina looked up. “But the economy isn’t well.” She retorted, “The yen is worth more then the peso. If we get jobs and save our paychecks properly, we could probably help out Abuelita.”

“I suppose your right.” Marina sighed.

“Alina, can you move please.” Juan had returned from his trip to the bathroom and now stood before her in the aisle.

She scooted her legs to the side and thrust her jaw at the seat next to her, signaling for Juan to get in. He smiled again and took his seat, stepping on her foot carelessly. She let out a silent cry and slowly turned to look at her brother. ABe....care...ful.@ she pressed through clenched teeth.

“Sorry!” he grinned nervously.

“Bobo.” she muttered under her breath and set her legs back in place.

“You=re so mean Alina.” Juan groaned and crossed his arms.

AAnd you=re too careless.@ She remarked with a smirk.

Juan pouted and slid down his seat.

Static came up on the intercom as the pilot announced they were going to arrive to the Narita Airport in approximately forty-five minutes. She shut her eyes in relief. AFinally.@ she breathed.

AYES!@ Juan cried out.

Everyone in the plane, including the stewardesses seemed to look at Juan oddly.

She nudged him in the ribs, AWould you relax.@ a smile began to surface on her face.

AHah!@ he threw his head toward her and hit her shoulder. AYou smiled! Don=t deny it! You=re just as excited as mom and me!@

She rubbed her arm and smacked him across the head before he reached out and poked her. She yanked his nose and braced herself before her could go and poke her again. They started to laugh a little, but Alina did her best to hold it in. It was only until Marina began to giggle chirpily that she and her brother stopped messing around.

It took less than the time the pilot had announced........twenty minutes less. Apparently the “traffic” wasn’t as heavy on air as the two pilots had expected. Alina managed to take a short nap before Juan poked her again. This time it was for her to stand up so they could take their turn in getting their bags and slipping into the steady line of people exiting the plane.

“Would you let me help you?” Juan hissed as he watched Alina leaping to get the bags from the overhead compartment.

“No.” she heaved and shot up one more time before finally grabbing one of their bags.

Juan sighed heavily and frowned. “You’re like a horse, stubborn.” He crossed his arms and watched her jump up and triumphantly grab another bag.

Despite her years, Alina was rather vertically challenged, barely going over 5’ 1” in a svelte feminine body. She hated silly obstacles like these and made a point of overcoming them by any means necessary. She got a hold of the third bag and started to smirk, “Yes.” She turned to her brother, “Told you I could do it.”

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“That’s lovely Dear,” Marina said and looked behind her and her brother, “Now, it would be wonderful if the two of you would start to move. You wouldn’t want to keep the serious looking Japanese business men from attending to their very important meetings.”

“Huh?”

Alina felt her face grow bright red. There was vast empty space in front of them now, since it had taken her such a long time to bring down the bags. The “Japanese businessmen” were frowning bitterly at her. Some of them muttered unfamiliar words beneath their breaths.

Juan bowed a couple of times, “Gomen!”

Alina shoved a case at him and yanked him by the arm, down the narrow walkway with their mother trailing close behind.

“You don’t bow when you apologize in that way you fruitcake.”

They bickered and squabbled some more as they made their way down the ramp and finally exited the plane.

“Don’t you think it sad that I’m younger than you and you still haven’t outgrown your eighth grade height.” He shot back as they were lead toward Immigration.

She slowed down a bit and tangled her foot between his ankles. He almost tripped and turned to her fuming. “You-”

Marina grabbed them both by the arms and got in line with the rest of the travelers. “Would you two behave.”

“She started it!” he cried out.

“Stop acting like such a little girl.” Alina frowned.

“I think they like you guys.” Marina remarked absentmindedly as she let go of their arms.

“What?”

“Everyone is looking at you like a couple of freaks. Good Job.”

Alina looked around and realized just how true this was. The line of people right next to theirs was gapping at them with confused eyes. She grinned nervously and nudged her brother. “We’re not done. Wait till we get to the hotel.”

He stuck his tongue out.

Marina presented her papers along with Juan’s to one of the women at the desks when they finally reached the front of the line. Alina came after her and was shown the way out. The airport was beautiful and orderly. Glass and green carpet were the motif to everything. They went down marble tiled walkway and found themselves looking out to expecting eyes behind a glass window.

Alina looked at the anxious eyes in search of Misako’s. “I don’t see her.” She whispered into her mother’s ear. They walked out to a platform and stood their for a few moments.

“Neither do I.” Marina whispered back.

And then.

“HEY! OVER HERE! LOOK AT ME!”

Over the vast sea of pale faces and dark heads, she noticed a bit of commotion at her left and reared her attention to that area.

Misako fell out from between a couple and regained her balance quickly. Two large men in suits followed her, also coming between the frightened couple.

“What an entrance.” Juan chortled.

She was wearing a large red velvet coat. She quickly removed her sunglasses and gave them a large warm smile. “You’re finally here!” she cried out.

Alina felt herself become overwhelmed with emotion. She shook her head a little as they stepped down from the platform and joined Misako and her body guards.

She greeted Marina first with a big hug and then proceeded to squeeze Juan after remarking on how much he had grown. Then when she got to Alina she stared. “And what about you? How have you been?”

“Very well thank you.” Alina said proudly in perfect Japanese.

Misako’s eyes grew wide, “Since when did you start taking classes?”

“When I entered the university.” she answered. Her chest swelled with pride. “You don’t look to bad yourself. Have you been good to?”

Misako proceeded to speak to her in Japanese as well. “Yup.” She stared at her in awe. “That’s amazing, I can barely pick up your accent.” She pulled Alina towards her and smiled as they hugged, “I’m really glad you are here.”

“Oh now that’s not fair.” Marina pouted, “I want to know what you guys are saying too.

Misako let go of Alina and winked at Marina, “Nothing all that important. Come on, we have a car waiting outside for us.” She turned back to Alina, “If we are lucky, we may meet up with the group I work for. They are coming back today after being in Taiwan for a tour.”

Alina shrugged off the bit of news. She wasn’t really all that interested to begin with.

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-08-06T22:59:00

2007-08-07T03:52:32Z

A lizard died.....and it made me cry.

You know those really cute ones that somehow manage to get into the house, well yeah it died and it made me cry.

