My Foreign Sister, Katie Coyne English Teacher: Mrs. Howe Seventh Grade

As I waited and waited, the minutes slowly slugging by one after another, I wondered if I was actually dreaming, everything seemed so still and dull, as if someone had pressed the mute button on a remote. I looked up, only to find that I surely was not dreaming. Huge black terminals were staring hardly back at me. Luggage carousels housed bulky suitcases and ripped duffel bags as they made their slow, circular journey around and around. I whipped my head around to stare and saw a small coffee shop, with its mocha-cinnamon scent counteracting the fruity floral stand’s smell next to it. Elevators zigzagged up each floor looking like a metallic heart monitor. Everything seemed bleak, as if the life and color had been sucked out of everything. The only things that I knew were alive were the two little girls that everyone had their eyes on. Both wore maroon and gold Minnesota hockey sweatshirts and uniform pants. One had a messy mop of red hair and cinnamon brown eyes. The other had straight brown hair that flipped out at the sides. They were chasing each other, playing an endless game of tag. Both were shrieking and giggling while the whole baggage claim stared at them. They were my sisters. I sighed, and turned away, not wanting to be associated with them. I knew I needed to calm down, but how could I when I was about to let a stranger from a foreign land into my home? As far as I know, South Korea is basically on the other side of the world. A fourteen-hour flight over seas would bring ten-year-old Julia Lim into our home. I paced back and forth in front of my collapsed and exhausted parents. As I pace, I wonder, “ Will she like me, will I like her? Does she play sports? Does she sing? What is her favorite color?” As I ponder more questions to ask her, I give up pacing and try to calm myself down. Without much luck, I stare up at the barely moving, ticking clock and realize its only been five minutes. Defeated, I sit back down in my chair and try to sit extremely still for a couple minutes, until I realize that it is completely silent. Even my pesky sisters to stop running and stare straight ahead. I look up in wonder to see what was causing all the non-commotion. Then, I see a girl. She looks like a little porcelain doll. Wide almond colored eyes and silky, thick black hair in a bob cut. She stares around nervously. Then, she sees us, and breaks into a smile. This makes me smile to, and suddenly I don’t know why I was worrying at all. Of course, I know this girl. I’m not nervous at all, I know her and she knows me, my foreign sister.