2. Oops! Diary - 009.

Sunday, October. Couldy

New Fridge

The air is getting chilly in the mornings and evenings. I was doing my homework when I heard a knock. I looked up and Dad was standing there. He said that he was going to buy a new fridge. Our old fridge rumbles like a tank on a mountain path. Once you notice it, it starts to drive you crazy.

When you open its door, the smell of five years of kimchi and fish slaps you in the face.

Dad and I headed for an electronics store. We checked prices and debated features. The number of features you can cram into a fridge is pretty surprising. We checked other stores. We argued with salespeople. Finally we zeroed in on a huge, double-doored model. Dad paid for it with his credit card and we walked to the door.

As we were leaving, a mini stereo caught my attention. It would fit my desk perfectly. I opened my mouth to ask Dad to buy it. Then I remembered how he'd winced as he paid for the fridge. I closed my mouth and swallowed my question.

Saturday, October. Sunny

Squirrel

Eventually, I want to be a painter, although I think my parent's have other ideas. Over Chuseok this year, I packed my sketchbook and a couple of 4B pencils. Then I hiked up Bomunsan, a mountain that's close to my house. It was just starting to get cold. The trees on the mountain looked like frozen fireworks, red and yellow and orange. I saw an owl dozing in a blue-green pine.

I quietly took out my sketchbook and sat down on a flat rock under a chestnut tree. I was busy sketching the owl when a bunch of chestnuts fell and plonked off of my sketchbook.

I heard scrabbling behind me. It was a squirrel. I put the chestnuts into my pocket and hid behind another tree. The squirrel climbed down to look for the chestnuts. He looked confused, went back up into the tree, and shook down another bunch. I stole these, too.

From the tree, the squirrel looked down at me. After cursing me loudly in Squirrelese, he vanished into the treetops. I looked back at the pine, but the owl was gone.