"Why?" you ask. Welll it was the way in which the little thing died.

I was in the kitchen with my dad and we were heating up the food my mother had prepared for us earlier. I was gonna put something in the sink when I let out a tiny cry. My Dad came next to me and asked me, "What's the matter with you?"

Let me clarify one thing....I am NOT afraid of lizards. In fact I find them to be really adorable and I particularly like the fact that they are so tiny. But the thing is because they are so tiny and so fragile looking, I get really nervous around them cause I'm scared of hurting them. To top it off, when I was younger I used to love catching lizards. But there was this one time when I got one and held it a bit closer to my face than I should have. The little guy started squirming around a lot and I held onto him tighter than I meant to.

"Eeeeeeee-euh....." was the sound it made before going completely limp between my fingers.

Ever since that incident I decided to never touch a lizard with my hands. It also contributed to my eventual anxiety when having one so close to me.

Well there was a lizard in the sink. It's eyes were really wide even though they were the size of tomato seeds. Before I could say anything my dad turned on the faucet and started to spray it. with the little hose like device beside the spout. I started crying out for him to stop, but he just kept spraying it and I brought my hands to my face before walking away. He finally shut the water off and asked, "There is that better?"

I couldn't even speak from how furious and sad I was. I kept biting my tongue so I wouldn't burst out crying. I was mourning the loss of the little guy and my dad only teased me.

I set our meals on the table and saw my dad reaching for the button to the food disposal (That thing that has the ability of crushing and "powderizing" food and bone)

Enough was enough, I thought and without thinking I smacked my Dad's hand with the wooden spoon I'd used to serve, really, really, REALLY hard.

I must be coming off as incredibly unreasonable and as I think a bit more, it is such an insignificant incident. But I can't seem to help but put myself in the position of the lizard and I freak out. What must it feel like to go down the drain? I picture it to be extremly dark like a tunnel. I hate the darkness. I imagine the deathly silence. I detest silence, ask anyone who knows me. Then I imagine hearing the sound of thick metal as it is starting to crank up. The sound the food disposal makes as it is about to be turned on. And I freak.

Well its' dead and gone now. But I still can't help and feel a little sad.

It was such a pretty lizard to. The marks on it's back reminded me of a tigar.

BTW has anyone killed something and then regretted it? Just wondering of course.

boredom

2007-08-02T15:44:46Z

Well I haven't updated in forever so I felt it was time to write. Nothing that interesting has happened recently. A month ago when my birthday came around I found myself in Disney which was like a dream coming true. I felt like a little girl and I cried (don't laugh at me) when the show would come up and the disney characters would walk around and shake hands with everyone. The only thing that made me sad was that I had promised myself that I would meet and take a picture with Mickey on this trip, but the closest I got to the classic character, was Donald Duck. ^.^ Still I was happy and I had lots of fun with my Dad. The only irritating thing about the whole trip was that my mother behaved like a diva the whole time, complaining about her feet and how hot the weather was.

I'm a little excited about today. I'm finally gonna go to Samurai, the Japanese Restauraunt in front of the Falls and I've always wanted to go there.

Eeeep!!! My tummy is doing funny movements. I'm so happy. I get to see my buddies today. ^.^

Five intersting things I found out on the way to Disney and at Disney:

Fact:
There is such a thing as ice cream made from goat's milk....

Fact:
Gaylord is the name of a very expensive five star hotel line in Kissime....

Fact:
Goat's milk can also produce fudge.....

Fact:
There is a street named Minute Maid........

Fact:
Walt Disney's, father's name was Elias........ <----(^.^ found that to be interesting)

Teased even in dreams....

2007-06-18T04:15:56Z

Last night I had a dream with Die.

No it wasn't anything at all naughty it was just really funny and weird.

So I was walking down the street and now that I think about it the scenary was alot like what one will see in the urban underdeveloped parts of Colombia. That means that the streets are usually broken, with the debris still lying inside the cracks on the curb and along the edge of the side walk. I wasn't alone I was with some relatives, cousins and all girls, I just can't remember who. We were just messing around and trying to decide whether to go into a gift store that sell stuffed animals.
I look to my right and I start to freak out when lo and behold Die is leaning against a soot ridden brick wall with a cigarrette ready to light in hand. (For those of you who may not be familiar with Die he is the super sexy guitarist of Dir en grey....well the other sexy guitarist.) Andway I'm having a panic attack and I start to shake one of my cousins very violently and point at him telling her in Spanish, "That's Die, that's Die, that's Die?" Of course she doesn't know who the hell he is because "dee dee dee" she doesn't listen to Japanese Rock like I do. So I sort of push her aside and run over to him, (mind you if I actually saw the guy in real life I probably would have been more subtle about my fangirly-ness)
For some reason instead of switching to English, which might have proved to be a sturdier bridge to cross in that huge language gap he and I had, I start telling him in Spanish that I'm a huge fan of his, that I think he's cute, that he's an awesome guitarist, blah, blah, blah whatever stuff a fan would say to their current obsession.

Then....... he just starts laughing.

And I get really embaressed, but I remember in the dream I was extremly desperate to communicate with him. I remember thinking in the dream, "Why the fuck can't I make incoherent sentences to communicate in Japanese like I do with Rina-chan? Have the J-Dramas taught me absolutely nothing?" So after I while I start using lots of hand signals.

And he starts to laughs even harder.

So I start getting irritated and at one point I stomp my foot to symbolize my aggrivation. And then with a huge ass grin, Die stomps his foot too. My jaw drops with apall at the fact that he just imitated me. So I'm like forget you, and I fling my arms out. He does the same thing and starts to giggle. So I start to argue with him and the whole time he is copying me and exaggerating my hand movements by a lot. In an attempt to get back at him I start to imitate his voice really loud and obnoxiously. He throws his head back, cracking his ass off and I just really wanted to punch him in the face but was extremly aware of the fact that Japanese people don't like having contact with other people so I didn't do anything.

Eventually I started to laugh along with him and that when my cousins called me over, (they didn't seem to notice the entire episode that took place...like in any dream nothing seem to make sense) and I just looked at him and said the only thing that I could....I waved and said "Bye, bye."

He giggled some more but bid me farewell with a "Sayonara" and also waved a bit before going back to his cigarette.

