Zamora woke Sage up and made sure that she took an aspirin. The aspirin might have worked on her
and after going to the washroom in the early morning, Sage was wide awake and did not feel sleepy
anymore. She wanted to check the time so she reached for her phone and realized that Tim did not
end the call since last night.
Sage’s eyes were shot wide open. At first thought, Sage thought that she must be dreaming. After
realizing that it was not a dream, Sage got worried. Putting the phone next to her ears, Sage asked,
“Tim?” On the other end of the call, Sage heard the wind howling and hitting the windows. Soon after, a
man’s voice was heard. “Hmm? You’re awake?”
He spoke fluent Chinese. Sage too, replied to him in Chinese. “Why didn’t you hang up the call?” “It’s
been a long time since I heard you snore, I didn’t want to miss out on them. I was hoping to get a good
night’s sleep while listening to your snores.”
Tim was not only fluent in Chinese, he could even use diss Sage in Chinese.
Sage was rendered speechless. “Who said I snore? Don’t you make fun of me… You didn’t hang up
the call simply for this reason? Don’t you know how expensive it is for an international call?
IT
Tim replied, “It’s not like I don’t have the money.” Sage, “…” Sage was once again rendered
speechless.
Sage checked the time again and calculated the time difference. “It’s already past 11 at Birmingham,
isn’t it? You should be going to bed soon, Tim.”
Tim replied, “Mm.” “Is it raining in Birmingham? I could hear the storm howling even from here. It’s also
the monsoon season here in Nadeem City, the rain does not seem to stop…remember to take an
umbrella with you when you go out, and don’t just put on a cap just because you want to look cool.
How’s your leg? Remember to take the medicine that I’ve sent you…”
Sage rambled on to which Tim responded with an okay.
“You couldn’t sleep, could you?” Sage heard another “Okay” from Tim. Hesitating, she suggested,
“Should I sing you to sleep?”
Tim immediately yawned and said, “I’m getting sleepy now. Bye now.”
The phone call that lasted for seven hours finally ended. Sage stared at the phone and sulked, “What
was that? Is my singing that bad?”
***
Ross must have said something to his daughter last night because of what happened in the morning,
Emily sat obediently at the dining hall, greeting Sage politely. “Good morning, Aunt Sage,” Emily
greeted her. Sage replied, “Morning Emily. Where’s your dad?” Emily responded, “He’s doing yoga in
the backyard.” Sage took a look outside and frowned. “It’s still raining, isn’t it?”
“The weather would not stop him from doing tai-chi. He seems to think that yoga could help him live
longer.” Emily let out a yawn and when she opened her eyes again, Sage was already gone. “Eh?
Where did Aunt Sage go?” Zamora put down a tray of freshly baked bagels on the table, smiled at
Emily, and replied, “. She went to join your dad.” Emily was speechless. Yoga is a practice that involves
a series of slow gentle movements and physical postures, a meditative state of mind, and controlled
breathing.
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