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“Mum, where are you going?” Felix was sitting on the uncomfortable bed of a motel room, legs crossed as he looked up at his mother with wide, questioning eyes.
“I told you, we came here so I could work. Stop asking questions. I’ll be back later.” Without another word, she disappeared, slamming the door behind her. Felix listened as the sound of her very high heels became further and further away.
Eventually, silence enveloped the room. Felix was on his own, but that was okay. He knew that Mum was working very hard and his teacher always said that working hard was one of the best things you could do. Plus, he had been left alone in motel rooms a couple of times before, so he knew how to entertain himself.
Climbing off the bed, he walked over to the small kitchen counter that sat on the floor. He opened the cupboards and took out each of the plates and bowls, lining them up next to each other. It was always interesting to see how many the owners of the motel thought were enough. This time, they had two bowls, two mugs, two little plates, and two regular-sized plates, as well as two forks, two knives, two big spoons and…three little spoons? That was different. There were two of everything else but three little spoons. Perhaps the workers miscounted when they were putting the cutlery back, or they left an extra little spoon as a surprise for anyone who was smart enough to notice! That was it. Felix had cracked the code. His teacher was always telling him that he was super smart, this was just putting his skills to the test.
Placing the extra spoon in his pocket as a trophy, Felix moved on to the fridge.
This one was much less exciting, with only a couple of long-life milk pods sitting in the door, so Felix moved on rather quickly.
He managed to drag one of the chairs sitting at the table over to the kitchen bench and climb on top of it to see what there was. It was also pretty boring, with only some soap and what he assumed were tea bags. They didn’t even have the tea that Nanna liked to drink. They obviously didn’t know a lot about good tea, Nanna drinks the best tea.
Felix had been so distracted by searching the motel room from top to bottom that he didn’t even notice it had become dark outside. It was only when he heard the familiar sound of his mum’s high heels that he paused his rummaging. Looking over at the door, his mum entered the room in a hurry, rushing over to where Felix was sitting at the small table.
“In the bathroom, now,” she said, picking Felix right up off the chair and carrying him under his arms towards the bathroom.
Dropping him on the cold, tiled floor, she pulled the door almost closed, sticking her head back in one more time.
“If you make any noise, you’ll be sorry,” she hissed before closing the door. Felix knew the drill; he was to stay in the bathroom, being as quiet as he possibly could, and only come out when Mum said it was okay.
Not long after the door had closed, Felix heard a man’s voice coming from the other room. It wasn’t one that he recognised, but that didn’t happen often these days. There had been a couple of times where Felix could picture the face of the man his mum brought back from work, having seen him return a couple of times, but this one he had absolutely no clue what he could look like. Felix wondered if he looked nice, like one of the dads he saw picking up his classmates after school, arms perfect for hugs and smiles that made you smile too.
Only a little while later, Felix began hearing strange noises coming from the other room. His mum always made those noises whenever men came home from work with her, it was very odd. She never made those noises around him, was it because he wasn’t special enough? Or maybe it was an adult thing. Whenever he had asked about the men who came home with his mum, she would always dismiss the question, giving a half-hearted answer that went along the lines of “you’re too young to understand”.
To distract himself from the noises, Felix began going through the bathroom cupboards, making sure to be extra careful so he didn’t make any noise and make Mum disappointed. He had one job, and he would make sure he did it the best he could!
Sadly, the cupboard under the sink was pretty empty. There were only a couple of extra rolls of toilet paper and some cleaning products. Curious, Felix opened the cap of one of the bright purple bottles and sniffed. He regretted it immediately, scrunching up his face and holding the bottle as far away from himself as possible. It smelt terrible, why would anyone want to use this!?
Once he had replaced everything in the cupboard, Felix carefully climbed over the edge of the small bath so he was standing below the shower head. This shower was much fancier than the one they had at home, it had a bath attached to it! He wondered what it would be like to have a bath and a shower at the same time. Maybe Mum would let him try it out once the man had gone home.
Stretching up onto his tippy toes, Felix was able to squirt some of the body wash into his hand. This one smelt much better than the last, plus it looked like it had glitter in it when he moved his hand around! That gave it extra cool points.
He used his clean finger to mix the body wash around in his hand, drawing shapes with it in his hand. It felt really nice, all soft and thick. Plus, once he had mixed it a lot, it went a more opaque colour! His teacher had just taught them the difference between opaque, translucent and transparent so he was having fun using all the new words he knew.
After a while, the room outside the bathroom went quiet. Felix pressed his ear up against the door to try and tell whether or not the strange man had left. To him, it sounded like the man had left, but he didn’t open the door to check just in case Mum got angry with him. He wouldn’t break the rules.