I don't remember anything else really except that I met up with another band member from Dir en grey I just don't recall who it was. I barely make out a faint image of a dude with bleached hair and thick glasses....which could be any of them.

So yeah that was my very funny and weird dream with Die. I loved the fact that this morning when I woke up I was so chipper and happy because I was in a good mood, as though I had actually met the guy and had this funny encounter with him.

I want to have more dreams like that. They say if you think really hard about something when you go to sleep, you might dream about it. I got to test that theory out. (^.^)

Nada

2007-06-14T03:52:41Z

Just got home from work...I'm tired...and going to bed....

^.^

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-06-12T22:09:00

2007-06-13T02:40:22Z

I drew this......a while ago......

....and forgot to put it up. I'm working on another one now
it's coming out pretty good. I'll post it when I'm done.

What a disappointment........

2007-06-12T23:59:47Z

So I'm having lunch with my grandmother and everything is fine and dandy. Then I get a phone call.....

How typical for news to travel like that, no? Anyway, I got the biggest slap in the face today. See, the reason why I was going to China, was because we have a relative who is married to some who is a scientist (the type that travels to third world countries with poor agricultural conditions) he's like a professor to top it off so yeah he travels quite a bit. Anywho there were going to be some Science convention in China where he had to give some speeches and that was when my mother jumped and said it would be really neat if I went with them. For three months we were buying clothes and getting stuff ready for when the big day came. My mother was convinced the price of the ticket would be one thing and it turned out that the people who were organizing the whole thing clarified the amount. It was fucking expensive (Like even more that what fucking expensive usually is). So the phone call was from him (the scientist) and he is giving me the prices of the tickets. It's was about 2,500 dollars. Obviously we can't afford that. So I had to call my mother and tell her what was going on. She sort of sighed and said, "I'm sorry you ca't go. I didn't know it was THAT expensive."

You know what, I somehow knew that I wasn't going this year. There was something in the back of my mind that kept saying this was just too good to be true. And hell that little something was quite right.

Steph, Carmen, Karina..... I'm not going to be able to get you the authentic Pocky. (>.<)

Well yeah I'm sad but on the bright side I sort of got this idea in mind. My sister and her husband are gonna go to China in April next year and my mom said it would be fine if I tagged along with them. I started to think, since I'm working now and I'm getting about $120 a week I could earn enough money to buy the ticket myself.

In the end maybe it was better not to go now. I don't know. But honestly if there is one trip I am really looking forward to, it's the one where I go to Japan with all of my friends. I'd love to see Karina in one of those building arcades, especially one with DDR on one of the floors. I'll just hide when Carmen finds herself in one of those places. She's scary when she is focused and angry.

Nothing much really......

2007-06-11T00:14:58Z

Well I was looking at stuff online and I realized that even since before school ended, I haven't posted a single entry onto my lj and that is just terrible because a lot of stuff has happened. Let me begin by saying that I am employed and when I finally looked at my paychexks I realized that just like all the other adults, I am also starting to pay taxes. Whatever, I'm happy and it feels good to say that I'm working. I'm trying to save up all my money for when I go to China. Yes, I'm happy! It's obviously not Japan but to hell with that, it's in Asia and I'm going to enjoy it. At least now when I eat with chopsticks I won't recieve the strange looks that I get when I eat with them here. We are gonna go to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guan Zhoo<---idk how to spell that one and another place that I forgot at the moment. All that aside, my summer has been good. I've been able to get ahead with my story. I'm liking the way it is coming out. ^.^ I completely re-did the entire first chapter because the original I did was not making me happy. I still have to polish it, but I guess I'll post it up some other time. In addition to writing, I've also had a lot of time on my hands to draw. I don't know when but I'm also gonna have to frame up my giant playing card and I'm, thinking of redoing it because I don't like the way the background came out for one of them. Oh I also got together with Carmen and Karina and Ray and Michelle (had quite a few fangirl moments with that girl) and Adriana so that was fun and just a few days ago I went to Elias's house for his birthday party. That thing that sucks is that I had to leave earlier that I wanted to so I was a little upset when I left, but other than that I had losts of fun.

Well that's been my summer and a general update on my life. Not bad for the fist month of summer, thought I wouldn't mind hanging out with my fangirl buddies more often.

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-05-16T22:49:00

2007-05-17T02:59:42Z

I"M HAPPPY!
Eeeep! My history teacher is one that gets me made a lot because of his terrible mood swings, but I am so frickin happy. I no longer have to do that presentation that was going to last 35 minutes. My teacher apparently got so mad with the first two projects that he decided bot to have the other students present. SO THANK YOU TO MR.JONIDES' first and second period. You guys rock my socks. Oh And I took my AP exam tofay. I'm pretty sure I bombed the first half but I'm pretty confident about te essyas.

Still don't know what to call it.......

2007-05-16T00:14:10Z

A crack of light slips through my fingers

I wake up cold

Where am I now

What’s this life for

Faint strokes of white color the air

It’s getting a little harder to breathe

When did it happen

Why was it you

I reached out but it was impossible

I tried to call out but it was futile

The way things are, I’d be lying to myself

If there had ever been a chance

It got lost in the inflexibility

That was the foundation of my pride

A voice that never demanded attention

A psyche that earned respect

Such a subtle state of being

Never tainted by arrogance

My hand can’t even fathom your mind

It entangles me even further

I can’t get away

I don’t want to get away

I want to get away

I reached out but it was impossible

I tried to call out but it was futile

The way things are, I’d be lying to myself

If there had ever been a chance

It got lost in the inflexibility

That was the foundation of my pride

Pretty honey eyes, I see the one in your gaze

The lovely shades of red that color your cheeks

How it burns and stings inside

How this feeling doesn’t subside

Too naive to understand

And yet wise enough to care

I want to scream those words to you

I want you to be mine

I reached out but it was impossible

I tried to call out but it was futile

The way things are, I’d be lying to myself

If there had ever been a chance

It got lost in the inflexibility

That was the foundation of my pride

The green monster within remains chained

Forever restless and insane

Tearing my insides with it claws

Ravaging my words with its jaws

A crack of light slips through my fingers

I wake up cold

Where am I now

What’s this life for

I reached out but it was impossible

I tried to call out but it was futile

The way things are, I’d be lying to myself

If there had ever been a chance

It got lost in the inflexibility

That was the foundation of my pride

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-05-05T21:40:00

2007-05-06T01:53:48Z

Well today was rather uneventful. One my friends picked me up and I went to her house to work on a history project. We actually fnished the board today which made me and the two other people I was working with very happy. I'm sure the fourth person that did go today will also be very happy too. I'm gonna go to her house again tommorrow. Hopefully we get organized and figure out what it is and in what order it is that we have to present all the material.

