Mimi got up and dressed quickly, ready for a day of shopping with her friends. She was finished to perfection, skipped downstairs, and sat on the couch crossing her legs. Her mother cooked in the kitchen and hummed a happy tune. It had been 3 years since she had left Japan and it had been months since she had heard from any of her friends there. She sighed and stood up when she heard the rapping at the front door. A blonde dressed in baby blue was at the other side of the door with a girl dressed in black whose hands were stuffed in her pockets and her gaze to the sky. Mimi smiled, "Hey Chrissie Hey Aira, how are you?"
Chrissie smiled, "Great Mimi."
Aira nodded, "Usual."
"You both ready to go to the mall?" Mimi asked
The girls nodded and Mimi grabbed her purse and walked out the door. They went to the mall and shopped around then Mimi saw a booth.
"Who would enter those silly contests?" Chrissie asked as she read the sign, "Win a trip to Japan for a month. Yeah right."
Mimi bit her lower lip and then smiled, "Yeah who would do that?" Her voice was distant and her eyes stared hypnotized by the sign. They walked past it and Mimi grabbed a slip unnoticed and filled it out in the next store as the other two looked around. When they walked by the stand again and she slipped the paper into the box and walked away feeling happy.
Two weeks later she received a phone call, "Hello?" Her voice sounded cheerful.
"Yes is this Miss Mimi Tachikawa?"
"This is who is this?"
"This is Robert Malone from Dream Vacations. You entered our contest and won!"
"Oh gosh I did!?!" She sounded surprised
"Yes and you have a one month trip to Japan all expenses paid."
Mimi jumped in the air and squealed with delight, "This is so cool!!!"
The man on the phone went on to explain that the tickets were to be used by next year and Mimi agreed and told her parents. She was leaving for Japan in 2 weeks.
Mimi arrived in Japan and got off the plane. She walked down the terminal and at the gate took a deep breath.