He waited for a long time, sitting on the uncomfortable tiled floor, staring at the door handle as he silently willed it to turn and let him out. Felix looked at the door handle until his neck hurt and he had to look away. At first, the new, interesting space had been fun but at this point, he was just getting bored. The motel room had been quiet for what felt like hours, why wasn’t he being let out?
Finally, just as Felix was dosing off against the cupboards, the door handle clicked and the door opened just a crack. He sprang to his feet and opened it the rest of the way, revealing his mum lying on the bed. Felix hurried over to her, jumping onto the bed and crawling so his face was above hers.
“Hi, Mum!” he said excitedly, a broad smile on his face. His mum opened her eyes just a crack to look up at him before groaning and pushing him away. She muttered something under her breath but Felix couldn’t quite tell what it was. He expected that it was probably in Korean and that’s why he couldn’t understand. He had to admit that he felt a little bit hurt by his mum pushing him away like that, but she was probably just tired from work. That was okay! He was tired after school sometimes, so now it was probably better to let her rest.
Crawling over to the other side of the bed, Felix slid under the thin, scratchy covers and settled down for sleep. Having been so close to sleep when he was sitting in the bathroom, Felix fell asleep rather quickly, but not before he managed out a quiet “night night, Mum”. He didn’t hear a response before he slipped into dreamland, but that was probably just because he fell asleep before his mum could respond. She definitely did, that was out of the question. She was Mum, and mums always said goodnight to their kids before bed.
The next morning, Felix was woken up by sunlight streaming across the room from the uncovered window. Blinking, he rolled over to see his mum sitting at the small table, sipping a steaming cup of something as she stared at the wall. Felix couldn’t help but smile when he saw her, springing out of bed and hurrying over to her, wrapping his arms around her middle.
“Good morning, Mum!” he said, cheek smushed against her chest which made his voice sound all funny. He giggled and pulled back. “Did you hear how silly my voice sounded?” He squished his cheeks with his hands again and some gibberish came out of his mouth. Felix couldn’t help but burst into giggles again.
“Shi…” his mum muttered as she brought the mug to her lips again. It was then that Felix spotted a circular red mark on his mum’s arm.
“Mum, what’s that? Did you get a boo-boo? Do you want me to kiss it better for you? Miss East said–”
“I don’t care what Miss East said! Just pack your things and then we’re leaving,” his mum spat, swallowing the last of her tea in one go. Felix looked down at the floor, fiddling with his hands as he felt his mum’s gaze burning him. “Are you deaf? I said we’re leaving.” Felix nodded, hurrying back over to the bed and picking up his jacket. It was the only thing he had brought with him since Mum had said they would only be away for one night.
There weren’t any other people at the bus stop just down the road from the motel, so Felix was able to use the whole thing as his playground. The pole that had the bus schedule on it was the funnest thing to play on, in his opinion. You could swing around it and even climb it to try and touch the top of the bus timetable!
Luckily, the bus wasn’t too far away and they were soon climbing on board, Felix greeting the bus driver with a smile and wave. The old man winked back at him, which made Felix smile even wider.
Felix was used to the 30-minute bus ride home and entertained himself by looking out the window and counting how many yellow cars he saw. Some of his classmates talked about playing ‘yellow car’ with each other, so he assumed this was what it must be. He counted 15 yellow cars as they rode through the streets of suburban Sydney, a new record!
Once they were off at their bus stop, it was another 10-minute walk until they arrived at home, but that was okay. It was a little chilly, so Felix wrapped his jacket tighter around himself and warmed up his body by skipping ahead of his mum before running back when he got too far ahead.
Finally, they were back home. But there was a familiar car parked outside of their house.
“Nanna!” Felix cried, running into his Nanna’s arms once she got out of the car. Nanna hugged him tightly.
“Oh my, Felix, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you! Stop doing that, you’re almost up to my shoulders now!” Felix giggled, standing on his tippy toes to show just how tall he had grown. But before either of them could say anything else, Felix’s mum spoke, this time in Korean. Felix had no idea what she was saying to Nanna, but she sounded angry. When Nanna responded, she sounded equally as upset.
The two women went back and forth, voices slowly getting louder and louder as Felix watched helplessly, not understanding a single word. He sometimes felt a little left out when Mum and Nanna spoke in Korean, but Nanna taught him new words every time he went over to her house. It was his goal to be able to surprise Mum and talk to her in Korean one day!
“Felix?” Nanna said eventually, crouching down so she was the same height as him. “I want you to take my key and go into your room and get your school uniform and your bag, okay? You can grab anything else you want to bring, as long as it fits in your bag or your hands.” Felix’s eyes widened.
“I’m spending the night with you?!” he asked excitedly.
“You sure are,” Nanna said grinning, handing him her keys that had uncountable decorations hanging off them. Felix held the keys tightly in his hands as he hurried down to the front door, sliding the key inside the lock and making his way into the house. He was so excited that he almost forgot to take off his shoes before he actually went into the hallway. How silly!