At least one of the grades is down and it is, not to brag, an A+ board.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
If only I felt as confident about the prentation itself. Which is about 35 minutes long. (>.<)

Something I've been meaning to say......thank you....so much..........

2007-05-04T23:15:51Z

         For some strange reason, even as I write, I don't feel at all worried about the fact that I still haven't started on Ms. Johnson's portfolio. I don't think it is because I don't care, because I do. It's more like, I feel as though I can handel staying up a couple of nights or so to get all these papers done before school next Monday.
          Either way, there are far more important things. Like what I feel at this moment. This intense desire to get my thoughts down and say thank you.
About a month ago I had a small kidney infection that became quite the big deal when I began to realize it had already been a week and it didn't seem to be getting better. It had happened to me before, I would feel some discomfort when going to the bathroom, but after a day or two it was gone. Anyway, that whole thing blew over and when I went to the doctor he got really worried, because the infection seemed to be getting worse, much faster than in any other person's had gotten. The pills I had started to take didn't seem to be effective at all. I still felt pain, they gave me these intense urges to throw up and I even started having blackouts. The doctors talked about stones and other impurities obstructing the flow of blood in my organs. At one point one of my relatives even slurred the word dialysis. When I found out what it was I freaked out. But we went to Mercy Hospital and they started me on another treatment. This time there were no side-effects to make me feel even worse and the medicine actually worked.
          During the time I was sick, I hated everything and everyone around me. I hated hearing people laugh while my abdomen and lower back throbbed with a searing pain that to this day I still can't even describe. When they told me that if worse came to worse they would perform surgery on me, I seriously thought, maybe I can die and all of this confusion, all this anger and frustration and disappointment in my body, will disappear.
        Now that I look back at how dark I was feeling, I sort of laugh at myself and shake my head, "Geeze Andy, what was the matter with you?" But thanks to that disturbing experience, I was also able to realize just how much I really needed to open my mouth and vent off when asked, "What's wrong?"
          Up until that moment I had been holding a grudge against the whole world. I had never realized how my attitude was affecting my relationships with my friends, my family, and even the damn pharmacist at Walgreens who provided me with my prescriptioned drugs. I got so caught up in shutting the world out because of the silent anger searing inside of me, that I didn't realize just how stupid I was being. How even though I badly wanted people to look at me just to ask me if I was okay, I held it in until the lump in my throat felt too large to swallow and I would crumble, crying on my pillow at night. My mother and father were strangers to me and the only person I held the hopes in confiding anything to, (my sister) was all the way on the other side of the Earth in China with her husband.
          Then one day, the thing that I had been longing for revealed itself to me in the shape of a person I had close to me all along. I was so warped with self pity that it never occured to me a relief to my problems was there.
          "What's wrong?" I was asked.
           The words sounded so lovely. I tried to hold that icy front I had been keeping with everyone. I tried to hold that distance of arms length between me and that person. But they were too warm for me.
          My voice shook a little as I uttered a cold "Nothing."
      And then......I started to melt.
           No matter how many times I gazed at the celing in order to force the tears back into my eyes, they kept flowing. The lump in my throat bobbing up and down each time I sobbed. I spoke to them in a quite voice, but for me it was like screaming,......and it felt amazing. Liberating.
          I didn't look at that person too much cause I felt so embaressed, ranting on about myself like a spoiled little girl. But at the same time I knew.....I knew she wasn't judging me. All the gushy, black words, carefully soaking her and then evaporating into thin air because of what amazing warmth she was.
          My chest felt the same as butterfly did when it slipped out of its cocoon. Moist from the substance that held its existance and cool with the sweet spring air that would brush against its new body.
          "Silly....." she said to me.
           I was disheveled, lying there so exposed with my thoughts splayed. I looked at her with puffy brown eyes and started to laugh. It felt so wonderful to laugh again. Then the both of us started giggling like 'fan-girls' and I was free.
   Friendship doesn't seem to do the bond we have, justice. The word sounds hollow and fuzzy. To hell with it , you're my sister too. The person that has ever truly been there to yank me out when my own foolishness is what smothers me. The only person I have ever allowed to see the real me.

        This may come as a bit corny, but I honestly don't care (^.^). Somethings are better said when they are written down.

        You seem to be the only one that can withstand my abrupt mood swings.

        The one that doesn't get sick of reading my stories.

        Or hearing my complaints.

        The one that makes me laugh.......really....really.....really hard.



......You're the best Onee-chan!

Onegai......don't kill me the next time we see eachother. (>_<)

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-04-11T19:03:00

2007-04-12T03:14:03Z

I feel like the biggest bitch of life. (>.<) For approximately four months, I've been tutoring my cousin who came from Colombia. He doesn't speak English very well but he understands a lot and knows how to get by very well. He actually surprised me because he reads at the level of a sixth grader (one level bellow his) which is pretty friggin good. (Goes to show how bloody good education is in the so-called developing countries.) Anyway he has one major flaw and that is that he is freaking lazy as hell and lies too damn much. His mother brought him to the U.S. and works like a mule to support him. So he comes here and is expected to work in school the same way he would in Colombia and the brat starts going lazy. Obviously his mother is upset and angry. So I’ve been the bad guy in his life for the last few weeks because I’ve been on his case about homework and stuff. He was doing good for a while and I felt like, “okay I can breathe and give him some room too.” Bad idea. He had a C in math and now he is failing it. He had a B in Language Arts and now he has a D. Then there is another D, but it wasn’t there when I was on his ass the whole time. So I’ve been bitchy and have been asking him to sign on so I can look at his grades. Today his mother happened to come early while I was checking them and all hell broke loose.
I’m not saying that he shouldn’t have been yelled at. I have more respect for someone who simply admits they don’t want to do their work. But this kid lies so much. And he swears I’m stupid which pisses me off because putting up with him is no piece of cake. It’s irritating to have someone in the room while you are talking to people online or working on something. I’m someone who enjoys solitude. But still the things this woman said to her kid were horrible. I wanted to cry right along with him. She told him she was sick of him. That she was tired of having to put up with his crap and his lies. That she wanted to send him to Colombia so that if he did in fact become a bum it wouldn’t be because he was by her side. The yelling went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and my God I felt so bad. I would never say any of those sorts of things to my kid. And I don’t want to hear a mother say that either, especially if it was something started by me.
It’s difficult to raise kids and I’m sure it just gets harder as the years progress and as the times change. I hope that when I have kids of my own I don’t whip them with words like that. I know if my mother ever said that to me I would crack

