I waited outside as the Silas paid. Then we walked back down the street and turned down a few more as the dusk sky slowly darkened.

Silas stopped abruptly, and, not paying attention, I walked into him. I looked up at him curiously, and slightly annoyed. His hand went up to his ear and I realized someone must have called him.

“Yeah, I’m comin’ now,” he said shortly. He hung up and looked down at me. “We’ve got an order to load, and they want to do it tonight rather than wait for morning. But,” he said, pointing down the road we were about to go down, “this is the street you need. Her house should be somewhere down there.”

I nodded, reluctant to say goodbye. Silas sensed my unwillingness and gave me a small smile. Then, without warning, he scooped me up in a massive hug. My breath was squeezed out of me, but I tried to hug him back just as hard.

He chuckled, setting me back down on my feet. “One week. I’ll call you when we’re back,” he said pulling me into one last hug and kissed the top of my head. He stepped back and ruffled my hair and laughed at my slightly annoyed expression. Then he waved and began to jog away towards the docks.

I watched him until I couldn’t see him anymore. Then I exhaled loudly and took a few steps down the street before I realized that I had no idea how to figure out which house was Hong’s.

Then, thankfully, inspiration hit and I pulled out my phone again. Praying she would be on, I pulled up Facebook. I brought up the list of online friends, and smiled to myself when I saw Hong’s name at the bottom of the list. I went to her wall and began to write to her:

Mari: muhaha! hi hong! did santa give you a good haul this year!?

Hong: Ummm, Santa gave me an email from my dad about college. That was pretty much it.

Mari: ooooh! exciting! well, i love you, and that's the best christmas present ever, if i do say so myself :)

Hong: No, Mari, the email is not exciting. But your present is pretty much the best Christmas present ever. )

Mari: i knew it. what if i told you i was standing outside and i shipped myself over just for you?

Hong: Oh my gosh, I'd die of happiness. Too bad that's not true...

Mari: you don't know that. i'm sitting in the street typing to you

Hong: Uh huh. You know I have a window in my room that looks out over the street. So if you were really there, I could see you. Which you're not.

Mari: i'm... at the end of the street cuz i didn't know which house was yours

Hong: XD Very nice Mari. I'm glad you're here in China...

Mari: it's very interesting here. different. that was one hell of a ride here though, whew! i stowed myself aboard a freight ship and hid among the crates. it smelled like damp... kinda moldy...

Hong: Ewww, mold. Congrats on becoming a stowaway. What's it like? Should I try it someday?

Mari: it's very... rocky... i mean, the waves and all. i did make friends with one of the cargo men. we played shampoo. it was great fun.

Hong: Shampoo! I miss that game! Actually, I miss playing cards in general. No free time here..

Mari: oh yeah, me and silas had a great time. he taught me how to play poker better, when it's good to bluff and when i should just cut my losses and run.

Hong: Silas, huh? Sounds like you had a good time onboard...how long was the trip?

Mari: uhh... i lost track of time. i couldn't come up on deck cuz then i would be found out.

i think you would have liked silas.

Hong: I think I would have liked Silas too.

Mari: it's getting a bit chilly, do you think you could feed me too?

Hong: Of course I can feed you! All you need to do is find my building, walk up six flights of stairs and ring the doorbell. It's that easy.

Mari: mah! 6 flights of stairs?! i'm still getting rid of my sea legs - i can barely walk! ok, i’m coming…