It was on September 5^th, my birthday, that we left Cambridge and moved away. We went to the seaside，to our holiday house，which was now to be our permanent home.

I remember the day was cold and grey， in falling slowly but constantly. My father drove in silence. No one spoke and all we could hear was the sound of the tyres on the wet road When we got to the small house near the sea，my mother quietly started to unpack the few things we had brought with us. Carol，Julie and I went down to the beach. We said we were going to look for crabs in the rockpools but actually，we just wanted to get away from our father and his cold silence.

We climbed along the rocks by the side of the beach. Julie and Carol became interested in some shells they found in one of the pools. I wandered away, lost in my private thoughts. It was my birthday, but no one had said “Happy Birthday” to me. I had not received any cards or presents.

I walked down to the seashore, where the waves were breaking lazily against the muddy sand. Suddenly, I saw something green sticking out of the water. I looked at it more carefully. The green thing moved closer and closer to the shore, and when it was almost near enough for me to touch, I realized what it was.

It was a bottle. I went over and picked it up, all the time looking at it. It seemed old, and had no label on it. Then 1 realized there was something inside. Slowly, I pulled out the wet cork from the top of the bottle. Inside was a piece of paper. With great care, 1 took out the folded paper and opened it.

Written on it were these words:

“To whomsoever finds this bottle, I promise you a new friend. ”

I stared at the paper and then looked around.

As I opened my eyes, I found my father standing right beside me.

My second year in college had started. I hadn’t decided whether to fly home for the new year yet. Although I had missed the holiday the year before, and I didn’t want to miss it two years in a row, I didn’t have the money for the ticket, plus I wasn’t sure I could get enough time off from my job. All that wondering changed when my mom called. She got right to the point: “Your grandmother isn’t doing well. I decided I should fly out there for the new year.” Mom was an only child, so that made sense to me. But I was not ready for what I heard next. “We decided you would want to come along so I covered your ticket.”

We arrived as scheduled. Mom was anxious to see her parents, especially her mother, who was really sick. After saying hello to them, we settled in the living room. Grandpa helped Grandma lie down again and told us we would have a big lunch at noon.

He went into the kitchen. Mom walked up and down in the living room. Finally, I asked her what the matter was. “He can’t cook,” she said, wondering. “How’s he supposed to fix a holiday meal for us?”I tried to reason with her.

“Can’t you smell dinner? It smells good to me. Grandma is upstairs resting. Grandpa is the only one who could be cooking.” But we couldn’t see through the kitchen door. She had an idea. “Let’s go out to the front door and see from outside the window what’s going on inside. Then we will know who is really cooking.” Grandpa was very hard of hearing, so he didn’t hear us leave. It was a crazy plan, but I followed her around the house to the kitchen windows.

“Daddy, I want to ask your permission to study in America,” I said to my father a few months before my graduation from high school. But hardly before I finished, he shouted, “No!”

“But why?” I replied. “If you are worried about money, it will be OK since I have got a scholarship…”

But he refused to give in. At the moment, I didn’t know what to say. For more than two years, I had been working very hard to pass all the necessary examinations. I had not told my father because I wanted to give him a pleasant surprise. I thought he would be very proud of me because it was many of my classmates’ parents’ dream to send their children to study abroad.

“Why do I have to get your permission? I am already 18 and I’m not a kid anymore.” I said angrily and rushed to my bedroom, shutting the door violently. Blinded by anger, I found that I could not stay at my hometown any longer. Late that night, I slipped out of the house and decided to take the bus to the railway station to start my own life as far away from my home as possible.

The bus stop was just two blocks away from my home. When I got there, I found that I forgot to take any money with me and missed the last bus. I did not want to go back home, so I sat down on the bench and closed my eyes to have a break.

Suddenly, I was woken up by my phone. I looked around and found the road was deserted and the street was so quiet that I regretted that I had left home in such a hurry. I picked up the phone and answered the phone even without checking the number.

“Have you had a good sleep? It’s going to rain. Shall we go home now?”