{"id":189,"date":"2022-02-22T13:20:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T13:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/?page_id=189"},"modified":"2022-06-29T15:28:44","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T15:28:44","slug":"fortune-cookies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/?page_id=189","title":{"rendered":"Fortune Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fortune-cookie.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-343\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fortune-cookie.png 512w, https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fortune-cookie-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fortune-cookie-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fortune-cookie-70x70.png 70w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 120px) 100vw, 120px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>My family has eaten at Wong\u2019s every Thursday since I can remember. We eat family style, my father ordering enough food to feed us three meals. We all pig out and then take the rest home. After the waiter takes the leftover food to pack up in clean white cardboard boxes, Mrs. Wong herself comes out to ask how the meal was. The meal is always fantastic and Mrs. Wong takes her weekly praise from us with a small nod of her head. Mrs. Wong then places the bill beside my father. She places the plate of fortune cookies in front of me. She knows it\u2019s my favorite part of the meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am the only member of my family who believes the fortunes in fortune cookies. I always try to remember who got which fortune and remind them during the week how it came true. They laugh at me, funny little baby of the family, still believes in fairies and leprechauns and fortunes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week I announce to the table at large that whoever doesn\u2019t believe in fortune cookies may not have one. I guard the plate of cookies by hugging it to me and leaning over it. My father says not to be silly. Mom says that she is too full for a cookie, anyway. My brother Ted whines like a baby, instead of the 15-year-old that he is, \u201cMom! Don\u2019t let Sarah hog the cookies!\u201d My sister, Linda, smiles silently at me, not wanting to get involved. Her husband, Hank, says, \u201cSarah, what if you keep all the fortunes, but let us have the cookies?\u201d Hank is a problem solver my father says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGreat idea!\u201d I say, \u201cThen I\u2019ll get all the good luck!\u201d I pull all the fortunes out of the cookies, shove the tiny strips of paper in my pants pocket and pass the plate around. Mrs. Wong pats me on the shoulder and says, \u201cYou are wise. Fortunes always come true.\u201d She turns and goes back to the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My father says that he once got a fortune that read, \u2018Help! I\u2019m being held captive in a fortune cookie factory.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope that one wasn\u2019t true,\u201d he says, and we all laugh and stand up to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the car on the way home, I unfurl one fortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMiles are covered, one step at a time,\u201d I read out loud to my father, mother and brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSee!\u201d I say, \u201cThis one is already true. I\u2019m going on a hike and camping overnight with the Forest Scouts tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow about that?\u201d says my mother, smiling at me. \u201cTry another one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I take another fortune out of my pocket and read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u2019Soon, life will become more interesting.\u2019 That must mean that the camping and hiking are going to be fun!\u201d I say to my family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeware of that one,\u201d says my father, \u201cThere\u2019s a curse that states \u2018May you live in interesting times.\u2019 It\u2019s not always good when things get interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I ignore that. My family is entirely too normal. They don\u2019t believe in magic or Santa Claus or fortune cookies. How boring is that? When I get home, I finish packing for the camping weekend. I have an extra, smaller backpack inside my bigger one that is filled with What-Ifs. What-Ifs are things you might need in an emergency or other unexpected event. I always have What-Ifs with me, but they differ, depending on the situation. My school What-If bag is a small zippered pencil case with Band-Aids and elastic bands and safety pins. Before my school instituted the no-tolerance policy about bringing weapons to school, I used to carry a pocket knife with 25 tools, including a corkscrew. I\u2019ve never needed the corkscrew, and I don\u2019t know why anyone else would need one, either. People buy wine and take it home where there is a corkscrew in a drawer. I can\u2019t imagine that anyone has a craving for wine, buys a bottle to drink right away and suddenly realizes they need a corkscrew. Maybe I\u2019m wrong. Maybe it\u2019s one of those things I\u2019ll find out is perfectly normal once I become an adult. Like grapefruit spoons. They seem silly, but they are very handy for eating a grapefruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A pocket knife is not primarily a weapon. It\u2019s a useful tool. But when I tried to complain about the no-tolerance policy, all the adults shut me down. So, now I only carry the pocket knife outside of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will carry my What-If backpack with me at all times while camping. It has a small first aid kit, and my pocket knife, of course. It also has a flashlight with zoom function, a compass, a neon reflective vest and a lightweight lifesaving blanket. The backpack itself has a whistle built into a clip on the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My father comes in while I\u2019m packing my What-If bag and asks if I think I really need all that for a one-night camping trip. I say I like to be prepared. He asks if my troop leader, Des, doesn\u2019t already have all this stuff. I say I like to be prepared, emphasizing the word \u2018I\u2019. My father sighs and leaves the room. A while back, my parents sat me down to talk about my \u2018anxiety\u2019. I told them I didn\u2019t have anxiety. I didn\u2019t worry that anything bad was going to happen. I just liked to be ready for anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My best friend Benji and I are excited about the camping trip. We squeal about it the next day in the back seat of the car until Benji\u2019s dad says, \u201cGirls! For the sake of my eardrums, will you please tone it down?