Now on a lighter note.....I was watching NBC News and as the reporter was doing his thing, my eyes widened when I realized that they were playing this really old Colombian vallenato song, La Gota Fria by Carlos Vives. I happy. Hispanics are taking over the world. YAY! ^.^

Don't . . . know

2007-03-22T22:31:06Z

Today was very uneventful as opposed to yesterday's adventures at Karina's house. I overdosed on J-Dramas and started watching a Taiwanese drama......(which I became addicted to with one episode) and stuffed my face with Chinese food. Very Asian day. Anyway, I felt bad I hadn't written in this thing in over a week so it felt like it was about time to do it. I'm really happy I found the lyrics to one of my favorite J-Songs too.

Last Song: English

I continued wandering aimlessly, all alone
A faint sigh painting a stroke of white
In the ephemeral nature of the changing seasons
Tears overflowed without any reason
"Even now I love you..."

The continually falling sadness changes into pure white snow
Through it all, I raised my head to the sky
Before this body disappears now, if my wish reaches you
Please hold me tight just once more

We didn't understand each other and hurt each other over and over again
Even at those times you were always kind
I cut myself on the suddenly surrendered ring
As our promises to each other were not granted
"Even now I remember..."

The fading memories are too brilliant as always
I wanted to be closer by
We can't meet again but you were always close to hold me up
Just you, don't change yourself

I can't erase those last tears you showed me

Even if I disappear along with this white snow
I want to always bloom in your heart

We held each other close don't forget that warmth
Even if you love someone else
I'll never let go of the sound the last I heard of your voice
I want to fall into a deep sleep
The continually falling sadness changes into pure white snow
Through it all, I raised my head to the sky
Before this body disappears now, if my wish reaches you
Please hold me tight just once more

"Please hold me tight just once more..."

Pretty Ne....the video is even better, but it is really sad. Yeah, today is a really blah day. I don't really have much to say.

well if anyone looks at this look at the video here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KYMjrAOD1oE
(Carmen I hope YOU enjoy this even more. lol)

Hana Yori Dango

2007-03-17T06:37:30Z

Eeeeep! I spent exactly twelve hours on a Hana Yori Dango high. Hah! At least now I've somewhat caught up with Karina and Carmen. (bleh!) Dude. I have never experianced so many ups and down in times spans of about twenty minute. As soon as something good started to happen, something incredibly sad and heart wrenching had to occur. I wanted to scream at the main characters for being so retard and agh!!!! The good side of this is that depite the highs and lows I still like the drama. Well that is.....I'm not gonna stop watching it until I can firmly say, "damn I knew those two were going to end up together" without having to worrying that so serious life altering situation will occur. Anyway, today was a really fun day. My friend slept over, we ate food that way that it is eaten in most parts of Asia, (chopsticks!) and we bake chocolate chip cookies. It was awesome! ^.^ And now I feel really sleepy......zzzzzz......the enrgy is burning out........good night.

Of all the ways to be left off on a cliffhanger for this series WHY WITH THAT OLD GUY?!

Parents and their adult conversations

2007-03-12T00:16:12Z

Well this turned out to be a relatively uneventful weekend....it's so sad. Yesterday I had high hopes in having my friend come over but that totally backfired on me. (-_-)' And aside from the constant bickering and squabbling I have to listen to from my grandmother and mother , the house hase been incredibly silent. Today, however a few relatives came over which proved to be very interesting. We all covered the topics of homosexuality and politics. Interesting, I didn't know my family was so contradictive. It's actually quite irritating. They say they don't mind homosexuals as long as they don't interfere with the life of heterosexuals. But what they don't realize is that by accepting homosexuals into our society, heterosexuals are going to have to adjust themselves to the way they live too. I held up the example that a homosexual couple walking down the street holding hands should be accepted. Well [God] forbid I say that again. They started to say that it is not appropriete. That children, like my nephew should not not be exposed to such obscenities. But damnit I'm thinking to myself, "Didn't you just agree with me that it is only fair to adjust to their way of life." I mean they took it to the extreme that if you see a homosexual couple in the middle of a hot make-out session it's bad. And I agree, but I also agree that it is not appropriete for a HETEROSEXUAL couple to be doing the same thing. It's not pretty, and it is really uncomfortable no matter how much you try to look away. Especially if it is around a kid's playground. (>,<) The point is that conversation helped me realize just how contradictive the older generation ,that is trying to become more modernized, is. Then of course we touched on the topic of how Mr. Idiot President Bush is passing by Latin America to settle things there. I felt proud of my country, more so than usual. lol. I was watching a soccer game with my uncles and cousins and we all started to laugh when we saw that out of every five people occupying the stadium at least three were holding up a poster saying that bush needed to go back to where he came from. of course this was written on the back of the posters where the words to root for their team were inscribed. Anyways I just hope for the sake of the Latin countries, that the people be smarter than the politicians that sell themselves out to the United States and pretend to agree with everything that our president does.

Ah it felt good to get that out of my chest. (breathes) and this is also my moment to rest my full belly. I stuffed my face with tacos and steak.........and I somehow managed to use chopsticks.

