Mr. and Mrs. Hunter Catch Up to Their Daughter

Ling was in the middle of writing some of her dark poetry when suddenly her phone beeped. She got a text message ... from her mother. She rolled her eyes, groaning. "What does she want?"

Looking forward to having you back home soon, the message said.

"Ugh," Ling uttered, before sending her mother a message of her own.

Don't expect me there. You can light your lanterns yourself this year, the texted back. One of the main reasons she was a Goth was because she was rebelling against her family's stupid traditions. The last thing she wanted to do this spring was go home.

Diane Hunter was just returning home from the office when she got a text from her daughter. But reading it, she was confused. Light lanterns? What did that even mean? Was that slang for something? What did that have to do with celebrating Easter? She shook her head, thinking that her daughter must have intended to text someone else and accidentally sent her text to Diane instead.

Dropping her purse and her small briefcase down, Diane took a seat on the living room sofa. She really needed some relaxation. All of this constant working was getting to her. Of course, she really didn't mind it too much. She loved keeping busy. In fact, all her busyness had landed her a great job, and if everything went the way she hoped, in a few months she might even have the chance to become the company's next CEO. Her husband Shane owned his own hardware store downtown and that was enough for him. But Diane? She was always a go-getter. She was never the stay-at-home mom type. She was always moving forward, climbing the next mountain, so to speak. She was active in the community. Not only did she do a lot of stuff for the church, but she also attended PTA meetings, even after her daughter had graduated from high school and moved on to college.

Sighing, she stood up from the sofa and headed into the kitchen for a snack. But as she moved, she failed to realize that she was going through a change. Ling was Chinese, so that meant that her family needed to be too. And while they were somewhat gradual, the reality changes centered around Ling were changing aspects of her life, and that included her mother and father.

At first, Diane was just getting herself a snack, but soon found herself preparing for dinner. She was a terrible cook, so she was puzzled as to why she felt compelled to do so. But eventually, she just gave up trying to explain her odd behavior and just went with it. By the time she had the food cooking (her talents as a cook had increased phenomenally), she was no longer a white woman, and was instead Asian, or more specifically, Chinese. In fact, as her new memories told her, while she was born here in America, her parents weren't, having come here from China. So family traditions were very important to her.

Xiang (which was her new name) slaved over the meal she was cooking. Her husband would be home soon and would expect to eat dinner immediately. He was a difficult man to please sometimes, but with a job as demanding as his, Xiang couldn't complain. He was, after all, the only one making money for them (as the CEO of a major company downtown). Like always, Xiang Hong was a housewife. The moment she married Sheng (which was his new name, as he too was now Chinese), she immediately quit her job as a low-level office worker. Being part of the workforce was no place for a delicate flower such as Xiang. She just had no ambition to make herself any more than she was. But she was fine with being a housewife and nothing more. It was fulfilling enough for her.

Taking a small break, she looked at her phone again, reading the text message from her daughter once more. Only this time, it made sense to her what she was referring to. Buddha's Birthday was coming up and she wanted her daughter to come home and participate in the lighting of the lanterns, but as always, Ling was rebellious against their family and religious traditions. She hoped that being a Goth was only a phase. But she was still a Goth, even in college. She really worried about her daughter.

The sound of the front door opened and closed, diverting Xiang's attention away from the phone. She walked quickly to the front room and greeted her husband. Bowing slightly, she said "Welcome home, Sheng. Dinner is almost done." She took his jacket and put it in the closet, then rushed back to the kitchen. Like usual, she was making her husband's favorite meal - wonton dumplings.