Morning Dew - 晓露

Chapter 1: Mundanity

Chirp chirp chirp

Xiaolu opened her eyes, the smell of freshly made dumplings enticing her to wake up, and a choir of birds on her balcony beckoning her to greet the morning. Though she wasn't eager to leap out of bed, she knew she had to get up. She had to go to work, and she had to put on a brave face for her family so they wouldn't worry about her. Reaching for a remote on her nightstand, she sat up and turned off her air conditioner, the thin sheet that had been covering her falling to her waist. It had been set to 25 degrees Celsius, though it never reached that temperature. The intense tropical heat of Hainan never let up, not even at night. She grabbed a long shirt that was resting next to her pillow, tossed off the night before when she got into bed. Slipping it over her head, she pulled her hair out from under the collar, and got out of bed, the shirt falling to her mid thigh.

Standing at around 158cm, Xiaolu had an average frame - not thin but not chubby either. She had black hair that went down to her upper back, the ends resting just above the back strap of her bra. Her skin was pale from the hours she spent inside, avoiding the heat, but wasn't devoid of color. She had dark brown eyes, a button nose, and small, slightly prominent ears.

Unlocking her bedroom door, she walked to her balcony and greeted her birds. There was one male and three female cockatiels. The male's name was McNugget, a mostly white cockatiel with yellow accents and a spicy temper. His mate was named McFlurry, a predominantly gray female with white markings who was quite timid around humans. They had two daughters: McChicken, who had more gray than white with a splash of yellow, who was sweet and easy to handle, and McSpicy, who was more white than gray with a splash of yellow, and was just as spicy as her father.

"Good morning, hubby!" she said, as she greeted McNugget sweetly, opening the cage. She held out her hand for him to jump on. Once he did, she lifted him to her mouth to give him a kiss, but he bit her lip as he liked to do. It was his usual morning greeting to her. Not so hard as to break the skin, but hard enough to hurt. "Ow! So naughty!" She smiled a little at him, then placed him on her shoulder, took a deep breath, and walked to the kitchen.

Her father was preparing dumplings for breakfast. "Morning dad," she said, trying to sound cheerful. He grunted at her, continuing to cook. She walked to the electric kettle on the counter, filled it with tap water and started it. Then she went to the cabinet to grab a mug and a plastic canister filled with a dark powder. Placing them on the table, she then got her glass coffee dripper and paper filter. She readied everything, then stood in front of the kettle, watching it as it slowly came to boil, McNugget nibbling on her earlobe from time to time as she waited.

Click

The red light turned off. She fetched the kettle, carried it to the table, and poured a small amount over the filter, dampening it. After dumping out the excess water, she added coffee grounds to the filter and then started brewing coffee, slowly pouring the boiling hot water over the grounds.

As she did this, her father came over and placed a bowl of dumplings in front of her, along with a small dish of black vinegar for dipping. "Next time after using the bathroom, remember to clean it. There was shit stu-"

"DAD! I'm about to eat!" Her ears and cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"Just remember-"

"I got it!" she interrupted, flustered. "I will!"

She put the kettle down, the liquid from the filter still trickling into the mug. As she began to eat, her father brought two more bowls of dumplings to the table. They sat there quietly, Xiaolu occasionally feeding bits of dumpling filling to McNugget while she chewed. They were pork dumplings that her parents had made the night before.