Enfermedades Colombianas

2007-03-09T03:07:25Z

I have finally proven to myself that I can indeed draw real people. I'm so proud of myself. I have to do this huge playing card for my drawing class and so today my teacher asked us to do a concept sketch of what we are going to do. In less than one hour I was able to draw a pretty damn decent picture of my favorite dir en grey person. ^.^ And in less than another hour I was able to shade in and add details to said picture. Well other than that school was whatever. Oh yeah and I found this online. It brought a smile to my face. If you understand Spanish really, really, really well you might get a laugh out of it too. And if I ever use any of these words you will know what I am saying. ^.^

Karina.....two words........Andres Lopez

Enfermedades Colombianas

Un importante grupo de sociedades científicas a nivel mundial se
encuentra actualmente evaluando una serie de síntomas que parecen ser
endémicos del territorio colombiano. A continuación se mencionan
algunos:

PATATÚS
Ataque súbito, físico o mental, de origen desconocido, el cual puede
ser objeto de hospitalización para su observación. Generalmente
acontece en personas de 50 años de edad en adelante.

YEYO
Cualquier trastorno repentino que sea lo suficientemente grave como
para ir al médico, tomar remedios y faltar al colegio o trabajo. Puede
utilizarse como sinónimo de patatús.

JARTERA
Estado anímico negativo en que nada parece agradarle al paciente.

TOTAZO
Golpe fuerte sufrido en cualquier parte del cuerpo, pero
especialmente en la cabeza.

CHICHÓN
Protuberancia craneal usualmente causada por el totazo sufrido por el patatús.

MUÑECA ABIERTA
Dislocación entre la mano y el antebrazo, que generalmente ocurre por
abrir diferentes envases, tales como whisky o aceitunas rellenas.

SERENO
Misteriosa sustancia que se riega particularmente en horas nocturnas
y que, según las señoras, afecta sobre todo a niños si no llevan la
mollera bien tapada. También afecta a personas mayores que salen de la
sala a la terraza con unos cuantos guaritos encima.

CUERPO PESADO
¿Cómo explicarle a otro ser humano no nacido en Colombia qué carajo
es sentirse con el cuerpo pesado? Es una vaina así como que el tronco
se va para un lado, los brazos pesan más que el carajo y de paso, las
piernas no le dan...¿quién entiende esto? Este padecimiento está
siendo objeto de estudio por la Sociedad de Medicina Interna de Gran
Bretaña.

SALPULLIDO
Erupción extraña compuesta por un poco de pepitas que salen
generalmente después de haber comido algo que no le cayó bien o por
ser alérgico al cóctel de camarones el cual ha tragado mas de la
cuenta cuando fue por primera vez a Cartagena.

RONCHAS
Las pepitas anteriores pero acumuladas y que pican, que joden como el
putas, sobre todo si están localizadas en partes nobles. Y a propósito
¿por qué les dirán nobles?

SOPONCIO
Padecimiento de personas mayores y que depende del estrato social,
manteniendo el nombre de SOPONCIO si ocurre en personas adineradas y
PATATÚS si en las de estrato bajo.

COGÍ UN AIRE
Esto sí de verdad que tiene loca de remate a toda la comunidad
médica, porque hasta el momento no se explican cómo es la
fisiopatología de la vaina esta: ¿Cómo uno puede coger a un elemento
gaseoso (aire)? Y el aire, ¿se deja coger así no más? Y si se deja
coger, ¿por dónde?.

LE DIO UNA VAINA
No tiene lugar del cuerpo específico. El hecho es que "esa vaina se lo llevó".

LE DIERON NERVIOS
Todo el mundo tiene nervios, pero en Colombia los nervios "dan". Se
refiere a cuando una situación genera confusión, miedo, angustia. Es
peligroso porque puede terminar en patatús.

UNA GÜEVONADA TODA RARA
Contrariamente a lo que parece etimológicamente, no tiene nada que
ver con el órgano en que pueden estar pensando. Al igual que "la
vaina", puede dar en cualquier parte del cuerpo.

JODIDO
Estar mal, con algún dolor generalmente en alguna o todas las partes
del cuerpo, pero también atribuible al dolor de estar sin trabajo o
sin cinco centavos.

NACIDO
Roncha de gran tamaño en la parte posterior; según algunos
entendidos, contraída por ocupar caliente el puesto que acaba de
quedar libre en un bus. Para evitarlo es preciso dejar que el puesto
se enfríe a temperatura ambiente antes de sentarse (comportamiento muy
visto en buses de Bogotá).

CUERPO DISGUSTADO
La sintomatología va desde calentura hasta dolores en las
"coyunturas" pasando por erizamiento de la piel y un especial rechazo
al baño con agua fría.

ANGUSTIA EN LA BOCA DEL ESTOMAGO
Rara sintomatología aún no estudiado por no poderse encontrar ni la
boca del estómago ni la angustia en cuestión.

MUERTE "DE REPENTE"
Padecimiento insoluble e irrecuperable al cual pueden llevar el YEYO
, PATATÚS, SOPONCIO o la GÜEVONADA RARA.

Mean Grannies

2007-03-08T01:07:09Z

AGH! I hate my immune system! It's as useful as a sweater is on a penguin! I woke up this morning with the biggest headache of life and at the sound of my grandmother bitching because she couldn't find her cane, which she never uses. So I missed the opportunity to sleep for a good thirty minutes. >.< On the bright side, however, I was able to go to school with a peaceful mind. That cursed project for AP is in. No more articles. No more staying up late at night! No more waking up and scaring myself at the sight of a hag with huge bags under her eyes. ^.^ Oh and I'm starting to realize just how conniving and manipulative old people are. I’ve been picking up the this habit of eating with chopsticks (Go Figure) and it bugs the hell out of my Grandma. So I feel even more compelled to eat with chopsticks at every chance I get. Well while we were eating today, the Lady got this smug look on her face and started commenting on how it was really unhealthy to eat with chopstick because it contributed to rheumatism. (WTF) Seriously who believes that. What’s even more funny is the fact she was making these claims to my mother like she will tell me to stop doing something I really like. Anyway that was pretty hilarious. At least to me it was. She always tries to ridicule me but it always backfires on her. I guess that is what happens when you are such a bitter person.