\u201d We try our best, but Benji lets out one more squeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBenjamina!\u201d warns her dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOops,\u201d says Benji. We spend the rest of the trip nudging each other and whisper-giggling. Benji\u2019s dad turns up the music to tune us out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are wiggling with so much anticipation for our hiking and camping trip I decide to read another fortune, just to calm us down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDepart not from the path which fate has you assigned,\u201d I tell Benji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt means don\u2019t get lost,\u201d her dad says as he pulls into the parking lot where our counselor Des is waiting with nine other scouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a two-hour hike, we make it to base camp. Des splits us into groups for putting up tents, gathering wood for a fire and making dinner. Benji and I are on wood gathering duty. Des gives us a canvas sling for larger pieces of wood and a canvas bag for thinner kindling. She reminds us that \u201cdeader is better,\u201d but don\u2019t disturb fallen tree trunks and logs. We\u2019ve already learned all about this kind of thing in the Forest Scouts; which wood makes the best fire and how dead, waterlogged stumps and large chunks of wood become homes for small animals. We want dry branches that have broken off from trees and fallen to the ground. I\u2019m wearing my What-If backpack. My pocket knife has a small saw for cutting smaller twigs from larger branches. We cross the campsite and Des calls after us, \u201cDon\u2019t go past the path that runs along the top of the ridge! Ranger Sullivan said that it\u2019s unstable because of all the rain we\u2019ve had. Remember, it used to be a river bank, so the ground there isn\u2019t as hard-packed as in other places. The ridge path is the boundary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji picks up her day pack. I already have mine on. We tell Des that we won\u2019t go past the path and we head off into the woods. It\u2019s still very light out, even in the woods, and we look around for suitable branches for our fire. Soon we come across a wide path that runs parallel to the direction we are going and realize that this is the ridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ridge is not a cliff-like drop off. A person could scramble up or down it if they needed to. It\u2019s pretty steep, though, and deep. The river used to run here about 300 years ago, according to Des. On previous hikes, we\u2019ve found fish fossils in the woods, even though the river is now miles away. Des has also shown us fallen trees with a lot of sand in the roots. It\u2019s pretty interesting being in the Forest Scouts. I might want to be a forest ranger when I grow up if my dream of being an investigative reporter doesn\u2019t work out. Benji wants to be an actor or a playwright. She should be. She\u2019s very dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLook!\u201d says Benji, \u201cThere a big, dead branch over there. We could cut it up and have plenty of firewood.\u201d She points to the other side of the ridge path, where there is a strip of earth and sparse grass about three feet wide at the edge of the drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo!\u201d I say, grabbing Benji by the sleeve, \u201cRemember the fortune cookie? \u2018Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji laughs, \u201cFate? Fate didn\u2019t assign us this task. Des did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDes is her nickname. Do you know what it\u2019s short for?\u201d I say, \u201cDestiny. And destiny means fate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSarah, for Pete\u2019s sake!\u201d says Benji, \u201cYou\u2019re pushing it now. Des said not to go past the path. I\u2019m only going on the path. I can reach the branch without going past the path. Okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hadn\u2019t been finding much suitable wood for our fire and that branch really was perfect. If we grab it and drag it to a safe spot, we could cut everything we need off it. We might even carry the main branch back with us to use the ax back at the campsite, so no one would have to go back out to get firewood again tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOkay,\u201d I say, \u201cJust on the path and no farther.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji walks over and grabs the branch. She tugs hard, but it\u2019s stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBenji, just leave it. We\u2019ll find another branch,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji grabs the branch with both hands and yanks it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve almost got it,\u201d she says, \u201cOh! I see what\u2019s wrong. It\u2019s stuck on that root.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She lets go and walks around the branch, which is now laying across the path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think I can get it,\u201d she says. She leans over to free the branch and takes one more step closer to the edge, and that\u2019s when it happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The place where she put her foot down simply crumbles. Benji slips and slides down the former river bank. She\u2019s gone without a sound, except for an \u201cOof\u201d and an \u201cOw!\u201d at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am stunned and immobile. I don\u2019t know what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then Benji\u2019s voice comes floating up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSarah?\u201d she says, tentatively, \u201cI think I\u2019m hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShould I go get help?\u201d I call out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo!\u201d Benji shouts, \u201cDon\u2019t leave me.\u201d She\u2019s scared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not sure what to do, but I think I need to see where Benji is and what the situation is. How can I do that? I remember learning that if ice is thin, the way to save someone is to lie down in a chain in order to get to them. When you spread your weight out, you are less likely to break the ice. I figure that it probably works on crumbly earth, too. I lie down on the ground, worm my way over to the edge and look down. Benji is almost at the bottom of the ravine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAre you bleeding?