Running into his room, Felix grabbed his school bag from the floor and picked up his uniform from the floor, stuffing it inside along with his few sheets of homework. He loved staying with his Nanna, this was going to be the best Sunday ever.
As he picked up a few stray things he could need while at Nanna’s house, Felix heard his mum enter the house. He knew it was Mum because no one else slammed the door like that.
There wasn’t much actually in his room to take with him, so Felix was ready to go within a few minutes. Pulling on his school bag, he grabbed Nanna’s keys from his mattress and hurried back into the living room where Mum was sitting on the couch. He hurried over to her and hugged her tightly.
“I’ll see you after school on Monday, Mum! I’ll tell you all about the stuff I do with Nanna so you don’t feel left out.” His mum just hummed in response as Felix hurried to pull his trainers back on and ran out the front door, making sure it clicked shut before heading towards Nanna’s car.
Nanna opened the back door for him and helped Felix buckle himself into his booster seat. He could technically do it by himself now, but he secretly liked it when Nanna helped him so pretended that he couldn’t get it.
During the drive to Nanna’s house, Felix told her all about what they had done that week, including how he discovered that body wash became more opaque if you mixed it enough.
“That’s because when you mix it little bubbles of air get stuck in the body wash. All the bubbles next to each other make the more opaque colour,” Nanna explained to him. Felix grinned.
“I’m gonna tell that to Miss East, she’ll be really impressed that I learnt that.”
“I bet she will.”
When they arrived, Felix hurried inside as soon as the door was unlocked, running over to the couch where Nanna’s elderly labrador, Dal, was lying. He scratched behind her ears and hugged the dog.
“I missed you, Dal,” he murmured into her fur. Felix heard Nanna laughing from the kitchen table.
“She certainly missed you too, look at her tail going.” It was true, Dal’s tail had begun wagging the moment Felix approached her. She was now placing big, sloppy kisses all over Felix’s face as he giggled and squirmed to get away.
“You go put your bag in your room and I’ll make you some food,” Nanna then told him. Felix scrambled to his feet and rushed the few steps into the spare bedroom. He hadn’t eaten since the day before so he was starving.
Nanna’s house was relatively small, mostly being one big room, but Felix loved it. The walls of the combined living room and kitchen were painted green, Nanna’s favourite colour, and there were little fox figures everywhere (foxes were Nanna’s favourite animal). Of course, you also had to have the fairies around the house to show the real fairies that this house was a safe space for them to make their homes.
When he came back out, there was a large plate of cut-up fruit and other snacks, everything from oranges and apples to rice crackers and hummus. Felix had never seen anything so delicious-looking. He scrambled to wash his hands in the kitchen sink, not even having to use the steppy stool anymore, before taking a seat at the table and munching down on a piece of apple.
“I know it’s quite snack-y but I’ll make us something proper a little later on, it’s quite early for lunch at the moment,” Nanna told him, taking the seat opposite him (after moving some of the clutter that had been dumped there).
“That’s okay, it’s still really yummy,” Felix told her through full cheeks, giggling and blushing as Nanna gave him a disapproving look. She hated people talking with their mouths full.
Lunch was a delicious bowl of soup with rice and a few homemade side dishes. Felix spent the afternoon cuddling on the couch with Dal and watching cartoons, belly comfortably full, while Nanna stitched up some holes in his school uniform.
For dinner, it was Felix’s absolute favourite; jjajangmyeon. There was something about Nanna’s jjajangmyeon that was just incredible. The old lady gave him an extra large helping of the noodles with lots of the delicious black bean sauce. Felix sat on the floor and slurped up his noodles like there was no tomorrow.
Once he had finished, Felix felt like he couldn’t eat another bite. He was so full but he had absolutely no regrets.
He helped Nanna do the dishes in the kitchen before running back to cuddle with Dal.
“Felix, how about we give you a bath?” Nanna suggested. Felix shot up. He loved baths.
“Okay!” he said, hurrying towards the bathroom.
“Get your pyjamas out of your bag first and I’ll start running the water,” Nanna chuckled. Felix skidded to a halt and sprinted back towards the spare bedroom, rummaging around in his bag before he finally found his pyjamas.
By the time he got to the bathroom, hot water was already filling the bathtub and there were small bottles lined up on the edge of the sink.
“What colour would you like your bath to be today?” Nanna asked. Felix grinned, walking over to the sink and inspecting the bottles of food colouring carefully. Nanna always let him make his bath a fun colour, which was the most exciting part about bath time.
“I want pink!” Felix said after a long time of going back and forth. This was a very serious decision, he couldn't get it wrong.