akagopanda0607 @ 2007-03-06T16:04:00

2007-03-06T22:24:22Z

Ah joy! FCAT still continues to haunt me. I hate standardized tests. Well it truly felt as though two and a half perfectly 'usable' hours of my life, wilted away slowly. Aside from that though I had a relatively relaxing day. One of my friends was good enough to spoil more than half of the second season of Hana Yori Dango a.k.a. Boys Over Flowers (I will eventually get to that Season 1 episode summary in) so I was very happy and running on adrenaline for the next hour. Other than that, I basically ate crap the rest of the day and a cupcake in cooking class. All was well until after school. This thought suddenly came into mind. To me, a friendship is made up of two parts....person A and person B. Both parts share an equal amount of information with eachother. It can be good stuff, it can be bad stuff, it can be deep stuff or even silly superficial stuff that manages to make you crack your ass off. But this is information that is coming from two sides, A and B. B is always looking out for A. It can see through A like water . But what if this is a mostly one sided relationship. What if B only seems to interest itself in knowing about every single aspect of A without giving some more personal input about itself. I find myself to be in A's place right now. I'm always being looked out for and God forbid I do or act a different way around my B (it knows all). I'm happy to be looked over, but I also want to look after my B. It is selfish for a person to ask you to be open and honest with them when they refuse to share any intimate aspects of their life with you. It's not fair and its really upsetting. Well all that aside I'm happy to announce that I am almost done with this long ass project that I've been slaving over for four days straight. Once I finish with tonight paper I will be done and free at last!

A work in progress......

