A Bubble of Wonder
By Rachel Zhang
kindergartener. “Mommy, mommy! Look at what I drew! Isn’t it pretty?” she asked.
“Oh, of course dear! It looks beautiful; let me hang it on the wall. Also, I bought a little gift for you at the shop today. Here,” her mom said, handing her a little package.
Susan excitedly tore through the wrapping and took the object out. “A bubble wand, Mommy? I wanted it for so long! It’s such a fun toy! Oh, thank you so much!” Susan wrapped her arms around her mom and hugged her tight.
“Now, why don’t we go outside to play with it then?” mom said. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Yay!” Susan replied.
Ten years later:
“AARGH! This does not make sense!” Susan cried, as she looked at her chemistry notebook again. “How do I calculate the molar mass of the unknown gas X?”
Susan decided to take a short break from all the studying she’s doing. She wandered around her room, still wondering about how to do that one chemistry problem she couldn’t figure out, when she suddenly noticed a little package in the corner of her eye. She went to the little package on the corner of her table. Huh, I don’t remember seeing this here. What is it? She opened the package. It was a half-empty bubble wand. Oh I remember this now! My mom bought it for me when I was young! Susan opened the cap, dipped the wand into the bubble solution, and blew, creating a giant bubble. It looks so pretty with several colors spiraling around. Susan decided that she would have to get back to work now. Wait, the answers to the question popped into her mind!
Susan sat back at her desk. The bubble acted as a temporary break for her mind from all the tension from studying. Yes! I know the answer!
Ten years later:
Sarah [Susan???] was crying softly in her bed. She has just received a call from the hospital, saying that her mother went into a coma after being hit by a car on the street and her chances of waking up are very low. Oh, whatever will I do now? My mom is everything to me. When I was young and sad, she would hug me, encouraging me to keep doing my best and ignore the bullies. She is who made me what I am. She’s in a coma now, what if she never wakes up?
She reached to her bedside and opened the small package containing the bubble wand, her favorite toy when she was five years old. Mother had bought it for her. Susan blew a small bubble, remembering her wonderful memories of her and her mom blowing bubbles in their backyard. She held tightly onto the bubble wand, which was the most precious thing her mother had given her when she was a child. Susan realized that she couldn’t give up hope. She would stay by her mother’s side each day talking to her until her mother woke up from her coma.