Tae Seung

Black, unruly hair stuck to the sides of my face and my feet almost slipped as I nervously walked up the small stairs to the stage. Clammy hands on my guitar. Trying not to drop it. I knew that this was my last chance to audition. If I failed, I would have to search for another place that might accept me, or at the worst I would be taken into a part time job I didn't want.
The watchful eyes of the audience stared into my soul. I just wanted to get this over with. Though the thought of performing in front of so many strangers really got to me. I was moving slowly, and could tell the restaurant owners didn't like me, by the impatient ways they tapped their feet, or looked at their fancy watches. Seeing them, I felt dejected. Quietly sitting down on the rusty little chair set out for me, I fixed the microphone to the height of my mouth so it could amplify my voice, and the sound of my quitar. I looked into the awkward audience. Quickly scanning the rows to see if anyone at all was there that could give me confidence, I found someone. It was like an angel had fallen from the sky, and it made me imagine feathers floating about the air. He glowed and gave me a thumbs up. With that boost of confidence, I performed with all I had.

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"So how was school?" asked Maria, the bartender of the restaurant I performed at.

"It was fine," I replied, though it was just as boring as always. Being a 17 year old was tough, though thankfully my time in highschool was almost up. I walked over to the back of the place, and put my bag down. Sitting at a table by the window, I took out my guitar and started to practice the new song my band mates and I had come up with. We debuted here last year when I had made the audition, so some other boys who made it joined me and we became a group of three, performing for people at the restaurant once a week.
Life was finally moving somewhere since my parents divorced. We came here to Cleveland from South Korea when I was around nine years old. This was because my mom's sister lived in the neighborhood, so she wanted to live close to her again.
The first thing I thought when I saw our new house was YUCK! because everything around it was full of trash. The neighborhood needed a makeover, and a few years later, it got just that. A community garden had sprung up in the not-so-vacant lot a few blocks away from our house. It made my mom especially happy because she used to be a gardener at the nursery where I grew up. We watched as the garden grew, and the gardeners cleaned up the neighborhood. Everything seemed to be going fine, but soon I started to notice my mom and dad getting in fights more and more. It was like they didn't love each other anymore like they used to.
Suddenly, last year one day, dad told me he was moving out. After he was gone, mom said that she was moving too because of her new job. I knew I could take care of myself, but I still had school! And I didn't even know how to cook?!? What would I do by myself?

Mom told me that I wouldn't be alone. "My lovely Tae Seung, you won't be by yourself. Aunt Sae Young will be here to take care of you. Don't forget to behave, I know you'll be fine." The door creaked shut and I was left dumbfounded in the empty house. That was the last time I saw her. Before I knew it, my life had changed and it would never be the same.

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I breathed in the warm, fresh air of fruits and veggies being grown in the community garden. I always liked to jog past it on my way to work from school. I waved cheerfully at Curtis, my friend from middle school. He had graduated high school before me, so we didn't go to school together anymore, but he had always been there to cheer me on at my band performances. He waved back as he started to water his tomatoes.
Later, when I got to the restaurant, my friends had already started to warm up, getting ready for rehearsal.
"Sorry guys, I'm a little late," I said as I put my things down.

Camron, our drummer replied first. "It's cool my man Tae, no worries."

"We just got here, and we were early. You were barely even late, so no need to apologize," exclaimed the keyboardist of our band, Nate. I sat down with my guitar and we started practice.

After we had finished, it was time to head home. I wondered what yummy food aunt Sae Young had made for me tonight. Passing the garden on my way home I felt something flatten under my feet. I had stumbled across a now smushed, purple flower on the ground. It looked like it was part of the bellflower family. It reminded me of my mothers favorite flower she liked to plant. The balloon flower.

A light bulb lit up inside of my head. I had an idea. Racing home, I swung the door open, quickly setting my things down and left before aunt Sae Young could say anything. I dropped by the convenience store and jogged over to the gardening section. Looking through rows and rows of seed packets I found a row of them that were labeled "balloon flowers''. Once I bought them and thanked the salesman, I headed over to the garden and checked the tool shed. Sure enough, there were plenty of extra supplies. Taking a trowel, potting soil, and an empty pot, I began planting the flowers. It felt amazing. I remembered how my mom would look when gardening, and the curious sparkle in her eyes. I felt it too. I don't know why it had taken so long, but I finally realized that I couldn't forget about the past. I couldn't neglect the thought of contributing to the garden either. I was really happy.

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Soon a couple weeks went by and the flowers had finally sprouted. I told Camron and Nate all about it, and invited them to come to the garden with me. During our performance that week I announced that I had benefited from the garden, and recommended for people to visit it.
Even more people had started coming to the garden after that. It was wonderful to spread happiness to others. My balloon flowers had sprouted, and so had my feelings for gardening. My life became quite busy, attending band practices and band concerts, going to school, exercising, and taking time for myself. Though it was great nonetheless.

A few days after my flowers had taken full bloom, I was watering them, and I saw a familiar car pass by. I didn't know if it was a hallucination or not, but I thought I saw my mom sitting peacefully in the front seat. The car slowly drove past, and the lady who I thought was my mom looked over at my flowers. She smiled, then kept driving. I looked up at the blue sky with a grin on my face.