2007-02-27T01:43:40Z

Chapter 1

      The hectic turbulence caused her to wake up. Still drowsy and tired from the hours of lost sleep, Alina Dávila slowly opened her eyes. She frowned a little at the stiff numbness that had set in her cheeks, thanks to the powerful gust of air over her head. Her thick black lashes fluttered some more as the comfortable feeling of sleep began to shrivel within her. That was that, she realized; as soon as she was up there was no way of going back to sleep.
      Alina covered her mouth as she yawned and came forward a little in order to stretch. She felt the tense restriction of her seatbelt and sighed. She glanced at her thin leather watch and realized it had already been six hours since she had last touched land. And before that it had been another flight for about seven hours. Adding to that, the amount of time she had spent at the airport had come to three hours. So in reality she had been stuffed from plane to plane for a grand total of sixteen hours.
      Needless to say she was exhausted. Butterflies would dance in her stomach each time the aircraft hit turbulence and the nervousness she felt didn’t help to make her feel better. It was her first time traveling in a plane and although she did enjoy it the first six hours, she was ready to jump off in a parachute by the time she had reached the seventh.
      Alina raised her head a little and found the seat beside her was empty, with a perfect oval dent in the center, and a soft white pillow lodged beneath the armrest. Her eyes darted over the five rows of seats in front of her, to where the bathroom was supposed to be. She noticed the light at the door was signaling it was in use. Alina shut her eyes and let her head fall back into the headrest.
      Her eyes snapped open when she heard high pitched, rapid speaking in a language that took her a moment to recognize as Japanese. She turned her head and spotted an excited little girl coloring in an art book frivolously while holding a small yellow ball beneath her arm. The girl was wearing a deep blue summer dress with a large sunflower print. Her straight, jet black hair was pulled into two neat ponytails. Her bangs were held back at the sides with bright flowery hairpins. The little girl’s mother, a pretty woman with shoulder-length, dark brown hair, shushed the girl and bowed her head apologetically to their neighbor.
      Alina cocked her head a little and a sad smile curled the corners of her full, rosy lips. The scene was warm. She recalled doing the same sort of thing at that age when her mother would travel by bus to work.
     The little girl turned around and saw Alina staring at her. She had large curious dark eyes. The little girl grinned widely at her and waved her hand excitedly as she dropped her crayon on the small folding table behind the seat infront of her. She was missing her two front teeth. Alina offered the girl a more cheerful smile before averting her eyes and looking out the window.
      She watched the monstrous mountains the clouds made and suddenly became fully aware of the fact that she was thousands of miles up from the earth’s surface. They looked like walls of compact ice and snow. Alina leaned back into her seat and shut her eyes a moment. Butterflies began to quiver in the pit of her stomach at the realization that she was only an hour or so away from her destination: Japan.
       Something brushed against the leg of her jeans and her eyes dropped to her ankles.
She looked down and spotted the bright yellow ball that she instantly identified as the toothless little girl’s.
       Alina leaned forward and took the ball before looking across to the little girl who was apparently waiting for her to throw the ball back. She grinned a little and pushed the armrest up into her chair. Then, she craned her neck to see if a stewardess was watching and swiftly threw the ball back.
     The girl caught it and let out a sharp giggle. Her mother turned to look at her suspiciously and the little girl crossed her arms over the ball as though nothing happened. Alina stifled a laugh and turned her head when the mother began to raise her head in her direction. After a few minutes she felt the familiar sensation of the ball at her leg and looked at the girl again. She performed the same ritual before throwing it back: looked around, aimed, and shot.
      The game went on for at least five more throws, when the little girl’s mother turned and saw her throw the ball back to Alina.
      “Miki!” the woman cried out as she slapped the girl’s hand. “Why can’t you stay still?” her eyes raised to Alina’s and she began to bow her head consecutively, “Gomen nasai!”
      Alina shook her head, “It’s fine. I don’t mind.” she said and stared back at Miki. She had a cute name.
      The girl smiled back and turned to her mother, “Can I get my ball back?” she asked with hopeful, wide eyes.
      The woman looked up questioningly at Alina, an embarrassed smile on her lips.
      Alina nodded with a smile grin. “I can’t have this with me where I’m going.” she pointed as she looked down at the ball.
     The woman laughed softly and looked down at Miki, “Go and hurry back.”
      Miki unbuckled her seatbelt and rushed to the other side. Alina handed her the ball and frowned a little “We got caught.” she said with disappointment.
      Miki frowned too, “I know. Now I’ll be bored.” Her frown melted into a smile as she raised her hand. Alina narrowed her eyes questioningly and felt Miki’s fingers get lost in her wavy, ink black hair. “It’s so pretty.” Miki said.
      Caught off by the girl’s comment, Alina couldn’t help but laugh, “Arigato.”
      The little girl laughed and looked up at her with wild interest, “And your eyes are the same color as honey.” She seemed to study Alina some more before coming to her conclusion, “You’re different from most of the people that I’ve seen. You’re not like my mommy.”
      “Miki-chan.” They both looked up and saw her mother raise her eyebrows impatiently.
      “You better go to your mom before she gets mad.” Alina said with a timid smile and though she groaned, Miki reluctantly went back to her seat after waving bye to her.
      Alina leaned back into her seat and nodded to herself. Of course I don’t look like anyone you’ve seen, she thought to herself more matter-of-factly than bitterly. She wasn’t Japanese nor did her physique make the possibility plausible. Though thin and short, she was rather shapely and like any Caucasian female, her eyes didn’t carry the distinctness of the Eastern ones.
      The only thing that connected her to the reserved and modest world was the language. Though she was born and lived most of her life in the capital of her native country, Colombia, Alina had been exposed to Japanese thanks to her mother, an ardent lover of the culture. She would lie if she said she wasn’t fascinated by the mysterious world too. Maybe in a way, on top of all the problems she was having at home, that had been another factor that contributed in her accepting the task that lay ahead of her.
       A swift motion at her left caused her to turn her head and an attractive middle-aged woman sat beside her. Her hair was dyed a dirty blonde with brown streaks. She wore a light beige tank top with a plaid, open shirt over it. Her thin legs were wrapped in dark blue jeans and a smooth tan scarf round her waist for a belt. She immediately caught the scent of cigarette smoke and smirked at the woman, “Oh so that was what you were doing. I got worried you that you might have been sucked down the toilet.” Alina teased.
         “I don’t know how I was able to pass the hour.” Misako Komada said and seemed to take a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was because she smoked so much, but unlike most of the women that Alina had met on the plane, Misako’s voice was unusually low and deep. She was a woman of money, with a loose air of elegance about her.
       Misako and Alina’s mother had known eachother. They met and became best friends in college and remained so until her mother’s death about five years ago. Shortly after the ordeal, Misako returned to her native Japan and occasionally called to check up on Alina and her little brother Santiago. But two months ago, Misako stopped by the theater Alina worked as a make-up artist for, and watched an entire show before calling her attention.
       She remembered the day like it was yesterday. Alina came out from behind the set and made her way through the audience to a stoic Misako.
       Alina laughed a little as she stared outside the window and brought her thumb to her lips. Since she could remember, she had always felt a little overwhelmed by Misako’s refined demeanor. She was a very beautiful woman, who wouldn’t demonstrate her age. She was well over forty by now, but her cheeks were high and her skin was so smooth, the number had little to do with the face and voluptuous, firm body. To top it off, everytime she entered a room her powerful and confident presence could be felt.
       “It’s good to see you.” Alina had said as she bowed to the woman politely.
       Misako smiled brightly at her. Her pearly teeth showing from behind full red lips, “Oh come now, you should know better than to hold up formalities with me, my dear girl.” She wore a dark teal suit with a white blouse beneath and a jade necklace with matching earings. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a tight bun beneath a white silk scarf. “Your Japanese is as good as ever I see.”
      Alina nodded, “I took the course during college. Mom always said it needed polishing.”
      There had been a moment of silence between the two at the mention of her mother. It was a subject that remained delicate despite the years.
      “Well I’m glad you took the course. I can barely pick up an accent.” Misako said, interrupting the uncomfortable silence. She looked around and patted the seat beside her, signaling for Alina to sit down.
       “So what brings you to Colombia?” Alina asked as she sat down.
       Misako smiled and nodded, “I need some help with something and I am almost confident this is something you can handle.”
       She recalled feeling the chill that ran up her spine at Misako’s words. Once she placed so much trust on someone it felt as though despite the difficulty of the task at hand, one had to accomplish it. The thought of failing frightened her but she nodded. “Sure anything I can do.”
       Misako smiled again, “Now, I know that things have been getting really difficult. With your grandmother being sick and not attending to the boutique and the high cost of your brother’s school tuition, it is really hard to get by on your paychecks alone.”
       Alina agreed with a nod, “Yes, but we’ve managed to keep the debts at a low.”
       Misako frowned, “At the cost of your neck and freedom though, I’m sure.”
       She shrugged, “I’m doing what I like to do.” she said, referring to her job.
       “I want to make you a proposal.” Misako had said, cutting to the chase.
        “Yes?”
        “For about two years I have been working with a rock band that has become quite prominent in my country.” she began.
        “You work with them?” Alina asked.
        “I’m their manager. Paper work and contracts, that’s all in my hands.” she stopped a moment, “As well as their appearance, too.”
        Alina nodded, “Alright.”
        “You see, not only does their talent affect their music, but their apparel is just as important. The more extravagant the look, the more attention they will call upon themselves.” An usher made his way toward the two women, but Alina asked him to leave them alone. Misako looked to the stage and then back at her. “I can’t help but feel that your potential can reach a higher peak if you go a little further than the walls of this theater.”
        “I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Alina said, inquiry written on her soft features.
        Misako fixed her with a firm stare and took her wrists, “I’ve hired and fired various make-up artists for the group I am working with and I’m up to my wits end.”
       She nodded, a little frightened by the gravity in the woman’s tone.
       “You are a professional in your line of work, Alina, and I say that with utmost honesty. A true prodigy with a gift that can go the distance. Your work is of the highest quality I have ever seen. And I think that if you allow me too, I can perhaps help you reach the top of your career.” here it came, the bottom line, “I would like for you to be the makeup artist for the band I work for.”
       “Are you alright, Honey?”
       Alina turned her head and found herself back inside the plane, sitting beside Misako. “Um yeah. A little jittery, that’s all.”
      The woman chuckled to herself and then looked back at Alina, “That’s natural. You’ve been able to hold your nerve quite well actually.” she rested a hand on the girl’s arm.
       Alina laughed a little and breathed slowly. Truth be told, her nerves were a complete wreck. After Misako had made the proposal and reassured her that the expenses would be paid by her hand, Alina asked her to wait for her to consult the matter with her family before making any rash decisions. She had hoped for a little more friction on her grandmother’s side, but found that she was quite excited about the whole situation and told her it was a great opportunity.
       “Go and make a name for yourself, Niña.” her grandmother had said.
       Alina nodded to herself, I will, and looked out the window again. They were approaching their destination. She could see the small masses of land come closer into focus. Excitement rushed through her body and began to shift her leg from side to side nervously. It was much easier to say one would grab the bull by the horns and a completely different thing to go and actually do it.