“Pink it is then, bring the bottle over here.” Felix picked up the bottle of food colouring and handed it to Nanna to open. Giggling at Nanna’s now stained palms, Felix took the bottle from her and poured a few drops into the water, Nanna mixing it around with her hand. It became the most perfect pink colour that Felix could have ever dreamed of. He grinned at Nanna, who grinned back.
Once the bath was full enough, Felix climbed in, comforted by the warm water that enveloped him. Nanna gently washed Felix’s hair for him and Felix loved every second of it. Nanna was so gentle as she scrubbed shampoo into his long hair, telling him stories of her and Grandad from when they lived in Korea.
“It was a simpler life back then, but also more difficult at times,” she told him. “The Japanese were in charge of Korea, which was why we had to leave and come here in the first place. Once we moved to Australia, life was like paradise.” She had a warm smile on her face the entire time she told Felix about his grandfather.
“Can I tell him about school after my bath?” Felix asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“Of course you can,” Nanna told him, picking up a bar of soap before beginning to gently wash his skin.
“What is the word for soap in Korean?” he asked her.
“Bi-nu.”
“Bi-nu,” Felix repeated.
“Perfect pronunciation, Felix, have you been practising?” Felix grinned broadly, giggling slightly at the compliment.
“What’s the Korean word for that?” he asked, pointing at the little fox sitting on the windowsill.
“For fox?” He nodded. “Yeo-u.” Felix repeated the word, earning another congratulations from Nanna.
“Wait, wait, how do I say you like foxes?”
“That Nanna likes foxes or that Felix likes foxes?”
“That I like foxes because Nanna likes foxes.” Nanna said the sentence to Felix, who did not understand anything she was saying but still tried his absolute best to repeat the words.
Once Felix was out of the bath and all dried off, Nanna led him into the art room, what used to be Grandad’s studio. Now, sitting next to his easel was a small little altar with a photo of a smiling man on it, accompanied by some candles. Felix and Nanna knelt down in front of it, Nanna giving Felix the go-ahead to talk to his Grandad. Felix told the man all about what he had been learning about in school and the class project on butterflies they had recently completed–all the things he had been telling Nanna when he first saw her. He also told her about how Mum was working hard at her job and doing her very best for him.
Even though he couldn’t remember his grandad, it was still nice to talk to him, especially after Nanna had told him all of the stories about the two of them. Felix just knew he was one of those people who gave the best hugs, exactly like the ones in the storybooks Miss East would read his class.
Eventually, Felix let out a big yawn, eyes feeling heavy as his words slurred together. In his half-asleep state, he felt some arms wrap around him and lift him off the ground. Before he knew it, warm blankets were wrapped around him and a gentle kiss was being placed on his forehead.
“Goodnight, my Felix,” Nanna whispered, stroking his hair as Felix was on the brink of sleep.
“Night night, Nanna,” he managed to mumble out before he was whisked away to the land of dreams.
——
The next morning, Nanna dropped Felix off at school, his uniform all nice and clean. Felix felt very fancy walking into his classroom with his uniform all tidy and washed, the holes stitched over. Even his teacher noticed, giving him a special prize at the end of the day for having the tidiest uniform out of anyone in the class!
Once the final bell rang, Felix skipped towards the front gate, excited to see Mum after not seeing her for a whole day! Except, when he waited just inside the gate with all the other kids, Mum wasn’t there. It was okay, though, she was probably just running a little late.
So he waited…and waited…and waited.
Eventually, they had to lock the school up and Felix had to wait out on the street, choosing to sit under a big apple tree right next to the gate so Mum could find him easily. He tried to climb it, but it didn’t work very well, so he just sat on one of the roots and watched the streets as he waited for Mum to appear from around one of the corners.
He wasn’t sure how long he waited there, but eventually, the sky began to get darker and darker. Felix leaned back against the trunk of the tree, eyes slipping shut, but he was jerked awake again by someone grabbing his upper arm and pulling him to his feet.
Looking up, he saw Mum standing there! Although, she looked a little worried.
“Get up, we’re going to the airport first thing in the morning. The second we get home, you’re packing an overnight bag, understood?” she said briskly, pulling him down the street so urgently that he almost didn’t get a chance to grab his school bag.
“Where are we going?” he asked excitedly. “Is it a trip for my birthday?!” His seventh birthday was only a week or so away, maybe this was a surprise for him!
“Something like that,” Mum said, not looking at him. Felix understood, she must be trying to hide her expression so she didn’t give away any secrets.
He didn’t ask any more questions until they got home, heading straight for his room. He still had his clothes from yesterday in his school bag, so why should he have to pack new ones? He just took his homework bag out of his backpack and zipped it up once more, crawling into bed as soon as he could in an attempt to make tomorrow come sooner.
Felix fell asleep to the thoughts of all the places they could be visiting for his birthday, all the special things he would get to do with Mum!
Morning couldn’t come soon enough.
The End.