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m scraped up, but it\u2019s my ankle that\u2019s the problem,\u201d Benji says, \u201cIt hurts a lot. I don\u2019t think I can walk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I look around and see, over to the left, a way that I can probably get down to where Benji is. It\u2019s not as steep as where I am because it goes down diagonally and it looks like people have used it as a path. It also looks slick and muddy. I take another good look around at the ravine. I see a deer blind in the distance. It doesn\u2019t look too far away, but it\u2019s hard to tell. I worm my way back to the other side of the path and think about what to do. The daylight is fading. If I go back to the campsite, it will take time and I\u2019ll be leaving Benji alone with no light. If I try to get to her, I might hurt myself and make things worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I reach into my pocket and pull out another fortune. I need guidance. It\u2019s obvious to me we\u2019re in this mess because we didn\u2019t do what the last fortune said to do. I unroll the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA smooth, long journey lies ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that can\u2019t be any clearer. I need to slide down that muddy path. I walk over to where it starts, take my What-If backpack off my back and put it on the front of me, securing it tightly. Then I sit down and scoot on my bottom to the top of the ridge, take a deep breath, and push off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is more slippery and a lot more slimy and cold than I imagined, but it works. I slide down the incline, sometimes having to give myself another shove, but mostly it\u2019s just the world\u2019s most disgusting playground slide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I get to Benji, she is happy to see me, but it\u2019s clear she\u2019s been crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDoes it hurt that much?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d she says, \u201cIt hurts, but I was crying because I\u2019m scared and I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d come down here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d I say, \u201cI\u2019m here. And the fortune told me it would be okay, and it is. When we didn\u2019t do what the fortune said, it was bad and when I just did what the fortune said, it worked, so that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing from now on. Okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOkay,\u201d says Benji, \u201cI promise to do what the fortunes say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She laughs and tries to get up, but it hurts too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t stand up. What does the fortune have to say about that?\u201d Benji asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I take the second-to-last fortune out and read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo not underestimate yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think this one is for both of us,\u201d I say. \u201cI\u2019ll find you a walking stick in a minute. First, I want to send a message to Des.\u201d I pull out my cell phone, but I don\u2019t have any reception down here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUh-oh,\u201d I say, \u201cNo bars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call her when you were up top?\u201d asks Benji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want her to tell me not to come down here to you,\u201d I say. \u201cIf I don\u2019t ask, she can\u2019t say no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji reaches out and squeezes my hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThank you,\u201d she says, \u201cBut, wait. Why are you going to find a walking stick? Where are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo a deer blind I saw from the ridge. It\u2019s going to get dark soon and I don\u2019t know when they\u2019ll find us, so we should find shelter. Do you have your mini-binoculars on you?\u201d I take the compass out of my backpack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji reaches into a side pocket in her Forest Scout uniform pants and pulls out a small leather case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHere. I hope they\u2019re still in one piece,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case has protected the binoculars. I use them to find the deer blind. It\u2019s springtime, with only buds on the sparse trees that grow here in the ravine. I find the deer blind and take a compass reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPretty much due north,\u201d I say. \u201cIt\u2019s not far. We can probably keep it in our sights the whole walk. I\u2019ll get the walking stick now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t have to go far before I find a suitable stick. Benji can use it on the good foot side and I\u2019ll be on the bad foot side. I take out my first aid kit and wrap Benji\u2019s foot tight and put her shoe back on. I hope this helps stabilize her ankle as we move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji and I struggle to get her up and moving. We have to practice figuring out how she should use the stick. Once we\u2019ve got our rhythm down, I turn on the step counter in my cell phone and we set off toward the deer blind. We don\u2019t move quickly, but we get there before it\u2019s full dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deer blind is in two parts: an enclosed hut and a high platform attached to the side. The inside of the deer blind is pretty comfortable. It has benches to sit or lie down on, a small wood-burning stove with a pile of wood stacked near it, a plastic container filled with tinder and a Swedish fire steel. Luckily, we had learned all about how to make fires in Forest Scouts. We recognized the fire steel for what it was, and both Benji and I knew how to use it, although Benji was better at it. I was always a little afraid of it. A fire steel is really cool, though. It\u2019s a rod made of ferrocerium and a flat steel \u201cstriker.