Contact

Chapter 1 - An Offer To Stay The Weekend

It turns out, Cazia (or Caz, as he preferred to be called), Miri, and Mr. Mesji didn't just return once every weekend for the astronomy club, but they also kept in touch with me and my family. My parents adopted Caz and Miri as their children, and Mr. Mesji quickly elevated himself to the status of "beloved family friend". The friendship grew quickly, especially since they had newly arrived in America as immigrants from Japan. On the first Christmas Eve after meeting them, my parents invited them over for dinner, and we took them along on our New Year's Eve trip to Boston. As the bond between the two groups strengthened, I learned even more about Caz, Miri, and Mr. Mesji, about how they had recently come from Japan, about how they all missed home, even without many ties to there, and how they loved to cook but they couldn't find the ingredients in the supermarkets.

They were kind, hospitable, and intriguing, to say the least. And one day, in mid-January, Mr. Mesji gave my mom an offer over tea.

"Helen," he said, the conversation being picked up just around the corner by Caz, Miri, my brother, and I as we all played cards, "We enjoy the company of your family so much, and to me, at least, Stella has become something of a granddaughter. I was curious if you would allow her to stay with us on the weekends, as she's been so helpful and kind, and it's wonderful to have someone who's so willing to help explain things to me."

Caz and Miri both looked at each other, both of their eyes excitedly lighting up. It was clear from the looks on their faces that neither of them were expecting Mr. Mesji to be asking my mom that. There was a pause as my mom considered it, which was broken as she said,

"I'll have to talk it over with my husband and daughter first, but I would be fine with that."

Meanwhile, around the corner, Caz, Miri, and I were excitedly cheering, with Caz doing a very small happy dance. Even though they were either in college (Miri) or already graduated from college (Caz), they were both youthful, which made it easier to connect with them. And hopefully, I would be able to spend even more time with them at their house in northern New Hampshire.

Later that night, when my mom asked my dad if it would be okay for me to stay with Caz, Miri, and Mr. Mesji, the answer was a yes.

One week later, I was pulling up to the front door of their house. It was a fairly good sized 2-story house, with a large field leading into the forests, which in turn led off into the mountains. It was beautiful, especially with everything covered in a fresh new layer of snow. Everything glittered, and even the air felt more new and more fresh.

"STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

I looked up as Caz, wearing no shoes on his feet, sprinted directly out of the house to greet me.

"Caz," I laughed, hauling two bags out of my car, "How's it going? I see... I see you don't have any shoes!"

"I'm cold! How are you? Do you need help with your bags? I can't feel my feet and it's exhilarating!"

I tossed Caz one of my bags, and replied,

"Here you go! Now please go inside, you're going to give me a fucking heart attack."

Caz did a half-salute, and then sprinted back inside the house. I laughed, and shouldered another bag, then dragged that inside as well.

"Stella!" Mr. Mesji, who was sitting inside the kitchen, happily exclaimed, "How are you doing? I trust you got the warm welcome from Cazia?"

We both turned to look at him, who at that point was still trying to frantically warm his feet. I stared at him for some time, before turning back to Mr. Mesji and asking,