It's a luxury being a writer because all you ever think about is life. - Amy Tan

What use for? asks my mother, jiggling the table with her hand. You put something else on top, everything fall down.

But I don't have anything left inside of me to figure out where I fit in or what I want. If I want anything, it's to know what's possible to want.

On the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In my mother's case, this would be the first day of the lunar new year. And because it is the new year, all debts must be paid, or disaster and misfortune will follow.