\u201d You scrape the striker along the rod and it produces a bunch of sparks that can light almost any kind of tinder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I build a nice pile of tinder and wood and let Benji do the sparking. She has the kindling burning quickly and I add wood from the stack. I take my phone out to see if I have any bars. It flickers from no reception to weak reception and back again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think if I climb up to the platform, I might get reception,\u201d I say. \u201cIt\u2019s dark now. Reception might be better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOkay, but don\u2019t be too long,\u201d says Benji. I can tell she is still upset about her ankle and our situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTell you what,\u201d I say, \u201cI won\u2019t try to phone Des. I\u2019ll write a text and then go up to the platform to send it. I\u2019ll just write where we are and that we\u2019re safe and that our reception is bad and that they can come for us in the morning, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji agrees and I write a text giving our location according to how far we are from the ridge, which I know from the step counter on my cell phone. Then I leave the warm hut and climb up to the platform. The reception is still not steady up there, but the bars occasionally go up to two and the message finally goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I get back down to the hut, Benji asks, \u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I take the last fortune out of my pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSometimes waiting is the best action,\u201d I read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t say that!\u201d Benji laughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt does,\u201d I say, showing it to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOkay,\u201d says Benji, looking a bit spooked, \u201cWe wait.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I look around the hut some more and find a box on a shelf with a set of 5 dice in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe could play Yahtzee or 24-18, but we can\u2019t keep score,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe can keep score,\u201d says Benji, \u201cI have a pad and pencil in my pack. A writer should always have a pencil and paper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGreat!\u201d I say, \u201cYou don\u2019t have any dinner in there, too, do you? I\u2019m kind of hungry.\u201d I wonder why I don\u2019t carry food and water in my What-If bag. That\u2019s stupid. Food and water are essential. I vow to always carry food and water from now on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo dinner,\u201d says Benji, \u201cBut, I\u2019ve got granola bars and a water bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I smile at Benji. I\u2019m surprised in a good way. She had always given me the impression that she thought my What-If bags were crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI thought Des might make us fish for our supper, and I hate fish,\u201d she says, looking a bit embarrassed. I\u2019m just glad Benji doesn\u2019t like fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji and I spend the evening playing dice games to pass the time. We eat half the granola bars. (She has eight of them in there!) and we sip some water, saving the rest for the morning. We have a pretty good time, considering that we\u2019re lost in the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right when we are talking about trying to go to sleep, we hear noises in the woods, sounds of an engine, and then footsteps crunching their way toward us. Someone knocks on the door, although there is no lock on it and they could have simply opened it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSarah? Benji?\u201d a deep voice calls out, \u201cAre you in there? It\u2019s Ranger Sullivan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I open the door and let him in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He asks us which of us is hurt, and then examines Benji\u2019s ankle. Benji can\u2019t go back to the campsite, he tells us. She\u2019ll have to go to the local emergency room to have an x-ray. He asks me if I want to go back to the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I look at Benji and then say that, if it\u2019s okay, I\u2019d rather stay with her until her parents come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We drive in the range rover to the hospital. I\u2019m with Benji the whole time except in the x-ray room. When our parents arrive, Benji and I are back in a curtained area in the ER.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji\u2019s parents are making a fuss over her and my parents are asking me if I\u2019m okay. We both assure them we are fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My mother says, \u201cOh, girls! I was so worried! Anything could have happened out there! Maybe you are just too young for this kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ranger Sullivan says, \u201cNo, ma\u2019am. The girls had an accident, which anyone could have had. They reacted to the accident exactly right. They had food and water with them. The girls sought shelter and kept themselves warm. They sent a message with their exact whereabouts. I\u2019ve rescued grown, experienced hikers who weren\u2019t as well-prepared as these two girls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My father smiles down at me. \u201cSarah likes to be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next Thursday, we are eating at Wong\u2019s like we always do. Benji is with us this time. She eats a double portion of fried tofu and passes on the fish. When Mrs. Wong brings out the fortune cookies, everyone reaches for one, except me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo cookie for you?\u201d Mrs. Wong asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo, thank you,\u201d I say. \u201cI think I\u2019m done with fortunes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mrs. Wong clucks her tongue and shakes her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat a thing to say!\u201d she says, as she turns and walks back to the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benji is holding her fortune slip and grinning from ear to ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think this one is for both of us,\u201d she says, handing it to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe secret to good friends is no secret to you,\u201d I read aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I turn toward the kitchen and see Mrs. Wong looking through the circular window in the swinging door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She smiles at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u00a9 2020 Liza Cameron Wasser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My family has eaten at Wong\u2019s every Thursday since I can remember. We eat family style, my father ordering enough food to feed us three meals. We all pig out and then take the rest home. After the waiter takes the leftover food to pack &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-189","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/189\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}