After years of working as seamstress and nanny with a trust fund her paternal grandmother Mrs. Molly Miller bequeathed to her in a magically discovered will, Sally’s mother Mrs. Mary Lamb bought a three-story house building in Charlottestown. It is indeed a revelation of lucky stars winking at the Lamb who have believed that heaven help those who help themselves as asserted by Benjamin Franklin. Not that the meaning of life aims at a pursuit of happiness, such as manifested in the realization of having a property now the Lamb possess, but that it is rather a by-product of their making efforts to live meaningful life simply by fulfilling demands placed upon their daily dealings with the world because to the Lamb materialistic bliss is not the ends of their life thanks to the influence of Logotheraphy, established by a great Austrian psychoanalyst Viktor E. Frankl whose book entitled, Man’s Search for Meaning Sally Wrote about in Serendipity, a kind of Reader’s Digest-like literary magazine of Charlottestown.
It is a big leap from the cozy and pastoral Avonlea where the mother and the daughter were comfortably accustomed to the modes of life for long. But that was exactly why Mary had decided to move to Charlottestown, a coastal city 5 miles off the Pacific Ocean where seas are bluer and deeper and wider, and the skies higher and clearer, with people bustling with many different lives and daily episodes. She wanted to become a pioneer woman and wanted her only daughter Sally to mark herself in such world, triumphing over her obscurity and self-doubt as awriter of her own.
Sally seems to like her new surroundings, adjusting herself thereto with her face radiated with a new sense of purpose and cheerful moods that were seldom surfaced to bloom back in Avonlea. But is she really content with their newly acquired state of material affluence with a house and a bakery, and even a car? Why not? It would be hypocrisy to deny what it is given, whether or not it’s favorable, especially if it is conducive to the invigoration of new energy that stimulates your mind growth to discover a wide panoramic view of life, a vista for what life asks you to do.
With a hereditary sense of business acumen aided by philanthropist streaks in her family line, Mary made the first floor a bakery where delicious cakes and freshly brewing coffee are made on premise (that is, in her kitchen on the second floor), all of which are served with genial courtesy and amiable smile of Bonnie Baker, a new attendant at the shop whom Mary hired last week. Bonnie is a sister of her two baby siblings, Nena and Neno, all left orphaned by the death of their parents from a tragic car accident in Kingsbridge two years ago. The Baker used to live with their maternal aunt Brenda, but Bonnie did not get along with her because of her curmudgeonly temperament and depressive emotional tendency. Hence, when she saw an advertisement on The Traveler’s Times, seeking for a reliable, affable bakery shop attendant/cashier, without hesitation and with guts of confidence and adventuresomeness, Bonnie applied for the position, met with Mary, who liked her instantly, and got the job.
To her amazement, Mary even volunteered to take care of the babies when Bonnie is at work. However, when Mary is also working on her mobile Candy Shop, her niece Sophie babysits them.
Sally is on her way to her job interview at Buena Vista, a literary magazine that covers a wide scope of literature from book and film reviews to poetry, to essays, and to letters from readers, all except matters concerning Politics. Surely, this is an outright betrayal of Aristotle’s dictum that anyone who’s not interested in politics must be either a beast or a divine being. But talking and writing about politics in public only disintegrates a stability of societal codes of conduct and builds up walls between one another and makes a clan of itself… So for this reason, Sally is elated to be selected for an interview by her favorite magazine. She feels her time has finally arrived, the time when her ability as a writer gets a recognition at last…. She feels that the auspicious interview notice is a foregone result – that is, she has a precognition that this position is to be had only for the asking. So off our Sally goes to the magazine company, which is located at 101 Fifth Avenue, 10th floor in Manhasset, 20 miles off Charlottestwon linked by the Thomas Jefferson Bridge.
Sally, being easily moved into tears at the sight of people in need, also gives a ride home to Laura Collie, who with a heavy basket full of groceries is grateful for her act of kindness. Best Wishes for Sally’s job interview, or maybe we should congratulate her on the new job? Why not? What You Think and Believe Becomes Reality.
It has been almost over five good years since the Collies have immigrated to Elysia from Scotland. By now the family has well settled into the ways of life in their adopted home country, especially their beloved town of Avonlea, which has become their hometown. After all, anywhere can be anyone’s home as long as it feels comfortable and peaceful, if not exactly welcoming. Besides, if the customs and languages are similar to those of your native country, the process of acclimation is comparatively smooth without Herculean challenges. So in this respect the Collies have lucked out thus far.
Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh 
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